2014 Round 3, Three quarter time.

29th March Birthdays.

Brent Green 1976, Richard Hadley 1983, Chad Morrison 1978,
Ewan Thompson 1977, Simon Verbeek 1967.

PLAYER OF THE DAY. Andrew Dunkley, born 29th March 1973.

 

Andrew had played for St. Kildas under 19 and reserves teams but when it didn't look like he was going to make the grade he moved down to Tamania to play with North Launceston.  It was during this time that Sydney recruiters saw him and decided to draft him.

Having a big body and good game sense he became an important part of the Swans back line and even though he was not a long kicker his kicks were very effective.

He was on the Swans list from 1992 to 2002 and played 217 games for 11 goals and retired whilst still being a very valuable player for the club.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.

 

 

Fitzroys Early Years.

 



The Fitzroy Football club was founded in 1883 and by February 1884 they had been accepted into the VFA competition as a senior member.  Their first victory came on 31st May 1884 in a win over Melbourne (4 goals to 1).

From there they moved along steadily, picking up players and even employing a professional trainer to condition the players.

They also had some very handy players including Jim Grace who was the highest goal scorer in the VFA in 1890 and 91.  He also won the club goal kicking 7 times.  His brother Mick also played for the club and was named champion of the colony in1899.

From the inception of the VFL in 1897 until 1910, Fitzroy had some great results finishing first on 4 occasions, 2nd 3 times and 3rd once.  There were only 5 times during that same period that they found themselves in the bottom half of the ladder.

 

Source: The Clubs (Complete History Of  Every Club In The VFL/AFL)

 

 

 

Some Interesting Nicknames.

 

There are some interesting nickname placed on Footy players.  Some are obvious, some a little harder to understand.  Here are just a few of the many.

 

Banger - Robert Harvey.

 

Blue - Guy McKenna. From his red hair.

 

Cowboy - Kevin Neale. Because of his bow legs and rolling gait.

 

Curly - Rod Austin. From his curly hair.

 

Disco - Michael Roach.

 

Duck - Wayne Carey.  He did almost seem to waddle!

 

General - Ian Paton. Named after the American General George Paton.

 

Ghost - Jim Jess. Probably due to his 'ghostly' appearance.

Source: Great Australian Football Stories by Ken Piesse & Wikipedia.

The First Brownlow Medalist.

 

'Carji' is the nickname that was given to Edward Greeves when he was just a baby and is the name that people seem to always know him by.

He was a student at Geelong College and the teachers there would not let him play in  the VFL until he was 19.  By that time he had shown his skills as an all round sportsman in Cricket, Tennis and Rowing.

On joining Geelong in 1923 he talent was obvious by his sublime kicking style and agility playing in the centre. He won the Brownlow in just his second year and also came second in 1925,1926 and 1928.

By the time he finally left Geelong in 1933 he had played 124 games, kicked 17 goals and was part of the 1925 and 1931 premiership sides.

 

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.

 

 

Richmond Number 1's.

 





 

Dan Minogue - 1920-25. 95 games 38 goals.

Having been a miner Minogue was a strong bodied man and was captain coach of Richmond for the whole time he was there. Though he had lost some pace by 1920, he was important in the clubs premiership that year and was still there for their back to back premiership in 1921.

Perce Bentley - 1925 - 40. 263 games 275 goals.

Bentley had a great tactical knowledge of the game and was a big, highly feared ruckman.  He was the captain of the team in 1932 and1933 and then captain coach until 1940.  In that time he was in 2 premiership teams, 1932 and 1934.

Mark Lee - 1977 - 91. 233 games 94 goals.

Yet another ruckman to wear the number 1 jumper at Tigerland, Lee hailed from Mildura and came to the club with big expectations on him.  He was just under 2 meters tall, but still mobile and had good skills.  A real leader in the clubs 1980 premiership side it was unfortunate that he probably didn't quite make the 'superstar' status that people expected of him.

Michael Gale - 1994 - 98. 91 games 20 goals.

Michael is probably best remembered for the blond pony tail that he wore.  Originally playing for Fitzroy, he was a half back flanker/wing and suffered from a chronic knee complaint.  He had had a knee reconstruction in 1991 and nine screws put in an injured shoulder none the less he played some exciting football for the Richmond football club.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.