Wednesday 30 April 2014

2014 Round 8, Half time.

1st May Birthdays.
 
Troy Selwood 1984.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Marcus Drum, born 1st May 1987.
The Drum name is obviously well recognised at Freemantle and Marcus is the nephew of their one time coach Damian. 

With a career spanning the years 2006 to 2008 Marcus played 17 games and kicked 6 goals for the Dockers.  He was a good user of the ball but hamstring problems kept him out for the last two months of season 2006 and he was in and out of the team for the next two  years. 

He was traded to Geelong at the end of the 2009 season but did not play a senior game with them.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.


John Peck – Triple Coleman Medalist.
Joining Hawthorn as a 16 year old, John Peck played his first game in 1954 and played 213 games, kicking 475 goals before ending his career in 1966.
A big, strong player with good hands and a powerful kick he was played as a ruckman, centre half forward and centre half back before moving to the goal square.
He proved a revelation there and was the highest goal scorer for the league in three successive years, 1963, 1964 and 1965.
Peck was vice captain in the Hawk’s 1961 premiership side and played for Victoria on 7 occasions.
Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.


The Perils Of Interstate Travel.
In 1904 Essendon and Melbourne played a fixture in Sydney which Essendon lost by 32 points.
Having travelled there by boat Essendon’s return trip was delayed by rough seas and they were not able to train that week.
The next weekend they played Fitzroy and with the week they had had their game was not up to scratch and they went down to the Lions by 42 points.
Source: Sports Screamers by Jim Main and Lou Richards.


The Turners of Geelong.
Leo Turner was with Geelong from 1947 to 1954 and played 130 games for 30 goals.
He used his height and speed to advantage on the wing as one of Geelong’s best players of the time.
Part of the clubs 1951 and 1952 premiership sides he also represented Victoria 13 times.
 
Michael Turner followed his father to Geelong and was with them from 1974 to 1988 in 245 games and kicked 285 goals.
He inherited his fathers speed and also, like his father, played on the wing with the occasional stint at half forward.
Michael was captain of the club in 1984 and 1986, played 11 games for Victoria and was All Australian in 1979. 
Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.


 
 

Monday 28 April 2014

2014 Round 8, Quarter time.

29th April Birthdays.
 
Josh Carr 1980, Mark Viska 1971.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Tom McNamara, born 29th April 1990.
Tom was selected by Melbourne at pick 66 in the 2007 draft and was a tall defender from South Adelaide.

He was the youngest player in that draft year and it took him unit 2009 to play senior football.  Playing 3 games that year he didn't appear at all in 2010 and was delisted at the end of the season. 

Melbourne then re drafted him on their rookie list and in 2011 he played one more game late in the season before again being delisted and moving back to Adelaide.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.


Three Time Champion Of The Colony.
George Coulthard played football for Carlton in the VFA from 1876 to 1882, was in the premiership side of 1877 and was the VFA leading goal kicker three times.

Renowned as probably the greatest player of his time having ‘speed, grace and near perfect balance’ he was the Champion of the Colony in 1876, 1877 and 1879.
He was the umpire in a match between Melbourne and South Australian club Norwood in 1880 and choosing to wear all white for the occasion appears to be the first person to do so.

With his career ending in 1882 after a run in with the tribunal he passed away at the young age of 27 due to tuberculosis, leaving behind a wife and daughter.
Source: The Old Dark Navy Blues by Lionel Frost and Wikipedia.
 
The Lakeside Oval.
Constructed in 1878 the Lakeside Oval was home to the South Melbourne Football Club from that year until they relocated to Sydney in 1982.
Its main claims to fame are as the venue for the VFL grand final in 1901 and as home of a night football series from 1952 to 1971.
In 1995 it was renamed the Bob Jane Stadium and became home to the South Melbourne Soccer Club. Further renovations took place 2010/11 and it is now headquarters for Victorian Athletics.
One thing that has remained during all the changes is the historic grand stand built in 1926.
The current capacity of the ground is 15,000 but the record is 41,000 for a game between South Melbourne and Carlton in 1932.
Source: Austadiums Website. 
 
Barry Davis – Hall Of Fame Member.
As an Essendon player Barry Davis played 218 games and kicked 65 goals from 1961 to 1972.
He was renowned as a great half back flanker but was developed into a ruck rover under coach Jack Clarke.  As a part of the Bombers 1962 and 1965 premiership sides, he was captain in 1971-72 and won the Best and Fairest in 1968, ‘69 and ’71.  He is also in Essendon’s team of the century.
Circumstances arose that led to him crossing to North Melbourne in 1973 and he was immediately made captain.  He was in fact their first VFL premiership captain in his final year (1975).
In his time at Arden Street he played 71 games for 54 goals. To show he had not lost any of his class he won North’s Best and Fairest in 1973 and 1975 and is a member of their team of the Century.  He also represented Victoria on 11 occasions.
Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers and AFL Record Season Guide 2013.

