2014 Round 25, Three quarter time.

30th August Birthdays.

 

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Mark Jackson, born 30th August 1959.

If you had to pick a few words to describe Mark 'Jacko' Jackson they would probably be individual, a character and unique.

On Richmonds list at one stage he was loaned to South Freemantle  but actually got a vote of unpopularity by the other players and returned to Richmond where he was unable to get a senior game.

For the 1981 and 1982 seasons he played under Ron Barassi at Melbourne and was in 41 games for 152 goals.  Ron was not able to put up with his antics and so he moved on to St. Kilda. 

There he played just 10 games in 1983 for 41 goals, which included a bag of 10 against Sydney.  Again he tried the coaches patience and mid season he was sacked but found his way to Geelong.

From 1984 to '86 he was able to notch up 31 games for 115 goals, but once more the coach despaired at his behaviour and that was the end of his VFL career.

Along the way he kicked 308 goals in 82 games, an average of 3.3 and he had a streak of 79 games where he kicked at least 1 goal.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

THE MAN WITH MOVIE STAR LOOKS.

Haydn Bunton Snr. came to the Fitzroy football club under some controversy.  It was claimed he had been paid to sign with Fitzroy, which was not allowed at that time, and he was banned from playing for the whole of the 1930 season.

Then when he did get to play, the 19 year old with the ‘matinee idol looks’, won the Brownlow medal in 1931 and ’32, was runner up in 1934 and then won again in 1935.

Obviously he was a highly skilled player, averaging over 30 kicks a game and as well as the Brownlows he was Fitzroy Best and Fairest twice and leading goal kicker twice.

After his time in Victoria he went to Western Australia and won the Sandover Medal (Best and Fairest) three times also.

His playing career finished with Port Adelaide and he then went on to be an umpire and coach.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

North Melbourne-The Early Years.

There is no official record of the foundation of the North Melbourne football club, but we do know that they played in the competition of the time in 1869.

The first documented report of them playing was in ‘The Australasian’ on 2^nd October 1869, stating that they had won their last game for the season.  Then, again in July 1870, there is a report of them defeating Carlton United.

It was believed that North were originally called Hotham, however there is also an item about a club called Hotham having a win on that same day in July 1870.  It is quite possible that players were moved between the two clubs.

Whilst being called a ‘junior club’, they were starting to gain recognition and in 1873 they played 14 games, winning 7, drawing 6 and losing 1.

Sharing Royal Park with Carlton as their home ground, North became a ‘senior club’ in 1874 and by 1875 had 120 members.

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

 

Kevin Bartlett-Hall Of Fame Legend.

No doubt all of the people recognised as a legend in the Australian Football Hall Of Fame deserve to be there, but the title seems to fit some more than others.
 

Kevin ‘Hungry’ Bartlett would be one of those. Playing 403 games from 1965 to 1983 he kicked 778 goals and was Richmond through and through.
 

There wasn’t much of him, but what he did have was pace, as well as enormous talent, so he just kept out of trouble and had 29 injury free seasons.
 

Personal achievements along the way include, 5 club Best and Fairests, leading goal kicker 3 times, 20 state games, 5 Premierships and the Norm Smith Medal in 1980.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Fog Disrupts Game.

21^st August 1971 and Carlton was looking to get into the finals to defend their premiership win over Collingwood from the year before.

On this day they were playing Fitzroy and at half time were 25 points in arrears. In the third quarter they started to make a comeback, but then nature had its way and thick fog rolled in across the ground.

It was so bad that they couldn’t see the ball about 10 metres away and the spectators had no clue as to what was happening.  Then the fog disappeared again, but Carlton had lost its run and ended up losing by 23 points.

Source: Our Game by Jim Main.

 

2014 Round 25, Half time.

28th August Birthdays.

 

Chris Groom 1973.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Wade Thompson, born 28th August 1988.

Taken at pick number 4 by Port Power in the rookie draft of 2009, Wade was a small forward with great pace and knew how to kick a goal. 

Playing in the NAB cup in 2009 he kicked 3 goals in one match and continued to impress in those games.  When the season proper started he was elevated to the senior side but played just 2 games.

