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A 'German' AFL team

A fantasy German-descended AFL football team

"German-descended" is taken here to mean descended from ancestors in German-speaking countries. This would be a very formidable Australian Rules Football team.

Notes on players

The team includes five 300-gamers (Luke Breust, Nick Riewoldt, Stewart Loewe, Wayne Schimmelbusch and David Neitz). 22 premierships in the history of the VFL/AFL (and in the SANFL in the case of Russell Ebert) featured players from this team. The team includes eight players who have been selected into the All-Australian team (an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each Australian Football League (AFL) season).

The team includes 12 inductees of the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Direct quotes (unless otherwise noted) are taken from the encyclopedia by Holmesby and Main (H&M).

Nathan Bock

Nathan played 140 games for Adelaide and Gold Coast between 2004 and 2013 and kicked 63 goals. He goaled with his first kick for Adelaide. All-Australian Team of 2008.

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Michael Braun

Michael played 228 games for West Coast from 1997-2008 as a midfielder and kicked 66 goals. Premiership in 2006. He was a “clever on-baller with a strong work ethic and was capable of good work around goals.” (H&M p.82)

Luke Breust

Luke played 308 games for Hawthorn between 2011-2025 and kicked 553 goals. All-Australian team in 2014 and 2018. Premierships in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2014 he equalled champion Sydney Swans full forward Tony Lockett’s record for goals kicked in a row, with 29. One of the best small forwards in the league. On 07/07/2018 in a post-match television interview Breust’s team mate Isaac Smith said that he considered Breust to be the #1 or #2 small forward of the league in the previous six or seven seasons. Luke grew up and played his early football in Temora, in southern New South Wales. Temora is part of the Riverina region where a considerable number of Germans settled in the 19th century.

Luke Breust is featured in a display in the Hawks Museum at the Kennedy Community Centre, among players who played more than 100 games for the Hawks.

Carl Ditterich

Carl played 285 games for St Kilda and Melbourne between 1963-1980. He kicked 199 goals and played six games for Victoria. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. “One of the most feared ruckmen in League history and was a star from his very first game” (H&M p.214)

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Russell Ebert

Russell played 416 games for Port Adelaide in the SANFL and North Melbourne between 1968-1985, and kicked 310 goals. Premierships with Port Adelaide in 1977, 1980, 1981. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. “One of the greatest South Australian players of all time” (H&M p.234)

Wels Eicke

Wels played 197 games for St Kilda and North Melbourne between 1909 and 1926, and kicked 61 goals. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He was only 1.75m tall but he could leap very high and in one game at Essendon in 1912 he apparently took one of the greatest high marks of all time in flying over a pack of ten players. (H&M, p.238)

Fraser Gehrig

Fraser played 260 games for West Coast and St Kilda between 1995-2008 and kicked 548 goals. Played in the backline for West Coast and played as full-forward for St Kilda, kicking 100 goals in the 2004 season. Nickname: The G-Train. "When Olympian Daley Thompson challenged him to a 'strength-off' they tied." (H&M pp.290-291) Fraser's ancestors arrived in the Riverina from Germany in the 19th century.

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Darryl Gerlach

Darryl played 168 games for Essendon between 1963–1972 in the backline and kicked six goals. Premiership in 1965. There are significant figures in German history with the surname Gerlach, for example Leopold von Gerlach, a nobleman and Prussian general who was a close personal friend of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia.

Simon Goodwin

Simon played 293 games for South Adelaide (in the SANFL) and the Adelaide Crows between 1995-2010 and kicked 163 goals. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Adelaide premiership team 1997, 1998. Later in his career he played on a half-back flank and was selected into the All-Australian team in that position in 2009. “An extremely versatile footballer who won the hard ball and used it well” (H&M p.306). A premiership as coach of Melbourne FC in 2021. Simon is a descendant of Friedrich Herbig.

Mitchell Hahn

Mitchell played 181 games for the Western Bulldogs between 2000-2010 and kicked 164 goals. He was a “big bodied mid-fielder and defender with physical strength in tight situations and strong marking ability” (H&M p.330)

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Stewart Loewe

Stewart played 321 games for St Kilda between 1986-2002 and kicked 594 goals. All-Australian team in 1990, 1991, 1992 and played for Victoria 11 times. He goaled with his first kick in League football. “The pivotal role he played at centre half-forward as one of the three or four marking options in attack was central to the team’s game plan.” (H&M pp.493-494) His father left East Germany to come to Australia.

