Wednesday 30 July 2014

2014 Round 21, Half time.

31st July Birthdays.
 
Brodie Atkinson '72, Richard Dennis '66, Spiro Kourkoumelis '63,
Don Roach '40.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Chad Rintoul, born 31st July 1974.
In Adelaides Premiership years of 1997 and 1998 Chad played 23 games for the club, including the 1997 Grand Final, and kicked 16 goals. He was a stout mid fielder originally from East Fremantle. 

1999 found him traded to the West Coast Eagles where his strength saw him able to crash through packs and  he played 24 of his 39 games in his first year with the club.  He also scored 10 goals for them before again being, surprisingly, delisted at the end of 2000.

This time he moved to Victoria to play at Collingwood where he spent the next two seasons.  During his time with the Magpies he played 14 games for 5 goals.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

 
Top 3 Draft Picks 1992.
Drew Banfield was drafted to the West Coast Eagles in their first flag winning year but didn’t debut for them until 1993.
However, 2 of his 265 games were Premierships in, 1994 and 2005, with him being the only player to be in both.
Starting as a tagger, he was moved to the mid field where he really showed his worth.
By the time he finished his career in 2006 he had scored 76 goals and as well as being a dual Premiership player he was club Best and Fairest in 1996 and represented Western Australia twice.

Nathan Chapman was put straight into the full back post when he joined Brisbane and played 60 games for them from 1993 to 1997 kicking 13 goals.
He had a few good years at the club, but by around 1996 injury and lack of form took their toll and he was delisted.
Moving to Hawthorn he had another good year in 1998, but with the emergence of other defenders he again found himself overlooked.
From 1998 to 2000 he played 16 games for 4 goals.

Michael Prior became a Bomber at this draft and played 81 games for Essendon from 1994 to 2000 and kicked 19 goals.
By 1996 this tough half back flanker really hit his straps and was a regular part of the team until around 2000 when he started to play less matches and spent a lot of time on the bench.
2001 saw him move back to his native state of Western Australia where he joined the West Coast Eagles.  Over the next two seasons he was in 9 games for 1 goal and during his career he also represented Western Australia in 2 state of origin games.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & AFL Record Season Guide 2013.


Glenorchy AFC.
Glenorchy football club as we know it today came about when the New Town football club merged with the club playing at Glenorchy.
Football was played at New Town since the late 1870’s and the club started playing junior league games in 1919.
Accepted into the Tasmanian Football League seniors in 1921 they had to wait until 1935 to win the first of their 16 premierships.  The Captain/Coach of that team was Roy Cazaly who went on to play in Victoria before coming back to the club in 1948 as Coach.

In 1957 New Town joined Glenorchy Rovers to form the Glenorchy Magpies and they continued in the TFL until it was disbanded in 2000.  Since then they have been part of the Southern Football League.

Notable players to join VFL/AFL ranks from the club include Brodie Holland, Aaron Joseph and Daryn Cresswell.  Peter Hudson also played for the club after his VFL career.
 Source: australian football.com


Jarrod Molloy – Journeyman.
Jarrod played for Fitzroy, as had his father, from 1994 to 1996 in 59 games and kicked 54 goals.
He was drafted from Box Hill in the VFA under the Father Son rule, having debuted there at 16 years of age.
Having a good first year he dropped off a little in 1995 and then shone again in 1996 when moved to full back.
Moving to Brisbane with the merger he again found himself at full forward and had another good year until injuries saw him sidelined.
He was with the Lions from 1997 to 2000 and played 61 games for 104 goals, topping the clubs goal kicking in 1999.
2001 saw him back in Victoria with Collingwood.  He was always a big bodied player and he lost 10 kg in the lead up to the 2001 season.
Jarrod liked to use his frame to crash the packs, and this added to the potency of the Magpies forward line.
By 2003 the crash and bash style had taken its toll on his body and he retired at the end of that season after playing 49 games for 42 goals.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
 

Monday 28 July 2014

2014 Round 21, Quarter time.

29th July Birthdays.
 
Glen Coghlan 1974, Nick Holland 1974, Dean Howard 1976,
Michael Osborne 1982.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Mark Kellett, born 29th July 1960.
Mark was a 150 game player. Alas, it took him time at 3 different clubs to achieve it. 

Playing his first game at St. Kilda in 1979, he was there until 1982 for a total of 55 games and 7 goals. He was drafted to the club from Melbourne fourths and was a rangy defender that made life hard for opposing forwards.