In 2010 he was again in the NAB cup games though he was unable to break back into the senior side and was delisted at the end of the year.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Rodney Eade-Player and Coach.

Rodney played for Hawthorn for most of his career under the great coaches, Kennedy, Parkin and Jeans.

With the club from 1976-’87 he played 229 games for 46 goals, mainly on the wing.  He was in 4 Premiership teams with the Hawks  and had inherited the jumper of another great Tasmania in Peter Hudson.

In 1988 he moved to Brisbane where he was in 30 games for 3 goals up until the end of 1990.

Following his playing days he did a coaching apprenticeship at a few clubs before being appointed senior coach at Sydney in 1996.

In his first year he got them into the grand final and they were in the finals for the next 3 years.  2000 saw then finish in 11^th place but in 2001 they were back in the finals again finishing the season 7^th on the ladder. 

His tenure at the club ended mid 2002 and his record while there, including 8 finals, was 152 games for 81 wins 2 draws and 69 losses, a winning percentage of 53%.

He floated for a couple of years before taking on the senior coaching role at the Western Bulldogs.

As at Sydney he had immediate success at the Whitten Oval getting the club into the finals in his second year, after finishing 9^th in his first season (2005).

2007 saw them finish 13^th, but they managed to get back up in 2008, finishing 3^rd and then in 2009 and 2010 they made it to the preliminary finals.
 

When he finished as coach in 2011 his figures were very much the same as at Sydney, 162 games for 88 wins, 2 draws and 72 losses, with 11 finals appearances.  His winning percentage being 54%.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & AFL Record Season Guide 2013.

Highest Scores For A Quarter.

Some massive scores have been kicked by teams in individual quarters and most of these would be a respectable score at the end of a match.

1^st quarter. 15.4.94 – Essendon v Gold Coast. Round 6 2011.

Final score: Essendon 31.11.197 def Gold Caost 8.10.58.

2^nd quarter. 14.4.86 – Adelaide v Fitzroy. Round 17 1996.

Final score: Adelaide 26.10.166 def Fitzroy 9.13.67.

3^rd quarter. 13.4.82 – Essendon v Footscray. Round 22 1982.

Final score: Essendon 32.16.208 def Footscray 9.8.62.

4^th quarter. 17.4.106 – South Melbourne v St.Kilda. Round 12 1919.

Final score: South Melbourne 29.15.189 def St. Kilda 2.6.18.

Source: AFL tables & AFL Record Season Guide 2013.

 

 

Laurie & Steven Icke.

Laurie Icke joined North Melbourne from East Ballarat and was renowned for being a hard payer who had a ‘mad stare’.

Between 1952 and 1957 he played 57 games for the club and was part of a defence that was regarded as the hardest in the VFL.

 

 

 

 

Steven Icke followed his father to North but was able to play a lot more matches, 120, and kick 33 goals from 1975 to 1981.

Playing mainly in the back line, he was centre half forward in their flag winning side in 1977.

He was selected in the state squad in 1977 and 1980 but was traded to Melbourne in 1982.

While there, he played a further 78 games for 17 goals before retiring at the end of 1987. Club Best and Fairest in 1982, he was also selected in the Victorian team again in 1983.

 

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers. 

 

2014 Round 25, Quarter time.

26th August Birthdays.

 

Jess Sinclair 1978.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Neil Mann, born 26th August 1924.

Having a hand span of 28cm Neil is renowned to have had the biggest pair of hands in the league, so it is no wonder he was a strong mark. 

Trying out for the thirds at St. Kilda but not staying, he was not able to get a game with Collingwood Technical School but did get picked up by Collingwood and first played for them in 1945. 

Playing firstly at full forward and centre half forward, he started to really shine when moved to centre half back. His career included 179 games for Collingwood from 1945-'56 for 155 goals, being their leading goal kicker in 1947 and representing Victoria 10 times.

He was also club Captain in 1955-'56 and played in the 1953 Premiership team. Reserves coach at the Magpies for 14 years, he was the senior coach from 1972-'74. 
 

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Footscray Team Of The Century-Back Line.