 

 

Friday 25 April 2014

2014 Round 7, Three quarter time.

26th April Birthdays.
 
Sam Chapman 1876, Ken Jones 1934, Keith McKenzie 1922,
 Heinz Tonn 1921.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Bruce Williams, born 26th April 1939.
Bruce was born the year the second world war started and played football for Carlton from 1959 to 1964.  He was in 62 games and kicked 56 goals. 

As a rover he was good at finding the ball outside of packs and sneaking goals when around the goals.  He was first rover for the Blues in their losing 1962 grand final team and was much underrated according to John Nicholls.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.


Footy During WWII.
As in the first world war opinion was divided as to whether it was right to keep the competition going while young men and women were away fighting and in some cases losing their lives. Though the VFL did not stop the VFA was suspended from 1942 to 1944 as not many teams could field teams.

The VFL teams were heavily affected as well and quite often had to scrape together teams and sometimes had to wait until Saturday to know if they had the numbers.
Geelong pulled out of the competition from 1942 to 1944 due to travel restrictions and by 1942 Carlton had 34 players on war service, 9 of which had played in their 1938 premiership team.

Melbourne and Collingwood who had been powerhouse clubs in recent years were brought back to the pack during the early forties and other sides such as Essendon and Fitzroy won their first premierships for 20 years.
Source: The Old Dark Navy Blues by Lionel Frost and Our Game by Jim Main.
  

Three Heroes In The Theatres Of Football And War.
Bill Cosgrove was able to record just 3 games for Richmond but was such a team man that when he was in the air force he had the Tigers motto ‘Eat Em Alive’ paimted on his planes.
His one year with Richmond was in 1940 and he was killed in action in 1943 when his plane crashed into the sea.

Jim Park played 128 games for Carlton from 1932 to 1940 before enlisting in the army.  As he was a solidly built but agile defender he kicked only 5 goals. He was influential in Carlton’s 1938 premiership as he was able to curb the effectiveness of South Melbourne’s champion full forward Ron Todd.
Park died while fighting the Japanese in New Guinea in 1943.

Len Thomas was a travelling man playing for South Melbourne, Hawthorn and North Melbourne before joining the army in 1940.
He played in South Melbourne’s 1933 premiership team, represented Victoria 6 times in all and was South’s Best and Fairest in 1931 and 1938.

Len died while serving as a commando in New Guinea in 1943.
Source: The Old Dark Navy Blues by Lionel Frost, Our Game by Jim Main and The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.  

Another Triple Of Premierships For Melbourne.
In the history of the Melbourne Football Club there have been a number of times where they have won the Premiership 2 or more times in a row.

One such occasion was the first three years of the Second World War (1939-1941).  These wins would have been very important to them as their last flag before that was in 1926.

The results of the games were:
1939 – Melbourne 21:22:148 defeated Collingwood 14:11:95.
1940 – Melbourne 15:17:107 defeated Richmond 10:8:68.
1941 – Melbourne 19:13:127 defeated Essendon 13:20:98.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013.  

Marcus Wheelan ’39 Brownlow.
Marcus started his career at Collingwood in 1933 and finished his first stint with them in 1942 when he joined the military.  He spent three years in the services before returning to the club for 1946 and 1947.  Overall he played 173 games and kicked 31 goals.
His height made him a good mark and he showed great skills as a centre man or defender, being a player who always seemed to have plenty of time to size up his options.
In 1939 he won both the Brownlow Medal and the Copeland Trophy as Collingwood's Best and Fairest.  He also played for Victoria 3 times.
Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.


 

 

Wednesday 23 April 2014

2014 Round 7, Half time.

24th April Birthdays.
 
Neil Chamberlain 1955, Graham Cooper 1938, Tony Haenen 1946,
Fred Johnson 1896, Justin Murphy 1976, Bill Nettlefold 1953,
Ralph Rogerson 1938, Mark Shea 1883.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Alan Aylett, born 24th April 1934.
Probably best known as President of North Melbourne and the VFL and National Football League, Dr Aylett also had a prestigious history as a player.
 
Joining his beloved North Melbourne in 1952 he played until 1964 for a record of 220 games and 311 goals.  He was in the 'colts' (Under 17's) and jumped straight from there to the seniors, making his debut as a 17 year old, and was never dropped to the seconds.
 
