2014 Round 4, Quarter time.

1st April Birthdays.

David Cockatoo-Collins 1978, Frank Considine 1934, Percy Jackson 1894,

Jim Pleydell 1944, Darryl Poole 1972, Dion Scott 1970, Lazar Vidovic 1965.

 

PLAYER OF THE DAY. Carl Steinfort, born 1st April 1977.

Carl just made it  into the 1996 season, playing the last game of the home and away fixtures and then a finals game with Geelong.  He was there from 1996 to 2000 and played 65 games for 19 goals.  1997 saw him have a good year as a tall on baller but overall he was not able to play a lot of games overall and he moved to Collingwood in 2001 when contract negotiations fell through at Geelong.

Only missing 4 games in 2001 due to minor injuries he had very consistent year and was part of Collingwood 2002 grand final side.  In his two years with the Magpies he played 27 games for 7 goals but was delisted at the end of 2002.

 Source: The Encyclopaedia of VFL/AFL Footballers.

 

 

 

Essendons 3 Marks.

 

Between the years 1992 and 1996 Essendon had 3 Marks in their team who were each great servants of the club in their own right.

 

Mark Harvey was with the club from 1984 to 1997 and played 206 games for 170 goals.  He made an immediate impact at the club in the forward line suffering some hard knocks from opposition players but always bouncing back.

 

A part of the flag side in his first year, he was there for a second in 1985 and was selected in the Victorian and All Australian sides that year also.

 

There was talk of him moving to North Melbourne but he stayed with the Bombers re finding his form on the back line and was in his third premiership side in 1993.

 

 Mark Mercuri spent 13 years at Essendon from 1992 to 2004 and played 207 games, kicking 242 goals. As a goal kicking midfielder/half forward he would be every teams dream as he seemed to perform effortlessly.

 

He was part of Essendon's premiership winning team in just his second year at the club and was got a second premiership medal in 2000.

 

Unfortunately dogged by injury for a good part of his career he did have strong years, such as 1994 when he got his first Victorian jumper and 1999 when he came runner up in the Brownlow and won Essendon's best and fairest.

 

Mark Thompson. You can tell by the fact that Mark only kicked 50 goals in his 202 games that he was mainly a defender, though obviously had his forays forward as a utility.

At the club from 1983 to 1996 he was a premiership player in 1984 and '85 and was captain in the 1993 flag side.

He was the best and fairest winner in 1987 and 1990 and played for Victorian once.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of VFL/AFL Footballers.

THE COLLYWOBBLES.

Collingwood had a long premiership drought from their 1958 win until the next in 1990.  Even though there have been longer dry spells for other clubs, it seemed worse for the Magpies as they made the grand-final a number of times but just could not win the game.  Between ’58 and ’90 they played in 8 grand finals including three in row in 1979, 1980 and 1981.

Of course it was not always this way, in fact after a couple of second places in 1925 and 26 they went on to win four premierships, ’27, ’28, ’29 and ’30.

The Collingwood football club was founded in 1889 making it one of the oldest clubs, and since then they have played in 43 grand finals (including replays) and have won 15. 

So it is a bit unfair for people to talk about the ‘Collywobbles’ when actually they are one of the most successful clubs of all time.

 

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

 

Terry Wheeler - Coach and Player.

 

Terry coached Footscray from 1990 to 1994 and was in charge in 91 games of which they won 50 drew 1 and lost 40 giving him a winning percentage of 55.49%. He guided the team to the finals in 1992 where they won one match but lost two.

As a player he was also at Footscray, from 1974-1983. He played 157 games and scored 18 goals.

Starting his career as a rover/forward pocket he moved to the back line and in true 'Bulldog fashion' he was a tough player and never took a backward step, which the fans loved.

 Source: AFL statistics & The Encyclopaedia of VFL/AFL Footballers.