|
|
For
most of his 13 season, 205 game League career Peter Darley was the
archetypal 'man among boys', playing in losing, sometimes woeful, South
Adelaide teams. (The Panthers managed a paltry 37% success rate over
the period.) A fair measure of Darley's stature can be inferred from
his being voted club champion no fewer than 7 times. He also
represented the state on 13 occasions and, but for injury, would almost
certainly have done so more frequently as he invariably performed with
great distinction when confronted by top class opposition. (His
selection in the 1969 All
Australian team attests to this.)
One of Darley's most auspicious interstate adversaries, Carlton's John Nicholls, said of him that "he was an inspiring leader and.....good mark, a very strong kick and above all (he knew) how to use his body when positioning for centre bounces and boundary throw-ins". High praise indeed from someone who knew the art of ruckwork better than most. |
Back to South Australian Team of the Century Team List
|
|
In the words of Magarey
Medallist, Sturt football champion and
Australian Test cricketer Victor York Richardson Harold Oliver of Port
Adelaide was "the finest all-round exponent of Australian football in
my playing and watching experience of it". Renowned for his
spectacular high marking, Oliver was also extremely quick, had exceptional
ball handling skills, and showed enormous versatility being equally at
home in attack, defence or on the ball.
For many years Harold Oliver was popularly considered the greatest South Australian footballer never to win a Magarey Medal. He did, however, win Port's major award on 2 occasions, and was a regular, and successful, interstate representative, participating in 3 carnival teams, including the successful 1911 side. A first generation Australian, born in South Australia's Riverland region to Cornish parents, Oliver played in the Western Suburban Association when he first moved to Adelaide, and before long he was being courted by both West Torrens and Port Adelaide. The Magpies it was who ultimately procured his signature, and in 1910 he made his league debut. With his uncanny ability to elevate himself high above even the densest of packs he soon became the most feted footballer in South Australia, eliciting chants from the crowd of 'OL-I-VER!' every time he flew for the ball. His league career was interrupted during World War One when he returned to the family's fruit block on the river Murray, and he remained there for most of the 1919 season, when full-scale football resumed. In 1920 he managed just 8 games, but the following year he was back in the Port Adelaide fold on a full time basis, thanks to the generosity of a group of club supporters who banded together to buy him a motor bike. As Port skipper in 1921, Oliver led the Magpies to a memorable premiership victory over arch rivals Norwood. Harold Oliver's last 5 appearances in a Port Adelaide jumper came during a 1922 season which lifted his final SAFL games tally to 117. |
Back to South Australian Team of the Century Team List
|
|
Tom
MacKenzie was the first triple Magarey
Medallist, winning in 1902 with West
Torrens, and 1905 and 1906 while
playing at North Adelaide. Despite rarely training MacKenzie was
'all action' once on the field, playing with a tenacity and verve which
made him, along with Tom
Leahy, the most popular South Australian
footballer of his day. Although primarily a rover MacKenzie could
also perform with distinction in the backlines as he possessed that
classic defender's attribute of never knowing when he was beaten.
McKenzie made his league debut with West Torrens in 1901, and was selected to represent South Australia that same year. He went on to make a total of 20 state appearances. In 1904 he switched to North, and was best afield in the red and whites' 1905 grand final defeat of Port Adelaide. He returned to West Torrens in 1909, and was captain of the club between 1911 and 1913. MacKenzie retired from football after the outbreak of the Great War during which he fought in Egypt and France, sustaining serious wounds from shell fire in 1916. Although he survived the war he never fully regained his health, and he died in 1927 at the comparatively young age of forty five. |
Back to South Australian Team of the Century Team List
|
Interchange - Phil Matson (West Perth, Sturt, North Fremantle, Subiaco, East Perth) |
|
|
|
Despite
probably being more highly renowned as a coach, Phil Matson was also a
champion player for close on two decades in two states. Born in
South Australia, he spent only two seasons (1908-9) playing in his home
state (with Sturt). The remainder of his playing career - both
before and after his Unley stint - was spent west of the Nullarbor, in
Bunbury, Boulder and Perth.
Three times a Western Australian carnival representative the prime features of Matson's play were his sure ball handling, excellent field kicking, and supreme adaptability which enabled him to play almost any position on the ground with equal success. He was also a fine high mark and, although highly aggressive in his approach to both the ball and the man, he was nevertheless extremely fair. Matson retired in 1923 but his burgeoning coaching career was tragically cut short in 1928 when he was killed in a road accident at the age of 43. In addition to his football prowess Matson was a superb swimmer, at one stage holding the world record for the 220 yards breaststroke. |
Back to South Australian Team of the Century Team List
|
|
Triple
Magarey Medallist
Lindsay Head was the first South Australian player to notch up 300
games. He was also, arguably, one of the code's most skilful and
intelligent players. Not that he lacked either courage or
competitiveness - players simply do not rack up the number of decisive,
clean possessions Head did without such qualities; it was just that he
seemed to perform almost every action on the football field with
such smooth panache and effortless artistry that at times it was as though
he was on a different plane from everyone else. That said, he could
never truly be called a two-sided player, preferring to resort to a
variation of the check side kick when caught on the wrong foot; however,
such was Head's artistry and dedication to practice that he was able to
perform this kick with exquisite accuracy time and time again.
An ardent traditionalist, Head refused numerous offers to move to Victoria to play. His loyalty to West Torrens is all the more remarkable when you consider that, after playing in a premiership side in only his second ever season, Head never again even went remotely close to a flag. On the personal front, however, he did win the club best and fairest award on 8 occasions, kicked more than 500 career goals, and represented South Australia no fewer than 37 times. |
Back to South Australian Team of the Century Team List
|
|
Ron Phillips is best
remembered for a versatility which saw him win consecutive Magarey Medals
while playing predominantly at opposite ends of the ground. In 1948
he won the Medal as a centre half back and the following year, when forced
by the needs of the team to relocate to centre half forward, he won it
again and, for good measure, topped North
Adelaide's goalkicking with 35
goals, a feat he was to repeat in each of the next 3 seasons.
Phillips was far from being a 2 season wonder, however. In 188 appearances for the red and whites and 10 for South Australia his performances were typically characterised by verve, courage, aggression, pace and a superb high marking ability which belied the fact that, at only 175cm in height, he was continually outreached by opponents. Add to this a supreme versatility which saw him occupy every position on the field during his career except centre wing and full back and his value as a 'team player' should be obvious. He may have been neither the prettiest nor most celebrated footballer of his time (although it would be wrong to call him old fashioned, as he was an ardent advocate and exponent of the play on game) but every team needs players of the calibre and attitude of Ron Phillips. |
Back to South Australian Team of the Century Team List