Charlie Sutton was Captain-Coach of Footscrays only Premiership team and was named in the back pocket in their team of the century, a position he played with great skill.

In 1942 and then from 1946-1956 he played 173 games for the club and kicked 65 goals. He was Captain-Coach from 1951-’56 and was replaced as Coach in 1957.

Other achievements include, Best and Fairest in 1950, joint leading goal kicker in 1951 and representing Victoria 18 times, including the roll of Captain-Coach in 1952.

Herb Henderson, at full back, was with the club from 1950 – 1958 in 130 games and once in the team didn’t move from that position.

Voted second best ever full back by a panel of judges in 1970, he held the great John Coleman to very low figures in the 7 games they played on each other, the best being 4 goals. Part of the clubs flag winning team, he also represented Victoria in 1954 and ’55.

John Schultz lines up in the other back pocket, even though in club games he only rested there as he was one of the hardest yet fairest ruckmen to play on.

From 1958-’68 he played 188 games for 39 goals and was selected in the state side in his first year and represented Victoria 24 times in all.

Winning the clubs Best and Fairest 5 times, he was also the Brownlow Medalist in 1960.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & Wikipedia.

Geelong Moves To Kardinia Park.

Geelong, being one of the oldest Australian Rules clubs, was an automatic inclusion when the VFL was established in 1897 and they played their home games at the Corio oval.

After the round 17 game in 1940 the army took over the ground as a station for troops, meaning that Geelong had to find a new home.

 

Kardinia Park (Skilled Stadium) as it is now after the latest redevelopment.

 

In 1941 they moved to Kardinia Park, situated in the middle of Geelong.  The ground had a good surface but the facilities weren’t the best.

At the end of the year, due to war time travel restrictions and petrol rationing, Geelong football club went into recession until 1944.

When they resumed playing they voted to keep Kardinia Park as their home ground and they have been there ever since.

Source: Our Game by Jim Main.

Paul Harding-Journeyman.

First on Hawthorns list, Paul played 11 games for the club in 1987-’88 and kicked 2 goals.  This was probably a poor return, given that the Hawks had to go to court to secure his services.

1989 found him at St. Kilda where he spent the next 3 seasons for 62 games and 7 goals, showing some of the form that Hawthorn had seen in him originally.

Returning to his native Western Australia in 1992 he got to play for West Coast, who he wanted to play for from the start.  And it paid off, with him being instrumental in their 1992 Premiership win.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

2014 Round 24, Three quarter time.

23rd August Birthdays.

 

Luke Beveridge '70, Dean Hartigan '54, Peter Quill '69, Leon Rice '51,
Lance Whitnall '79.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. David Dench, born 23rd August 1951.

Not only was David one of the youngest captains of a VFL team, he also had a career that spanned 15 years, first turning out for North Melbourne in 1969. When he finished playing in 1984 he had pulled on the boots 275 times and kicked 29 goals. 

One of the best full backs of all time he rarely got a bag of goals kicked on him and seemed to know exactly the right time to go for the ball.

Made Captain in 1972 at 20 years of age, he won the Best and Fairest 4 times and was part of their 1975 and '77 Premiership teams.  He also represented Victoria on 4 occasions.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

A Close Finish To The 2006 Grand Final.

The previous 4 games played between West Coast and Sydney leading into the Grand Final had ended with differences of 4, 4, 2 and 1 points. So there was every possibility the result of this game would be similar.

West Coast had won 17 and lost 5 for the season and Sydney were 14 and 8 with Adam Goodes having won the Brownlow Medal in the preceding week.  It was also the second year in a row that these two sides were fighting it out for the Premiership cup with Sydney winning in 2005 by 4 points.

Shots on goal were very even in the first quarter with the Eagles on 4.2.26 to the Swans 1.4.10. Then the West Coast scored a further 4.5 in the second quarter to Sydneys 3.2 seeing the Eagles take a handy 25 point lead into half time.

Sydney managed to reverse the trend in the third quarter and at the last break the scores were West Coast 10.10.70 to Sydney 8.11.59.  The swans carried on the same way in the last quarter by adding 4.1 to their score to West Coasts 2.3.

