Go straight to the biography of your choice by clicking on the appropriate link:
[Colin Aamodt] [Vic Aanensen] [Steve Abala] [Bruce Abernethy] [Gary Ablett senior] [Geoff Ablett] [John Abley] [Kevin Abley] [Owen Abrahams] [Syd Ackland] [Charles Adams] [Frank 'Bluey' Adams] [Graham Adams] [William Adams] [Brian Adamson] [Brenton Adcock] [Jim Addison] [F. 'Cocky' Ahearne] [Michael Aish] [Peter Aish] [Mike Aitken] [Frank Aked senior] [Alec Albiston] [Ken Albiston] [Alan Aldenhoven] [Bill Alderman] [Rod Alderton] [Ron Alexander] [Ben Allan] [Chris Allen] [Ernest 'Ike' Allen] [Graeme 'Gubby' Allan] [Frank Allen] [Rodney Allen] [Wally Allen] [William Allen] [Stephen Allender] [Edward Alley] [Maurie Allingham] [Tom Allison] [Stan Alves] [Tom Alvin] [Dean Anderson] [Douglas 'Duggan' Anderson] [Frank Anderson] [Greg Anderson] [Jim Anderson] [Peter Anderson] [Robert Anderson] [Bruce Andrew] [Arthur 'Skinny' Andrews] [Ron Andrews] [George Angus] [Andrew Angwin] [John Annear] [Tony Antrobus] [Merv Appleyard] [Tom Arklay] [Barry Armstrong] [Ken Armstrong] [Les Armstrong] [Lou Armstrong] [Matthew Armstrong] [Lance Arnold] [Graham Arthur] [Brian Ashbolt] [Len Ashby] [Ron Ashby] [Marcus Ashcroft] [Ken Ashdown] [Jack 'Spud' Ashley] [Pat Astone] [Michael Athanasiou] [George Atkins] [Marty Atkins] [Simon Atkins] [James Atkinson] [Malcolm Atwell] [Colin Austen] [Jack Austin] [Allen Aylett] [Ross Ayre] [Gary Ayres]
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| After a promising colts career, Colin Aamodt made his league debut for North Adelaide in 1938. A hard working and highly resourceful follower, he gave the club fine service over the course of a war interrupted 132 game senior career that ended in 1950. Highlights of that career included winning North's best and fairest award in 1940, and sharing first ruck duties with Len Pedler and Darcy Cox in the 1949 grand final victory over West Torrens. Aamodt, who represented South Australia twice, returned to the red and whites as non-playing coach in 1955, but in three seasons in the 'hot seat' he only once managed to get his side into the finals. |
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Vic Aanensen (Port Melbourne & South Melbourne)
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| An awesome amalgam of height (200cm), strength, aggression, mobility and skill, Vic Aanensen should arguably have achieved even more than he did during the course of a twelve season, 169 game senior career with two clubs. He began that senior career with Port Melbourne in 1970, having progressed from the club's Thirds. In 1973 he crossed to South Melbourne where, over the course of the ensuing four seasons, he played 40 VFL games and kicked 30 goals, without ever really enhancing the reputation he had won in the VFA as a dominating ruckman of the highest order. Returning to the Borough in 1977, Aanensen produced the best and most consistent football of his career, playing a key role in the club's 1977, 1980 and 1981 premiership wins. He also won club best and fairest awards on three occasions, and the Liston Trophy in 1979 and 1981. At the end of the 1982 season, however, while still capable of performing at his imperious best, he left Port Melbourne, and the VFA, for a life in the country at Sale. His comparative failure at VFL level means that he cannot be regarded as a bona fide champion, but he was undoubtedly one of Port Melbourne's favourite sons, a status confirmed in 2003 by his inclusion as second ruckman in the club's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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Steve Abala (Darwin, Wanderers, Nightcliff)
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Almost without exception, the NTFL's most
successful senior coaches - men like Tony Shaw, John Taylor, Aldo Rossetto and
Bob Elix - have hailed from the southern states, but there are always the so
called 'exceptions that prove the rule'. In the case of NTFL coaches, arguably the
best of these 'exceptions' was former Darwin player
Steve Abala. When appointed coach of Wanderers
in 1979 the Eagles had not won a flag for more than 20 years, and indeed every
season between 1963-64 and 1971-72 (9 in total) had finished dead set last.
In Abala's first season at the helm Wanderers landed yet another wooden spoon, but the following year the side's improvement began in earnest. The Eagles reached the 1980-81 grand final against North Darwin and, after trailing by 52 points at the last change, came storming back to fall short by just a single straight kick at the death. In 1981-82 and 1982-83 Wanderers won successive flags for the only time since World War Two, narrowly defeating St Marys on both occasions. The second of these premiership years proved to be Steve Abala's last as Wanderers coach. In 1988-89, seeking a fresh challenge, Abala took the coaching reins at Nightcliff, which had not won a premiership since 1964-65. However, after overseeing just one season, which yielded a 5th place finish, he called it a day. His achievement in resurrecting the fortunes of a Wanderers side that was going nowhere, however, arguably make him well worthy of the title of 'the Territory's Greatest Home Grown Coach'. |
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Bruce Abernethy (Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Collingwood, Adelaide)
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| Bruce Abernethy was a highly poised and polished performer who enjoyed a fourteen season, 300-plus game career with four clubs. He began with Port Adelaide in 1979, and played in a premiership team in each of his first three seasons before crossing to North Melbourne in 1982. He spent two seasons with North, and then three at Collingwood, impressing during this time as a classy attacking wingman or half back who had great pace and considerable skill. In 1987 he returned to Port Adelaide where he promptly won the best and fairest award followed by the Jack Oatey Medal after the Magpies' grand final defeat of Glenelg in 1988. He also played in Port's 1989, 1990 and 1992 premiership-winning teams. In 1991 he was a member of Adelaide's inaugural AFL squad, playing 11 games to add to his 190 for Port, 43 with North, 58 for Collingwood, and 10 interstate appearances for South Australia. |
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Gary Ablett senior (Hawthorn & Geelong)
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| The
mercurial Gary Ablett was one of the most supremely gifted footballers
ever to play the game, and yet he might easily have been lost to top level
football for good after a disastrous debut season with Hawthorn
in 1982. Unable to settle in the city, Ablett played just 6 matches
- mainly as a wingman - that year before 'retiring' back to the bush and
Ovens and Murray Football League club Myrtleford.
Geelong managed to lure Ablett back to the big time in 1984 and this time he knuckled down to become, eventually, arguably football's biggest superstar of the late '80s and early '90s. Ablett's spectacularly eye-catching style of play made the 'superstar' tag sit comfortably. Few players in the game's history have combined such extravagant high marking skills, explosive pace, and prodigious two-sided kicking ability, much of it attributed to his inordinately high concentration of 'fast twitch' muscles. A notoriously poor trainer, this did not prevent him from producing football of unparalleled genius on match days. Early in his career in particular, it was sometimes said that he was susceptible under pressure, but this was belied by a sequence of consistently brilliant performances for the Big V, and most notably of all by his stunning best afield performance in a losing team in the 1989 VFL grand final against Hawthorn. Ablett did virtually everything short of winning the match off his own boot that day, marking almost everything that came his way, and booting a grand final record 9 goals as the Cats got to within 6 points of achieving a major upset. Towards the end of his career, when it appeared that he was beginning to slow down slightly, he began to play almost exclusively at the goalfront, and with tallies of 124 goals in 1993, 129 in 1994 and 122 in 1995 secured the Coleman Medal on three successive occasions. He was Geelong's leading goal kicker nine times, and achieved AFL All Australian selection in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Ablett only won Geelong's top accolade once, in his debut season of 1984. However, some players arguably transcend objective forms of commendation like best and fairest awards, and Gary Ablett was most emphatically one of those. When he retired at the end of the 1996 season he had added 242 senior league games for Geelong to the half a dozen he had played with the Hawks. All but 9 of his career tally of 1,030 goals were booted for the Cats. Ablett's interstate career comprised 11 state of origin games for Victoria. In 2001 he was named on a half forward flank in Geelong's official 'Team of the Century'. Gary Ablett's brothers Geoff and Kevin also played VFL football. |
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Geoff Ablett (Hawthorn, Richmond, St Kilda)
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| Geoff Ablett was the first of the three Ablett brothers to make his mark in the VFL. Hawthorn recruited him from Drouin, and he overcame early injury problems to play a total of 202 senior games for the club between 1973 and 1982, kicking 135 goals. Exceptionally pacy, and a superb kick, he was one of Hawthorn's best players, as a wingman, in the 1976 grand final defeat of North Melbourne. He also played on the wing in the Hawks' 1978 premiership win against the same opponent. His reputation as one of the fastest players in league football was endorsed when he won the VFL footballers' sprint competition three times in succession. In 1983 Ablett was cleared to Richmond, for whom he played 16 games and kicked 12 goals in two seasons. He completed his league career with 11 games and 6 goals for St Kilda in 1985. |
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| At
the end of the 1949 season, a Hawthorn
official wrote to Port Adelaide secretary Bob McLean to advise him that a
highly promising young Melbourne District player who had played a handful
of reserves games for the Mayblooms towards the end of the year was on his
way to Adelaide to live. Trusting his source, McLean arranged to
meet the player when he arrived with his family at Adelaide station.
Discovering that the player was planning to reside in Glenelg's
zone, he hastily made arrangements to find him suitable accommodation
close to Port Adelaide's home ground of Alberton Oval. Glenelg
officials were
not happy, but there was nothing they could do, and in round 7 1950 John
Abley donned the black and white Magpie jumper for the first time in what
would develop into a highly illustrious 212 game league career.
