Go straight to the biography of your choice by clicking on the appropriate link:
[Brian Ciccotosto] [Len Cinoris] [Denis Clark] [Jim Clark] [Norman 'Hackenschmidt' Clark] [Wally Clark] [Alexander 'Squeaker' Clarke] [Ansell Clarke] [Barry Clarke] [David Clarke] [Harry Clarke] [Henry Clarke] [Jack E. Clarke] [Jack K. Clarke] [Kevin Clarke] [Neil Clarke] [Noel Clarke] ['Sammy' Clarke] [Thomas Clarke] [Trevor Clarke] [Troy Clarke] [Tony Clarkson] [Norman Claxton] [Bert Clay] [Dick Clay] [George Clayden] [Scott Clayton] [Jim Cleary] [Ron Clegg] [Charles 'Bones' Clements] [Stephen Clifford] [Roger Clift] [Jeff Clifton] [Mick Clingly] [Trevor Clisby] [David Cloke] [Wayne Closter] [Sid Clough] [Horrie Clover] [Kevin Clune]
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Brian Ciccotosto (South Fremantle)
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| A fast, elusive rover who marked and kicked well, Brian Ciccotosto was a firm favourite at South Fremantle during the late 1960s and early '70s. He played 211 club and 5 state games, earning All Australian selection after the 1972 Perth carnival. Ciccotosto was South Fremantle's top goal kicker, with 35 goals, in 1972. Arguably his most memorable moment in football came in 1970 when he was the Simpson Medallist following an all action, 4 goal performance in the winning grand final against Perth. |
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Len Cinoris (Subiaco & East Fremantle)
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| Len
Cinoris was a tireless battler in the ruck, initially at Subiaco,
where he played 12 WAFL games in 1917, and after that for East
Fremantle, where he added a further 165 games over the ensuing eleven seasons. He played in a premiership team in his first
season at Old Easts as they overcame East Perth 11.8
(74) to 8.5 (53) in the challenge final after the teams had been
deadlocked on 8.5 apiece at three quarter time. Playing as a ruckman
resting in the forward pocket, Cinoris booted 4 of his team's goals in a
performance replete with courage, energy and determination - qualities he
would go on to display with admirable consistency for many years to come.
The early 1920s in West Australian football were dominated by East Perth, but Old Easts, with Cinoris very much to the fore, were far and away the Royals' closest challengers. However, they did not break through for another premiership themselves until 1925, when Subiaco was vanquished in the challenge final to the tune of 27 points. Len Cinoris led the East Fremantle rucks that day to great effect, as indeed he had done for most of the 1920s. Superb overhead, both in marking contests and while rucking, Cinoris was also a superb kick, and was renowned for his great stamina and fortitude. The fact that he only represented Western Australia once in interstate contests is surprising, but his value to his beloved Old Easts, whom he continued to serve with great energy and devotion in a number of off-field roles after his retirement as a player, was unquestioned, and indeed almost legendary. |
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Denis Clark (Melbourne & Sandringham)
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| Playing mainly in the centre, Denis 'Boner' Clark was an important lynchpin at Melbourne between 1968 and 1975, during which time he played 113 VFL games and kicked 57 goals. Recruited from East Malvern, he was courageous and determined, and always applied himself wholeheartedly to the task at hand. After playing just 5 games in his debut season he became a regular after that, earning frequent inclusion in the Demons' best player listings. In 1976 he crossed to Sandringham where he played 81 VFA games and kicked 41 goals, again primarily as a centreman, in five seasons. In 1977 he was a member of the Zebras' losing grand final team against Port Melbourne, and won the club's best and fairest award. He was Sandringham's captain-coach in his final two seasons. |
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| By no means the most elegant of players, Carlton defender Jim Clark afforded eloquent proof that such things matter little when it comes to performing effectively in the hurly-burly world of top level league football. A dominant member of the Blues' 1945 and 1947 premiership-winning teams, Clark was one of those individuals who seem to improve with age, winning the club's best and fairest award in his final league season, as well as representing the VFL with distinction late in his career. Hyperactive, aggressive and brave, he typically fought out every cause as though his life, and those of his team mates, depended on it. Clark played a total of 160 VFL games during his career with the Blues, commencing in 1943, and ending in 1951. |
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Norman 'Hackenschmidt' Clark (North Adelaide, Carlton, Richmond, St Kilda, Prahran, North Melbourne)
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| Glorifying,
for reasons now lost in the mists of time, in the distinctively unusual
nickname 'Hackenschmidt', Norm Clark enjoyed a highly successful and
varied football career that perhaps deserves to be feted more widely than
it is. He began with North
Adelaide, where he established a reputation as a tough, no frills,
ultra reliable half back. He was also extremely quick, as he proved
by winning the 1899 Stawell Gift. A year later he helped North to
their first ever premiership as they overcame South
Adelaide in the grand final by 13 points, 4.3 (27) to 1.8 (14).
Clark was on a half back flank that day, and two years later played at
centre half back as the red and whites won a second flag, once again at
the expense of South Adelaide.