Predominantly playing as a rover he was also called on to play in the centre, on a wing and even as centre half forward as the club struggled during his playing career.
Alan was the Kangaroos best and fairest from 1958-60, captain from 1961-64 and in the Victorian team 15 times.  In 1958 he won the Tassie Medal as the best player in the state carnival and was also  All Australian in 1958 and 1961.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.   
 
 

Football 1914-1918.
Australian Rules Football was booming at the start of 1914 but when the First World war broke out attendances fell sharply as did income for the clubs.
 
In 1915 there was division between those clubs that wanted to keep playing and those that thought competition should be halted for the duration of hostilities.  It came to a head after the Gallipoli landings and a meeting of club delegates was called with the result being that the majority chose to continue.

As the war required more manpower teams started to struggle and at the start of the 1916 season only Carlton, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond were able to field sides.
In 1917 Geelong and South Melbourne returned to the competition followed by St. Kilda and Essendon in 1918 and finally Melbourne in 1919.
 
Source: The Old Dark Navy Blues by Lionel Frost & Our Game by Jim Main.
 
 
 
University Players That Gave Their All.
 
There was not a club in the VFL that was not directly affected by the First World War as young men signed up and went to fight for king and country.  The most affected though was University which actually disbanded at the end of 1914.
It is known that at least 14 of their players died during the war, here are just three of their fallen heroes.
 
Dave Cumming moved to Melbourne from Perth to pursue his medical studies and played 21 games for 34 goals.
In France he was awarded the Military Cross for bravery and died as he led his men on a charge against the enemy at Villers-Brettonneux on 3rd May 1918.
 
George Elliott had played 1 game for Fitzroy in 1905 before coming to University in 1908 and played 79 games, mainly in defence, and kicked 3 goals.  He captained the club in 1911-12.
On the battle field he was a medical officer and was awarded the Military cross for bravery but was sadly killed by a shell explosion on 25th September 1917 before he heard of the commendation.
Richard Gibbs was the son of a doctor and was studying medicine at the University.  He was with the club from 1912-1914 and played 35 games for 3 goals.
He was awarded the Military cross posthumously as he was killed in his first engagement with the enemy while leading his men over a parapet under heavy machine gun fire.
 
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers, Our Game by Jim Main and The Clubs.


An Exhibition Of Aussie Rules In London.
On 28th October 1916 an exhibition match of Australian Rules Football was played at West Kensington in London.  It was an idea thought up by Dan Minogue, a Collingwood great, and others such as Frank Beaurepaire.
They put out a call for the best players in the forces and were inundated with responses to play.  The result was a team from the Third Division and an opposition team from the Combined Training Units.
Around 8000 people attended the game which not only included locals and diggers on leave but also the Prince of Wales (later king Edward VIII) and King Manuel of Portugal.
The Captain of the Third Division team was Bruce Sloss of South Melbourne and the Captain of the Training Team was Rev. Julius Perry who played for Norwood in South Australia.   At the end of the game the scores were Third Division 6.16.52 beating the Training Units team 4.12.36.
Source:  Our Game by Jim Main.
 

Monday 21 April 2014

2014 Round 7, Quarter time.

22th April Birthdays.
 
Denis Clark 1950, Stephen Lawrence 1969, Shane McCarthy 1952,
 Robert Nash 1884, John O'Connell 1951, Chris O'Sullivan 1968.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Larry Donohue, born 22nd April 1955.
With a return of 339 goals from 105 games it is easy to see that Larry Donohue was a gun forward.  He played for Geelong from 1973 to 1980 and was on the Victorian team on one occasion. 

He was a big man with a good lead and strong mark and he topped the clubs goal kicking every year from 1975 to 1998.  In 1976 he won the Coleman Medal with 105 goals.

At the end of his time at Geelong he moved to Fitzroy but did not play any senior games there.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Carl Ditterich – The Blond Bombshell.

Not only was Carl one of the most recognised players of his time he also has in interesting history playing twice at two different clubs.
Starting at St. Kilda in 1963 he burst onto the scene with a ‘best on ground’ performance in his very first game.  From there he didn’t look back as he became one of the most feared ruckmen of all and was a darling of the press and fans alike.

His first stint at St. Kilda ended with a move to Melbourne in 1973. 1976 found him back at St. Kilda and he ended his playing career at a final stint at Melbourne from 1979 to 1980.
In all he played 203 games for St. Kilda and kicked 156 goals while for Melbourne he played 82 games for 43 goals.

