Monday 29 September 2014

2014 Round 30, Quarter time.


30th September Birthdays. 
   Ken Hinkley 1966, Romano Negro 1964, Kelvin Templeton 1956,
Greg Williams 1963.
 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Ross Oakley, born 30th September 1942.
There is no doubt that Ross Oakley would best remembered as Chairman of the League Commission, a very important post.  But well before taking on that roll he was a player at St. Kilda. 

His first game was in 1962 and from then until 1966 he was in 62 games for 38 goals. He was a skilled player and probably the best wingman that the club had at that time, even being used at full forward on occasions.

Like a number of other promising players he was forced into early retirement by a persistent knee injury.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.  

 
Double D’s at the Dees.
From 1993 to 2002 Melbourne were blessed to have 2 Davids in their team that were not only fine players but great leaders and fan favourites.
David Schwarz was at the club from 1991 to 2001 and played 173 games for 243 goals as a key forward. 
Showing great athleticism and a good leap his career was interrupted by knee problems and so the fans did not get to see as much of him as they would have liked.
Despite his problems he won the Best and Fairest in 1999 and was vice captain to David Neitz.

David Neitz played his first game for Melbourne 2 years after David Schwarz and was there until 2008 for a marvellous 306 games and 631 goals.
Starting out in the back line, usually at centre half back, he had the job of quelling the influence of players such as Wayne Carey.  It was rather ironic that his opportunity to play as a key forward came when David Schwarz was out due to injury. 
Melbourne’s leading goal scorer an amazing 7 times, he won the Coleman medal in 2002 and the club Best and Fairest the same year.  As well as that he played state of origin for Victoria in 1994 and was All Australian twice.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & Wikipedia.  


Bad Kicking Loses The Game.
The adage ‘bad kicking is bad football’ came home to Fitzroy in a big way in a game against Geelong at the Corio oval in 1928.
Winning the shots at goal 29 to 27, the Lions managed to lose the match by a massive 83 points with the scores at the end being Geelong 19.8.122 to Fitzroy 2.27.39.
Source: Great Australian Football Stories by Ken Piesse.  


Blake Caracella – Journeyman.
Blake was a 126 game player with Essendon from 1997 to 2002 in 126 games for 151 goals.  Though drafted to the club in 1994 his natural skills did not help him break into the team and he spent the first 2 years building up his strength.
When he did eventually get a senior game he did not look back and was part of the 2000 Premiership team and was in the International Rules side the same year.
In 2003 Blake became a Brisbane Lions player and in the 2 seasons he was there he played 34 games for 33 goals and was part of another Premiership side.
 
 
At the end of 2004 salary cap restrictions saw him traded yet again and this time he found himself at the club he had followed as a child.
Collingwood had his services for the next two years, where he played 27 games and kicked 34 goals and as he was by now an experienced player he was able to be a mentor to younger team mates.
He would have probably played more games but a serious neck injury in 2006 saw him announce his retirement.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers. 
 
 

Friday 26 September 2014

2014 Round 29, Three quarter time.

27th September Birthdays.
 
   Les Bartlett 1949, Paul Bevan 1984.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Chris Naish, born 27th September 1971.
From 1990 to 1997 Chris was on Richmonds list and played 143 games for 212 goals.

An All Australian under 17 player, he came from a strong Aussie rules area in Wangaratta and proved his value at the Tigers.  His creative forward play saw him rewarded with state selection for Victoria and he played every game for 3 seasons at Richmond ('94-'96).

1998, however, found him wearing a Port Adelaide jersey and he was with them for 2 years kicking 16 goals from 18 games.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

 
Graham Farmer – Sandover Medallist.
Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer was always a great footballer.  He started playing first grade with East Perth in 1953 and from then until 1961 played in 176 games for 157 goals.
His quality can be seen from his personal achievements which include 7 times Best and Fairest, 3 time premiership player and an incredible 31 state games for Western Australia.
He also won the Sandover medal 3 times, 1956 and 1960 and  1957 which was awarded retrospectively.
In the early 1960’s he moved to Geelong where he continued his great form and also played state football for Victoria.
Source:  AFL Record Season Guide 2013 & Wikipedia.


Suburban Clubs.
At the time of Australian Rules football being developed Melbourne was not very spread out so most of the grounds were within walking distance of one another or maybe a short tram or train ride (excluding Geelong).
This meant that the clubs were also contained within a rather limited area and in fact around 1900 66% of Melbournes population lived in a suburb/municipality that had a VFL team.
Over the years, as the population grew, people started to move out to new expanding suburbs and by 1947 only 33% of people lived in a suburb with its own VFL team and by 1961 this number had dropped to 21%.
Nowadays of course, with a national competition this figure would be very low.
Source: The Old Dark Navy Blues by Lionel Frost.
 