Midway through the 1905 season he made his second interstate appearance for South Australia (see footnote 1) in an 8.14 (62) to 6.19 (55) defeat of the VFA in Melbourne, and among the impressed onlookers were officials from VFL club Carlton. Round 10 of that season saw Clark lining up for the Blues against South Melbourne in the first of an eventual 125 appearances for the club at which he was to achieve his greatest success. Among those 125 appearances were the winning grand finals of 1906 against Fitzroy, 1907 against South Melbourne, and 1908 against Essendon. Playing in a back pocket, Clark was listed high in the best players in 1906, performed serviceably the following year, while against the Same Old he was a popular choice as best afield. In 1909 Clark was the centre of controversy when Carlton dropped him for two games after he sought additional match expenses both for himself and his team mates. He was later strongly instrumental in bringing influential secretary-coach Jack Worrall's career at the club to an end. In 1912, Clark embarked on a new phase of his career when he took on the role of playing coach, but despite steering his charges to a creditable 3rd place his services were not retained. Clark also chose this moment to retire as a player. Two years later, however, after spending the 1913 season as coach of VFA side Brighton, he was back at Carlton, this time as non-playing coach, and he was immediately successful in steering the club to its sixth senior flag (and its fourth in the VFL). In 1915, he repeated the dose, meaning that he was the only person to have had direct involvement in the Blues' first five league premierships. Clark remained at the helm until 1919 when he spent a one year sojourn at Richmond, masterminding that club's first ever bona fide VFL finals campaign (discounting the 1916 season when, as one of only four club's in the competition, Richmond's finals participation had been automatic). In 1920 Clark once again assumed the reins at Carlton, but two years later he was controversially replaced by Horrie Clover, with the committee expressing the view that Clark's methods were not in the team's best interests (see footnote 2). Although the Blues ultimately made the finals in 1922 it would be the last time for five years. During Clark's seven full seasons at the helm the club had never once failed to contest the final round, had won two flags, and had managed an overall success rate of 70.7%. Norm Clark later undertook coaching stints at St Kilda (1925-6), Prahran (1930), and North Melbourne (1931) without ever threatening to emulate his earlier achievements. Nevertheless, those achievements, notably his involvement in no fewer than seven senior premierships in two states, clearly mark him as one of the prime shaping forces of the game in the early twentieth century. |
Footnotes1. Clark later also represented the Big V. Return to Main Text 2. 'Carlton Football Club Annual Report 1922'. Return to Main Text |
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Wally Clark (Fitzroy & Latrobe)
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| Wally Clark was a ruggedly tenacious rover who gave Fitzroy eight seasons of gutsy and commendable service. He rose through the ranks at the club, and made his senior VFL debut in 1955. The tougher the opposition or the occasion, the better he seemed to play, and he was a noteworthy performer in the club's ultimately unsuccessful finals campaigns of 1958 and 1960. In 1962 he was the team's top goal kicker for the year with 21 goals. The following season saw him captain-coaching the Roys' reserves side, and winning a Gardiner Medal as the best and fairest player in the competition for good measure. In 1964 he was appointed captain-coach of NWFU side Latrobe where he spent four seasons without managing to steer his charges to a flag. He did, however, win a Wander Medal in his debut season. |
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Alexander 'Squeaker' Clarke (Perth)
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| Known as 'Squeaker' because of his high-pitched voice, ruckman Alex Clarke was arguably Perth's greatest player during the club's first decade, an assertion that was seemingly endorsed in 1999 when he was the only pre-World War One player selected in the club's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. He was a member of the club's first ever WAFA line-up against Fremantle on 15 July 1899, and was rated close to best afield in a 3 point loss. When the red and blacks broke through for a premiership with a controversial grand final victory over East Fremantle in 1907, Clarke was again one of the foremost players on view. By the time of his retirement in 1912, he had played a then club record 161 senior games. There is little doubt that 'Squeaker' Clarke would have been a regular interstate footballer had Western Australia engaged in such contests more regularly during the course of his career. In 1909 he was the fifth person and the first player to be made a life member of the Perth Football Club. |
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Ansell Clarke (Carlton & St Kilda)
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| Clarke was blessed with three Christian names - Edward Augustus Ansell - but was invariably known by the last of these. A fanatical Fitzroy supporter as a youngster, he ended up becoming one of the greatest small men in the history of the Carlton Football Club. After struggling to make his mark at first, and indeed asking for a clearance to Northcote at one point, Clarke broke into the Blues' senior line-up in 1929 and never looked back. He could be devastating when resting in a forward pocket - in one reserves match, for instance, he booted 13 goals - and was one of the most adept foot passers in the game. His 145 VFL games in nine seasons at Carlton yielded 242 goals, and included the losing grand final of 1932 against Richmond. Clarke won his club's best and fairest award in 1936, and was captain in his final season. He crossed to St Kilda as captain-coach in 1938, which ironically meant that he missed the chance to participate in the Blues' first premiership win since 1915. Nevertheless, he proved a success with the Saints, whom he steered as far as the preliminary final in the second of his three season stint at the helm. When he retired in 1940 he had added a further 26 VFL games and 47 goals to his respective tallies. Ansell Clarke played carnival football for the victorious VFL interstate team at Sydney in 1933. |
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by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher |
| Barry Clarke was a utility player of exquisite skills, who represented Queensland at full forward, centre and centre half back, and won the Wilston Grange best and fairest award in five different positions - centre, ruck-rover, full forward, centre half forward and centre half back. Originally from Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula, he played under 19s and reserves at Hawthorn after an invitation, too, to trial at Carlton, but preferred the surfing lifestyle of Queensland, and headed north in 1971 aged twenty-one. He played 226 games for Wilston-Grange from 1971-85, broken only by a twelve month stint as coach back at Rosebud in 1975. Clarke tasted QAFL premiership success in 1972, and a grand final loss in 1977, won the Grogan Medal in 1972 and 1976 (his 28 votes in 1972 is a league record), and topped the league goal kicking in 1978. He won his club goal kicking award in each of his last four years, and once kicked 12 goals in a game against Coorparoo. Grange playing coach in 1980-81, he also played 16 times for Queensland, and skippered the Maroons at the national carnival in Perth in 1979. Barry Clarke was also a state baseballer, while son Nathan played for the Brisbane Lions. |
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David Clarke (Geelong & Carlton)
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| Recruited locally by
the Cats from
Geelong College, David Clarke made his debut in the opening round of the
1971 season, and went on to become one of the most exciting as well as
arguably the most consistent of the club's stars throughout the
1970s. Perhaps best remembered as a half forward flanker, Clarke was
equally effective in the centre, on the ball, or even at centre half
back. A combination of a great spring, strong hands and tremendous
anticipation made him one of the finest marks in the game, while his silky
ball skills made him a real fan favourite. He won the first of his
three club best and fairest trophies in his debut season while still aged
only nineteen, making him the youngest ever recipient of the award.
He was also dangerous near goal, and his 41 majors in 1979 topped the
Cats' list.
Selected to represent either the VFL or Victoria's state of origin team a total of 14 times, Clarke was awarded an All Australian blazer after the 1972 Perth carnival. The consistently high quality of the service he gave Geelong is emphasised by his unprecedented feat in finishing in the top two places in the best and fairest voting on no fewer than seven occasions during his ten seasons with the club. After 207 games with the Cats, David Clarke transferred to Carlton in 1982 where he added 9 games in what proved to be the final season of his league career. |
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Harry Clarke (South Melbourne)
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| One of the best wingmen and indeed
players of his generation, Harry Clarke was already a stalwart at South
Melbourne when the club embarked on the extensive interstate
recruiting campaign that gave rise to the most concerted spell of success
it was to enjoy in the twentieth century. When the Blood-Stained
Angels, as they were known, broke through for a premiership in 1933,
Clarke was not only one of the best players afield in the grand final, but
later won the club's best and fairest award as well.
Harry Clarke played a total of 147 games for South between 1926 and 1935. In his very last game, the 1935 grand final, he was close to best afield, but could not prevent his team from losing to Collingwood. Clarke was also a regular 'Big V' representative, making 11 interstate appearances. Clarke's importance in the history of the Sydney (formerly South Melbourne) Football Club was formally recognised in August 2003 when he was selected in the Swans' official 'Team of the Century'. |
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| One of many champions in Fitzroy's star-studded early VFL line-up, Henry Clarke was centreman in the Maroons' 1898-99 and 1904 premiership-winning teams. In both the 1899 defeat of South Melbourne and the 1904 victory over Carlton he was many observers' choice as the best player afield. He retired after the 1904 grand final, having played 92 VFL games in seven seasons. |
Jack E. Clarke (Essendon)
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Hardly surprisingly for someone whose brother was a world record breaking middle distance runner, Jack Clarke was something of a fitness fanatic. An accomplished all round sportsman, he could conceivably have made the grade as a top level cricketer, or been a champion swimmer, or even have pursued the same path as his world famous brother, Ron, but Jack Clarke's first love was always football, and he was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father, Tom, who had played 103 games for Essendon between the wars. As a youngster, Jack Clarke used to help operate the Windy Hill scoreboard on match days, while on the field he progressed swiftly through the different grades at Essendon before making his senior debut in July 1951, aged just eighteen. Later that year he was 19th man in the Dons' losing grand final team against Geelong. A sublimely skilled footballer, Jack Clarke was a delight to watch, but the grace and panache of his movements belied the fact that he was also extraordinarily hardy and courageous, and often reserved his best displays for occasions when the going got particularly strenuous. In 1953 he was chosen to represent the VFL at the Adelaide carnival and more than justified his inclusion with a series of dazzling displays that earned him selection in the first ever official All Australian team. He went on to play a total of 27 matches for the 'Big V', and was again selected as an All Australian in 1956 and 1958. Captain of Essendon between 1958 and 1964, probably his proudest moment came when he led the Bombers to the 1962 flag with a best afield performance as first rover in the grand final against Carlton. When Essendon next won the premiership, three years later against St Kilda, Clarke played in his more usual position of centre. After retiring as a player at the end of the 1967 season Jack Clarke replaced the legendary John Coleman as Essendon coach, and promptly steered his charges to a 1968 grand final showdown with Carlton. That was as good as it got though, as the Blues scraped home by 3 points. Two seasons later, after the Bombers had plummeted to 11th place on the ladder, Jack Clarke's days as a VFL coach came to an end. |
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Jack K. Clarke (East Fremantle)
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| Nicknamed
'Stork', East Fremantle's Jack Clarke belied his somewhat ungainly appearance with supreme
agility and formidable ball skills. Moreover, in an era boasting
many high quality knock ruckmen Clarke had few peers in the role.