When the AFL announced its 'Team of the Century' in 1996, the selection which generated the greatest amount of controversy was that of Carlton's Steve Silvagni for the full back position. A preferred choice, as far as the majority of the critics seemed to be concerned, would have been Jack Regan of Collingwood, famously dubbed 'the prince of full backs' during his career. Had the AFL been capable of a genuinely even-handed, holistic appraisal of the game's history, however, it is hard to imagine them looking outside the borders of South Australia when choosing the greatest full back of all time. North Adelaide's Ian McKay, the only full back regularly to keep John Coleman under wraps, and sufficiently versatile to make a telling contribution almost anywhere else on the ground, would be one formidable candidate, but without doubt the man laying the strongest all round claim of all would be Port Adelaide's miserly, dogged, indefatigable triple All Australian John Abley. It is a touch ironic therefore that Abley only ended up playing full back more or less by accident. After struggling to make an impression during a debut season that yielded only 8 senior appearances, he was asked to stand in for regular full back Reg Schumann, who had just retired, in an end of year challenge match in Broken Hill. Abley, who had never played the position before, took to it like the proverbial duck to water, and for the remainder of his Port Adelaide career he never played anywhere else. A key member of Port Adelaide premiership teams in 1954-5-6-7-8-9, Abley was seldom the sort of player to make the best player lists, and indeed it is at least arguable that this was never really a primary motivating factor in his play; instead, he was the sort of player whose principal aim was to ensure that his direct opponent did not make the best player lists. It was the same when he played interstate football, which he did on 23 occasions. South Australia's 1956 and 1958 carnival teams were probably the worst in the state's history, with the inevitable result that John Abley, as full back, had rather a lot to do. Unlike most of his team mates, he rose to the occasion splendidly: in 1956 he was one of just four South Australians to earn All Australian selection, while two years later, after South Australia had put in its worst carnival performance ever, he was the only croweater to get the nod. In Brisbane in 1961 South Australia performed somewhat better, but despite presumably having less to do John Abley, who was in his final season as a player, was as parsimonious as ever, with his third successive All Australian blazer establishing beyond any reasonable doubt his status as the finest custodian in the land. For those not fortunate enough to have seem Abley in action, Jeff Pash's concise and incisive précis effortlessly encapsulates his virtues as a player: He has the habit of worry that makes for perfect concentration, sure-footedness (never a reckless throw for the ball), and the safest, most relaxed mark in the business. (See footnote 1) That 'habit of worry', inherited so conspicuously by Abley's immediate successor at full back, Ron Elleway, and yet so lamentably and obviously absent from the outlook of a player like Steve Silvagni, was almost certainly the key to his greatness, as well as being one of the primary factors contributing to Port Adelaide's unequalled period of achievement between 1954 and 1959. |
Footnotes1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 201. Return to Main Text |
| Like his older brother John, Glenelg's Kevin Abley tends to be chiefly remembered as a full back, in which position he represented South Australia against Tasmania at the Adelaide Oval in 1963. However, he was quite versatile, and the fact that he amassed a total of 96 goals during the course of his 176 game league career confirms that he was perfectly capable of doing an effective job on the forward lines when required Lighter than his brother, he was similarly dogged and intense in his approach. He made his league debut in 1954, and remained a first choice senior player for eleven seasons. In 1965 and 1966 he coached Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley before returning to Glenelg as coach of the Seconds, whom he promptly steered to a first ever premiership at that level, in 1967. |
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| Half forward flank specialist Owen Abrahams overcame the disappointment of being rejected by Fitzroy's Thirds to return to the club a few years later and eke out a career for himself as one of the most audaciously talented players of his era. Quick, wily and extremely skilful, he played a total of 132 VFL games for the Roys between 1954 and 1962, kicking 230 goals. Along with club mate Kevin Murray he was awarded an All Australian blazer after the 1958 Melbourne carnival, making them the first pair of Fitzroy footballers to be so honoured. Abrahams also topped his club's goal kicking list in both 1957 (31 goals) and 1961 (32). |
| Syd
Ackland, Norwood's full back during a
halcyon era for the club in the 1920s, was reliability and assurance
personified. His 133 game senior career between 1922 and 1931 saw
him help the Redlegs to three premierships, and between 1922 and 1926 in
particular he marshalled what was, statistically, by some measure the tightest and meanest
backline in the league. Ackland played for South Australia on 7
occasions, including games at the 1927
Melbourne carnival, when he took over from the recently retired Frank
Golding as the state's regular full back. His selection as full
back in Norwood's official
'Team of the Century' was neither unexpected nor unwarranted.
As a coach, Ackland cut his teeth with Prince Alfred College in 1934 and 1935, and in 1936 was appointed senior coach of Norwood, steering the side to 5th and 3rd place finishes in his two seasons at the helm. |
| Charlie Adams made his debut with Port Adelaide when league football resumed after the Great War in 1919, and immediately caught the eye as a follower of considerable ability and mental fortitude. His eight season senior career saw him play a total of 94 games, including the winning challenge final of 1921 against Norwood. Voted the Magpies' best and fairest player in both 1920 and 1921, he came within an ace of winning the 1921 Magarey Medal when he featured in a three way tie with South Adelaide's Dan Moriarty and 'Wat' Scott of Norwood, only for the umpires, having been convened to adjudicate on the matter, to elect to bestow the award on the South player. (The rules in force at the time allowed for only one winner.) Seventy-seven years later the SANFL bestowed retrospective awards on all players who had originally lost out either in this manner, or on a countback of votes, and so the name of Charles Adams was belatedly included in the oldest official 'hall of fame' in top level football. |
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| A supremely talented and pacy wingman or rover, Frank 'Bluey' Adams was a major driving force behind Melbourne's domination of the VFL during the late 1950s and early '60s. He is probably best remembered for the accidental collision with Collingwood's Des Healey during the last quarter of the 1955 grand final which left him with a severely fractured jaw. However, he deserves to be remembered more for his electrifying displays in no fewer than six Demons premiership sides over the course of a thirteen season, 164 game league career. After his retirement as a player, he served as a Melbourne committee member. |
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Graham Adams (Windsor-Zillmere) by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher |
| Graham Adams was a Sandgate junior who was a valuable player with Windsor-Zillmere through the 1980s. He made his debut in the finals of 1981 as a fifteen-year-old, playing in a premiership under Frank Gumbleton, and won another flag in '88. He began as a wingman/midfielder and finished an ever-reliable back pocket. A club best and fairest winner, he played 22 times for Queensland after making his interstate debut at sixteen, and was a regular standout whenever he pulled on the Maroon jumper. |
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William Adams (South Fremantle, Fitzroy, Northcote, Preston, Prahran, Melbourne, South Melbourne)
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| William
Adams, who was known as 'Bill' in Western Australia, and 'Bull' during his
time in Victoria, began his varied and colourful league football career
with South Fremantle in
1921. He showed excellent form from the start, and was included in
Western Australia's squad for the 1921
Perth carnival, although he failed to make the final eighteen for
either of the state's matches.
In 1924, after 32 games with South he ventured east where he joined a Fitzroy team that was on the wane after reaching the two previous grand finals. Adams' tough-as-nails approach was ideally suited to the hurly burly world of the VFL, and he was particularly prominent for the Maroons during the 1924 round-robin finals series, which saw them ultimately placed 4th. Although he only spent three seasons with Fitzroy, playing a total of 51 games, his commitment, tenacity and dedication made him an extremely popular player. In 1926, he was appointed club captain, and was also selected to represent the VFL. As a defender, he was extremely difficult to beat, and he was equally useful when taking a run on the ball. The period from 1927 to 1930 saw 'Bull' Adams plying his trade in the VFA, first with Northcote, and then Preston. Sadly for him, however, when the Brickfielders emerged as a force in 1929 he had already left the fold, whereas Preston was still more than three decades away from achieving pre-eminence. Nevertheless, his performances as a player were often of the highest quality, and in 1929, with Preston, he won the coveted 'double' of club best and fairest award and leading goal kicker trophy (with 69 goals). In 1931, Adams was appointed playing coach of VFA club Prahran, but midway through the year he returned for one final stint in the VFL with Melbourne, where he added 16 games over the course of that season and the next. His final involvement in senior football, and easily the most dramatic, came from 1945 to 1948 when he coached South Melbourne. In his debut season, the red and whites reached the grand final, losing by 28 points after one of the most brutal and controversial matches in history (reviewed here). Unfortunately for Adams, South declined as a force after 1945, and when the team began the 1948 season in inept fashion he was replaced as coach by Jack Hale. Until the arrival of Rodney Eade nearly four decades later, however, William 'Bull' Adams remained the last South coach to steer his charges to a grand final. |
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Brian Adamson (West Perth & Norwood)
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| Brian
Adamson is undoubtedly best remembered for being at the centre of a huge
clearance controversy in 1978, when he wanted to transfer from West
Perth to Norwood. The matter was
ultimately decided, in Norwood's and the player's favour, by the Supreme
Court. Ironically, Adamson spent just two seasons with the Redlegs,
playing a mere 20 games. However, one of those games was the winning
grand final of 1978 against Sturt (reviewed
here),
in which he booted 5 goals from centre half forward to be one of the best
players afield.
