QUEENSLAND TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Forward Line

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Right Forward Pocket - Clint Bizzell (Kedron-Grange, Geelong, Melbourne)

When playing to his full potential during the late 1990s there was little doubt that Clint Bizzell could be one of the most spectacular performers in the game.  Nevertheless, comparisons with the immortal Gary Ablett, which were perhaps unthinkingly proffered by team mate Gary Hocking when Bizzell first arrived at Geelong, almost certainly had an inimical effect on the youngster, and rendered the regular fulfilment of that potential problematical.  Since moving to Melbourne, however, he has shown another side to his game, developing into a highly reliable defender, equally effective whether the ball is in the air or on the ground.

Clint Bizzell's father, Robin, played over 200 QAFL games, so clearly football is in the Bizzell blood.  However, for a time it appeared that the younger Bizzell would not get the opportunity to demonstrate his talents at the highest level.  While he was playing with Kedron-Grange he twice undertook summer training with Brisbane, but the Bears declined to take their interest further.  After playing in Kedron-Grange's losing grand final of 1995 against North Brisbane, however, he was drafted by the Cats and the rest, as they say, is history. 

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Full Forward - Jason Dunstall (Coorparoo & Hawthorn - captain)

Arguably the greatest, and certainly the most decorated Queensland-born footballer to date, Jason Dunstall's chunky frame belied his athleticism, skill and tremendous pace off the mark.  Somewhat surprisingly perhaps, given the fact that only two players in football history have booted more V/AFL goals, Dunstall was also extraordinarily unselfish.  He was also, in truth, a somewhat less than 100% reliable kick for goal, regularly losing to team mate Chris Langford, a robust defender, when the pair engaged in their post training ritual of a 'kicking for goal' competition.  What Dunstall did to a tee, however, was perfect the art of leading fast into space to collect, as often as not on the chest, the unerringly precise passes of his prodigiously talented Hawthorn team mates, who collectively comprised one of the most formidable combinations in the history of the code.  This is not to imply that Dunstall was merely a cog in the Hawk machine, his success primarily attributable to the prowess of his team mates.  As he demonstrated emphatically right from the time he made his senior debut with Coorparoo, aged just 17, in 1984, his was a rare and exceptional talent.  During that one, blistering debut season, Dunstall topped the QAFL goal kicking list with 73 goals, contributed 7 goals to Coorparoo's winning grand final tally of 18.22, and was a key member of Queensland's winning Escort Shield team.

The 1985 season saw Dunstall join Hawthorn, and over the next 14 seasons he established himself as one of the few bona fide legends of the game, with the highlights of his illustrious V/AFL career including:

a total of 1,254 goals in 269 games
Coleman Medallist in 1988, 1989 and 1992
premierships in 1986, 1988-89 and 1991
5 night flags
17 goals in a match against Richmond in 1992
twice second, and twice third in the Brownlow Medal voting
AFL All Australian selection on 4 occasions
state of origin for both Victoria and Queensland
winner of Hawthorn's best and fairest award on 4 occasions, in 1988-89 and 1992-93

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Left Forward Pocket - Ché Cockatoo-Collins (Port Adelaide & Essendon)

Recruited from City Cobras in Cairns by Port Adelaide, Ché Cockatoo-Collins played 25 SANFL games before being drafted by Essendon.  A mercurial player, capable of dazzling heights inter-mixed with bouts of extraordinarily questionable decision making, Cockatoo-Collins played 75 games and kicked 109 goals for the Bombers between 1994 and 1998, and was a member of the club's 1994 night series premiership team.  In 1999 he returned home to Port Adelaide, which was now competing in the AFL, and the quality roller coaster continued.  He endured two injury affected seasons to begin with, although the side always looked better for his presence, before enjoying arguably his best ever AFL season in 2001 with 41 goals and 7th place in the club's best and fairest award.  In 2002, however, he was often less than convincing, and was dropped from the side towards the end of the year, although his performance when recalled for the semi final win over his old club, Essendon, was encouraging.  Nevertheless, in hindsight it is possible to see that the writing was on the wall, and 12 months later he was delisted, a perhaps unfortunate scapegoat for his club's continued under-achievement in finals.

Whatever his football future holds, Ché Cockatoo-Collins deserves to be remembered, and extolled, for the exhilarating football of which he was capable, but which sadly he probably produced on too few occasions for his own ultimate good.

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