Jack Clarke's many playing achievements, which included a Sandover Medal in 1957 and selection in no fewer than four All Australian teams, appear all the more remarkable in light of the fact that he played his entire ten season, 206 game career as an amateur. He was hotly pursued by a number of VFL clubs but later maintained "I was never interested in going to Victoria. I was West Australian. Loyalty was most important in that era. No one shifted clubs or went to Victoria. The thing that induces players to change clubs is money - there wasn't any about when I played." (See footnote 1) Always quintessentially a team-orientated player, the highlights of Clarke's career were the five East Fremantle grand finals in which he participated (sadly, for only one flag), and the 1961 Brisbane carnival in which Western Australia reigned supreme. |
Footnotes1. Quoted in Football Greats of Western Australia: Volume One by Anthony James, page 21. Return to Main Text |
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Kevin Clarke (West Perth, Melbourne, Carlton)
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| Kevin Clarke was an outstanding ruckman and forward whose
league career was badly hampered by injury, particularly early on. Between 1950 and 1954 he
managed just 77 senior games for West Perth, the undoubted highlight among which would
have been the victorious grand final of 1951 against South
Fremantle. Clarke led the Cardinals' ruck division on that
occasion, as he would do again in the unsuccessful grand final meeting
with South two years later. The high general regard in which he was
held was clearly evidenced by his selection in half a dozen West
Australian interstate teams - no mean achievement when you consider the
abundance of ruck talent available to the selectors at the time.
After the 1954 season Clarke was transferred in his employment to Melbourne, and he spent the remainder of his playing career in the VFL. In 1955 he played for Melbourne, but after only managing a single senior appearance for the year he was cleared to Carlton where he performed creditably in 57 games over four seasons. |
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| One
of many Essendon footballers to join the
club from Ringwood, Neil Clarke gave the Bombers 135 games worth of
valuable service between 1977 and 1987, booting 35 goals. The sort of
player who could be relied upon to perform at least serviceably regardless
of the opposition or the position to which he was consigned, Clarke was a
member of Essendon's 1984 and 1985 premiership teams as well as the 1981
and 1984 night flag-winning combinations.
Often used as a tagger, he had the knack of being able to nullify
an opponent’s effectiveness whilst still collecting plenty of
possessions himself. He played
1 state of origin match for |
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Noel Clarke (North Launceston, Melbourne, North Hobart, New Norfolk)
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| Without
doubt one of the finest Tasmanian forwards ever, Noel Clarke gave
distinguished service to four clubs, as well as to Tasmania in interstate
matches. He commenced his senior career with North
Launceston in 1949 and played in two consecutive NTFA premiership wins
as well the 1950 state flag victory over Hobart. After a somewhat
acrimonious clearance wrangle, Clarke was released to play with Melbourne
in the VFL in 1951, and he went on to play 77 games and boot 155 goals for
the Demons over the ensuing five seasons. He was a member of
Melbourne's 1955 premiership team, booting 3 of the side's 8 goals in the
grand final defeat of Collingwood.
Returning to Tasmania in 1956, Clarke joined North
Hobart, and promptly topped the TFL's goal kicking list with 81 goals
for the year. He also represented his state with distinction at the
Perth carnival, with his 15 goals for the series being bettered only
by Jock Spencer of
the VFL, who amassed 17.
The final phase of Clarke's career was spent as playing coach of New Norfolk between 1958 and 1961. A serious knee injury sustained early in his debut season limited his appearances, but in 1961 he managed to top the TFL's goalkicking list, for the second time, with 66 goals. Noel Clarke was selected at full forward in North Launceston's official 'Best Team 1945-1999', at centre half forward in New Norfolk's official 'Best Team 1947-2001', and in North Hobart's unplaced official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'. |
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Sydney Clarke (Claremont/Claremont-Cottesloe)
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| Touted
as the greatest junior footballer in Western Australia in 1932, while
playing with Bunbury side Pastimes, Sydney
Campbell Clarke (invariably known as 'Sammy') made his senior debut with Claremont-Cottesloe
the following year and promptly enhanced his reputation still further by
winning the Sandover
Medal. Built along the lines of a stick insect, Clarke could
lift his skeletal frame to prodigious heights, and once he got his hands
around the ball they stayed there.