Of rangy build at 190cm and 82kg, and renowned for his spectacular aerial ability, Adamson began and ended his league football career at West Perth. He joined the Cardinals from South Perth, made his senior debut in 1975, and was a member that same year of the club's grand final winning team against South Fremantle. After returning from his two season stint in South Australia he resumed at West Perth, but over the final half a dozen years of his career he was badly hampered by injury. In his final season, 1984, he only managed a single senior game, and although he was keen to try again in 1985 his body told him otherwise. All told, he played 125 games for the Falcons, as West Perth had become known in 1980, and booted 252 goals. He was the club's leading goal kicker on a couple of occasions, and played 2 interstate games for Western Australia. |
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| A rugged, dashing and highly reliable defender who played 259 games for Sturt between 1962 and 1974, Brenton Adcock also earned something of an Australia-wide reputation on the basis of his many excellent performances for South Australia in interstate matches. An All Australian in 1966, Adcock played a total of 20 state games, including the carnivals of 1966, 1969 and 1972. He played in the back pocket in no fewer than six Sturt premiership teams, with arguably his finest ever performance coming in the 1967 grand final win over Port Adelaide, when he was most observers' choice as best afield. |
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| Recruited by Collingwood from Leopold, Jim Addison may only have managed 10 senior VFL games, but one of them was the winning grand final of 1903 during which he was the only player on the field to manage more than a single goal (he booted 2 of the game's 7 goals). Addison played full forward in that game, but he could also play in the backlines or on the ball. |
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| A traditional goalsneak in the mould of 'Dick' Lee or Roy Bent, 'Cocky' Ahearne combined considerable pace and elusiveness with indefatigable accuracy in front of goal. He was a key member of the great Cananore sides that won three consecutive local and state premierships between 1925 and 1927. He also played regularly for Tasmania, including games at the 1927 Melbourne carnival. Ahearne was the TFL's top goal kicker in 1925 with 50 goals, and in1927 with 45. In the Canaries' famous 178 point annihilation of a visiting Port Adelaide side in 1925, he was the leading goal kicker in the match with 8 of the victors' 31 goals. |
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| At his peak, Norwood's Michael Aish was among the finest South Australian footballers of his generation. His slight frame belied his extraordinary courage and a tremendous capacity for hard work, and he topped this off a sublime range of skills that made him exhilarating to watch in full flight. A popular winner of the Magarey Medal as a twenty year old in 1981, he won Norwood's club champion award on four occasions, and was a member of Redlegs premiership teams in 1982 and 1984. During the course of his 307 game league career between 1979 and 1993 he resisted overtures from at least five different VFL clubs, content to eke out his trade in familiar surroundings. Captain of Norwood from 1987 to 1989, Aish also counted captaincy of his state, for which he played on 15 occasions, among his football achievements. A dual All Australian - the only Redlegs player to be so honoured - he was chosen as a ruck-rover in the Redlegs' official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. He is the son of former Norwood captain Peter Aish. |
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| Having worked his way through the ranks at Norwood, Peter Aish made his league debut as a nineteen year old in 1953. Elegant and highly accomplished, he played as a follower for most of his first three seasons before being tried as a half forward and then across half back in 1956. He made his South Australian interstate debut as a half back flanker at the 1956 Perth carnival. Always a highly respected figure at the Parade, Aish was installed as club captain in 1960, and perhaps partly as a result, his form blossomed. Now playing mainly as a full back, Aish won Norwood's best and fairest award in 1960, and capped another highly consistent campaign the following year by being his team's best player in a losing grand final against West Adelaide (reviewed here). After captaining the Demons, as they were known at the time, for one further season, Aish retired with 162 SANFL games to his credit. He represented South Australia 5 times. His son Michael was a Norwood champion in the 1980s and '90s. |
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Mike Aitken (Claremont & Carlton)
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| Mike Aitken, known as 'Doc' because of his profession, was a versatile and extremely reliable centre half back and utility who played 109 league games for Claremont during the late 1970s and into the '80s. He also represented Western Australia on 3 occasions. In the 1981 grand final he was at centre half back as the Tigers came from a point down at the final change to overcome South Fremantle by 15 points. Aitken also had a brief stint with Carlton, playing 1 senior VFL game in 1985. |
| Nicknamed 'Dolly', Frank Aked commenced his senior career with Preston while that club was a member of the VJFA. In 1925 he was recruited by Footscray, which had just joined the VFL. Tall, strong and angular, he quickly developed into a useful ruckman whose wholehearted attitude compensated to a certain extent for any skill deficiencies. He was competent in general field play in addition to being a good knock ruckman, and was the sort of player who inspired others to greater heights because of the way he wore his dedication to the club cause on his sleeve. Aked played 108 VFL games and kicked 57 goals for the Tricolours between 1925 and 1932. He then spent a season with Hawthorn, where he added a final 8 games and 2 goals, but his name will forever be associated with Footscray whose reserves he later coached, and where he also served for many years as a trainer. His son, Frank Aked junior, played 4 games for Footscray in 1951-2. |
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Alec Albiston (Hawthorn & North Melbourne)
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| During an era of unrelenting gloom for the Hawthorn Football Club, Alec Albiston was a stand-out performer, as well as an embodiment of many of the qualities that would eventually enable the Hawks to become the pre-eminent force in Australian football. Recruited from Kew, he made his senior VFL debut in 1936 as an eighteen year old, and quickly proved that, despite his lightweight frame and boyish demeanour, he was ideally suited for the rigours and requirements of a man's game. As a rover he was inevitably subject to a considerable amount of physical duress, but his durability was such that, over the course of a fifteen season,170 game career at Hawthorn, he was never once sidelined with injury. A supreme getter of the hard ball, he also used it well, and was deadly near goal, as his tally of 383 goals with the Mayblooms attests. Clever, tricky, and boasting plenty of pace, he was also a better than adequate overhead mark, in spite of his comparatively diminutive frame. Albiston was Hawthorn's leading goal kicker in 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942 and 1945, and a dual winner of the club's best and fairest award. Between 1947 and 1949 he served as captain-coach, but was unable to get the side above 11th place on the ladder. Indeed, only once during his time with the Mayblooms did they manage to achieve what the Americans call 'a winning season', by recording more wins than losses for the year, and on no fewer than eight occasions they finished either last or second to last. In 1950, Alec Albiston crossed to North Melbourne after being deprived of the Hawthorn captain-coach's position, and added a final 7 VFL games and 6 goals. Somewhat surprisingly, he only earned one Big V jumper, but no doubt this was at least in part because he what at his peak during the wartime years, when interstate fixtures were suspended. Albiston had two brothers, Harold, a year older, and Ken, nine years younger, who also played league football. |
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Ken Albiston (Richmond & Melbourne)
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| Not quite blessed with the same ability as his older brother Alec, Ken Albiston was nevertheless a useful footballer, as he proved by giving creditable service to two league clubs. He was spotted by Richmond while playing in the VAFA with Melbourne High School Old Boys, whom he ironically left just prior to the club's securing its first ever B Section premiership. That was in 1946, and it could perhaps be called doubly ironic in that Richmond, which had been a force for much of the previous two decades, was about to experience a prolonged decline. Indeed, during Albiston's six season, 58 game stint with the Tigers they only took part in one finals match - the losing 1st semi final of 1947 against Fitzroy. Albiston's next club, Melbourne, was by contrast re-emerging as a power when he arrived, and in 1954 the Demons made it through as far as the grand final. In what proved to be the last of his 45 game stint with the club, Ken Albiston produced a fine display as second rover, changing in the forward pocket with Stuart Spencer, but he could not prevent the Bulldogs from romping to a conclusive win (match reviewed here). |
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Alan Aldenhoven (North Adelaide)
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| A tireless and formidable ruckman, North Adelaide's Alan Aldenhoven's league career was restricted to just 55 games over ten seasons because the requirements of his work often saw him posted to remote country areas of the state. He made his senior debut in 1949, but did not really become a regular in the side until 1951, when he promptly showed his class by winning the club's best and fairest award. A solid performer in a losing grand final side against Port Adelaide that same season, he produced a best afield performance in the following year's premiership decider as the red and whites annihilated Norwood by a record margin for a grand final of 108 points. Thereafter, however, he made only sporadic league appearances, with his last game - his only one for the season - coming in the 1958 preliminary final loss to Port. Alan Aldenhoven represented South Australia twice. |
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| Bill Alderman was one of the most accomplished Subiaco footballers of the immediate post-war period. Strong overhead, solid, and tremendously pacy, he was also among the best defenders in Western Australia at the time. Best suited to centre half back, where he used his judgement to sterling effect, he played a total of 91 games for the Maroons between 1946 and 1951. He also made half a dozen interstate appearances for Western Australia. In 1952 he left Subiaco in order to take up the position of reserves coach at West Perth. |
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| Strong overhead, and a long, straight kick, Rod Alderton seemed ideally suited to a key forward position, and indeed he spent the first two-thirds of his league career with West Perth mainly playing at full forward, in which position he twice topped the club's goal kicking list. He joined the Cardinals from Merredin, and made the first of an eventual 126 senior appearances in 1978. During the 1982 season club coach Dennis Cometti had the inspired idea to try him on a wing, and he proved a revelation, producing far and away the best and most consistent football of his career. He continued in excellent form in 1983, and many observers considered him unfortunate not to gain selection for the state. In 1984, however, he sustained a serious knee injury, and after being restricted to just 5 league appearances for the year decided to retire. |
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Ron Alexander (East Perth, Fitzroy, East Fremantle, West Coast)
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| Ron Alexander was a formidable, highly team-orientated ruckman whose qualities of leadership were evident from very early in his career. That career commenced in 1971 with East Perth for whom he played a total of 98 senior games in five seasons, including the winning grand final of 1972 against Claremont. Alexander won his club's fairest and best award in 1974, the same year that saw him awarded a Simpson Medal after a fine performance for Western Australia against the VFL at Subiaco. After captaining the Royals in his final season he transferred to Fitzroy where he spent six highly successful years, captaining the side in 1979 and 1980, and winning a club champion award in 1981. Somewhat perversely, he was also chosen to represent Victoria. In 1982, after 133 VFL games for the Lions, he returned to the west as captain-coach of East Fremantle, a role he ended up undertaking for four seasons, culminating in the 1985 grand final defeat of Subiaco (reviewed here). Alexander continued to perform with great credit and consistency as a player, although he was now spending more time resting up forward. In 1984 he booted 52 goals for the year to be the Sharks' joint top goal kicker along with Jeff Cassidy. When he retired after the 1985 grand final Alexander had added 77 WAFL games to the 98 he had played previously with East Perth. He continued at East Fremantle as non-playing coach in 1986, and the following year was appointed as the inaugural coach of Western Australia's fledgling VFL club, West Coast. However, despite overseeing a highly respectable return of 11 wins from 22 home and away matches for 8th position on the ladder he was replaced at season's end by John Todd. |
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Ben Allan (Claremont, Hawthorn, Fremantle)
