OTHER NATIONALITIES TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Half Forward Line

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Right Half Forward Flank - Clive Waterhouse (Port Adelaide, Fremantle, Claremont, Port Adelaide Magpies)

Clive Waterhouse made his senior debut with Port Adelaide in 1995 and it was immediately clear that the Magpies had unearthed yet another gem.  Combining tremendous pace and athleticism with a robust, no nonsense approach, Waterhouse featured strongly in Port's 1995 SANFL premiership success.

In November 1995, Fremantle used its number 1 selection in the National Draft to procure the exciting 20 year old who initially found the high expectations associated with his elevated ranking difficult to come to terms with.  However, after playing just 11 games in his debut season with the Dockers he began to perform with more conviction in 1996, leaving little doubt as to his enormous natural ability, and suggesting that he only needed to add a touch of consistency to his make up in order to become a genuine champion.  Unfortunately, his career has been beset by frequent injuries, some niggling, others - as in the the case of the severely damaged knee which saw him miss the entire 2002 season - more serious.  Given that Waterhouse was spending so much time either on the sidelines completely, or playing in the WAFL with Claremont, it was no real surprise when, at the end of the 2004 season, the Dockers finally lost patience with him, and he was delisted. Returning to South Australia, he lined up in 2005 with Port Adelaide Magpies.

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Centre Half Forward - John McCarthy (North Hobart, North Melbourne, Fitzroy, Woodville-West Torrens)

John McCarthy is one of an illustrious band of elite footballers produced by North Hobart over the years (see footnote 1).  Powerfully built, McCarthy was a strong marking player equally capable of providing an imposing focal point at centre half forward, or nullifying a key opposition attacking player at centre half back.  After overcoming an injury interrupted start to his V/AFL career he went on to provide sterling service to both North Melbourne (92 games, 101 goals in 1986 and from 1988 to 1992) and Fitzroy (71 games and 77 goals between 1992 and 1996) before playing out his twilight years with Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL.

An automatic choice in Tasmania's state of origin sides between 1989 and 1993, McCarthy, with 3 goals, was a key contributor to the 20.14 (134) to 14.17 (101) defeat of the 'Big V' at North Hobart Oval in 1990.

Sadly, John McCarthy never played in a senior premiership side; the nearest he came was in the 2000 season when he was a member of the Eagles' losing grand final team against Central District.

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Left Half Forward Flank - Stuart Magee (South Melbourne, Footscray, Swan Districts, East Fremantle)

Ireland-born centreman and rover Stuart Magee had a chequered senior career which belied not only his considerable skill but also the renowned ‘luck of the Irish’. Two years after representing the VFL at the 1966 Hobart carnival he was unceremoniously dumped by South Melbourne as not being good enough to warrant a place in their perennially underachieving team. Picked up by Footscray he re-built his league career at the Western Oval adding 132 games to the 85 he had amassed at South. When Ted Whitten retired midway through the 1970 season he took over as the Bulldogs’ skipper only to be stripped of the role at the end of the season. Undaunted, he continued to provide Footscray with sterling service for another 5 seasons before moving to Swan Districts as captain-coach in 1976. However, with the Swans failing to impress his coaching contract was not renewed, and he completed his playing career at East Fremantle in 1977, adding 11 WANFL games to the 20 he had accrued at Bassendean.

At his best, Stuart Magee was a player of the highest calibre who perhaps serves to remind us that ability and dedication alone are not always sufficient to ensure success; you also need that indefinable quality of good fortune which no amount of determination can manufacture.

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Footnotes

1.  Others include Percy Jones (249 games with Carlton), Simon Minton-Connell (115 games with 4 different AFL clubs), Denis Scanlon (66 games for Essendon), Paul Williams (Collingwood and Sydney), James Manson (Collingwood and Fitzroy, 153 games in total), 'Horrie' Mason (Camberwell and St Kilda), and Bradley Plain (Essendon, Collingwood and North Melbourne).  Return to Main Text