Right Half Back Flank - Matthew Armstrong (Hobart, Fitzroy, North Melbourne, Northern Bombers)
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Right Half Back Flank - Matthew Armstrong (Hobart, Fitzroy, North Melbourne, Northern Bombers) |
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A strong running, talented on baller, wingman or half back, Matthew Armstrong was one of Fitzroy's most auspicious performers during the closing years of that club's VFL/AFL tenure. Were it not for a serious knee injury sustained in 1990, just as he was showing signs of developing into a genuine superstar, Armstrong's achievements might well have been even more noteworthy, with even a Brownlow being within the bounds of possibility. As it was he was a consistent and occasionally brilliant player for the Lions over the course of 132 games between 1987 and 1994. He also represented both Victoria (once) and his home state 93 times) in state of origin football and was a particularly noteworthy performer in the 1988 bicentennial carnival in Adelaide. In 1995 Fitzroy traded him to North Melbourne where he added a final 40 AFL games over two seasons. In 1995 in particular he was an extremely damaging player for North, but his AFL career ended in immense disappointment when he was omitted from the 'Roos' 1996 grand final team against Sydney, and thus missed the chance to earn a premiership medallion. After leaving the Kangaroos, Armstrong joined the Northern Bombers, where he finished his senior career. When Tasmania entered a team in the VFL in 2001 Matthew Armstrong was appointed as the fledgling club's inaugural coach. In 2003 he managed to steer the club into the finals, an achievement that was repeated in both of the next two seasons. However, a sequence of poor results midway through the 2006 season precipitated his departure. |
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Barry
Lawrence is widely remembered as one of the best VFL defenders of the
late 1960s and early 1970s, but he actually began his career with Longford
as a forward, and was selected as centre half forward in that club's
official 'Team of the Century'. A member of Tasmania's Carnival
squad in 1966 Lawrence won the Hec Smith Memorial Medal
the same year before leaving for the mainland, and an 8 season career in
the 'big time' with St Kilda, 2 years
later.
Late in his first season with the Saints, after failing to perform at the expected standard as a forward, coach Allan Jeans tried him on the backlines, and a star was born. Lawrence was later again used in an attacking role - this time with success - on intermittent occasions. In the 1971 VFL grand final Barry Lawrence put in one of the performances for which he is best remembered when, faced by fellow Taswegian Peter Hudson of Hawthorn, he barely made a mistake all day in restricting the champion goalsneak to just 3 goals when 4 would have seen him break Bob Pratt's all time record of 150 VFL goals in a season. Sadly, Hudson had the last laugh, however, as the Hawks won the premiership. After 128 games with St Kilda Lawrence returned to Longford in 1977 and continued to perform to a high standard. In 1978 and 1979 he captained Tasmania, taking his total number of Tasmanian interstate appearances to 14 in the process. He had also earlier represented the VFL in representative football. Sadly, however, when he finally retired from football it was without a senior premiership to his name. |
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Left Half Back Flank - Rodney Eade (Glenorchy, Hawthorn, Brisbane) |
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Rodney Eade began his senior football career with Glenorchy in 1975 where he made an immediate impact, catching the eye of mainland talent scouts and being voted the best first year player in the TFL. He moved to Hawthorn the following year and went on to be a tremendous performer for the Hawks in 229 games over the course of the next twelve seasons. Wearing the number 26 jumper previously made famous by fellow Tasmanian great Peter Hudson (Eade's coach while at Glenorchy) he played in a premiership side during his debut season at Glenferrie and added further appearances in flag-winning combinations in 1978, 1983 and 1986. In 1988 he was named captain of the Tasmanian team which competed at the Bicentennial Australian football carnival in Adelaide. Eade joined Brisbane in 1988 but found himself stymied by injury and was only able to add a further 30 senior games over his final three seasons in League football. There have been flashier and more extravagantly skilled players than Rodney Eade, but few who were as exhilarating to watch when in full flight. |
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