1897 Finals Summary.
Going into the finals series in 1897 all the teams had played 14 matches with Geelong and Essendon both winning 11 but Geelong on top due to percentage.
Melbourne had won 10 games for the season and Collingwood 9. But as everyone knows finals are a force unto themselves.
So, at the end of the three week round robin draw Essendon had won all 3 games, Geelong 2, Collingwood 1 and Melbourne 0 meaning that Essendon became the first VFL Premiers.
Incidentally, the other teams in the league at the time were Carlton, St.Kilda, South Melbourne and Fitzroy.
Source:   Wikipedia..
 
 
3 X 30 at Collingwood.
Charles Utting played 125 games at Collingwood and kicked 17 goals between 1943 and 1950.
Though he was a hard at it player and a good user of the ball he perfected his craft as a back pocket until given the opportunity to play in the centre.
His persistence paid off however, as he was selected in that position for the state side in the 1950 national carnival.
Peter Moore also featured in the mid field for Collingwood but was very different to the in and under Utting as he was a 198cm ruckman.
An agile ‘big man’ he was first played as a forward but later got the mantle of first ruck and from 1974 to 1982 was in 172 games for 193 goals.
Captaining the club at one stage, he was Best and Fairest in ’79 and ’80 and won the Brownlow Medal in 1979.
He won another Brownlow after moving to Melbourne in 1983.
James Manson would have just about followed Peter Moore into the #30 as he was with the Magpies from 1985 to 1992 for 120 games and 106 goals.
He was also a ruckman and although he had a strong mark his kicking sometimes let him down.  Representing Tasmania in a state game against Victoria B he was a member of Collingwoods 1990 flag winning side.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & AFL Tables.
 
 


 
 
 
 

 

Wednesday 24 September 2014

2014 Round 29, Half time.

25th September Birthdays.
 
   Marcus Ashcroft '71, Gavin Brown '67, Gordon Coventry '01,
Chris Knights '86, Bradley Plain '69, Nicky Winmar '65, John Worsfold '68.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Leigh Tudor, born 25th September 1969.
Playing his first senior game at North Melbourne in 1989, Leigh was only able to play a total of 8 games for the club in 4 seasons and kick 6 goals. 

In contrast he moved to Geelong in 1993 and his 4 years there, as a half forward flanker, saw him in 60 games for 53 goals. He was a smart player with a turn of pace and good goal sense. Following his playing days he became an assistant coach.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Warwick Capper.
With the possible exception of Dermott Brereton it would be hard to find a player as flamboyant or self-confident as Warwick.
Playing with Sydney at a time where they were still trying to raise their profile there is no doubt he helped with that.  He was very definitely a ‘stay at home’ full forward, and why not with his ability to take good grabs and kick goals.
With the Swans from 1983 to 1987 and again in 1991, he played a total of 90 games for 317 goals. The teams highest goal scorer in all but his first year, in 1987 he became only the second South Melbourne/Sydney player to kick over 100 goals in a season.
He moved to Brisbane for 3 seasons (’88-’90) and played 34 games for 71 goals before finishing his career with 1 last year in Sydney. 
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
Brisbane V Collingwood Record Crowds.
Round 19 2003, MCG, and Brisbane are facing Collingwood for the second time in the season. The previous game at the Gabba saw Brisbane with a narrow win at the end.
No doubt the record crowd of 61,868 for a home and away game between these 2 clubs would have been mainly Collingwood, hoping for a reversal of the previous 2 meetings.
But at quarter time Brisbane had scored 8 goals to 1 and it took until the final break for Collingwood to get to 8 goals (8.8).
The last quarter saw both teams have 6 shots at goal but the Lions were more accurate and ran out winners 15.11 to 8.14.
Back at the MCG at the end of the previous season the largest crowd to attend a final between these 2 teams was the 2002 grand Final which attracted 91,817 people. And once again it saw Brisbane victorious in the second of their run of 3 Premierships.
Final scores, in a very tight game, were Brisbane 10.15.75 to Collingwoods 9.12.66.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013 and Wikipedia.