West Coast just held off a gallant Sydney to win by 1 point.  The scores at the final siren being West Coast 12.13.85 to Sydney 12.12.84.

Source: Wikipedia.

The Dear Brothers.

Greg Dear is the older of the 2 brothers by 3 years and played his first game for hawthorn in 1985.  From then until 1993 he played 137 games for 18 goals.

A mobile ruckman, he had some good years at the Hawks being a premiership player in ’86, ’88 and ’89 but missing out in ’91 due to a knee injury.

Moving to Richmond in 1994 he was one of the most experienced players on their list and his leadership was valued when the Tigers made the 1995 finals series.

Between 1994 and 1996 he represented the Tigers 53 times for 9 goals.

Paul Dear started his career at Hawthorn in 1987 and was there until 1996 playing 123 games for 80 goals.

Mainly playing at centre half forward with occasional turns in the ruck, this strong bodied player was at the top of his game by the 1991 flag win and received the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground. 

 

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 

Glenelg AFC.

A public meeting on 10^th March 1920 saw the establishment of the Glenelg Football Club and they were admitted into the South Australian Football League in 1921.

They struggled badly for the next few years finally winning their first game in 1925, having lost the previous 56.

In 1926 they got up off the bottom of the ladder finishing 7^th, which they did for the next 4 seasons.

Their first Premiership came in 1934 and since then they have won another 3 and been runners up on several occasions.

The Tigers have also produced 9 Magarey medallists and 13 SANFL leading goal kickers.

Some notable players to join VFL/AFL ranks from Glenelg include John Nicholls, Stephen Kernahan, Chris McDermott and Brad Ottens.

Source: Glenelg Football Club web site. 

3 x 32 At Carlton.

Alex Duncan played for Carlton from 1921-1924 and 1926-1930 in 141 games for 88 goals.

Initially playing in the forward line this tall, long kicking player was moved into the back line where he proved a tower of strength.

Playing in a losing grand final side in his first year he also got his first state jersey and in all he played 11 games for Victoria.

Brian Quirk had the number 32 from 1965-1975, playing 167 games and kicking 112 goals.

Pictured in the centre of this photo he was the clubs top goal scorer in his first season and after starting on the half forward flank he moved onto the wing.

He was part of the 1968 Premiership team and played in the grand final again in 1969 then missed the 1970 and ’72 deciders and  was reserve for the losing 1973 team.

 

David Glascott was also a winger with good pace and skills both offensively and defensively.

Overall he played 173 games and kicked 81 goals for the club and was part of Premiership winning teams in ’81, ’82 and ’87.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014 Round 24, Half time.

21st August Birthdays.

 

Darren Bewick '67, Robert Harvey '71, Rohan Robertson '61,
Adam Thompson '86, Mark Williams '58.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Damian Monkhorst, born 21st August 1969.

After only a couple of years of playing senior football for Collingwood Damian had a premiership medal round his neck.  Overall he played 205 games for the Magpies and kicked 45 goals from 1988 to 1999.

Probably not the most versatile player, he was strong in the packs and was one of his teams best in the 1990 Grand Final.  He certainly made things happen, as it was renowned to be because of him that the AFL's melee and racial vilification laws were introduced.  1994 - 1998 weren't great years for him as he was not able to play many games and then in 2000 he moved to St Kilda.

In his one season there he played 10 games and through his career he was in 2 state games for Victoria.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

 

It Was Almost 0.0.00!

The players and fans of Fitzroy must have been on tenterhooks as the game approached full time and they hadn’t scored as solitary point.

Playing Footscray at the Western (Whitten) Oval in round 5, 1953 and only 1 minute left on the clock, it was 10.6 to zero when they were saved the embarrassment of being the first team to not score in a match.

As quite often happens it was their Captain and 1950 Brownlow medallist Allan Ruthven who managed to get boot to ball from a boundary throw in and it was lucky enough to float through for a goal.

Source: Our Game by Jim Main.

A Tie In The First Ever Sandover Medal.

Tom Outridge was presented with the first Sandover medal in 1921 when a casting vote was given to him by the WAFL president when there was a tie after all the votes had been counted.