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| Ben Allan commenced his senior league career with Claremont in 1987 and played 63 games there in three years, including the winning grand finals of 1987 and 1989. He rounded off his career with the Tigers by winning a Simpson Medal, his second, in the 1989 grand final victory over South Fremantle. Drafted by Hawthorn in 1990 Allan endured a tough first season in which he managed just half a dozen senior appearances, but in 1991 he really came into his own, winning the club's best and fairest award and maintaining his record of playing in a premiership team every other year as the Hawks overpowered West Coast in the only AFL grand final ever to be played at Waverley. A smoothly skilled, industrious centreline player or on-baller, Allan was consistently one of the Hawks' top possession getters, and arguably the side's most important single player. He emphasised his stature by winning AFL All Australian selection in 1993 and 1994 before seeking pastures new with AFL debutant Fremantle, which appointed him as its inaugural captain, in 1995. Allan's career with the Dockers was undermined by injury and he managed just 47 games in three seasons to add to the 98 he had played with the Hawks. He returned to top level football midway through the 2001 season when he replaced Damian Drum as coach of Fremantle, but he spent just half a year in the role before giving way to Chris Connolly. |
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Chris Allen (East Perth & Swan Districts)
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| Chris Allen was a damaging on-baller, wingman or half forward from Dianella who debuted with East Perth in 1976, and was a member two years later of the Royals' victorious grand final team against Perth (match reviewed here). His form and consistency improved over time, and in 1982 he was chosen in the West Australian state team which trounced South Australia at Subiaco. When, at the end of the 1983 season, and after playing 116 games for the club, he sought a transfer to Swan Districts, a protracted clearance wrangle broke out, which was eventually resolved in favour of the player and Swans. However, Allen then endured an injury plagued year which restricted him to a mere 5 league appearances, a tally he increased by 12 in 1985. The 1986 season saw him back at East Perth where he added a final 36 games over two seasons, producing some of the best and most consistent form of his career in the process. |
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Ernest 'Ike' Allen (East Perth)
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| A clever, elusive wingman with pace to burn, East Perth's 'Ike' Allen was, for a time, arguably the finest exponent of his position in Australia (see footnote 1). He commenced with the Royals in 1916, but his peak years coincided with Phil Matson's initial term as the club's coach between 1918 and 1924. Under Matson, East Perth went top for five successive years between 1919 and 1923, with Allen playing - and starring - in the last four of these flag-winning combinations. He was also a 'shoe-in' for Western Australia during this time, and was a key member of the state's victorious 1921 Perth carnival team. Had the Royals seen fit to bestow annual fairest and best awards during this stage of their history it seems reasonable to imagine that 'Ike' Allen, who had played a total of 124 WAFL games and kicked 25 goals by the time he retired in 1924, would have been the recipient of several. As it is, in June 2006 he was a fairly predictable selection on the wing in East Perth's official 'Team of the Century 1906 to 1944'. |
Footnotes1. By strange chance, one of his chief rivals to this unofficial title was another Allen - South Adelaide's Wally - who, like 'Ike', hailed originally from Western Australia. Return to Main Text |
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Graeme 'Gubby' Allan (Sunshine, Fitzroy, Collingwood)
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| Popularly known as 'Gubby', Graeme Allan commenced his senior career with Sunshine in the VFA before moving to Fitzroy in 1975. Clever, highly skilled and adaptable, he was a prominent player for the Roys in 87 VFL games over half a dozen seasons, during which he booted 97 goals. Crossing to Collingwood in 1981 he continued to perform at a high standard over another 54 games, which included the losing grand final at the end of his first season against Carlton. He booted 29 goals for the Magpies in a career that ended in 1986. Allan also represented the Big V. After his playing career was over he became a prominent football administrator, initially with Collingwood, and later at Brisbane. |
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| Undoubtedly one of the foremost East Perth players of his generation, Frank Allen was a fixture in the side for over a decade. He was also a regular on the interstate scene, representing Western Australia a total of 11 times, including games at both the 1950 Brisbane and 1956 Perth carnivals. Skilful, pacy and creative, he played most of his football across centre, although towards the end of his career in particular he also played some fine games on a half forward flank. He commenced with the Royals in 1943, when the underage wartime competition was running, and was a member in 1944 of the club's unbeaten premiership side. He missed the 1945 and 1946 'open age' seasons while serving in the Navy, but when he resumed he performed with the assurance of a veteran allied to the verve and sparkle of a spring colt. By the time Allen retired in 1956 had amassed 152 WANFL games, and kicked 30 goals. Allen was the winner of his club's fairest and best award in 1950, and finished runner-up on a countback in the Sandover Medal the same year to East Fremantle's Jim Conway. He came third in the Sandover Medal count in 1951. Frank Allen's career ended in disappointment when, owing to a knee injury, he missed out on the 1956 grand final win over South Fremantle which brought the Royals their first senior premiership for twenty years. Just over forty years after his retirement, however, he, along with all the other players who had originally lost a Sandover either on a countback of votes or the decision of the league president, received the unexpected fillip of a retrospective Medal. |
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| Winner of Woodville's best and fairest award in his debut season of 1965 it would perhaps be fair to suggest that Rodney Allen thereafter failed fully to realise his potential. Nevertheless, he gave the 'Peckers sound service, mainly as a wingman, in precisely 200 league games over eleven consecutive seasons. |
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Born in Boulder City on 24 September 1900, Wally Allen learned to play football at Christian Brothers' College, Kalgoorlie. At the age of eleven, he moved with his family to another hotbed of the game, Broken Hill, and four years later he made his senior debut with Norths. After playing in a couple of Broken Hill Football League premiership teams with Norths he headed to Adelaide where, while playing in the SAFA for Goodwood, he caught the eye of South Adelaide scout 'Lightie' McCarron. A handful of training runs was enough to convince the blue and whites of his talent, and he made his league debut shortly afterwards. Although his SAFL career was to be cruelly cut short by a knee injury, he did enough in just four seasons to earn widespread acclaim and admiration, with 'The SA Footballer' seeing fit to eulogise lyrically about him under the heading AUSTRALIA'S CHAMPION WINGSTER WALLY ALLEN'S ENFORCED RETIREMENT True lovers of the grand old winter game readily admire a good clean footballer, and the news that Wally Allen, the champion South Adelaide wingster, has retired, will occasion widespread regret, not only in local football circles, but throughout the Commonwealth. He has given us many dashing games, and perhaps the crowning point of glory was reached when, after having decisively beaten Garden (see footnote 1) in the interstate match in Melbourne, capable Victorian critics heralded him as the champion of the year. This exalted opinion was supplemented by the experts who witnessed the two carnival matches in WA in 1921. Nothing better could be achieved by any sportsman, and Wally Allen will go out of the game with the mantle of high football honours resting upon worthy shoulders. On the field, and off it, he was "all quality". (From 'The SA Footballer', 30/6/23, page 33) Allen did, in fact, make an attempted comeback with South two years after announcing his retirement, but it was short-lived. He played a total of 54 league games and kicked 16 goals besides representing South Australia on half a dozen occasions. Moreover, when during the 1922 season the 'SA Footballer' conducted a poll among its readers to find the player popularly judged to be the best in the SAFL, Wally Allen scored a comprehensive win, beating numerous players whom it would be perhaps be fair to observe have been evaluated somewhat more generously by posterity (see footnote 2). |
Footnotes1. This refers to the winner of Essendon's 1920 best and fairest award, Jack Garden, who was a regular VFL representative player during the first half of the 1920s. Return to Main Text 2. The leading place-getters in the poll were: 1st Wally Allen (South Adelaide) 2,489 votes; 2nd Vic Richardson (Sturt) 2,084; 3rd Clem Dayman (Port Adelaide) 1,670; 4th Bobby Barnes (West Adelaide) 1,625; 5th Guy Stephens (Norwood) 1,526; 6th Les Marvel (West Torrens) 1,073. Allen's prize was a suit worth £12 12/ from Syd Ingerson, the 'Up-To-Date Tailor', of King William Street. Bobby Barnes was the winner of the 1922 Magarey Medal. Source: The 'SA Footballer', 5/5/23, page 30. Return to Main Text |
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| Strong, courageous and highly dependable, Bill Allen gave Melbourne some noteworthy service as a ruckman in 142 VFL games between 1910 and 1923. He originally came from South Yarra, and was also a fine cricketer, representing his state in the Sheffield Shield. (Allen's surname was correctly spelt with an 'e', not with an 'a' as in the above illustration.) |
| Stephen Allender began and ended his senior career with Port Melbourne, for whom his 78 VFA games included the winning grand final of 1980 against Coburg. That 1980 season was an exceptional one for Allender who won both the Liston Trophy and his club's best and fairest award. Tall but quite slimly built at 194cm and 81kg he was equally effective in the ruck or a key forward position. He joined Sydney in 1981 and played 28 games over the ensuing 3 seasons, kicking 28 goals. In 1984 he moved to Hawthorn but could only manage a couple of senior games for year, and the following season saw him back where he started with the Borough. |
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Edward Alley (South Melbourne & Williamstown)
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| After playing 16 games for South Melbourne in 1902-3 Ted Alley crossed to Williamstown and became a key contributor to that club's gradual emergence as a power in the VFA. After qualifying for the finals for the first time in 1905, the Villagers contested their first premiership decider two years later. Reigning premier West Melbourne provided the opposition, but Williamstown, which had finished the season as minor premier, proved too strong. A key reason for this was the display of Alley who, in the absence of regular captain Paddy Noonan, was skippering the side. In those days, a club's captain was tantamount to a coach, and Alley made all the right moves in masterminding an opening term burst by his charges that effectively finished the game as a contest. The Villagers led 4.4 to 0.2 at the first change, and went on to win by 18 points, with Alley's place in history, as Williamstown's first ever premiership captain, thereby secured. |
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Maurie Allingham (Port Adelaide)
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| Maurie Allingham was a highly capable all round footballer who made his league debut for Port Adelaide in 1920 before becoming a regular the following season. Sadly for Allingham, he was an ever present in 1921 right up to the challenge final win over Norwood, which he missed through injury. Playing mainly as a forward early in his career, he topped the Magpies' goal kicking list every season between 1921 and 1924, with 47 goals in 1922 his best tally. Allingham captain-coached the Magpies to 2nd position in 1926, and was club vice-captain in 1925 and part of the 1927 season. When he retired in 1931 he had amassed a total of 158 senior games, but among those he missed with injury, in addition to the 1921 challenge final, was the successful premiership play-off of 1928. Maurie Allingham represented South Australia 5 times, and kicked 1 goal. He won the Magpies' best and fairest award in his last league season. |
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Tom Allison (North Melbourne & Belconnen)
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| Tom Allison was a speedy, elusive footballer who joined North Melbourne from West Coburg and played 106 VFL games and kicked 61 goals for the club between 1963 and 1970. He was chosen to represent the 'Big V' in 1965. In 1971 he moved to Canberra and was appointed captain-coach of Belconnen, which, having just relocated to that district, had changed its name from Turner. In his second season at the helm, Allison managed to get his side into the four, but they bowed out in the 1st semi final. During his time with Belconnen, he played for and coached the ACT representative team. |
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Stan Alves (Melbourne, North Melbourne, St Kilda)
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| Excellent
wingman though he undoubtedly was, Stan Alves might never had made the
grade in league football had he not persisted at Melbourne
when legendary coach Norm
Smith thought him too lightweight and feeble. Once given his
chance, however, he quickly proved both his coach and all other sceptics
at the club wrong as he went on to amass 226 VFL games for the club
between 1965 and 1976, winning best and fairest awards in 1972 and
1974. He also played interstate football for the VFL. In 1977, he crossed to North
Melbourne where he had the satisfaction of appearing in a premiership
team in his first season. Alves added 40 VFL games for the Kangas,
and also booted 14 goals to bring his final career tally to 174.