Many outstanding debutants suffer second season blues; not so 'Sammy' Clarke, who in 1934 became the first ever dual winner of the Sandover Medal (see footnote 1). He made his interstate debut at Perth Oval the same year, lining up on a half back flank, and being named high among Western Australia's best players, in a comfortable 46 point win over South Australia. That game was on the Saturday, and on the following Tuesday, at Leederville, 'Sammy' Clarke, still just twenty years of age, was chosen to captain his state in a second game against the croweaters. Once again he put in a characteristically spectacular aerial display to be selected as one of Western Australia's best, although on this occasion it was the South Australians who prevailed. Clarke went on to represent Western Australia 8 times, including both matches at the 1937 Perth carnival. Twice a winner of Claremont-Cottesloe's fairest and best award, 'Sammy' Clarke played 133 games for the club between 1933 and 1941, and was at the forefront of its emergence as a league power. Sadly, when the side finally broke through for a premiership in 1938, Clarke was away in England, training to be a pilot. He returned the following year, however, and, playing in his customary centre half back position, was one of the best players afield as the Monts overturned East Fremantle in the grand final by 19 points. During the war, 'Sammy' Clarke served in the RAF as a pilot, but on his first active flying mission in 1942 he tragically lost his life. |
Footnotes1. When retrospective Sandover Medals were awarded in 1997, Subiaco's Johnny Leonard, who had originally been placed second to 'Billy' Thomas of East Perth in 1929, became, technically, the first player to win the award twice. Return to Main Text |
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Thomas Clarke (Essendon & Brunswick)
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| Tom
Clarke was a fine wingman whose only significant weakness was a slight
lack of leg speed, a deficiency he helped overcome with excellent
anticipation and smooth ball handling. He was a key member of only
moderately talented Essendon sides in
103 games between 1927 and 1934, winning the club's best and fairest award
in 1931. He was twice selected in VFL representative sides.
Between 1935 and 1940 Clarke played 105 games in the VFA with Brunswick. He was a member of the Magpies' winning 1938 grand final team against Brighton. After his playing career was over, Tom Clarke spent thirty years as an Essendon committee member. His sons Ron, an Olympic athlete, and Essendon footballer Jack achieved even greater sporting notoriety than their father. |
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| Wingman Trevor Clarke was an important if often underrated contributor to Sturt's phenomenal run of success during the second half of the 1960s. His 139 SANFL games between 1962 and 1971 included appearances in the losing grand final of 1965, and the wins of 1966-7-8-9. Tall, lithe and extremely quick, he used the ball effectively, and was useful overhead. He was also capable of long, weaving, sometimes spectacular runs. Along with the likes of Bob Shearman and Darryl Hicks he gave the Double Blues arguably the best centreline in South Australia for several years. When, at the end of his coaching career with Sturt in 1982, Jack Oatey nominated his 'Vintage 21', comprising the best players he had coached during his twenty-one seasons with the club, Trevor Clarke was selected on a wing. |
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Troy Clarke (West Torrens & Brisbane)
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| Originally
from Cairns, where, playing for South Cairns, he won the local league best
and fairest award aged just seventeen, Troy Clarke joined West
Torrens in 1987 after failing to procure a place on the Brisbane
Bears' inaugural list. In 4 seasons with the Eagles he played 64
games, enjoying a particularly good year in 1989 when he won selection in
the West End All Stars Team of the Year.
In 1991, Clarke finally found his way to Brisbane where he spent the next 6 seasons, playing a total of 68 AFL games, and participating in his club's historic AFL reserves premiership win in his debut season. His games tally would undoubtedly have been much higher were it not for his misfortune with injury. Small of stature (172cm, 70kg), he was lightning fast, determined, and highly skilled, and was capable of playing in a number of positions. One of his career highlights was playing in Queensland's 23.14 (152) to 15.18 (108) state of origin defeat of Victoria in 1991. |
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| Amateur
footballer Tony 'Doc' Clarkson played two league games with Sturt
in 1959 - a minor round match, and the 1st semi final - but then returned
to amateur ranks. Over the ensuing four seasons he won two Hone
Medals as the best and fairest player in A1, South Australian amateur
football's leading competition, captained his club University, and
represented the state's amateur team. In 1964 he received an 'SOS'
from Sturt when regular senior ruckman Fred Smith was seriously injured in
a road accident, and virtually by accident one of the final major pieces
in coach Jack
Oatey's multiple premiership jig-saw was slotted into place.
