AFL Hall of Fame: Behind the scenes in deciding who becomes an Australian Football Hall of Famer

Graham Cornes knows the Australian Football Hall of Fame better than most. As well as being inducted in 2012, he has been on the selection committee for the last four years.

“It doesn’t give you wealth, but it does give you a satisfaction that you’ve been acknowledged and you’re in amazing company,” he tells CODE Sports.

Late in the night there’s a fair chance a former player, official or media pundit with a few drinks under their belt will bail him up to discuss the merits of who should and shouldn’t be inducted. That’s part of the territory.

“I’ve been in very intense arguments. There’s so many worthy footballers and there’s limited places, so it is a really important and significant responsibility,” Cornes says.

Established in 1996, the Australian Football Hall of Fame is a favourite of the true footy tragic. Club battle lines are forgotten for one night only in the name of footy purity as induction speeches range from the emotional to the hilarious.

For all that, the mechanics of how the hall of fame comes together have been rarely revealed to the public.

So what should we know before entering the most enjoyable of front bar debates after the latest induction this Tuesday?

The nominations are …

Work began on this year’s induction almost immediately after last drinks were called at the 2023 induction.

As secretary of the Australian Hall of Fame Section committee the AFL’s Patrick Keane gets the ball rolling calling for nominations from AFL clubs, state leagues and players, umpires and coaches associations.

While nominations primarily come from these sources, they can come from anyone who takes the time to put together the bona fides of someone they think deserves a place.

An outside nomination is not a prerequisite to be inducted though. The committee itself includes obvious candidates who are now eligible, so if Geelong or Gold Coast somehow forget to nominate Gary Ablett Junior in 2025, rest assured his name will still be under consideration.

In October, nominations are consolidated to a list typically numbering 70-80 before documents are created for selectors to consider.

That part of the process is something Cornes relishes. Born in Victoria he grew up with his father regaling him about the greats of the game.

“I love the history of the game,” Cornes says. “My father would tell me stories about Jack Dyer, talk about Roy Cazaly and show me pictures of Bob Pratt, so I’ve got that underlying historic love of those formative Victorians, but then of course I came to South Australia and saw similar legends in action over here.”

Comparing Eras

The selectors work on the principle of comparing apples with apples rather than oranges.

If a player is considered from the 1970s, their achievements are compared with others from their own era who are in the hall of fame, rather than against others from various eras on the consideration list.

In effect it provides a ‘bar’ that has evolved over time to be more sophisticated, relevant to that person’s era for selectors to measure against.

Eras are roughly divided into; pre-World War I, between World War I and II, the state league era up to the end of the 1980s and then the AFL era from the 1990s onwards.

The game itself may have changed inside those time frames, yet the recognition measurements generally line up.

In the pre-World War One era, best and fairest-like trophies were rarely awarded and seasons were typically 12 to 14 games, so premierships, state representation and written evidence give a very different ‘bar’ to work with than the modern day greats.

From 1991 all players were playing in the one competition with rigour around a yearly All-Australian team that makes it relatively simpler to make comparison.

Trying to compare the record of players a century apart is futile when recognition was very different, hence the importance of the bar from each era.

By the end of November a document as thick as Leigh Matthews’ legs is sent to the selection committee containing information and comparison points for every one of those 70-80 people nominated.

State of Origin 

Before he was one the selection committee Cornes remembers talking to a selector of Victorian origin about South Australian champion Peter Carey’s continued omission, to which the selector replied “Peter Carey the umpire?”.

“To his credit, a few months later, he rang me, he said, ‘Now, tell me about this Peter Carey’s record.’

These state issues triggered the biggest philosophical change in the Hall of Fame’s history, when the West Australian Football Commission campaigned during Mike Fitzpatrick’s chairmanship for a greater recognition of the state league eras across Australia as opposed to a VFL/AFL-centric view.