When he was delisted by the Saints he moved on to Footscray and between 1983 and 1986 he played another 63 games and kicked 3 goals.

Following this stint he moved to Sydney to work and the Swans approached him to see if he would like to resurrect his career. He did join them, and from 1988 to 1990 kicked 1 goal in 37 games.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Glenferrie Oval.
The Glenferrie Oval was home to the Hawthorn Football Club from 1906 to 1973 and hosted 584 VFL matches.
Having narrow wings the ground is an odd shape and cannot be widened as it is built between a railway line and suburban streets.
The main grandstand (pictured left) was erected in 1938 and is named  after Hawthorn champion and games record holder Michael Tuck.
Built in the mid 1960’s, the other stand at the ground is named the Ferguson stand after ‘Sandy’ Ferguson who became the clubs medical officer in 1950 and was President from 1952 to 1967.
The largest crowd at the ground was 36,786 for a game between Hawthorn and Carlton in 1965.  However, the current capacity is only about 10,000.
Source: Austadiums  and  Wikipedia.


VFA & EARLY CLUBS.
By the early 1860’s actual football clubs were becoming more common with the main ones  being Melbourne, South Yarra, St Kilda, Richmond, Emerald Hill (which became South Melbourne), Prahran, University and Collingwood. Some of these teams are not those of the same name in the current competition.
By 1877 people realised that there needed to be a central body to help organise and control the competition and so the VFA was formed on 7th May that year.
At that time the association was split into two divisions with the senior clubs being Carlton, Melbourne, Hotham (which became North Melbourne), Albert Park and St Kilda. Geelong also played against these clubs though it was not officially recognised as a senior club until the following year.
Some of the junior clubs were Essendon, Hawthorn (not current club as this one was disbanded in 1888) and South Melbourne.  Essendon and West Melbourne became senior clubs in 1878 and South Melbourne in 1879.
By this time there had developed a gap between the richer, more prosperous clubs and their ‘poor neighbours’ so some of the clubs got together and decided to form another competition and so the VFL came into existence in 1897. 
The breakaway clubs were Carlton, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, South Melbourne, St Kilda and Collingwood. Meanwhile the VFA were left with Richmond, Port Melbourne, North Melbourne, Footscray and Williamstown, some of which eventually made their way into the VFL.
For a number of years there were attempts for the two groups to work side by side but there was always some ill feeling and eventually the VFL became the more well supported competition.
Source: More Than A Game and  A National Game.


Danny Frawley – Player & Coach.
Danny ‘Spud’ Frawley played 240 great games, mainly in defence, for St. Kilda from 1984 to 1995 and kicked just 13 goals.
When he joined the Saints he had been on a potato farm in East Ballarat, hence the nickname, and after a few games in the forward line he moved to full back.
Playing his first of 11 games for Victoria in 1987 that was also the year he became Captain of the club.  He held that post for 9 years and led them into the finals in 1991, the first time they had been there for 18 years.
He won the club Best and Fairest in 1988 and was All Australian that year as well.
After hanging up the boots he had a couple of years as assistant coach at Collingwood before taking up the reins at Richmond.
Coaching the Tigers in 113 games between 2000 and 2004, he managed to get them into the finals in 2001 where they were beaten in the Preliminary Final.
This was their best result during his time there and the results in the following years saw the end of his tenure.
His record at Richmond was 113 games for 45 wins and 68 losses.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and AFL Record Season Guide 2013.
 

Friday 25 July 2014

2014 Round 20, Three quarter time.

26th July Birthdays.
 
Simon Beasley 1956, Nathan Buckley 1972, Jim Plunkett 1978.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Ryan Hargrave, born 26th July 1981.
Ryan followed his father to the Western Bulldogs but played a lot more games for the club.  From 2002 to 2012 Ryan was in 186 games and kicked 35 goals.

Although he had a light frame (79kg), he proved to be a very capable defender, and after a slow start in his first year he had a better year in 2002, playing 19 games.

2004 saw him in 14 games but by 2005 and 2006 he was a regular in the team.  In 2008 Coach Rodney Eade said he was one of the most improved players at the club.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

 
3 x #20 At Hawthorn.
Albert ‘Bert’ Hyde played 129 games for Hawthorn from 1925 to 1935 and kicked an impressive 269 goals.
He had a long kick and could take a good grab, winning the clubs goal kicking from 1926 to 1932.
Personal achievements include playing for Victoria in 1928, 1929 and 1933.