Clarkson was not only an ever-present for the Blues in 1964, he was one of their best players. Built like a beanpole at 194cm and 81.5kg he combined athleticism with surprising strength, while his strict adherence to Oatey's favoured checkside ruck strategy minimised the likelihood of serious injury arising out of full on body clashes. Clarkson won Sturt's best and fairest award in 1965, and again two years later, and was a South Australian interstate representative on half a dozen occasions. He was a member of three successive premiership teams from 1966 to 1968 but, as a medical doctor (hence the nickname), his working career was always of primary importance, and in 1969, after 107 league games, that career took him abroad, effectively ending his involvement in football. |
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Norman Claxton (North Adelaide)
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| For much of the twentieth century sporting activity in Australia, even at its highest level, was much more akin to a hobby than a profession, making it possible for individuals to excel at more than one sport. In pre-World War One South Australia one of the finest of such all-rounders was Norman Claxton. A state representative at both football (3 times) and cricket, he also played 'A' grade hockey and baseball, and won a Bendigo Gift at cycling. A baseball trophy, the Claxton Shield, was named in his honour. As a footballer, he was a cool, highly poised defender, who marked well, and handled the ball with consummate surety. He was not afraid of backing his judgement, and was often known to go on exciting runs downfield, showing great elusiveness and verve as he dodged and weaved around opponents. When North Adelaide broke through for their first ever senior premiership with a 4.3 (27) to 1.8 (14) grand final defeat of South Adelaide in 1900, Claxton was a popular choice as best afield. Two years later, when North again overcame South to clinch the flag, he was, if anything, even more prominent. His combined play with team mates like Norm 'Hackenschmidt' Clark and Ernie Jones (a fellow South Australian cricketer) was first rate, and for a time North Adelaide was acknowledged as having the finest defence in the Association. |
Bert Clay (Fitzroy)
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| A fine aerialist and penetrative kick as well as an intelligent palmer of the ball to his rovers, Bert Clay played 157 games – mostly as a ruckman - for Fitzroy between 1940 and 1951. By some measure the best remembered of these was the 1944 VFL grand final when he was instrumental in the Gorillas’ – as they were then known – defeat of Richmond. Clay rucked throughout the game that day and, in the opinion of his opposite number, Tiger champion Jack Dyer, was the single most important factor in Fitzroy’s upset win. |
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Dick Clay (Richmond & Prahran)
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| Remembered
today as one of the finest full backs of his time, Dick Clay actually
began his senior football career with Kyabram as
a full forward, in which position he became the first Goulburn
Valley Football League player to register in excess of a hundred goals
in a season. That was in 1963, three years before he embarked on a
VFL career with Richmond. During the
early part of that career he continued to play mainly as a forward, before
spending several successful seasons as a wingman. Strong overhead, and a
thumping kick, he could adapt well to almost any key position, but it was
after he was switched to the last line of defence that he truly found his
niche. A Richmond premiership player in 1967, 1969, 1973 and 1974,
Clay played a total of 213 VFL games, and kicked 80 goals, between 1966
and 1976. He also represented the VFL. He spent the 1977
season, his last in senior football, as captain-coach of VFA club Prahran.
Dick Clay was selected as a member of Richmond's prestigious official 'Team of the Century'. |
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| For ten seasons from 1924 George 'Kitty' Clayden was Collingwood's much feared enforcer. One of the toughest players in the VFL during one of the that competition's toughest eras, he was a member of all four of the Magpies' record-breaking consecutive grand final winning teams between 1927 and 1930. He also represented the VFL in interstate matches. In addition to his renowned toughness, he was an accomplished high mark and a superb kick. He was equally effective at centre half back or in the ruck, but was forced to retire while still at his peak after sustaining a serious knee injury in 1933. He played a total of 133 VFL games, and kicked 79 goals. |
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Scott Clayton (Hobart & Fitzroy)
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At a time when the
concept of the role was still being defined, Scott Clayton was in many
respects the quintessential tagger. Clayton played his early
football with Hobart, before commencing the VFL
portion of his career in 1981, with Fitzroy.
Tough, relentlessly aggressive, and dogged, he was used by the
Lions in numerous different roles, but was most commonly assigned the job
of tagging a key opposition player. During the 1980s, Scott Clayton
performed this function as well as anyone in the game.
He also seemed to get better with time, as he proved by winning
Fitzroy's club champion award in 1990, his final season. Clayton played a
total of 160 league games for the Lions, kicking 23 goals. |
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Jim Cleary (South Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Brunswick, Dandenong)
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| Known as 'Gentleman Jim', Cleary had a reputation for fairness and sportsmanship that was somewhat besmirched after he was involved in one of the many unsavoury incidents to litter the 1945 VFL grand final, and ended up being suspended for 8 matches. Nevertheless, he was a fine and extremely popular player, who held down the full back position for South for the majority of his 222 games between 1934 and 1948. A dual winner of the club's best and fairest award, he vied with Collingwood's Jack Regan for selection in the key defensive position in VFL representative teams. After leaving South at the end of the 1948 season Cleary was appointed captain-coach of Port Melbourne, winning the club's best and fairest award in his debut season, before steering his charges to three consecutive losing grand finals. In 1953 he was appointed coach of Brunswick, where he remained for six seasons. Under Clearly, the Magpies achieved a success rate of 55.3%, but their only finals campaign in 1956 was brought to an immediate end by Box Hill. From 1959 to 1961, Cleary coached Dandenong, getting the side as far as a losing 2nd division grand final against Northcote in his final year. He later made a name for himself as a panelist on the popular Channel Seven TV show 'World of Sport'. |
Ron Clegg (South Melbourne & Brunswick)