Between 1994 and 1998 Stan Alves coached St Kilda, leading the side to only its fourth ever grand final in 1997 (lost to Adelaide), plus a night flag in 1996. |
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Tom Alvin (Carlton & Sandringham)
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| Tom Alvin was an energetic, determined and adaptable footballer who is probably unfairly remembered at least as much for his trademark flowing locks as his football ability, which was considerable. Carlton recruited him from Bairnsdale, and he gave the club 218 games of impeccable service between 1984 and 1994, kicking 95 goals. He was equally comfortable undertaking a creative, attacking role either on the ball or across centre, or playing as a tagger. Playing as a ruck-rover, Alvin was arguably the Blues' best player in their 7 goal grand final loss to Hawthorn in 1986. The following season he again played well as Carlton gained revenge over the same opponent with a 15.14 (104) to 9.17 (71) grand final win. He played in a third grand final in his penultimate AFL season, but the Blues went under to Essendon. Appointed captain-coach of Sandringham in 1995, Alvin spent two years in the role, steering his side to a losing grand final against Springvale in his first season. |
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Dean Anderson (Hawthorn & St Kilda)
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| Hawthorn recruited Dean Anderson from Caulfield Grammarians. A former student at the school, he had exhibited considerable prowess during his time there as a runner as well as on the football field. The Hawks harnessed this ability by utilising him in a free running role, either across centre or on the ball, as well as sometimes on a half forward flank, and he provided sterling service in 83 V/AFL games between 1988 and 1992, during which he booted 74 goals. He was a member of the club's winning grand final teams against Geelong in 1989, and West Coast two years later. After the 1992 season, however, he was somewhat surprisingly traded to St Kilda, where he continued to produce consistently impressive football for another four years. During that time he added a final 67 AFL games to his career tally, and kicked 27 goals. While with Hawthorn, Anderson played 2 state of origin games for Victoria. |
| 'Duggan'
Anderson played for most of his 210 game league career as a defender.
Given that over the course of the twelve year period that that career
lasted his club, Swan Districts, managed
an overall success rate
of just 22.9%, it seems reasonable to suppose that Anderson found himself
in the thick of the action more often than not. Moreover, the fact
that he was three times voted Swans' fairest and best player, and was
selected to represent his state on four occasions, makes it clear that his
contribution to that action was significant. Presumably, his club's
success rate would have been even worse had he not been around to bolster
its backlines so superbly.
Anderson made his debut with Swans in 1945, the season that saw the WANFL senior competition restored after three years of under-age football. At season's end he enjoyed major round participation for the first and only time in his career, but his sterling work at centre half back was insufficient to prevent a 1st semi final loss to South Fremantle. Besides his fairest and best awards and interstate involvement, the highlight of Anderson's career was probably his two season stint as club captain in 1951-2. The importance of his all round contribution to Swan Districts was later commemorated by his inclusion on the interchange bench in the club's official 'Team of the Century'. |
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Frank Anderson (Brunswick, Carlton, Preston)
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| Frank Anderson commenced his senior
career at Brunswick in the VFA, where he
caught the eye as a lively, powerful and extremely vigorous key position
forward. In 1934, the Magpies found themselves in dire financial
trouble, and one means they found of alleviating this was to sell some of
their better players to clubs in the VFL. Thus, without being
involved in any of the preliminary discussions, and indeed with no prior
warning, Anderson found himself included in a group of three players
off-loaded to Carlton in return for a
princely, for the times, three figure sum.
Tried in a variety of positions, he struggled for a time to make his mark with the Blues, although he always managed to do just well enough to retain his place in the side. After being switched to the backlines, however, he really blossomed. He could play with equal effectiveness in almost any defensive position, and was regarded as one of the toughest and hardest to beat defenders in the VFL. When the Blues beat arch-rivals Collingwood in the 1938 grand final, Frank Anderson, lining up on a half back flank, scarcely put a foot wrong to be among the victors' best. He represented the VFL against South Australia in Adelaide in 1941, and would probably have played more interstate football had not the war intervened. Never one to take a backward step, he was reported eight times (but only suspended twice) during the course of a VFL career that saw him play 155 senior games and kick 44 goals between 1934 and 1944. In that time he had the misfortune to finish a narrow runner-up in the club's best and fairest award on three occasions. The final phase of Frank Anderson's playing career took place back in the VFA, this time with Preston, where he served as captain-coach in 1945 and 1946. One imagines that Frank Anderson would have been a strong candidate for inclusion in Carlton's official 'Team of the Century', but for some reason the club's selectors went almost exclusively for players from the post-war era. (Indeed, the only exception to this was the selection of Harry Vallence at full forward.) |
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Greg Anderson (Port Adelaide, Essendon, Adelaide, South Adelaide)
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| Port
Adelaide recruited Greg Anderson from St Michaels, and he made his
league debut as a seventeen year old in 1983. The following year he
was among the Magpies' best players in a 9 point grand final loss to Norwood.
Tall, quick, and a sure ball handler, Anderson was a superb kick,
especially with his favoured left foot, and his aerial skills were first
rate. He played the majority of his football as a wingman, but at
188cm and 92kg he was physically well suited to hold down a key position,
which he did to good effect on a number of occasions. The highlight of his
initial time with Port came in 1986 when he was a popular winner of the Magarey
Medal. He was also chosen as an All
Australian after representing South Australia in 1987.
In 1988, after 121 games for the Magpies, he crossed to Essendon, where he quickly established himself as one of the foremost wingers in the VFL. In 1990 he won a number of media awards to which he was warmly favoured to add the Brownlow Medal, but he polled just 13 votes, 5 adrift of the winner, Footscray's Tony Liberatore. He experienced further disappointment in that year's grand final which the Bombers lost resoundingly to Collingwood. In 1993, after 103 games and 60 goals for Essendon, Anderson returned home to South Australia, and joined Adelaide. After an outstanding first season, however, during which he earned AFL All Australian selection, his form began to deteriorate, and he managed just 59 games (and 19 goals) in four seasons. In both 1995 and 1996 he spent a fair amount of time back at Port Adelaide, and was a member of that club's grand final victories over Central District in both years. The 2000 season saw Anderson appointed non-playing coach of South Adelaide, but his four season stint at the helm was unsuccessful. |
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| Jim Anderson joined Essendon from Scotch College in 1892 and went on to enjoy a long, distinguished and highly successful career with the club over fifteen seasons. Playing almost exclusively as a defender, he was a member of Essendon premiership sides in 1892-3-4, 1897 and 1901. Always cool under pressure, he seldom put in a bad game, and was selected to represent the VFL in 1903 and 1905. He also served as club skipper for a couple of seasons. In 1903 he became the second Essendon player, and the eighth in the league, to amass 100 VFL games. |
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Peter Anderson (North Adelaide, Glenelg, Woodville)
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| Peter Anderson made his league debut with North Adelaide in 1964 while still attending Adelaide Boys' High School. By the end of that season he was being touted as a likely future champion after a series of commanding performances, mainly as a ruckman, but also later in the year as a full forward. Ultimately, it was mainly as a key position player that Anderson would go on to make his reputation, and if he never quite achieved champion status, he proved to be a very handy and consistent player for three clubs. His 107 games for North Adelaide between 1964 and 1971 included a solid performance in the back pocket in the 1971 grand final win over Port Adelaide. In 1972, he crossed to Glenelg, where he played another 83 SANFL games (see footnote 1), mainly in the backlines, over the next four seasons. As a defender, Anderson played the game tight, and had a pronounced mean streak, qualities which were very much to the fore in the grand final of 1973 as he helped his new club to a heart-stopping 7 point victory over his old (reviewed here). Anderson finished his league career at Woodville, where he added another 36 senior games for a final career tally of 231 (including 5 interstate matches for South Australia). |
Footnotes1. Some sources give this total as 81. Return to Main Text |
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Robert Anderson (Queanbeyan & Footscray)
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After commencing with Queanbeyan
in 1976, Robert Anderson went on to enjoy a highly auspicious 19 season League
football career, the highlights of which included:
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| Famous at least as much for the centre parting in his hair as for his undoubted football prowess, Bruce Andrew played 62 games for Collingwood, mainly as a wingman, between 1928 and 1932 and in 1934. His games tally would have been much higher had he not been so injury prone. Blessed with good all round skills, he was regarded as one of the paciest VFL players of his day. He was a member of the Magpies' 1928 and 1930 grand final winning sides, earning the nod as best afield on the latter occasion. Once his playing career was over Andrew enjoyed an illustrious career as a football administrator and journalist including a twenty-eight year term as the ANFC's field director, responsible for promoting the game both in Australia and overseas. |
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Arthur 'Skinny' Andrews (East Fremantle & East Perth)
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| Invariably known as 'Skinny', defender Arthur Andrews made his debut with East Fremantle in 1903. He played just one match that year, and one more - the grand final replay - in 1905. He then crossed to East Perth in 1906, which was the club's first season in the Western Australian Football Association. Thereafter he became a stalwart of the side for the ensuing eight seasons, playing a total of 94 senior games. When the Royals made their finals debut in 1909, he was one of the side's best players on a half back flank, but could not prevent a crushing loss to East Fremantle in a semi final. Andrews also played in the following year's grand final against the same opposition when, after a closely fought first three quarters, the Royals went under by 13 points. |
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Ron Andrews (Essendon, Collingwood, West Adelaide)
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| A
genuinely tough, formidably aggressive player, 'Rugged Ronnie' Andrews was
renowned for his apparently indiscriminate tear through approach which
paid scant regard for his own or anyone else's safety. During his
151 game VFL career with Essendon
between 1973 and 1983 he missed a total of 24 matches through
suspension. In 1974 he was one of the chief protagonists in an all
in brawl that flared up at Windy Hill during the half time interval of a
game between the Bombers and Richmond.
