2014 Round 26, Three quarter time.

6th September Birthdays.

 

    Albert Proud 1988, Steve Reynoldson 1962.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Michael Prior, born 6th September 1973.

From 1994 to 2000 Michael played 81 games for Essendon for 19 goals, mainly as a half back flanker.

Like a number of players it took him a while to get in the swing of things but by 1996 he was showing good form. Despite his importance to the team he didn't get much game time in 2000 and he left them at the end of the year.

Moving back to Western Australia he joined the West Coast Eagles, his favourite club as a child, and in 2001-2002 he was in 9 games and kicked 1 goal.  Unfortunately he suffered a knee injury that saw his game tally limited, however he did play 2 games for the state.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Player Nick Names.

             Barney – Leigh Matthews.  Named after cartoon character Barney Rubble.

             Charlie - James Manson.  Unfortunate to be named after cult leader and           criminal Charles Manson.

                   Chicken – Wilfred Smallhorn.  Obviously because of his surname.

              Dominator – Wayne Johnson.  Due to the way he ‘dominated’ in games.

                                     Sago – Colin Rice.  Sago is a grain and so is rice!

Source: Great Australian Football Stories by Ken Piesse.

1897 Finals-Week 1.

Less than a week before the finals series of 1897 began the VFL changed their mind as to how it would be played. The result being a round robin format between the top 4 teams over 3 weekends.

The clubs involved would be Geelong, Essendon, Melbourne and Collingwood; the order they finished at the end of the season.

In the first week Geelong played Essendon and at three quarter time the scores were Geelong 2.10.22 to Essendon 1.4.10.  However, Essendon staged a great comeback running over their opponents to win 5.5.35 to 3.11.29.

The other game was between Collingwood and Melbourne, certainly two powerhouse clubs of the time. This match was more of a dour struggle and ended with Collingwood coming out winners 7.9.51 to Melbournes 7.5.47.

Source: Wikipedia.

 

Ilija Grgic-Journeyman.

At 203cm and 106kg, Ilija made an imposing figure on the football field.

Starting his journey at Footscray in 1993, he was with them until 1996 and was in 62 games, scoring 92 goals. Though frustrated at being second preference in the ruck, he was very handy when moved forward.

 

 

A move to West Coast in 1997 for 2 seasons saw a fresh start for him and while there he played 23 games for 15 goals.

1999, his final year, found him back in Victoria and playing for Essendon, where he represented them on just 2 occasions. He was actually still at the club in 2000 but missed the whole year due to a back injury.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers. 

4 X #8 at Geelong.

Dick Grigg was such a talent that, even though he had retired in 1914, was called back to the club to play in the 1921 finals, at 36 years of age.

And why wouldn’t you try him as he played 194 games for 64 goals, was the clubs Best and Fairest in 1910, 1911 and 1914 and represented Victoria 9 times.

Russell Renfree was a 201 game player from 1946 to 1956 and kicked 165 goals as a follower.

He was a real work horse and was the clubs joint leading goal kicker in 1946 and part of their flag winning sides in 1951-’52. As well as that he was in the Victorian team in 1948.

Robert Scott played as a small, crumbing forward at the Cats.  He was with them from 1986 to 1994 in 132 games for 164 goals.

He was in their losing Grand Final teams of 1989 and 1992, and moved to North Melbourne in 1995 to continue his fine career.

Along the way he played 5 state games for Victoria.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and AFL tables.