Stan Alves – Player and Coach.
With Melbourne from 1965 to 1976, Stan played 226 games for 160 goals and was Best and Fairest in 1972 and 1974, Captain from 1973 to 1976 and played for Victoria 3 times.
Not bad for a player who was initially rejected by Norm Smith as he couldn’t see his quality. But persistence paid off and he became a great player on the wing in a team that was struggling.
In 1977 he moved to North Melbourne where he spent 3 seasons for 40 games and 14 goals which included a Premiership in his first year.
After hanging up the boots he became a specialist coach and in 1994, after four years in that role at St. Kilda he was appointed senior coach.
He led the team in 115games of which 5 were finals with 1 being a grand-final. His record as a coach was 55 wins 1 draw and 59 losses, a winning percentage of 48%.
Obviously, despite the finals appearances, this was not good enough for the club and they let him go at the end of 1998.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & AFL Record Season Guide 2013.
 

Monday 22 September 2014

2014 Round 29, Quarter time.

23rd September Birthdays.
 
   Chris Lynch 1953, Jason Taylor 1968.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Trent Sporn, born 23rd September 1982.
Drafted from North Adelaide where his father had also played, Trent was to represent Carlton in 50 games for 8 goals from 2002 to 2006. 

Most of the years he was at the club he was sidelined for some time due to various injuries, but when available he showed some good form.

2003 was probably his best year, including one game where he was able to shadow James Hird.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

 
Great Comebacks!
How often do you hear people say that they turned off ‘the game’ at three quarter time because they thought it was all over only to hear the next day that the team that was behind had won.
One such match was played between Brisbane and Hawthorn in round 16 1995 at the Gabba.
The Hawks set the pace in the first quarter and had a 35 point lead at the break.  An even second quarter saw them still 31 points ahead at half time.
They put the foot down again in the third stanza to take a comfortable 45 point lead into the fourth quarter. But Brisbane was not done with and a 9 goal to 1 last quarter saw Brisbane take the game 14.20.104 to 14.13.97.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013.
 

John And Matthew Scarlett.
Having a big body John Scarlett was well suited to the roll of full back.  But it also meant he could be used on the forward line or even in the ruck and he did in fact kick 42 goals for Geelong in 183 games between 1967 and 1977.

Whilst he was with the club he also played a game for Victoria in 1971 and was ‘leased’ to South Melbourne in 1977 to help them in theirs finals campaign staying there for 1978 which was to be the last year of his playing career.
 

Matthew Scarlett followed his father to Geelong and was certainly more of a permanent fullback only kicking 17 goals from his wonderful 284 games.

It seems amazing that with his first senior game being in the last round of 1998, it took until 2000 for him to cement a regular spot in the side when you look at the personal achievements he ended up with when he finally finished playing in 2012.

Not only was he the club Best and Fairest in 2003, he  represented Australia 4 times in International Rules, was a triple Premiership player and All Australian full back in no less than 6 years.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & Wikipedia.


Top 3 Draft Picks 1994.
Jeff White was first pick in this years draft and found himself at Fremantle, though he was originally from South East Melbourne.
With the Dockers from ’95-’97 he played 32 games for 18 goals and certainly grew in stature and skills while he was there.
When his contract expired he was able to return to his home state and joined Melbourne, where he was in 236 games from ’98-’08 and kicked 95 goals.
Jeff played 1 game for Victoria and was club Best and Fairest and also All Australian in 2004.

Anthony Rocca also moved interstate as pick 2, drafted to Sydney where he was until 1996 for 22 games and 11 goals.
In 1997 he joined his older brother at Collingwood and played 220 games, kicking 404 goals largely due to his strong marking and long kick.

Shannon Grant was another draftee to Sydney playing his first game with them in 1995 and by 1997 he had been in 58 and kicked 38 goals.
One of the more reluctant players to have to move interstate, he also managed to get back to Victoria in 1998 where he joined North Melbourne and played 243 games from then until 2008 for 323 goals.
Norm Smith medallist and Premiership player in 1999, he was Best and Fairest in 2001 and All Australian in 2005.
 Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & AFL Record Season Guide 2013 .

Friday 19 September 2014

2014 Round 28, Three quarter time.

20th September Birthdays.
 
   Peter Daicos 1961, Jarrad Irons 1992.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Sean Wellman, born 20th September 1974.
Though Sean would be best remembered as an Essendon player, he actually started his journey at Adelaide.  He was in 34 games for the Crows in 1994 and 1995 and kicked 9 goals as a tall key position player.

Moving to Essendon in 1996 he was there until 2004 scoring 25 goals from his 178 games.  It took until his second year to really establish himself at the Bombers, but once he did he became a solid defender who won himself All Australian selection in  1998 and 2001. 