“Once you sit on the committee, it’s not the AFL Hall of Fame, it’s not the Victorian Football Hall of Fame, it’s not the South Australian Hall of Fame – it’s the Australian Football Hall of Fame,” Cornes says.

The current selection committee provides a balance of experience or origin stories from most states and territories across Australia.

The character question

Every year questions about what role character plays in selection can overshadow the Hall of Fame debate.

What is sometimes lost is that Gary Ablett Senior and Wayne Carey have both been in the Hall of Fame for more than 14 years. That a contemporary in Jason Dunstall is only being inducted as a legend in 2024 provides an explanation as to why the other two are not legends yet, aside from character issues.

At a 2023 Commission meeting a new section was added to the charter that “allows for the AFL Commission to remove any person for conduct which brings the AFL, the Hall of Fame inductee, any AFL Club or Australian football into disrepute.”

Later in 2023 that was invoked following a ruling of the District Court of Perth involving Barry Cable. Cable has since had legend status rescinded and been removed from the Hall of Fame.

Whether you agree with the character test or not, there is now a consistency to its application.

The selection process 

The timing of selection documents is by design, giving selectors a full two months over summer to digest properly, with the instructions to provide the secretary with their own secret shortlist of six or seven nominees ahead of the selection meeting. Selectors are also asked to submit names as possible legends, with at least one living and one deceased person.

The guidelines on top of this are that at least two deceased people from earlier eras, one more recent player from the AFL era and one living player from the state league era, and that a minimum of one umpire, administrator, media figure or pioneer is inducted every two years.

In theory, this could result in the collective list still totalling up to 56 names, however in practice it will usually result in at least a few unanimous decisions.

Like Chris Judd in 2021, when a name appears on everyone’s initial shortlist there’s no sense in debating that credibility – they’re most likely in.

The official selection committee meeting in February typically involves discussions around the players that show up on multiple shortlists, further teasing out those comparisons with the selection bar.

“You discuss it and narrow it down and it always comes back to the record. By and large, we don’t have many arguments around the table,” Cornes says.

In the history of the selection these discussions have never had to go to any kind of vote. Consensus has always been found.

A maximum of eight people can be inducted as a member or elevated to legend status each year, Cornes says that if there’s any complaint it’s that the selectors would love to induct more.

 The prevailing view of current chair Richard Goyder (and previous chair Fitzpatrick) is that nominated players not selected are not being ruled out of the Hall of Fame, they’re just waiting a bit longer to get in.

A record is kept of those that just miss out, to be closely considered the following year.

The best and worst parts of the job

Chairing the AFL comes with a range of pretty attractive perks.

Yet for all the game tickets and dinners, the phone call Richard Goyder makes to each inductee may be the best part of the gig.

Those moments are often related in speeches where somebody can’t believe it’s true.

From there an inductee will nominate their ten guests to sit at their table, before preparation into the theme of their question and answer induction and their speech.

Cornes has been to every Hall of Fame night since he was inducted, and while it’s a night he treasures, selection duties make it a more complicated night than you might think.

“I’m weighed down a bit by the responsibility of those who are worthy, but aren’t yet in,” Cornes says.

“That’s the hardest thing for me. It’s great for the inductees on the night, yet you know there’s always somebody with a record that is as deserving.”

And perhaps that’s what makes the concept so distinctive.

More Coverage

The playing legend of football’s ‘Iceman’ Neale Daniher

Shannon Gill

The six games that explain Jason Dunstall’s Legend status

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To borrow a line from one of last year’s inductees, you have to be something special to be a Hall of Famer.

Hall of Fame Selection Committee: Richard Goyder (Chair) Graham Cornes, Ross Glendinning, Debbie Lee, Karen Lyon (media), Paul Marsh (AFLPA), Andrew McLeod, Alister Nicholson (media), Michael O’Loughlin, David Parkin and Patrick Keane (secretary).

The Australian Football Hall of Fame can be seen on FOX Footy and Kayo Sports, Tuesday June 18.