Ian Bremner joined the Hawks in 1967 after playing 1 season and 1 game at Collingwood.
Faring much better at his new club he played 158 games and kicked 6 goals from 1967 to 1976.
Collingwood realised, too late, that they had made a mistake letting him go, as he turned out to be a hard half back flanker that played in Hawthorn’s 1971 and 1976 Premiership sides.

Scott Maginness also played on a half back flank and was part of the Hawk’s 1998 and 1999 flag sides.
With the club from 1988 to 1996 he played 131 games for 8 goals and was a no frills, hardworking team man.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and AFL tables.
 
Barry Breen.
Barry will always be remembered as the hero of St. Kilda’s one and only Premiership in 1966 when he kicked a point to give them the game.
With a Grandfather that had played Gaelic Football and led Kerry to the All-Ireland championship, football was in his blood.  Playing at centre half forward early in his career he moved to defence and fitted in there as well.
He was a 300 game player for the Saints from 1965 to 1982 and kicked 308 goals. Captain of the club in 1979, he topped their goal kicking in 1970 and represented Victoria 3 times.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Some Lesser Known Awards.
Awards such as the Brownlow Medal and the Norm Smith medal are well known.  But there are, or were, some lesser known awards presented to players in the VFL/AFL.

The Gardiner Medal was first awarded in 1926 and was for the Best and Fairest player in the VFL Seconds.
Named after a late President of the competition (Frank Gardiner) it was last presented in 1999 when the Reserves, as it was known since 1959, was terminated.
Some winners of this award that went on to be VFL/AFL footballers include Tony Liberatore, Roger Merrett and Greg Dear.

The Morrish Medal was named in honour of a Tom Morrish who was treasurer of the Seconds/Reserves from 1922 to 1967. It was first awarded in 1947 to the Best and Fairest player in the VFL thirds which changed its name to the under 19’s in 1959.
With the changes to the AFL competition the medal has been presented to the Best and Fairest in the TAC cup under 18’s since 1992.

The Michael Tuck Medal is quite obviously named after games record holder and Hawthorn great Michael Tuck.
Presented since 1992, it is awarded to the Best and Fairest player in the night/pre-season grand-final.
Some well-known winners have been Wayne Carey, Robert Harvey and Nick Stevens at both Port Adelaide and Carlton.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013.

Peter Carey.
The term ‘club stalwart’ is sometimes used too readily.  But in the case of Peter Carey it definitely applies.
Over 18 seasons (1971-1988) he played an amazing 448 games for Glenelg in the SANFL and kicked 521 goals.
As well as being inducted into the Australian Football Hall of fame in 2009, he was club Best and Fairest 3 times, leading goal kicker in 1973 and Captain ’83-’88. 
He was also in 3 Premiership teams, played for South Australia 19 times and was All Australian in 1979 and 1980.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013.
 
 

Wednesday 23 July 2014

2014 Round 20, Half time.

24th July Birthdays.
 
Mark Bairstow '63, John Blakey '66, Ern Henfrey '21, Steven Koops '78,
Peter Walsh '76.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Grant Tanner, born 24th July 1970.
Originally from Norwood in the SANFL, Grant was listed at one time with Adelaide but played all his senior AFL football at Geelong. 

Playing his first game of 69 in 1994 he was at the club until 1997 and kicked 28 goals. 

Though there was not much of him he was a good tackler and moved around the ground well.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Simon Beasley – Coleman Medalist.
Before Simon crossed the Nullarbor to take up his role with Footscray he had already shown his ability in front of goals with Swan Districts.  He kicked 291 goals in 80 games for the club and was the WAFL top goal scorer on at least one occasion.
Continuing his great form with the Bulldogs, he topped their goal kicking from 1982 to 1987 and won the Coleman medal in 1985 with 105 goals for the season.
Three times he kicked 12 goals in a match and also kicked 11 and 10 in two other games.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
THE GREAT GAME SPREADS ACROSS THE LAND.
When you have something as great as ‘Aussie Rules’ you want other people to know about it and so it should have been no surprise that it spread to the other colonies.  Some of course accepted it as their main game while in NSW and Queensland rugby remained stronger.
Tasmania was actually the first outside Victoria to start playing 'football', though it was not a formal competition with 'Victorian' rules until the mid 1860’s. However, by the mid 1870’s it was flourishing.  It is interesting that, though Tasmania is the smallest state, they actually had Northern and Southern associations.
South Australia really took to the game and have been playing since about 1860, with 13 clubs in their association when it was formed in 1877.
It is recorded that Ipswich and Brisbane Grammar schools had been playing games under ‘Victorian rules’ since about 1870 but the Queensland football association was actually established in 1880.
The New South Wales football association was also established in 1880, but of course it was more low-key than in other states.  When the Victorians were trying to expand the game they sent a team to Sydney for a game that was played by Australian rules for one half and Rugby rules for the other half.  Quite expectedly the players for the individual codes played well in their half and struggled when playing an unfamiliar game.
It took a little longer for the news to reach Western Australia with them first playing in the early 1880’s and their association starting in 1885 with only 3 or 4 teams.
The first recorded game in the Northern Territory was in 1916, though it is now believed that they have more players per capita in the national league than any other state.
Source: A National Game and More Than A Game.
 
