Monday 7 April 2014

2014 Round 5, Quarter time.

8th April Birthdays.
 
Tony Antrobus 1962, Neil Cordy 1959, Rick Davies 1952,
 Mark Harwood 1978, Richard Walter 1959.
 
PLAYER OF THE DAY. James Sulivan, born 8th April 1896.

'Jimmy' Sullivan was born in country Maryborough the year before the VFL was established.  He was recruited from Williamstown Juniors and though weighing less than 10 stone (63 kilos), he was a fast winger with footy smarts and was an accurate kick.
Drafted by Essendon, he played 90 games from 1918 to 1925 and kicked 20 goals. He missed out on playing in their premiership side in 1923, even though he was vice captain, but was there in 1924.
In 1925 he moved to Melbourne where he managed just 6 games in his 1 year at the club.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.



UNIFORMITY

Early football matches were just games between groups of men who got together to kick a ball around; there were no ‘clubs’ and definitely no uniforms to tell the sides apart.
As many of the early teams were made up of cricketers they tended to wear their cricket ‘whites’ with a coloured cap or handkerchief to tell them apart.

Team colours were more formally introduced around 1870, along with a change to the clothes worn, as the game was rough and the players needed to have freedom of movement with the game played in all weather conditions.  Lace up guernseys replaced the flannel cricket shirt and knickerbockers (long shorts) and stockings (knee length socks) were used.

Late in the 1880’s footwear became more refined as the odd assortment of boots previously worn became specially made items with proper cleats (studs) that were less dangerous to other players than the spikes attached previously.  It should be noted that the spikes were banned.  Numbers were first experimented with at this time with the players number at first being on the breast and then on the back of their guernsey.

The early 1900’s saw the knickerbocker replaced by knee length shorts and the lace up Guernsey replaced with a long sleeved ‘jumper’.

By the 1920’s the jumpers were mostly sleeveless, the shorts starting to get shorter and numbers used permanently.
Obviously there have been changes to the style of jumper, length of shorts and boot design, but basically the look from the 1920’s is still used today.

Source: More Than A Game.
 

Bill Brownless.
While Gary Ablett was ‘the’ full forward at Geelong, Bill Brownless made centre half forward his spot.
Recruited from Jerilderie in Southern NSW, he was at the Cats from 1986 to 1997, playing 198 games and kicking 441 goals. He did have his ups and downs, but when he was on song he was a real asset to the club. His strong kicking was supported by reports that he could kick a footy over a wheat silo.
An All Australian in 1991, he also played 6 games for Victoria and lead the club goal kicking in 1991 and 1992.
 Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.

 
Picks Of The Experts.
Four noted Football writers got together to select their top 6 players and when the lists were finalised there were 3 players that they all had on their lists.
Over this week we will look at one in each ‘address’.
Haydn Bunton would be on most peoples lists of top players as he was a triple Brownlow and Sandover Medalist.
His career started off in controversy when he had to sit out the whole of the 1930 season due to a league investigation over payments made to get him to sign with Fitzroy.
However, once he started playing it was obvious why the Maroons wanted him so badly.  He won his first Brownlow in his first year (1931) and followed it up with a second the next year and then a third in 1935.
He was at the club from 1931 to 1937 and again in 1942 (for just 2 games while serving in the army). In all he played 119 games and kicked 207 goals.
In 1938 he moved to Subiaco in Western Australia and there until 1941 he scored 190 goals in 71 games.  Along the way he picked up Sandover medals in 1938, 1939 and 1941.
Bunton made a mini comeback in 1945 playing 17 games and kicking 30 goals for Port Adelaide in the SANFL.
Source: Great Australian Football Stories by Ken Piesse & The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.


 

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