Playing mainly in the ruck, Tom was with Perth from 1916-1918 in 33 games and then moved to Subiaco where he played 168 games from 1919 - 1931.

He also represented Western Australia 27 times and as well as the Sandover he was Subiaco’s Best and Fairest in 1921 and ’22 and was a member of their 1924 Premiership team.

Cyril Hoft had to wait until 1997 to be recognised by retrospective awarding of the medal.

Starting his career at North Fremantle in 1914 he only played 2 years before enlisting in the army and serving in Europe.  Whilst in the service he played in an  exhibition game in London in 1916.

He resumed playing at Perth in 1919 and from then until 1923 (and for the 1928 season) he was in a total of 88 club games and 3 state games for Western Australia.

From 1924 to ’27 he was at Glenelg and as well as winning their Best and Fairest in 1924, he was Captain/Coach in 1925 and led them to their first ever win.  He also played in the South Australian state team a number of times.

Source: Wikipedia. 

Barry Young – Journeyman.

From 1990 to 1993 Barry donned the colours of the Richmond football club in 53 games for 23 goals.

He went in hard after the ball and whist this is a positive, it can also land you in trouble, which is what it did to Barry.

When he moved to Essendon in 1994 his hardness was not lost on coach Kevin Sheedy and he played 76 games under him and kicked 5 goals.

1997 and ’98 saw him sidelined by injury a lot but by 1999 he was back to his best, though due to contract negotiations failing he left the club.

His final year of football (2000) was played at Hawthorn where he was in 13 games later realising that maybe he would have been better off staying with the Bombers.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 

2014 Round 24, Quarter time.

19th August Birthdays.

 

Dermott Brereton 1986, Michael Moncrieff 1952.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Andrew Obst, born 19th August 1964.

Another player who got his grounding at great SANFL club Port Adelaide Andrew played his first game for Melbourne in 1990 and over the next 8 seasons he played 149 games and kicked 60 goals. 

A versatile player who could be used as a tagger or link player he had lean years in 1992-1994 due to injury, but when he was fit he was very valuable for the Demons.

During his time at Melbourne he played in 7 finals matches and after finishing there he went back to Port Adelaide where he was part of their 1999 Premiership team.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

VFL Park.

Now officially known as the Ricoh Centre, VFL Park was built in 1970 at a cost of 3 million dollars.

At the time it was considered that the area in which it was built would become the geographical centre of Melbourne, and though it was built right next to a major freeway, public transport to the ground was not good. As well as that, getting out of the ground by car after games was a nightmare and as it was built in a rain belt weather conditions were quite often not the best.

 

It was meant to be a 140,000 seat stadium but only ever got to a capacity of 72,000.  Most of the site is now a housing estate with only the Kenneth Luke stand still standing, having seating for 8,000.

The biggest game to be held there was the 1991 grand Final which was moved from the MCG due to redevelopment of the Southern Stand and the largest crowd, 92,935, was for a match between Collingwood and Hawthorn in 1981.

Round 22 1999 saw the last season game played there and the last ever game was the VFL grand Final in 2000.

Source: Austadiums website.

 

Some Interesting Facts.

-         The first player to represent 3 states was Bill Mayman (WA, SA and Tasmania).

-         First night premiers were South Melbourne in 1956.

-         In 1897 St Kilda was the first team to not win a game all season.

-         The last team to not win a game all season was Fitzroy in 1964.

-         First game to be played under lights for premiership points was on 16^th June 1952 and was held at the Brisbane exhibition grounds between Essendon and Geelong.

Source: Great Australian Football Stories by Ken Piesse.

Bernie Naylor.

The award for the top goal kicker in the WAFL is named the 'Bernie Naylor medal' and it is not surprising as he kicked 1023 goals in 194 games for South Fremantle.

He started with the club in 1941 and then had to take a break due to the Second World War. Resuming in 1946 he was there until 1954, being the top goal scorer in all of his 10 seasons.

Topping the WAFL goal kicking 6 times (46-48 and 52-54), he was in 6 Premiership teams and 16 state games.

He also has the record for the most goals in a season (167) and the most in a single game (23).

Source: Wikipedia..

 

2014 Round 23, Three quarter time.

16th August Birthdays.