Bill Mohr

Bill played 195 games for St Kilda between 1929-1941 and kicked 735 goals. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. “St Kilda’s greatest forward until the arrival of Tony Lockett (...) had the rare skill of being able to kick a goal from the seemingly impossible situation.” (H&M)

Jack Mueller

Jack played 216 games for Melbourne FC between 1934-1950 and kicked 378 goals. Premierships in 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He “could hold down any key position and stamp his authority on the game (...) it was ironic that he was rejected for war service because he only had three fingers on one hand and it meant that he was free to be part of the 1940-41 flag teams (...) He sometimes upset his coach 'Checker' Hughes and joked that the old coach said that he had inherited the worst characteristics from his parents – one Irish and one German.” (H&M p.606)

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David Neitz

David played 306 games for Melbourne FC between 1993-2008 and kicked 631 goals. Early in his career he played in the backline. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. All-Australian team in 1995, 2002. Coleman Medal 2002 (leading goal-kicker in the League for the season). Melbourne captain 2000-2008. Early in his career Wayne Carey “rated him as one of the best centre half backs in the competition.” (H&M p.621)

'David Neitz Terrace' - a sign indicating an area in the MCG stadium named after the Melbourne FC footballer David Neitz

Nick Riewoldt

Nick played 336 games for St Kilda between 2001-2017 and kicked 718 goals. All-Australian team in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 (captain) and 2014. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Named at ranking #2 of the Top 50 players in the AFL in 2010 (by Mike Sheahan, Herald Sun, 24/03/2010, p.84). Nick's father was born in Berlin. You can read more here about Nick Riewoldt's German heritage.

Andrew Schauble

Andrew played 167 games for Collingwood and the Sydney Swans from 1995-2005 and kicked 34 goals. He “moved to Sydney in 2000 and had an outstanding season at centre half-back, winning the Swan best and fairest.” (H&M p.752)

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Wayne Schimmelbusch

Wayne played 306 games for North Melbourne between 1973-1987 and kicked 354 goals. Captain of the team from 1979-1987, premierships in 1975, 1977. Played for Victoria seven times. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. “One of the most courageous footballers to have played at League level, Schimmelbusch was superbly talented.” (H&M p.752)

Adam Schneider

Adam played 228 games for the Sydney Swans and St Kilda from 2003-2015 and kicked 259 goals. Premiership with Sydney in 2005. He “became an instant cult figure because of his energy and freakish goal-kicking ability." (H&M p.753)

John Schultz

John played 188 games for Footscray FC between 1958-1968 and kicked 37 goals. Brownlow Medal 1960, All-Australian team in 1961. He played for Victoria 24 times. “In a poll of the top ruckmen in the 1960s the majority said that Schultz was the most difficult opponent of all.” (H&M p.755) John presented the premiership cup at the end of the 2016 Grand Final.

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Wayne Schwass

Wayne played 282 games for North Melbourne and for the Sydney Swans from 1988-2002 and kicked 154 goals. Premiership with North Melbourne in 1996. All-Australian team in 1999. He was known for “his long kicking and incisive runs from the wing.” (H&M p.756) Wayne was born in New Zealand. In Germany there is a village named Groß-Schwass on the edge of the city of Rostock in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. According to Winsome Griffin, two ships brought German settlers from Mecklenburg to the Nelson area of New Zealand (South Island) in the 1840s, including a Schwass family. As a result of immigration, the surname Schwass is more prevalent in New Zealand these days than in Germany.

Michael Voss

Michael played 289 games for Brisbane between 1992-2006 and kicked 245 goals. Brownlow Medal in 1996. Captain of Brisbane from 1997-2006. Premierships in 2001, 2002, 2003. All-Australian team in 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. In 2004 his former Brisbane Lions teammate Jonathan Brown gave his opinion on Michael Voss’s coaching attributes: “He’s just a great leader, speaks well, guys just want to follow him.” (In the AFL Record, Vol.113, 2024 Grand Final edition. Melbourne: Sports Entertainment Network. p.82)

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Murray Weideman, captain

Murray played 219 games for Collingwood FC and for West Adelaide (in the SANFL) from 1953-63 and 1968-69. Inductee in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Collingwood captain in 1960-63. Premierships in 1953 and 1958. “He built the image of an enforcer (...) Magpie fans loved Weideman and regarded the handsome, well-groomed skipper as a buccaneer at the head of their troops” (H&M, p.891) Murray's ancestors arrived in Australia from Germany at Adelaide in the late 1840s, and moved to the Wimmera (Victoria) in 1850 (there are many Weidemans either in the Wimmera or who moved out of the Wimmera). Murray's family removed the second “n” (from 'Weideman') during WWII so that it would sound less German. (H&M, p.891)

Peter Schwab, coach

Peter played 171 games for Hawthorn from 1980-1991 and kicked 38 goals. He played in the 1983, 1986 and 1988 premiership sides. He later coached Hawthorn from 2000–2004 in 104 games (won 49, lost 55), and was AFL Director of Coaching 2010-2013.

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♦ There are several great players who could not be accommodated in this star-studded team, for example: David Schwarz (Melbourne FC), Harold 'Hassa' Mann (AFL Hall of Fame inductee and premiership player for Melbourne FC), Shaun Rehn (Adelaide Crows premiership ruckman and later at Hawthorn), Jack Riewoldt (premiership forward at Richmond FC) and Jack Ziebell (a captain of North Melbourne FC). On 18/05/2025 David Schwarz was a participant in the 'Point of View' segment on SEN Melbourne radio, and he welcomed Austria's win in the Eurovision Song Context the previous day, describing Austria as his 'homeland' and speaking fondly of the meat dish known in English as pork knuckle (Schweinshaxe). Jack Riewoldt's grandparents arrived in Tasmania from Germany in the early 1950s. Jack Ziebell is a descendant of the German immigrants at Westgarthtown.

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