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Strong, courageous, solid on the ground, superb in the air, and a marvellous kick with either foot, South Melbourne's Ron Clegg was arguably one of the finest key position players ever. Winner of a Brownlow Medal in 1949 after a season spent mainly at centre half back, he was every bit as effective at centre half forward, where he fronted up against Carlton in the infamous 'Bloodbath grand final' of 1945, or indeed in any other key position. From the time he made his interstate debut in 1946, his second league season, until towards the end of his career in 1960, he was a regular member of VFL representative teams, and indeed was often South's only member of such sides. Besides his 1949 Brownlow, he was runner-up to Geelong's Bernie Smith in 1951, and on three occasions was voted best and fairest player for his club. In 1950 it looked as though his VFL career might be over when he accepted a lucrative offer to coach New Norfolk, and moved to Tasmania. South though refused to allow him a clearance, and with some reluctance he returned home. As a young married man determined to do his best by his wife, however, the prospective financial benefits accruing from an interstate or country coaching appointment continued to appeal, and in 1955 he left South again - this time with the club's blessing - to take up a coaching appointment at North Wagga. Clegg missed the big time atmosphere of league football, however, and the 1956 season saw him back at the Lake Oval, where he spent another four seasons, two of them as captain-coach. His inability to steer the side to a premiership, or even participation in the major round, during that time was probably the greatest disappointment of his football career. Clegg's only involvement in the VFL finals had come in his debut season when, as a fresh-faced seventeen year old, he might have been excused for believing that the best moments of his career still lay ahead of him. True, there were numerous individual triumphs, including the establishment of a new South Melbourne 'games played' record of 231, but football is primarily about the winning of premierships, and Ron Clegg shared with the team mate who would later overhaul that 'games played' record, Bob Skilton, the unhappy fate of being an undisputed champion who failed to achieve the ultimate. After leaving the VFL Clegg spent the 1961 and 1962 seasons as captain-coach of Brunswick in the VFA's 1st division, but the side struggled both years. |
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Charles 'Bones' Clements (Brunswick, South Melbourne, Northcote)
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| Invariably
known as 'Bones', Charles Clements began his senior football career with Brunswick
in 1900. He was an excellent goal kicker who inevitably attracted
the attention of VFL clubs, and it was no surprise when he joined South
Melbourne in 1904. He spent two seasons with the southerners,
playing 32 games and kicking a total of 68 goals. He returned to
Brunswick a much more accomplished all round player, and in a match
against Essendon 'A' in 1906 he booted a club
record 11 goals. Mind you, the alleged secret of his success would
not go down well with coaches today, for by all accounts Clements laid
great store in the supposedly beneficial effects of alcohol. During
games, he liked nothing better than a quick half time trip to the local watering hole,
where he would cheerfully down three pots of ale as a means of
'fortifying' himself for the rigours of the second half.
Clements continued playing with Brunswick until 1908, which sadly for him meant he missed participating in the club's breakthrough VFA premiership, which arrived the following year. He went on to coach Murchison in the Goulburn Valley District Football Association before returning to the VFA in 1913, this time with Northcote. |
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Stephen Clifford (Port Adelaide)
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| After struggling to make a mark at Collingwood (as just 38 games in six seasons attests), Stephen Clifford joined Port Adelaide in 1978 and went on to enjoy an illustrious, and highly productive career with the South Australian Magpies. Best and fairest in his debut season, he landed the award again in 1980 and 1983, and was a member of Port's 1979-80-81 premiership teams. His final games tally of 162 would have been considerably higher had he not broken his ankle on two occasions and fallen out with the club over player payments for a time in 1984. Not quick, but tough, combative, skilful, and a thumping kick, Clifford, who exulted in the nickname 'Bomber', was lauded at Alberton and loathed elsewhere, and was without doubt one of the single biggest reasons behind Port Adelaide's success under John Cahill during the late '70s and early '80s. |
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| One
of those players who seems blessed with a total disregard for personal
safety, Roger Clift in many ways epitomised the Port
Adelaide ethic, in which courage, determination and selflessness are
central.
Clift, who hailed from Jamestown, made his Magpies debut in 1948, and went on to play a total of 155 club and 5 interstate games, as well as participate in four premiership teams. He won Port's best and fairest award in 1954. Mainly used as a centre half back, he was in some ways a prototype of the modern practitioner of that position with his attacking mentality and his penchant for backing his judgement. Always a favourite with Port fans because of his cheerful demeanour and apparently reckless devotion to the team cause, Roger Clift died at a tragically young age after sustaining a heart attack while playing squash. |
| Collingwood
recruited Jeff Clifton from Floreat Park in Western
Australia before he had played at league level in that state. He
went on to play 102 senior games for the Magpies from 1969 to 1974, mainly
at full back where he was dogged, authoritative and hard working. A
defender through and through, he failed to kick a goal either during his
time at Collingwood or in his 9 game stint with Fitzroy
in 1975-6. During his time with the Magpies he lined up at full back
in the 1970 grand final loss to Carlton
(reviewed here). |
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| West Torrens' Mick Clingly was a solidly built centre half forward or centre half back whose play was "a nice blend of strength, aggressiveness, and great skill" (see footnote 1). Well liked by Torrens supporters, and highly respected by those of opposition teams, he played a total of 156 SANFL games for the blue and golds, amassing the highly creditable total of 219 goals in the process. He topped the club's goal kicking list on three occasions, and was best afield - playing in the unaccustomed position of back pocket - when Torrens defeated Port Adelaide by 7 points to annex the 1953 premiership. (Click here for a review of the match.) In a game against Glenelg in 1956, during which he booted 12 goals, Clingly became the last player in SANFL history to use a place kick. |