After fronting up to the league tribunal, Andrews was found guilty of
delivering a 'king hit', and suspended for 6 weeks. Nevertheless, he
had too much genuine football talent to be considered a mere thug.
Playing mainly as a centre half back, he was strong overhead, a useful
kick, and boasted excellent anticipation and judgement. He was a
firm favourite at Windy Hill because of his wholehearted endeavour and
obvious passion for the team. A Victorian representative in 1977 and
1978, he finished second to Graham
Moss in the Bombers' 1976 best and fairest count. He also made
the 'Inside Football' team of the year in 1976.
A succession of injuries slowed him down later in his career, but he remained a feared opponent, and a respected on-field leader, captaining his side in 1982. After failing to make the Dons' 1983 grand final side he crossed to Collingwood where he played half a dozen games in 1984. The following season saw him follow coach John Cahill to West Adelaide where he rounded off his league career by playing 26 games and topping the club's goal kicking list with 51 goals for the season. |
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George Angus (Collingwood & Williamstown)
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| George Angus made his VFL debut with Collingwood in 1902, aged twenty-seven. Immediately prior to that he had been fighting in the Boer War. Despite his late start, he enjoyed an illustrious career, playing in the Magpies' premiership teams of 1902, 1903 and 1910, and captain-coaching the side in 1910 and 1911. In 1909 he was club coach but Bob Nash retained the captaincy. Angus spent ten seasons with Collingwood, playing a total of 157 VFL games, and kicking 64 goals. He crossed to Williamstown in the VFA as captain-coach in 1912 but was unable to get his side into the finals. |
| After playing just a couple of VFA games for Port Melbourne in 1937 Andy Angwin joined Hawthorn where he made a big impression in a comparatively short time. Between 1938 and 1944 he played a total of 75 VFL games and kicked 10 goals, mainly as a wingman, in which position he was rated as one of the league's best. He won Hawthorn's best and fairest award in 1940, and represented the VFL in the interstate arena. After his retirement as a player he acquired near legendary status with the Hawks as a long serving, and extremely popular property steward. |
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John Annear (Claremont, Collingwood, Richmond, West Coast, South Fremantle)
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| After a season with GNFL club Kambalda, John Annear joined Claremont in 1978, and immediately impressed as a dashing, determined footballer who played with plenty of energy and pluck. After 62 games in three seasons with the Tigers he was lured to the VFL by Collingwood, where he played 43 games from 1981 to 1983 without really doing himself justice. He moved to Richmond in 1984, and promptly started producing the most vibrantly effective football of his career, finishing second in the club's 1984 best and fairest count, and earning his state of origin debut for Western Australia the following year. When West Coast entered the VFL in 1987 Annear was enticed back home to assume a leadership role with the fledgling club. From 1987 to 1990 he added 58 games for the Eagles to the 65 he had played during his time at Richmond. He rounded off his career with 18 WAFL games for South Fremantle in 1991. |
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Tony Antrobus (North Adelaide, Essendon, St Kilda)
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| There are many footballers who, despite
enormous natural ability and all or most of the right mental ingredients,
ultimately encounter so many obstacles outside of their control that they
fail to realise more than a modicum of their potential. One such
footballer, arguably, was Tony Antrobus.
Blessed with tremendous pace, immense skill and a well harnessed aggressive impulse, Antrobus exploded onto the SANFL scene with three appearances for North Adelaide in 1981. 'Exploded' is not an overstatement - in each of those three appearances, Antrobus was rated as best afield by the field umpires, accumulating 9 Magarey Medal votes as a consequence. The following season, however, he was beset by a succession of niggling injuries, and played only intermittently. In 1983, Antrobus and North Adelaide played some stellar football, with 'the Ant', as he became known, becoming the Roosters' tenth Magarey Medallist (see footnote 1). Unfortunately, he was prevented by recurring injuries from building on his success in either of the next two seasons, but in 1986 he enjoyed another excellent year, persuading Essendon, which had secured his signature as long ago as 1982, to invite him over to Windy Hill in time for the 1987 season. In five seasons in the VFL Antrobus endured a horrendous time, and managed only 28 games - 22 with the Bombers, and half a dozen in 1991 with St Kilda. In addition to the constant niggling injuries which had plagued him almost throughout his senior career, he began to acquire a reputation as something of a larrikin, earning himself six visits to the Tribunal and the modified nickname of 'The Angry Ant'. It was the injuries, however, which ultimately brought an untimely end to Antrobus' career. He returned for one last season with North Adelaide in 1992, but the sparkle was well and truly gone, and he retired at the end of the year. At his prime, and injury free, Tony Antrobus had the ability to hurt teams with his sure handling, exceptional speed and bite around the goalmouth. No lesser experts than Barrie Robran and Jim Deane (with five Magarey Medals between them) rated the dual-sided Antrobus as the fastest footballer they had seen over the first ten metres. (See footnote 2) This was an assessment with which the committee responsible for selecting North Adelaide's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century' obviously concurred, given that they saw fit to include 'the Ant' in the side ahead of such fine players as Terry Von Bertouch, Darel Hart, Geoff Marsh, Darcy Cox, Harold Pash, Josh Francou and Haydn Bunton junior. |
Footnotes1. Technically, following Don Lindner's retrospective elevation to the ranks of Magarey Medallists in 1998, Antrobus should now be regarded as the eleventh North Adelaide recipient of the award. Return to Main Text 2. North Adelaide's Greatest by the North Adelaide Football Club History Committee, page 14. Return to Main Text |
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Merv Appleyard (Wilston Grange) by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher |
| Merv Appleyard was a 200 game centre half back at Wilston Grange through the 1960s. Strong overhead, he was a product of Yeronga State School, and a permanent fixture in the state side. He won the 1968 Grogan Medal and multiple media awards through the 1960s, was a four times best and fairest winner and represented Queensland 17 times between 1960 and 1968. He was clearly in the best half dozen players of his era. |
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| Tough, dependable and quick, Geelong's Tom Arklay stood out among the players of his generation by being genuinely two-sided. Recruited from North Geelong, he played most of his 137 game VFL career between 1933 and 1941 as well as in 1944 as a half back flanker, although he could also do a serviceable job on the ball. Extremely adept overhead, he was regarded as one of the strongest players physically in the league, and typically ran straight at the ball regardless of potential impediments (whether hostile or friendly). He was on a half back flank in the Cats' winning grand final of 1937 against Collingwood, and he won the club's best and fairest award twice. Arklay was Geelong's captain in 1941 and for part of 1944; he also coached the side in 1944. |
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| Combative, hard working and versatile, Carlton's Bundoora recruit Barry Armstrong was a tremendous servant of the Blues in 204 VFL games between 1969 and 1981, during which time he kicked 142 goals. He was in the centre when Carlton overcame Richmond in the 1972 grand final, and played as a ruck-rover in the flag decider of 1979, when Collingwood was vanquished. He was among the best players afield in both games. Armstrong later served as a Carlton club official. |
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As both player and coach, Ken Armstrong (centre in the above photo) was Perth through and through. After supporting the Redlegs as a boy he enjoyed a dream start to his league career with them in 1955 by helping them achieve their first flag since 1907. Armstrong played most of his eventual tally of 170 WANFL games as a centreman. Combining courage, flair and cleverness to an impressive degree, he was an enormously damaging footballer who always seemed on the fringe of interstate selection, but only actually achieved it once, against South Australia at Subiaco in 1959. Having captained Perth in 1961, Ken Armstrong retired as a player two years later. In 1971 and 1973 he coached the club’s reserves to premierships, and in 1974 he was appointed coach of the senior side. In six seasons in charge, Ken Armstrong led the Demons to two flags from four grand finals, a run of success that has only been bettered once in the entire history of the Perth Football Club. He undertook a second spell as coach from 1991 to 1993 but this proved rather less successful. |
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| Geelong's Les Armstrong was an excellent half back flanker and back pocket who was superb overhead and backed his judgement very effectively. Recruited from Merchantile, he gave the Pivotonians consistently solid service in 175 VFL games from 1909 to 1915 and between 1917 and 1920. Renowned for his fairness, he nevertheless attacked the ball fiercely, and he was not afraid of taking his lightly built (180cm, 72kg) frame deep into the heart of battle. Les Armstrong is a member of Geelong's Hall of Fame. |
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Lou Armstrong (West Melbourne, Essendon, Essendon Association)
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| Although standing only 175cm in height, and weighing in at a mere 70kg, Lou Armstrong played a large proportion of his senior football career as a key position forward. He began that career with West Melbourne, and in 1906 was the best player afield as the club scored a 7.8 (50) to 5.9 (39) grand final victory over Footscray to clinch its first and only VFA premiership. When West Melbourne merged with North Melbourne at the conclusion of the 1907 season Armstrong crossed to Essendon in the VFL, where he proved himself a highly useful acquisition. Seldom spectacular, he was efficiency and effectiveness personified, and was a key member of the club's 1911 premiership team at centre half forward and the 1912 team at the goal front. A VFL interstate representative, he had played a total of 105 VFL games and kicked 109 goals by the time, midway through the 1914 season, that he transferred to Essendon Association, where he finished his career. |
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Matthew Armstrong (Hobart, Fitzroy, North Melbourne, Northern Bombers, Tasmania)
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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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| Mildura recruit Lance Arnold played 149 VFL games and kicked 88 goals for Melbourne between 1946 and 1954. He was a real asset in that he could hold down any key position. In 1948, playing mainly at centre half forward, he was Melbourne's leading goal kicker with 41 goals. He was at centre half forward that same year in both the drawn grand final and subsequent win against Essendon. |
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| Recruited
from Bendigo Football League side
Sandhurst, Graham Arthur made his Hawthorn
debut in 1955, a couple of months before his nineteenth birthday. He
quickly impressed as a half forward, where he was described as
"unspectacular, but magnificently efficient in all the skills" (see
footnote 1).