His personal achievements include, St Kilda best and fairest in 1968 and captain in 1976-77. He was also Melbourne’s best and fairest in 1973 and captain/coach in 1979-80.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Australian Rules and World History.
We hear dates of events in the development of our great game, but sometimes it is hard to get a true idea of where it fits in history.

The year Tom Wills wrote his letter to The Argus (1857) there was a statute put on the books in America that ‘Blacks’ were not citizens and could not try to get their freedom.  This issue of course, was a main reason for the American civil war, which was fought from 1861-1865.

In Victoria 1857 was also only 3 short years after the Eureka stockade uprising.
The Melbourne Football Club was formed in 1859, the reported birth year of American outlaw Billy the kid. It was also the year the first Inter Collegiate Baseball game was played in the United States and Britain launched its last 3 decked wooden naval vessel.
Source: Wikipedia.
 
Top Three Draft Picks 1988.
Alex McDonald was the top draft pick of 1988 and it appeared that in his first year at Hawthorn he was not really ready for the rigours of VFL football. His first game was in 1990 and he was at the club until 1995 playing 46 games and kicking 24 goals.
He moved to Collingwood in 1996 and by this time, it seems, he was much more able and in fact he was a regular member of the team in 1996 and 1997.  Showing good hand and foot skills and  an effective tagger he was with the Magpies until 1999 for 61 games and 20 goals.
Todd Breman also played for two clubs.  He was initially drafted to West Coast and played 23 games there for 15 goals.
He moved to Richmonnd in 1992 and in that and the next season he played a total of 25 games and kicked 24 goals.
Carl Dilena played his first game for Fitzroy in 1989 and when he finished at the club at the end of 1990 he had played 23 games and kicked 15 goals.
For 1991 and 1992 he wore a Kangaroos jumper and was in just 10 games kicking 8 goals for North Melbourne.
Other players taken lower down in the same draft include Chris Naish, Leon Cameron, Dion Scott, Anthony Stevens Michael Long and Daryn Cresswell.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and AFL Record Season Guide 2013.
 
 
 
 

 

Friday 18 April 2014

2014 Round 6, Three quarter time.

19th April Birthdays.
 
Aaron Fiora '81, Leigh Fisher '84, Tony Godden '72, Daniel Lowther '77,
Addam Marich '90, Roger Merrett '60, Wil Thursfield '86, Greg Tivendale '79.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Lindsay Fox, born 19th April 1937.
Every time I 'pass another fox' on the road I cannot help being reminded of the very outspoken owner of the company and ex Australian Rules footballer.

Lindsay Fox was with St Kilda from 1959 to 1961 and whilst only playing 20 games and kicking 3 goals it is no doubt that he is a Saint through and through as his connection with the club has continued over many years.

He originally played with the St Kilda thirds and went to spend a year at Golden Point before making the first team. Playing in the ruck he tried hard but the best passage of games he had was 12 in 1960.

After leaving football he grew his trucking business and returned to the club as president in 1979.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


THE MAN IN WHITE (OR ORANGE OR GREEN OR……)
As the first games of ‘The National Game’ were scratch matches there were no official umpires.  Rules and details were arranged between the captains of the two opposing teams and they made decisions as things happened during the match.

In 1865 Geelong decided that there would be umpires at every game, easing some of the confusion up to that date.  Remembering that Geelong and Melbourne were the main two clubs at this time they each tended to make up certain rules.  To this end Melbourne brought in the appointing of umpires in their 1866 revision of the rules, however these umpires were principally goal umpires but had to make decisions on scoring as well as breaches of the rules in general play.
It was not until 1874 that the rules were altered to have goal umpires appointed by each team but also a central umpire was to be chosen.  Due to the nature of the selection of these early umpires it was hard to tell them apart from the players; they may in fact have been dressed exactly the same, so they started wearing cricket whites from about 1880 and didn’t use whistles until 1886.

The next change was to introduce boundary umpires to throw the ball in when it went out of play.  This was in 1895, but up until then it was done by the central umpire.
Kick in’s for balls going ‘out on the full’ have only been used since around 1968/69 and due to the increased speed of the game it was deemed necessary for a second umpire to be appointed in 1976. Of course the game continued to speed up and it again became hard for umpires to keep up so we have had a third umpire since 1993.

 Source: A National Game.


John & Peter Somerville.
John Somerville played for Essendon from 1960 to 1967 and was a long kicking lanky forward recruited from Moe.  During his time with the Bombers he played 106 games and kicked 96 goals.