Footnotes1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 88. Return to Main Text |
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Trevor Clisby (North Adelaide)
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| A superb defender who combined a relentlessly vigorous approach with good all round skills and a predilection for going on prolonged, surging runs out of the backlines, Trevor Clisby was a stalwart of the fine teams fielded by North Adelaide during the 1980s and early 1990s. He arrived at North from Modbury Juniors, and made his league debut in 1980. He was at centre half back when the Roosters annihilated Glenelg in the 1987 grand final, and played there again in the tempestuous 1991 premiership decider when West Adelaide was comprehensively vanquished. Clisby retired at the end of that 1991 season after a career tally of 279 club games plus 1 interstate appearance for South Australia. |
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David Cloke (Oakleigh, Richmond, Collingwood, Ainslie, Port Melbourne)
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| David Cloke was a powerful ruckman and occasional forward who enjoyed a marvellous career at four clubs. He began with Oakleigh where he played alongside his brother Peter, and in 1974 he went to Richmond. A premiership player in his debut season with the Tigers Cloke went on to afford great service in 219 VFL games from 1974 to 1982 (including another winning grand final in 1980) and in 1990-91. In between, he played with equal effectiveness for Collingwood, where he added another 114 league games. Always a threat when resting in the forward lines, Cloke booted a total of 323 goals during his eighteen season VFL career. In 1992 he joined Ainslie as captain-coach, and promptly steered the Tricolours to a flag, a success repeated the following year when he won the Alex Jesaulenko Trophy for best afield in the grand final. The 1994 season saw him installed as coach of Port Melbourne, where he added 4 final senior games. Somewhat surprisingly, given his all round value for the teams he played with, David Cloke's only club best and fairest award came in 1992 with Ainslie. He did, however, achieve All Australian selection after representing Victoria at the Perth state of origin carnival of 1979. |
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| When Geelong's Darley recruit Wayne Closter comprehensively outplayed an illustrious opponent in the shape of Frank 'Bluey' Adams of Melbourne in his VFL debut the Cats knew they had a potential star on their hands. Strong overhead, and a superb kick over both long and short distances, Closter produced many fine performances over the course of a twelve season league career that, but for National Service training commitments, would have seen him play significantly more than his final tally of 191 senior games. A wingman during his early years, he later developed into a poised and classy centreman. Although ostensibly right footed, he kicked so well with his left that he was effectively ambidextrous, making him all the harder to contain. |
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| Sid Clough was one of Brighton's most noteworthy footballers of the early 1930s. A hard working and resilient centreman, he was a dual winner of his club's best and fairest award, but had the misfortune of playing in teams that persistently failed to qualify for the finals. |
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| One
of the all time great centre half forwards, Carlton's
Horrie Clover was public enemy number one as far as most of the Blues'
rivals during the 1920s were concerned. Superb overhead, strong and
pacy, Clover could take a game apart single-handedly. In 1922 he
topped the VFL's goal kicking list with 56 goals, and he was Carlton's top
goal kicker on six occasions. He began with the Blues in 1920,
having been recruited from Maryborough, and in his debut against Richmond
at Punt Road in round 2 he booted 4 of Carlton's 9 goals for the
match. Later that year he registered 13 against St
Kilda, an extraordinary achievement when you consider that he played
the entire game at centre half forward, and not at the goalfront.
In 1921, Horrie Clover enjoyed a stellar season in a Carlton team often considered to be one of the greatest not to win a VFL premiership. Clover himself was rewarded for his spectacular form with the prestigious Champion of the Colony award. A regular VFL representative, Clover captained the team in 1929 in Perth. He captain-coached the Blues in 1922-24 and again in 1927, having returned to the game in 1926 following a season on the sidelines with a serious illness. If the illness undermined his effectiveness in any way this was difficult to spot, as he played some of the finest football of his career during the late 1920s. Clover retired at the end of the 1931 season having played 147 VFL games and booted 398 goals. He later served his beloved Blues as both vice-president and president, as well as representing the club as a VFL delegate for many years. During the 1920s Horrie Clover had one of the highest profiles of any player in the game, and his impact on the VFL was enormous, all of which makes his omission from Carlton's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century' in favour of players of comparatively negligible ability and achievement (Gary Crane, Rod Ashman, Stephen Silvagni, Trevor Keogh) more than a tad bemusing. |
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| One
of Claremont's favourite sons, Kevin
Clune was known by various nicknames during his career, including 'Tiger',
'Mr. Claremont' and 'the Carnamah Kid'. This last was a tribute to
Clune's town of origin in Western Australia's North Midlands region.
With his tough, direct, relentless approach to the game, Clune was a great favourite among Claremont's supporters. For much of his 231 game league career, which began in 1954 and ended in 1966 (with a one year gap in 1963, which he spent with Northam side Towns), he played in persistently losing teams, and was often seen as mounting almost a lone, semi-heroic, semi-hapless stand against the inevitable. In 1964, however, the Tigers suddenly found their roar, making it as far as the grand final where they scored an upset win over East Fremantle (reviewed here). No-one made a greater contribution to this triumph than Kevin Clune, who played every match of the year and won his second club fairest and best award after a season of sustained brilliance. Clune, who captained Claremont in 1958 and for part of the 1960 season, played a total of 8 state games for Western Australia. He was hampered by injury towards the end of his career, and the infrequency of his league appearances was a major contributory factor in the club's sliding down the ladder once more. Nevertheless, there have been few more popular players at Claremont, and he would, one imagines, be a walk-in start in any official 'Team of the Century' or 'best of' combination chosen by the club. |