Shane and Ty Zantuck.
Shane Zantuck played football for 3 clubs. Starting his career at North Melbourne , he represented them in only 5 games in 3 seasons (1974-1976) and averaged 1 goal per season.
Moving to South Melbourne in 1977, he was there until 1980 and was in 56 games for 36 goals.
His third club was Melbourne where he played 88 games for 13 goals, mainly due to the fact that he was on the wing early but was used as a strong back pocket later on. He was with the Demons from 1981-1986.

Ty Zantuck is Shanes son but didn’t play for any of the clubs his father had.
Joining Richmond in 2000 he played 68 games for 20 goals.  Like his father he had pace, which he used to full advantage, and in 2002 and 2003 he played in every match.
2004 was not so good and in 2005 he crossed to Essendon where he played 9 games in his 1 year with the club.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
 
 

 

Monday 21 July 2014

2014 Round 20, Quarter time.

22nd July Birthdays.
 
Kane Fraser '77, Haydon Kilmartin '73, Doug Koop '60, Bruce Lindsay '61, Steven Pitt '73, Russell Shields '62.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. James Begley, born 22nd July 1980.
James must have really had something about him as he was drafted by St. Kilda from SANFL club Sturt, even though he had not played a senior game of football. 

From 1999 to 2002 he played 36 games for 7 goals, hampered by injury for some of the time. 

A close friend of his was killed in the Bali bombings and this led to his desire to move back to Adelaide.  Joining the Crows in 2003, and still dogged by injury, he managed 25 games and kicked 3 goals up to the end of the 2005 season.
 
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Carlton’s Early Years.
Like many of the football clubs in the early years of the game, Carlton was formed from members of the local cricket club.
Founded in 1864, their first President and secretary were elected in 1865.  In 1866 George Coppin, who was an entrepreneur, among other things, took over the Presidency.
The club had their first win over Melbourne in 1867 (2-nil) and by 1871 they won their first Premiership.  This was known as the South Yarra Challenge Cup due to the fact that South Yarra had won it in its inaugural year of 1870.
In 1874 Carlton became the premier team in the colony by being undefeated for the season and in 1877 they won the first VFA premiership and George Coulthard was proclaimed champion of the colony.
Despite their strength, Carlton was not able to secure a ground to play on and did not really settle until they were granted a parcel of land at the southern end of Princes Park in Carlton which became Princes Park Oval and has been their spiritual home since around 1878.
Source: The Clubs. A Complete History Of  Every Club In The VFL/AFL.

 
Jack E Clarke – Hall OF Famer.
Jack Clarke was an Essendon champion, inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.  He kicked 180 goals for the club in 263 games from 1951 to 1967.
The brother of runner Ron Clarke, Jack was also a superb athlete and showed a lot of poise and skill playing in the centre for his team.
He captained the club from 1958-64 and coached them from 1968-70.  Part of the 1962 and 1965 Premiership sides, he also won 2 club Best and Fairests, played 27 games for Victoria and was an All Australian 3 times.
Coaching the Bombers in 65 games, his record was 33 wins, 2 draws and 30 losses.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and AFL Record Season Guide 2013.
 

International Rules.
Games between Ireland and Australia have been played since 1967 but the game we now know as international Rules was first played in 1984.
Some of the basic rules of the game are:
-     A match consists of 4 x 18 minute quarters with 5 minute breaks at quarter and three quarter time and 15 minutes at half time.

-     The game is played on a rectangular field with the goals being a cross between Australian Rules, Rugby and Soccer goals.

-     Each team has 15 players on the field and a 9 man interchange bench.

-     If the ball bounces off any part of the goals and comes back into the field of play, play on is called.

-     When the ball crosses a boundary line a throw/kick in is awarded against the team who last touched it.