After making his VFL representative debut in 1957, Arthur was an almost permanent feature in state teams for the next eight years. He became skipper of the Hawks in 1960 after John Kennedy, who had been appointed to the coaching role that season, recognised how well respected and inspirational he was. In 1961, Graham Arthur went down in history as the first man ever to lead Hawthorn to a senior premiership as the Hawks comfortably beat Footscray in the grand final by 43 points. When John Kennedy departed after Hawthorn had lost the 1963 grand final to Geelong, Arthur took over the coaching reins for a couple of seasons, but was unable to re-ignite the premiership flame. He even retired briefly as a player in 1965 in the hope that he could bolster the club's fortunes by concentrating solely on coaching, but when this failed he returned to the team, and went on to play for the better part of another three seasons. After 237 VFL games, Graham Arthur left the big time for good in 1968. The following year saw him coaching Echuca in the Bendigo Football League whilst working as a sports shop proprietor in the town. In 1970, Arthur led his charges to a flag. He later Returned to Hawthorn as an administrator, and in 2003 he was selected as captain of the club's official 'Team of the Century'. |
Footnotes1. Football's 50 Greatest by Greg Hobbs and Scot Palmer, page 88. Return to Main Text |
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| Renowned for his prodigious kicking and his vigorously effective spoiling, Brian Ashbolt was a key player for Perth for a decade, during which time he played 121 WANFL games and kicked 1 goal. A full back for most of that time, he made his senior debut in 1954, and was custodian, and one of the Redlegs' best, in the following season's thrilling grand final victory over East Fremantle (reviewed here). He was chosen to represent the league on three occasions against visiting interstate clubs. After his retirement as a player he served stints as coach of both the club's Seconds and Thirds teams. |
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Len Ashby (West Torrens, Port Adelaide, South Adelaide)
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| Immensely solid and reliable, Len 'Buck' Ashby was a key player for West Torrens for much of the 1920s and on into the 1930s. His 121 league games for the club included a useful performance in the back pocket in the winning challenge final of 1924 against Sturt (briefly reviewed here). Ashby also played, as a ruckman, in Torrens' second premiership side in 1933, when he was the only survivor from the club's victorious 1924 combination. Club captain and joint coach (with Johnny Karney) in 1928, Ashby spent the 1930 season as non-playing coach, only to oversee a dismal year that yielded just 3 wins from 17 matches, and the club's first wooden spoon since 1895. Len Ashby's 4 interstate appearances for South Australia came at the 1927 Melbourne carnival. In 1934, he was appointed non-playing coach of Port Adelaide, and spent two years at the helm, guiding the team to consecutive 2nd place finishes. His final stint in league football came at South Adelaide, where he spent the period between 1937 and 1945 (excluding the war time competition years of 1942 to '44) as non-playing coach, guiding the team to a flag in 1938, and to losing grand final appearances in 1937 and 1940. |
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| After playing his early football as a half forward, Ron Ashby developed into, and is better remembered as, a solid, no nonsense defender. He played 137 league games for West Torrens between 1947 and 1958 and in 1960, captaining the side for part of the 1957 season and the whole of 1958. He was at centre half back when Torrens defeated Port Adelaide by 7 points in the 1953 SANFL grand final (match reviewed here). Ashby represented South Australia 8 times, including matches at the 1956 Perth carnival. He spent the 1961 season as captain-coach of Central District, which at that time was still serving an apprenticeship in the SANFL seconds competition prior to its admission as a fully fledged league member in 1964. In 1966 he returned to coach the Eagles, but his two seasons at the helm elicited only 5th and 8th place finishes. |
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Marcus Ashcroft (Southport & Brisbane)
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| Marcus Ashcroft started his senior career with Southport, but it was at Brisbane, where he played a club record 318 V/AFL games between 1989 and 2003, that he made his name. Tough, energetic and unflappable, Ashcroft was a vital if often unsung member of his club's redoubtable midfield unit, happily alternating between attacking and negating roles as required. In addition to his on-ball role, Ashcroft played many fine games across half back, where his strong marking allied to excellent anticipation skills served him well. He was a member of Brisbane's premiership-winning combinations in 2001-2-3, and finished in the top three places in the club's best and fairest voting no fewer than half a dozen times. |
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| Superbly
adaptable, and red and blue to the core, Ken Ashdown was without doubt one
of the all time greats of the West Perth
Football Club. He made his league debut midway through the 1949
season, and at the end of the year lined up at full forward in the grand
final against South Fremantle as
the Cardinals sought their first open age premiership for eight
years. Proving far from overawed, he did everything coach Stan
Heal asked of him, and contributed 3 goals to his team's eventual
16.13 (109) to 12.7 (79) win. Two years later, Ashdown again helped
the Cardinals to a flag at South Freo's expense, this time at centre half
forward, and indeed it was across the half forward line that he played
much of his early football before being transformed into an assured and
commanding centre half back or half back flanker. The 1951 season
also saw Ashdown make the first of an eventual 9 interstate appearances
for Western Australia. These included games at both the 1953
Adelaide and 1956 Perth carnivals,
for the former of which he was accompanied by half a dozen club
colleagues, but for the latter of which - reflecting a temporary downturn
in his side's fortunes - he was the only Cardinal selected.
Ken Ashdown continued to produce consistently eye-catching football as he entered the veteran stage, and in 1960 he had the satisfaction of appearing on a half back flank as West Perth overcame arch rivals East Perth by 32 points in the grand final. Much of the satisfaction would have derived from the fact that not only was he the only survivor of the club's previous premiership in 1951, he had actually played in the flag win before that as well. Ashdown carried on for another year with the Cardies, and when he retired he had played a total of 218 senior games. In October 2000 he was named on the interchange bench in West Perth's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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| Popularly
known as 'Spud', Jack Ashley was a formidable follower for Port Adelaide
in the years leading up to and just after World War One. Although he
was born in Port Adelaide, he actually played his early senior football in
Sydney between 1908 and 1911, representing his adopted state at the
inaugural Australian interstate championship series in Melbourne.
On his return home to South Australia he joined his local club, and
quickly made an impression. After just 5 league games he was chosen
in the state team for a match against the VFL.
Playing in the unenviable position of ruck shield (or ruck shepherd), he was resolute, forceful and clever. Despite conceding quite a few centimetres to most opponents, he used a combination of strength and great anticipation and awareness to not only keep them out of the contest, but also to win more than his share of the hit-outs himself. There was said to be no better ruckman than Ashley at steering the ball to his rovers. In 1914, 'Spud' Ashley enjoyed a dream year. He was chosen in the South Australian squad for the Sydney carnival, won the club's best and fairest trophy, and helped the Magpies to the greatest single season in league history, during which they won every match played, including the championship of Australia clash with Carlton. To top it off, Ashley became the fourth Port Adelaide player to win the Magarey Medal. When football resumed in 1919, Ashley was one of several pre-war stalwarts to front up once more. He quickly proved that he had lost none of his prowess or guile by again achieving selection in the state side - a dozen years after making his interstate debut with New South Wales - and by claiming a second club champion award. Presumably satisfied that he had now 'done it all', at the conclusion of the 1919 season he announced his retirement from league football. |
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| Although not tall or heavily built for a ruckman, Pat Astone had the rare ability to 'hang' and deliver the ball perfectly to his rovers. He gave an early sign of his promise by winning Perth's fairest and best award at Colts level in 1961, two years before he made his senior debut. His 215 WANFL games included telling performances in Perth's winning grand finals of 1966-7-8. He captained Perth in 1970, and represented Western Australia twice. The last of his 215 league appearances came in 1972. The high esteem in which he was held at Perth was evidenced in 1999 by his selection in a forward pocket in the club's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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Michael Athanasiou (St Marys, West Torrens, South Fremantle, Darwin)
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Arguably the Northern Territory's most
decorated footballer, Michael Athanasiou, who had already enjoyed a highly
successful junior career, made his senior NTFL debut with St
Marys during the 1980/81 season. Twenty years later, as captain-coach
of Darwin, he played his last match, having achieved
virtually everything possible for a 'Top End' footballer.
In addition to his 20 season NTFL career Athanasiou also played 6 WAFL games for South Fremantle in 1985, and 44 SANFL games for West Torrens in 1988 and 1989. However, it was in Darwin that the bulk of the Michael Athanasiou legend was compiled. After playing as an on baller early in his career, Athanasiou became an outstanding success when shifted to centre half back, where he remained for most of the rest of his career. A member of no fewer than 12 St Marys premiership teams, Athanasiou played representative football for the NTFL every season between 1985 and 1996, including the bicentennial carnival of 1988 in Adelaide when the Northern Territory won section 2. On the individual front he won a Nichols Medal in 1990/91 having previously been a runner up in 1986/87. Voted St Marys' best and fairest player on three occasions, he added a Buffaloes club champion award in his final league season. |
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George Atkins (South Melbourne, Essendon Association, St Kilda)
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| George Bertram Atkins - usually known as 'Bert' - was a tough, dependable defender who began his senior career with South Melbourne where he played 32 VFL games in 1907 and 1908. In his debut season, he was at centre half back in South's 5 point grand final loss to Carlton. Atkins moved to Essendon Association in 1909, and was on the half back line in the club's 1911 and 1912 premiership teams. He finished his career in the VFL where he played 7 games for St Kilda in 1918-19. |
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Marty Atkins (South Fremantle)
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| Englishman
Marty Atkins was a key feature of the football landscape at South
Fremantle for over a decade. Recruited from Kwinana, the 189cm,
92kg Atkins was a former soccer goalkeeper whose determination and
adaptability made him equally adept in key positions at either end of the
ground. His promise was immediately recognised when he was awarded the
Arthur Hankinson 'Player of the Future' Medal at the end of his debut
season with the Bulldogs in 1990.