He was also part of the clubs Premiership winning team in 2000 and played International rules for Australia in 1998.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Ken Farmer – Hall Of  Famer.
Ken Farmer has the reputation of being probably the greatest goal scorer in Australian football. Tony Locket is lauded for his tally of 1360 goals from 281 games but Ken kicked 1417 from 224.
A South Australian school boys soccer player, he concentrated on that sport but debuted for North Adelaide in 1929 as an 18 year old. 
In his first season he kicked 62 goals from 14 games and in 1930 was the first SANFL player to kick over 100 goals in a season which he did for the next 10 years.
His scoring prowess was put down to the fact that he knew where to position himself, had a fast lead, strong mark and was an accurate kick.
Captaining the club at one stage, he won the Best and Fairest in 1936 and played 17 state games at an average of 5 goals per game by the time he finished his career in 1941.
Source: Wikipedia and AFL Record Season Guide 2013.


Victoria Park.
Having the names Dights Paddock and McHale stadium before finally becoming Victoria Park; it was built, opened and saw its first game played all in 1892. 
From then until 1999 it was home to the Collingwood Football Club with the last official game being played on 28th August 1999 between Collingwood and Brisbane.
In 1929 the Magpies had won 3 consecutive Premierships and with the depression hitting hard 'the footy' and Victoria Park in particular became an 'escape' for the locals.  Meanwhile it seemed Collingwood were unbeatable at the ground and opposition teams dreaded playing there.
Over time new stands were built and the largest crowd to attend the venue was 47,224 for a match between Collingwood and South Melbourne in 1948.  Redevelopments since then have seen the capacity drop initially to 27,000 and it is now around 15,000.
Being heritage listed the ground cannot be demolished but in 2010/11 it was turned into a community park area with some of the original stands and a replica ticket booth in place.
Source: Austadiums.


John Blakey.
Playing the first 135 games of his career at Fitzroy, John was there from 1985 to 1992 and kicked 38 goals.
Crossing to North Melbourne in 1993 he became an ‘all-rounder’, rarely missing a game and being used mainly as a flanker or ruck rover but also as a run with stopper.
Part of the clubs 1996 and 1999 flag sides, he played 224 games for 72 goals from 1993 to 2002.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 
1897 Finals – Round 3.
Entering the final week of finals, Essendon were in prime position to take the title, but if they were to lose to Melbourne they would meet either Geelong or Collingwood in a playoff.
The Essendon – Melbourne match was played on 4th September at the Lake Oval in front of 3,800 people who witnessed a rather pedestrian contest.
When the final bell rang Essendon had run out victors 1.8.14 to Melbourne’s 0.8.8; a total of just 22 points between them. This score line is the lowest combined score for any VFL/AFL game.
Over at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground 3,000 people saw Geelong take on Collingwood in a much more exciting game.
At quarter time Geelong had kicked 5.2.32 to Collingwood’s 0.0.0.  The next 2 quarters were very even, then in the last stanza Collingwood came home with a wet sail scoring 3.5 to 0.0.
Final scores saw Geelong hang on for a narrow win, 8.4.52 to 6.12.48.
Source: Wikipedia.
 

Wednesday 17 September 2014

2014 Round 28, Half time.

18th September Birthdays.
 
   Chris Tarrant 1980.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Jay Van Berlo, born 18th September 1988.
As a player for West Perth Jay won a Best and Fairest in 2008 before being picked up by Fremantle as a rookie in 2009. 

He was lucky enough to be elevated to the senior side as a nominated rookie and played his first game in round 17 2009 against the West Coast Eagles. 

In that game he kicked 2 goals out of the 10 he scored for his club in 32 games from 2009 to 2012; his highest tally being 4 goals in a 2011 match against the Western Bulldogs.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Melbourne – The First Club.
It is a bit hard to actually establish when things occurred in the formation of Australian Football; though we do know Thomas Wills wrote to the editor of Bells Life in July 1858 when he was secretary of the Melbourne Cricket Club.
Sometime after that he was asked to officiate in the first recorded game between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College. Doubt arises as to whether the game had been formed by that time or whether he got some of his ideas for the game from that event.
However, the Melbourne football club has an establishment date of 1858 and Wills was definitely the driving force behind it.  In fact, the footballers, which were almost certainly members of the cricket team, were known as the ‘Invincible Whites’ as they wore their cricket whites in matches.
By the early 1860’s they were the strongest team in the Association, and in 1870 they won the first ‘official’ premiership by being on top of the ladder at the end of the season; winning 7 out of 12 games and drawing the other 5.
Around 1872 the club changed their uniform to include red stockings (socks), blue knickerbockers and sweater and a red cap. The use of the red cap led them to be known as the ‘Fucias’.
Source: The Clubs, Complete History Of Every Club In The VFL/AFL.
 