-     A player on the ground cannot take possession of the ball, he must knock it on.

-     Tackling, bumping and handpassing rules are the same as in Aussie Rules and a maximum of 10 interchanges are allowed each quarter.

Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013.

Friday 18 July 2014

2014 Round 19, Three quarter time.

19th July Birthdays.
 
Robert Ahmat '77, Allan Holmes '52, Darren Hulme '77, Ted Larsen '23,
Peter Light '60.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Andrew Bews, born 19th July 1964.
Andrew will probably be best known as a nuggety little tagger who managed to get a lot of the ball himself.

Joining Geelong in 1982 he played 207 games for the Cats and kicked 132 goals up to the end of the 1993 season. Whist he did have an injury interrupted time at Geelong he was still Captain for 1990  and 1991. 

In 1994 he moved to Brisbane where he stayed until finishing his career at the end of 1998.  During this time he played 75 games and scored 2 goals. 

He was also a Victorian representative on 12 occasions.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

 
Melbourne TOC Back Line.
John Beckwith was named as one of the back pockets in the Melbourne team of the century. With the team from 1951 to 1960 he played 176 games for 19 goals and was a dab hand at being able to find the boundary line when clearing the ball from defence.
Though he started as a centre man, he moved back and found his place in the back pocket.  He was a part of the clubs Premiership teams in 1955, ’56, ’57, ’59 and ’60 and was Captain from ’57-’59.

Robert ‘Tassie’ Johnson, full back, was at Melbourne for 11 seasons (’59-’69) and was in 202 games, scoring 20 goals.
Despite playing most of his junior football in the forward line, he seemed a natural at full back being cool under pressure and having a long kick.
He played in 3 flag sides and represented Victoria on 12 occasions.

Don Cordner played 166 games and kicked 23 goals for Melbourne from 1941 to 1950 and was named as the other back pocket in their team of the century.
Don had been playing football at Melbourne university where he was studying to be a doctor and his first game with the Demons was the 1941 semi-final.
This ruck man/defender captained the club in 1948-1949, was in the Premiership sides of 1941 and ’48 and won the Brownlow medal in 1946.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and the Melbourne Football Club website.
 
 
AKA!
There is no doubt that one of the most out spoken, colourful and controversial players of the past 20 years has been Jason Akermanis.
Joining the Brisbane Lions from QAFL club Maine in 1995, he played 248 games for the club and kicked 307 goals.
He was a dashing wing come forward who liked to take long, bouncing runs before taking a shot on goal.
Playing in the clubs 3 flags (2001-2003), he was also club Best and Fairest twice, All Australian 4 times and won the Brownlow medal in 2001.
Unrest between Jason and coach Leigh Matthews saw him move to the Western Bulldogs in 2007 where he played 77 games for 114 goals.
Never being far from controversy or an opinion, he was delisted by the club during the 2010 season.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and Wikipedia.

 
3 Cricketers Who Tried Footy.
A lot of professional sportsmen are good at more than one discipline and a lot of the time Aussie rules wins out due to its excitement or money. But sometimes it goes the other way and these 3 top Australian test cricketers tried footy but ended up in Cricket.

Simon O’Donnell was on St. Kildas list from 1982-83 and played 24 senior games for 18 goals.
Originally from Deniliquin in NSW he was at Assumption College when drafted by the Saints.
At 21 he decided that cricket was the game for him, and despite almost being coaxed back in 1984, he concentrated on that game.

Max ‘Tangles’ Walker played 85 games for Melbourne between 1967 and 1972 and kicked 23 goals.
Max played footy in Winter and cricket in Summer and though he was quite a good footballer, being a good mark and playing ruck/defender, he eventually settled on cricket.

Shane Warne first played football for the St Kilda under 19’s in1987 (5 games).
In 1988 he came back for more under 19 games and was promoted to the reserves but was delisted at the end of that year.
He of course then went on to become one of the greatest wicket takers of all time.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and Wikipedia.


An Almost Merger.
North Melbourne were desperate to get into the VFL, so much so that in 1921 they looked at merging with Essendon.
Essendon were going to lose their home ground, the East Melbourne Cricket Ground, and North offered them use of Arden St in return for a merger.
So sure were North that it would happen they didn’t play their last 3 VFA games in 1921.  But of course the union did not eventuate and North had to wait until 1925 to get into the VFL. Meanwhile Essendon moved to the Essendon Recreation Reserve (Windy Hill).
Source: Our Game by Jim Main.