Tough and resilient, Atkins embraced few frills in his approach to the game but was almost invariably effective. First chosen to represent Western Australia in 1992, Atkins made a total of 6 appearances for his state in an era when interstate representative football was in decline. After the 1993 state league clash with South Australia at Subiaco, a game which Western Australia won by 24 points, he was awarded the Simpson Medal as best afield. A policeman, he also represented the Western Australian police team at a number of interstate carnivals, gaining All Australian selection several times. By the time of his retirement he had played a total of 266 WAFL games, breaking a long standing club record held by Tom Grljusich. The highlight of Atkins' career came in 1997 when he was one of his team's best players in an emotionally charged come-from-behind grand final victory over perennial arch rivals East Fremantle. Two years later in South Freo's centenary season, Atkins was controversially forced to miss the Bulldogs' premiership showdown with West Perth after incurring a suspension following an apparently innocuous incident in the 2nd semi final game against the same club. Without his experience and steadying influence, the Bulldogs narrowly lost a match they might otherwise have won. |
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Simon Atkins (Wynyard, Footscray, Fitzroy, Werribee, Coburg)
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| After playing briefly with Wynyard, Simon Atkins was recruited by Footscray and made his VFL debut in 1987. Superb in the clinches and on heavy grounds, he was a prolific possession gatherer who used the ball extremely effectively, especially by hand. During the 1990 season he executed no fewer than 291 handballs to head the AFL's list. A Tasmanian state of origin representative, he twice finished second in the Bulldogs' best and fairest voting. After 127 games for Footscray, Atkins crossed to Fitzroy in 1995 and was a consistently conspicuous performer in 41 games during that club's final couple of seasons in the AFL. Between 1997 and 2000 he played 80 games for Werribee, winning the club's best and fairest award in his debut season. He coached Coburg in 2004 and in 2005 returned to Werribee as senior coach. |
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James Atkinson (Fitzroy & Lefroy)
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| A
hard-hitting, tenacious defender, Jim Atkinson had the misfortune to break
virtually every bone in his body during an eventfully auspicious fourteen season
league football career in two states. He began with Fitzroy
in 1917, and was a key member of that club's 1922 premiership-winning
side, earning best afield accolades in the 11 point grand final win over Collingwood,
when he played in a back pocket. Atkinson also won the Maroons' best
and fairest award that year, and captained the club in 1924-5. In
1926 he accepted the position of captain-coach of Lefroy,
where he remained for the next four and a half seasons, gaining a
reputation as one of the finest players in the league, and representing
Tasmania at the 1927 Melbourne
carnival. Strong overhead, and dashing, he was always
conspicuous because of his blond mop of hair which gave rise to the
obvious nickname of 'Snowy'. Midway through the 1930 season he was
forced to retire when the injuries that had dogged him throughout his
career finally became completely debilitating. Ironically, Lefroy
that year went on to win the premiership that had eluded them throughout
Atkinson's spell as coach.
A fine all round sportsman, 'Snowy' Atkinson also represented both Victoria and Tasmania on the cricket field. |
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Malcolm Atwell (East Perth, Perth, South Fremantle)
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| Fiercely
tenacious and competitive, Malcolm Atwell was said during his playing
career to be the West Australian player the Victorians most respected and
feared, presumably because his approach was so similar to their own.
He made his interstate debut in 1960, and the following year was a member
of the Western Australian party which travelled to Brisbane to contest the
Australian championships. After playing at full back in the opening
game against Tasmania, which the sandgropers won by 111 points, he was
dropped to the bench for the clash with South Australia, only to be
recalled for the decisive match against the Big V after a 2 point loss to
the croweaters was felt to necessitate a re-shuffle.
At half time of the crunch encounter, the VFL led 11.3 to 5.8, and looked 'home and hosed'. During the second half, however, the West Australians, to a man, raised both their tempo and their intensity, forcing the Vics onto the back foot. With Atwell in near impassable form at full back, West Australia hit back to get within 3 points at the final change, before clinching victory with as potent and devastating a last quarter as you could wish to see. For the twenty three year old Atwell - the best player afield in the estimation of most observers - it was a vital and significant lesson, one from which he would extract much benefit in years to come. Malcolm Atwell began his league football career at all conquering East Perth in 1958, and had the good fortune of participating in premiership wins in both of his first two seasons. Thereafter, however, things began to go wrong for the Royals, who despite being perennial finals contenders would not manage to procure another flag until 1972, by which time Atwell had been retired as a player for three years and was coaching South Fremantle. Prior to that, between 1966 and 1971, he undertook the task for which he is best remembered, coaching persistent under-achievers Perth to a position of greatness in Western Australian football. In doing so, he implemented many of the lessons he had learned in the interstate arena, particularly against the VFL, and most especially in that memorable Australian championship year of 1961. Perth under Atwell combined what might be termed a traditional West Australian approach to the game, rooted in skill, pace and fluent movement of the ball, with a heightened awareness of, and concentration on, elements like shepherding, backing up, spoiling, talking, pressurising the ball carrier, and tackling - cornerstones, it might be said, of the typically Victorian approach to football. All in all, it was a heady and compulsive mixture, and it earned the Demons three successive flags, all courtesy of wins over Atwell's old club, East Perth. Between 1966 and 1969, Atwell continued as a player, adding 76 games to the 162 he had played with the Royals. He continued as non-playing coach in 1970-71, but other clubs, notably 'Polly' Farmer's West Perth, and 'Hassa' Mann's South Fremantle, had by now wised up to Atwell's approach, and he was unable to add to the club's haul of premierships. In 1972 and 1973 he oversaw a rebuilding programme at South Fremantle which eventually saw the club re-emerge as a force from 1975 onwards. It is for his impact at East Perth and Perth, however, that Malcolm Atwell is best remembered today, a fact endorsed by his selection in official 'best of' combinations for both clubs, the Royals' 1945 to 2005 side in the back pocket, and the Demons' 'Team of the Century' as coach. |
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Colin Austen (Hawthorn, Richmond, Box Hill)
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| Today's record books show Colin Austen as Hawthorn's first ever Brownlow Medallist, but in actual fact he originally lost the 1949 Medal to South Melbourne's Ron Clegg on a countback. A defender of exceptional brilliance, Austen rarely lowered his colours, and was a springboard for many Hawthorn attacks. He played a total of 91 VFL games with the Hawks in two separate stints before quitting the club in disgust after his close friend Alec Albiston was sacked as coach prior to the start of the 1950 season. Austen spent the 1950, '51 and '52 seasons with Richmond, adding a further 50 VFL games to his tally. In 1953 he coached the Richmond Reserves and won the Gardiner Medal as the best and fairest player in that grade. Between 1956 and 1959 he coached VFA side Box Hill, playing 20 senior games, and getting the team as far as the preliminary final in his first season. He also coached the VFA representative side at the 1958 Melbourne carnival. |
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| Jack Austin was a solid, consistent and reliable performer for South Melbourne in 140 VFL games between 1930 and 1938. Capable of playing well in almost any set position, he was most commonly used, and probably most effective, as a defender. He was one of the best players afield when South overcame Richmond by 42 points in the 1933 VFL grand final, and was also named among the best players after the losing grand finals of 1934-5. He was excellent overhead, whether marking or spoiling, and was rarely beaten in one on one contests. |
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Allen Aylett (North Melbourne)
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| As
a football administrator, Allen Aylett was undoubtedly one of the most
important figures in the game's history during the second half of the
twentieth
century, but prior to that he enjoyed a career of considerable note as a
player. The highlight of that career came in 1958 when, as first
rover in arguably the strongest ever VFL side to take the field, he polled
7 Tassie Medal votes
(two
first preferences and a third) at the 1958
centenary carnival in Melbourne to edge out team mate Ted Whitten
(also 7 votes, but containing only one first preference) for what was, at
the time, football's most prestigious individual award. A quick and
highly elusive player, Aylett was also a good deal stronger than the
average rover, enabling him to win possession of the ball seemingly at
will. Once in possession, his disposal skills were immaculate, and
few rovers in the history of the game have been as dangerous near goals.
At the 1958 Melbourne carnival he booted 15 goals, second only to North
Melbourne team mate John Dugdale (18) on the goal kicking list, while
three years later at Brisbane he was the tournament's leading scorer with
19 goals.
Aylett enjoyed a stellar season all round in 1958, not only securing the Tassie Medal and All Australian selection, but also winning the first of three successive club champion trophies, and topping the poll in virtually every VFL media award for the year. In the Brownlow Medal, however, he finished a disappointing 7 votes adrift of surprise winner, Neil Roberts from St Kilda. |
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| Without
doubt, the highlight of Ross Ayre's league career was his 7 goal
performance from full forward in West Perth's
17.13 (115) to 12.11 (83) grand final defeat of East
Perth in 1960. Ayre was in his sixth season with the Cardinals
in 1960 and although he had served the club well he was not really a
headline stealer. His performance against the Royals changed all
that, however, particularly given that his opponent on the day was none
other than John
Watts, who had been full back in Western Australia's previous dozen
interstate matches.
Perhaps surprisingly, Ayre did not top West Perth's goal kicking list in 1960, although he had done so in 1958 with 64 goals and 1959 with 67, and would do so again in 1962 with 36 goals. His senior career with the Cardies comprised 94 games between 1955 and 1962. |
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Gary Ayres (Hawthorn, Geelong, Adelaide, Port Melbourne)
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| Originally from Warragul, defender Gary Ayres was a key member of Hawthorn's great 1980s combinations, a fact emphasised by his feat in winning dual Norm Smith Medals in 1986 and 1988. Solidly built, ultra courageous, and seldom flustered, Ayres epitomised the Hawthorn style of play at a time when the club was the undisputed benchmark for excellence in the game. He made his debut in 1978 as a seventeen year old, and by the time he retired in 1993 he had played a total of 269 V/AFL games, and booted 70 goals. A member of five Hawthorn premiership teams, Ayres won the club's best and fairest award in 1986, and was club captain for his final two seasons in the side. After his retirement as a player he coached Geelong from 1995 to 1999 and Adelaide between 2000 and 2004. In October 2007 he was appointed coach of VFL club Port Melbourne. When Hawthorn's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century' was announced in 2003, Gary Ayres was selected in his favoured back pocket position. |