Graeme and Lance Whitnall.
Graeme managed 66 games for Carlton and kicked 20 goals over his 2 sessions at the club (’74–’79 and ’80-’81).
 
He was a utility player who was best suited to the role of ruck rover, voted best first year player in 1974.

Though he averaged 9 games per season, mainly due to a wealth of good players at the club, he was 1 of only 2 players to be in all games of the 1977 season.
 

Lance was actually the third Whitnall to be at Carlton, his older brother being on the reserves list for a while.
From 1997 to 2007 Lance played 216 games and kicked 348 goals as a big bodied, strong marking forward.
Showing a great deal of maturity for his age he was leading goals scorer for the Blues from 1998 to 2000, was All Australian in 2000 and Best and Fairest in 2006.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

A Game In 2 Halves.
It seems VFL Park at Waverley had its share of lighting problems with another power cut interrupting the game between Essendon and St. Kilda in Round 10 1996.
The game started that Saturday night with Essendon being ahead by 20 points near the end of the third quarter when the lights went out.
After a 50 minute wait the AFL decided to abandon the game and after deliberation deemed that the balance of the match would be played over 2 12 minute halves the following Tuesday night.
The Saturday night session had drawn a crowd of 40,000, the Tuesday night only attracting around 18,000 who saw Essendon outscore the Saints, 4.2 to 3.6 and win the match by 22 points.
Source: Our Game by Jim Main.
 

Monday 15 September 2014

2014 Round 28, Quarter time.

16th September Birthdays.
 
   John Beckwith 1932, Andrew Ford 1970, Greg Healy 1965,
Brad Lloyd 1976, Michael Ross 1991.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Michael Symons, born 16th September 1971.
Recruited from Subiaco in Western Australia, Michael played 109 games for Essendon from 1992 to 1999 for 109 goals and also represented his home state.

Brought to the club as a forward with good marking ability, his game was marred by his inaccurate kicking for goal and he was moved to the back line where he found better form. 

Despite playing most of the games in 1993 he missed out on the Grand Final win but came back in 1994 to kick 28 goals including bags of 5 and 6 against Adelaide and Richmond. 


Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Carlton V Essendon Record Crowds.
There are some rivalries in football that go back many years and whenever two particular sides meet they are sure to draw big crowds.
One such meeting is between Carlton and Essendon with the biggest home and away game crowd being a Friday night game in round 20 of 2000.
The match was played at the MCG and drew 91,571 fans who saw Essendon run out winners 16.13.109 to Carlton 12.11.83.
116,828 people attended the 1968 Grand Final between these clubs, which saw a much lower final score.  This time Carlton came out on top 7.14.56 to 8.5.53.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013 & Wikipedia.


Dan Moriarty – Magarey Medalist.
The fact that he was one of the greatest centre half backs to play the game is evidenced by the fact that he won the Magarey Medal 3 years in a row, from 1919 to 1921.
He initially won them outright, the only player to do so, though another player was awarded one retrospectively for 1920 and another 3 players for 1921.
Playing for South Adelaide from 1919 to 1925 he kicked just 2 goals from his 97 games and was Best and Fairest in 1923.
He also played 22 consecutive games for South Australia during his career and is a member of no less than 4 sporting Halls’ of fame.
Source: AFL Record Season Guide 2013 & Wikipedia.


3 X 31 at St. Kilda.
Colin Watson had a few goes at senior football for the Saints, first playing 3 games in 1920 before returning to the country.
They managed to lure him back in 1922 and he stayed until 1925 when he again left to play/coach in country football.
St. Kilda were again able to entice him to return in 1933 and this time he was there for 3 seasons.
During his career he played 93 games for the Saints for 34 goals, was Best and Fairest in 1924, captained the club, was a state representative 8 times and won the 1925 Brownlow medal.

Jeff Sarau donned the #31 from 1973 to 1983 and in 226 games kicked 119 goals.
Though he was on the short side for a ruckman (191 cm) he had a good leap, attacked the contest hard and was a strong mark.
Best and Fairest in 1975 and 1977, he was a member of the Victorian B team twice and emergency for the state side in 1982.