 

David Brown '67, Steven Cummongs '69, Darren Saunders '65, Bill Tymms '03.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Brad Pearce, born 16th August 1971.

Brad started his football journey with St Kilda but in the three years he was there he didn't play a senior game. He moved to Brisbane and played 2 games for them in 1993 and kicked 1 goal.

1994 found him at Carlton where he stayed until 1999, playing 77 games for 151 goals. Seeming slow and lethargic when he first arrived, the club persisted with him and were able to see his true worth in the 1995 grand final where he kicked 4 goals of his 52 for the year.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Keith Greig – Dual Brownlow Medalist.

A tall red headed winger, Keith played his first game for North Melbourne in 1971 and by the time he finished playing in 1985 had been in 294 games for 48 goals.

There is no doubt he was a talented player as evidenced by the fact that he won state selection after a few games.  Dogged by knee troubles, he played off half back quite often late in his career.

As well as back to back Brownlow Medals in 1973-74 he was in the clubs 1975 Premiership team and captained them from 1976-79. Other achievements include Best and Fairest in 1980, 13 games for Victoria and All Australian in 1983.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

FACTS AND FIGURES.

Here are a few interesting statistics:

- HIGHEST SCORE by a team is 37.17.239 for Geelong against the Brisbane Bears in 1992.

- LOWEST SCORE by a team is 0.1.1 by St Kilda against Geelong in 1899.

- HIGHEST WINNING MARGIN is 190 points for Fitzroy against Melbourne in 1979.

- YOUNGEST PLAYER on debut is Keith Bromage.  He was 15 years 287 days old and played 28 games for Collingwood and  41 for Fitzroy from 1953 to 1961.

- OLDEST PLAYER at time of last game was Harry Cumberland at 43 years 48 days.  In a career spanning almost 30 years he played for Melbourne and St Kilda.  He came and went a few times with his absences including army service and a move to New Zealand to help set up the code there.

- MOST GAMES played is by Michael Tuck of Hawthorn. He played 426 games from 1972 to 1991.  Not surprisingly he also holds the record for the most finals appearances, most grand final appearances and most grand final wins by any player.
 

 

Commentators – Dwayne lamb and Tony Shaw.

Dwayne Lamb played 151 games for the West Coast Eagles from 1987 to 1994 and kicked 46 goals, mainly as an on baller and sometimes used as a tagger.

His stamina and fitness are witnessed by the fact that prior to joining the Eagles he had played 132 games in a row for WA side Subiaco.

He played in a losing Grand Final side in 1991 and then in a winning one in 1992 as well as representing Western Australia 8 times.

 

Tony Shaw captained a Collingwood Premiership team, won the Norm Smith Medal and Best and Fairest all in one year, 1990.

First playing for the club in 1977 this nuggetty, loyal, determined rover/centre notched up 313 games for 159 goals finally hanging up the boots in 1994.

Winning 2 Best and Fairests, he was Captain from 1987 to 1993 and coached the team from 1996 to 1999.

  

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

The Ottens Family.

Two generations of Ottens have played Australian Rules, with Brad probably being the best known, but his Father and Brother also pulled on the boots.

Dean Ottens was a solidly built ruckman that played 116 games for Sturt in the SANFL from 1966 to 1974.

It was a slow start for this talented long kicking player but by 1969 he was able to play in 18 games and was in the Premiership team.

During his career he was a dual premiership player and played 7 games for South Australia.

Luke is the older of the 2 brothers and played just 4 games for Melbourne in 1999. Though originally drafted in 1997, injury kept him from playing many games, which is unfortunate as he would probably have been skilled like his father and brother.

Brad started his football journey at Richmond, first playing in 1998 and up until 2004 he was in 129 games for 152 goals.

The Tigers eased him into a regular spot and whilst he showed a lot of talent a back injury saw him not reach his full potential.

Seeking a chance to play finals football he moved to Geelong in 2005 and he got his wish, big time.

From 2005 to 2011 he played 116 games for the Cat’s and kicked 109 goals,  more than showing his skills and value to the team.  He was in 3 Premiership winning teams and was All Australian in 2001.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & australianfootball.com.