19th Century Team - Half Backs

TEAM OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Half Back Line

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Right Half Back Flank - Bill Bateman (Fremantle & Fremantle/Unions)

Arguably the most auspicious footballer in Western Australia during the first decade of the game in that colony, Bill Bateman was the inaugural captain of the Fremantle Football Club in 1885. In 1887, when Fremantle disbanded, he joined Unions (which changed its name to Fremantle in 1890), and carried on playing with distinction for a further 8 seasons. In a total of 10 seasons in the game, Bateman was a member of a remarkable 8 premiership sides.

Bill Bateman learned to play football when he attended Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, "one of the cradles of the Australian game" according to Geoff Christian in his history of football in Western Australia, The Footballers. He was fanatically devoted to the code, and was instrumental in seeing it supplant rugby as 'flavour of the west'. His importance to the growth, indeed even the existence, of West Australian football would be difficult to over stress.

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Centre Half Back - John 'Dinny' Reedman (South Adelaide & North Adelaide)

'Dinny' Reedman was a superb all round sportsman who, in addition to his football exploits, was a champion long distance swimmer, captained South Australia's Sheffield Shield cricket team, and played cricket at Test level against England in 1894-5.

As far as football was concerned, Reedman was involved at league level with three different clubs for a total of twenty-two years. He made his South Adelaide debut in 1884, and was a key member of the club's 1885 premiership side. Lanky but lithe, Reedman was formidable in the air and like a terrier when the ball hit the ground; however, it was his leadership qualities and tactical acumen which marked him out from the crowd. Captain of South Adelaide for eleven years, chief among his alleged innovations was a method for creating and then exploiting the loose man, a concept which, in some ways, could be regarded as the cornerstone of the modern game.

Reedman led South to a total of six premierships before being compelled, after the introduction of electorate football, to move to North Adelaide. In five seasons with North he oversaw another three premierships and later coached West Adelaide (as a non-player) to its first ever premiership. In an era when intercolonial and interstate football was only intermittently played, he represented South Australia 4 times.

'Dinny' Reedman was selected as a back pocket and change ruckman in South Adelaide's official 'Greatest Team'.

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Left Half Back Flank - Alfred 'Topsy' Waldron (Carlton & Norwood)

Alfred 'Topsy' Waldron began his football career with Carlton but it was only after joining Norwood that he developed into one of the genuine greats of the nineteenth century game. Waldron arrived at Norwood in 1879, the club's second year, joining forces with fellow former Carltonian Billy Dedman, who had topped the SAFA goal kicking list in 1878 and would do so again in 1879.

Norwood was already a force in South Australian football, having won a premiership in its debut season, but Waldron's arrival made the team even stronger. Waldron was an exceptional footballer, but it was his skill as a leader that truly set him apart from the crowd. He took over as Norwood captain in 1881, and all told enjoyed a total of 9 seasons in charge in 3 separate stints. He was widely acknowledged, even in Victoria, as the finest captain of his day, a reputation he consolidated in decisive fashion in 1888 when he led his team to a 3-0 'Test' series drubbing of South Melbourne in a contest to find the champion club in Australia.

'Topsy' Waldron spent a total of 14 seasons with the Redlegs, and was a member of 7 premiership teams. He was selected to represent South Australia on 6 occasions, 3 of them as captain, during an era when intercolonial matches were only sporadically played. His omission from the AFL's much vaunted Hall of Fame spectacularly undermines its credibility as a supposedly objective benchmark of excellence.

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