Wednesday 16 July 2014

2014 Round 19, Half time.

17th July Birthdays.
 
Andrew Leoncelli 1974.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Garry Wilson, born 17th July 1953.
As a courageous, goal kicking rover, Garry played 268 games for Fitzroy from 1971 to 1984 and kicked 451 goals. 

Though he was not a very big man, he stood up to the rigours of VFL football and as a sign of how good he was North Melbourne offered to sign him from the Lions as they considered him the best rover in the league.

Winning the clubs Best and Fairest in 1972, 1976 and 1978-1980, he also captained the club from 1981 to 1984.  He  represented Victoria on 12 occasions.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


The Brothers Brewer.
Ross Brewer is the younger of the brothers and started his football journey at Melbourne in 1972.  From then until 1978 he played 121 games for the Demons and kicked 196 goals, topping their goal kicking in both 1973 and 1974.
After Melbourne he moved to Collingwood where he spent 3 seasons (1979-1981) for 47 games and 85 goals.
His final club was Richmond. He kicked 8 goals in just 6 games with the Tigers in 1982 and 1983.
Following his VFL career he became a power full forward at VFA club Sandringham.

Ian Brewer was unlike his brother in that he only played senior football for the one club. As a servant of Collingwood from 1956 to 1961 he played 84 games for 164 goals.
Like his younger brother he was a sharpshooter and topped the clubs goal kicking in 1957 and the league goal kicking in 1958. He was part of Collingwood’s 1958 flag side and was also in their 1960 losing Grand final side.
In 1962 he tried his luck at St. Kilda but did not play a senior game, then he went to Claremont (WA) for 2 years, leading the goal kicking in 1963 and in the Premiership side in 1964.  1965 found him at Norwood (SA) where he was top goal scorer in the SANFL.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
Greg Williams – Dual Brownlow Medalist.
Greg Williams overcame knock knees and rejection to become one of the most talented Australian Rules footballers of all time.
From Golden Square in the Bendigo league, he tried his luck at Carlton a couple of times but was rejected as being too slow.
Geelong though could see something in this Bendigo league Best and Fairest, and in his 34 games in two years (1984-85) he let his skills do the talking.
His former Geelong coach, Tom Hafey, had moved to Sydney to lead the Swans and players such as Williams were on his shopping list.
Greg decided to move north to the new franchise and from 1986 to 1991 he played 107 games and kicked 118 goals for the Swans, winning his first Brownlow in 1986.
By 1991 things had started to sour in the harbour city and Greg told them he wanted to transfer back to Victoria.  The lucky club to get the services of this champion was Carlton, the club he had wanted to join so many years before.
It took him a time to get used to the new club, but by 1993 he was up and flying and in 1994 he won his second Brownlow medal.
 
Playing in Navy Blue from 1992 to 1997 he was in 109 games and kicked 89 goals.
He won the Norm Smith medal in the clubs Premiership year of 1995 and was a Victorian representative 9 times and All Australian 4.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


C is for Commentator.
And here are 3 commentators who’s surnames start with C.
Wayne Carey or Duck or the King, played 244 games for North Melbourne from 1989 to 2001 and kicked 671 goals.  During this time he topped North’s goal kicking 5 times.
Always an easily recognised figure, he didn’t just talk he acted, and was one of the best centre half forwards of all time.
He captained the club from 1993 to 2001, which included 2 Premierships, and was All Australian 7 times.
In 2003 he transferred to Adelaide where he played 2 seasons for 28 games and 56 goals.

Leigh Colbert played 105 games for Geelong between 1993 and 1998 and kicked 50 goals. He showed his talent right from arriving at the club and was used to quell the influence of some of the best players around, while also being able to play his own game.
His transfer to North Melbourne in 2000 came as a bit of a surprise to the Geelong folk and in 6 seasons (2000-20005) he played in 104 games for the Kangaroos kicking 14 goals.
Though he suffered some quite serious injuries during his time at North Melbourne he kept soldiering on and was a fine player right up until his retirement.

Dennis Cometti played for West Perth during the late ‘60’s and was the clubs highest goal kicker in 1968 with 60 goals.
Signed to Footscray in 1971, he did not play a senior game and moved back to Western Australia.
In the 1970’s he coached some minor league teams, leading Maddington to 3 Premierships as Captain Coach and Osborne Park to the 1979 flag as Coach.
Prior to taking up his permanent broadcasting roll he did spend 3 seasons as Coach back at West Perth (1982-84).
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and Wikipedia.