Jamie Shanahan played 125 solid games for the Saints from 1992 to 1997 and didn’t score a goal; mainly because he was down at full back negating the effectiveness of some of the best forwards in the league.
Playing as a forward ruckman with Fitzroy and St. Kilda reserves he was not used in that role in the seniors and his value as a back is evidenced by his 6 state of origin games for Tasmania and the Allies.
In 1998 he  moved to Melbourne where he played a further 37 games over 2 seasons, again not kicking a goal.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.
 

Friday 12 September 2014

2014 Round 27, Three quarter time.

13th September Birthdays.
 
   Lucas Herbert 1977, Garry Lyon 1967.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. William Williams, born 13th September 1925.
At post war South Melbourne (1945-1951), William Williams played 124 games for 180 goals.

Recruited from local club Newport he was a speedy rover that was in a losing grand final side in his first year. He was a strong kick and dangerous around goals.  

Playing on a wing for Victoria in 1950, overall he was in 9 state games and won the clubs Best and Fairest in 1946, '47 and '50.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


THE KING OF ESSENDON.
Richard ‘Dick’ Reynolds was certainly a much loved son of the Essendon football club, why else would they call him ‘King Richard’.  When he retired in 1951 he had played a then league record of 320 senior games and had kicked 442 goals in a career starting in 1933.
A highly skilled rover, he was the driving force in the team for many years as is seen from his achievements.
Along the way he picked up 3 Brownlow medals (1934, ’37 and ’38) and was the club Best and Fairest 7 times.  He coached the club as either a playing or non-playing coach for 22 years and in that time they won 4 premierships.
In additions to that he played 19 games for Victoria, captaining them 4 times in 1939 and twice in 1946 and was Coach of the state team in 1959.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


William Thomas X 2.
East Perth had 2 players named William Thomas and both of them won a Sandover Medal.
William ‘Digger’ Thomas was actually born in Broken Hill but found his way to Western Australia where he first played football in the Gold Fields League.
After time at another couple of clubs he joined East Perth in 1918 and played 177 games for them.
During his time with Easts he was in 6 Premiership teams, won the Sandover Medal in 1923 and was in 12 state games.  In one of the matches for Western Australia against Queensland he kicked 14 goals.

William ‘Billy’ Thomas also came to East Perth via the Gold Fields League and another WAFL club, arriving in 1927.
From then until 1936 he was in 114 games for 169 goals and was Best and Fairest twice.
He also played 9 state games for 10 goals and won the Sandover in 1929.
Source: Wikipedia.


First AFL AA Team.
There had been All Australian teams announced for many years following national carnivals but 1991 was the first year the AA team was selected from clubs in the newly named AFL.

Guy McKenna from West Coast was a back pocket in the AA team and played 267 games for the Eagles from 1988 to 2000, kicking 28 goals.
He won 2 Best and Fairests at the club and was a 2 time Premiership player. In addition to this he played 4 state of origin games for Western Australia.

Anthony Daniher at full back, was with Essendon at the time where he was in 118 games for 18 goals from 1987 to 1994.
Prior to joining the Bombers he was with South Melbourne for 6 seasons (’81-’86) and played 115 games for 62 goals.
As well as this AA selection he played 4 games for New South Wales and 1 for NSW/ACT.

Nigel Smart was named as the other back pocket and it was a sign of his abilities that he earned this selection in his first year at Adelaide.
With the Crows from 1991 to 2004 he represented them on 278 occasions for 116 goals.
A member of the clubs Premiership sides of 1997 and 1998 he was AA 3 times in all.
Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers & AFL Record Season Guide 2013.


1897 Finals – Week 2.
The second round of finals in 1897 was played on 28th August and both games would have been good to watch as they were tight or see sawing contests.
Essendon and Collingwood versed each other at the MCG in front of a 5000 strong crowd, with the scores at three quarter time being Essendon 4.11.35 to Collingwoods 4.3.27.
Then in the last quarter Essendon were able to shake off the shackles and well outscored their opponents winning 9.16.70 to 4.6.30.
The other game between Geelong and Melbourne was at the Brunswick Street Oval and was watched by 4000 people.
Melbourne jumped out to a good lead and by quarter time were ahead by 17 points.  Geelong fought back in the second quarter and then they played a very even third term.
As in the other game one team took the ascendancy in the last quarter with Geelong kicking 1.5 to 0.1 to see them victors on 5.16.46 to 5.7.37.
Source: Wikipedia.