He was part of the 1962 premiership side but missed out on playing in the 1965 grand final due to a rather bizarre incident.
In the preliminary final against Collingwood he was noticed lying on the ground and there was speculation that he had fainted. This was obviously not the case no action was taken against any player but it did keep him from winning a second premiership medal.

Peter Somerville followed in his fathers footsteps as an Essendon player from 1988 to 1999.

As a ruckman he found it hard to break into the team in his early years due to the presence of Simon Madden and Paul Salmon. By 1993 he was the number 1 ruck at the club and was important to their winning the premiership.

His form from there was up and down and his time with the Bombers ended with him having played 160 games and kicking 89 goals.  
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
Lighting Up The Game.
Nowadays it is expected that there will be a number of night games played every week, but when it first happened it was quite novel.

A crowd of around 12,000 people went to see what is believed to be the first game under lights at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground on 6th August 1879.

There were a few games played during that time but at that stage it didn’t become a regular occurrence. There was a game between Richmond and South Melbourne in 1935 and another in 1950 between the VFL and VFA.
Night football has only really been recognised since a series at the Lake Oval in 1956.

This picture is of an exhibition match played under lights in Hawaii.



 Source: Our Game by Jim Main.
  
Barrie Robran – SA Great.
Barry was another all round sportsman with interests in Cricket, Basketball, Table Tennis, Cross Country running and Baseball as well as Australian Rules.

He played for North Adelaide from 1967 to 1980 in 201 games and kicking 196 goals mainly as a centre half forward but also in the centre or as a ruck rover at times.
Though he was courted by Victorian recruiters he didn’t like the idea of big city life so stayed in his native state.

His achievements as a player include 2 times premiership player, 3 times Best and Fairest, triple Magarey medallist and a SA state representative on 17 occasions.
Source: Wikipedia.
 
 

 

Wednesday 16 April 2014

2014 Roud 6, Half time.

17th April Birthdays.
 
Peter Morrison 1956, Marlon Motlop 1990.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Greg Dear, born 17th April 1963.
Greg was a dominant ruckman for Hawthorn and was in their 1986, 1988 and 1989 premiership sides.

Originally from Traralgon he played 137 games for the Hawks and kicked 18 goals in a career from 1985 to 1993. He suffered a serious knee injury in 1991 and found it hard to regain his earlier form. 

Crossing to Richmond in 1994 he still managed to play some good football and was one of the most experienced players at the club. He was particularly able to show his leadership skills in the 1995 finals series.

With the Tigers until 1996 he played 53 games and kicked 9 goals. 

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Devonport Football Club.
Though exact records are sketchy it is known that the Devonport ‘Magpies’ were formed sometime in July 1881, and as one of the first clubs in the area they were important in the establishment of the code on the North West Coast of Tasmania.

They were known as Formby until 1890 and played their first game against Latrobe on 13th August 1881 in a paddock behind Barbers Hotel in Latrobe.

Tasmanian football has undergone a number of changes over its history but the Devonport club has won 12 premierships under 3 different league banners.

Some notable footballers to come from the club and play in the AFL include Graham Wright, the Febeys, Dion Scott, Ben Harrison, Matthew Richardson, the Rawlings brothers and Aaron Joseph.

 Source: Devonport Football Club Web Site.


The Norm Smith Medal.
The Norm Smith medal has been awarded to the best player in the AFL grand final since 1979 as selected by an independent judging panel.

As a great Melbourne player and later coach (eight grand finals for six premierships) he is recognised as one of the legends of the game.

Wayne Harmes was the first winner of the medal and the only two players to have won it twice are Gary Ayres in 1986 and 1988 and Andrew McLeod in Adelaide’s back to back wins in 1997 and 1998.

 Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2103.


Daniel Bradshaw.

Playing only three games in his first year with Brisbane in 1996 Daniel was to go on and play a total of 222 games for the club for a return of 496 goals.
1997 and 1998 were boom years for the athletic forward and very accurate kick for goal.  Sidelined for 1999 due to stress fractures he resumed where he had left off and was an important part of their first premiership in 2001.

Unfortunately he was not part of the 2002 flag side and there was talk of him being traded.  Luckily that did not happen as he showed his versatility in 2003 being used at both ends of the ground and was there again to help them win their third grand final.

2004 saw him back as a more permanent forward filling in for Alastair Lynch as he worked through his own health issues.
Another injury in the preseason saw him miss 2007, but he made up for lost time with a strong 2008 as full forward.
He kicked a creditable 58 goals in 2009 but that year was to be his last at the club.

Moving to Sydney in 2010 he was there for just the one year and only managed to play 9 games for 28 goals due to more injury concerns.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.