OTHER NATIONALITIES TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

1st Ruck

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Ruckman - Jim Stynes (Melbourne & Prahran)

When the so called 'Irish Experiment' was conceived at the Melbourne Football Club during the early 1980s no one could possibly have imagined that it would turn out to be quite so spectacularly successful as it did, particularly in the case of one man.  That man was Jim Stynes.  Born in Dublin in 1966, Stynes moved to Australia 18 years later after impressing Ron Barassi at an Irish-based training camp set up to pinpoint young Gaelic footballers with the potential to develop into elite exponents of the Australian code.  It was immediately obvious that the rangy, powerful, sure handed Stynes came closer than any of the other 20 or so youngsters to fitting the bill.  The fact that he had also played a fair amount of rugby, and was therefore used to dealing with the erratic behaviour of an oval-shaped ball, also helped.  However, what no training camp could possibly reveal was the matchless determination and resolve which would elevate Jim Stynes above the level of the merely ordinary footballer into the bona fide champion class.

This determination and resolve was much needed during Stynes' first couple of years in Australia when he failed to develop as quickly as he would have liked, and found himself being farmed out to VFA side Prahran for a time in 1986.  It was an enlightening experience.  In his debut with Prahran the Two Blues faced Oakleigh, and "It easily was the dirtiest game in which I have been involved, at any level.  Punches were thrown, elbows were cocked, and every player seemed to get belted."  Significantly though "I loved every minute of it, even though the vigour was way over the top" (see footnote 1).   

In 1987, Stynes returned to Melbourne, beginning a 12 year association with the club that included a VFL/AFL record 204 consecutive games, the vast majority of them as a ruckman.  Such was the extent of Stynes' adaptability and mobility, however, that he in effect provided the Demons with the benefits of two players in one - a powerful, high leaping ruckman, and an all action 'ball magnet' of a ruck-rover.

The crowning achievement of Stynes' illustrious playing career came in 1991 when he won the Brownlow Medal, but there were numerous other high points.  Stynes' 4 Melbourne fairest and best awards, for example, equalled the record of Alan La Fontaine.  The only major disappointment of his career was his failure to play in a Melbourne premiership team, his membership of the club's 1987 and 1989 night premiership sides providing no real consolation.

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Ruck-rover - Wayne Schwass (North Melbourne & Sydney)

Recruited by North Melbourne from South Warrnambool, New Zealand-born Wayne Schwass was an exceptional junior talent who won the 1987 Morrish Medal for the best and fairest player in the VFL under 19s competition.  That same year he captained the Kangaroos to the VFL under 19 premiership, before making his senior debut in 1988.

Over the course of a 10 season, 184 game career with North Schwass was indisputably, and consistently, one of that club's leading lights, winning the club champion award, the Syd Barker Medal, in 1994 and 1995, and being one of the best players afield in the 1996 grand final victory over Sydney.

Ironically, a couple of seasons later Schwass found himself shunted to Sydney in exchange for Shannon Grant, but any thoughts that he may have passed his 'sell by date' were rapidly dispelled.  In 1999 he enjoyed arguably his finest season to date, winning the Swans best and fairest award, and earning AFL All Australian selection. 

A Victorian state of origin representative on several occasions, Schwass was an elegant, purposeful left footer who knew where the ball was and utilised it impeccably.  Possessing evasive skills of the highest order, Schwass nevertheless was not averse to 'mixing it' when occasion demanded.  He remained an integral part of the Sydney engine room until persistent injuries forced his retirement in 2002.

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Rover - Bill Walker (Swan Districts)

Watching recordings of matches played as long ago as the 1960s only a few players immediately catch the eye as possessing the attributes necessary for success in modern day, professional football.  One such player is Bill Walker, who combined an uncanny sense of knowing where the ball was, and how to get it, with a rare, fastidious intelligence in its disposal (albeit that, when kicking, he tended to favour either the drop kick or the stab pass, a 'frailty' which a 21st century coaching team would no doubt waste little time in eradicating).

Walker, who was born at Huntley in New Zealand, made his debut with Swans in 1961 and over the course of the next 16 seasons would go on to play a record 305 games for the club.  His arrival at Bassendean coincided with that of Haydn Bunton Junior, who, in his first 3 years in Western Australian football, would be responsible for masterminding the club's first 3 premierships.  Bunton also shared the roving duties with Walker, who kicked 5.5 in Swans' debut premiership win in 1961, and was an integral member of the side as it established a new benchmark for football in the state.

Ultimately, Swan Districts' pre-eminence could not last, but Walker remained at the forefront of the game throughout his career.  Sandover Medallist 3 years in a row from 1965 to 1967, he was later awarded a 4th Medal (that of 1970) as part of the Westar Rules hierarchy's decision, in 1997, to bestow retrospective Medals on those players who had lost only on countback, or on the casting vote of the WANFL president.  Bill Walker thus shares with Russell Ebert the record of being the only players to have won 4 separate major state awards in the same competition. 

When at the height of his prowess between 1965 and 1970 it would be hard to dispute the contention that Walker was the finest player in the land.  Apart from his 4 Sandovers, he finished 2nd and 5th in the other 2 seasons, averaging 19.3 votes per year; he was Swan Districts' club champion every year but one; and in interstate games he was almost invariably named in Western Australia's best players, winning a Simpson Medal against South Australia at Subiaco in 1967.

Often mentioned in the same breath as another superlative Western Australian rover, Barry Cable, Walker shared many of the same attributes, but had an edge in pace, which arguably made him the more damaging player.

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Footnotes

1.  Whatever it Takes by Jim Stynes (with Jim Main), page 96.  Return to Main Text