Go straight to the biography of your choice by clicking on the appropriate link:
[Rodney Eade] [Peter Eakins] [John Earl] [Gordon Earnshaw] [Alec Eason] [Bill Eason] [Gerald Eastmure] [Darrel Eaton] [Allan Ebbs] [Ken Ebbs] [Russell Ebert] [Ivan Eckermann] [Jack Edmeades] [Jim Edmond] [Horrie Edmonds] [Travis Edmonds] [Brendan Edwards] [Craig Edwards] [Jack Edwards] [Wells Eicke] [Russell Ellen] [Ron Elleway] [Ern 'Puffer' Elliott] [Fred 'Pompey' Elliott] [George Elliott] [John Ellis] [Percy Ellis] [Peter Ellis] [Shane Ellis] [Ted Ellis] [Robert Elphinstone] [Tony Elshaug] [Ken Emselle] [Peter Endersbee] [Des English] [Vin English] [Alec Epis] [Eric Eriksson] [Dennis Errey] [Ken Eustice] [Allan Evans] [Bernie Evans] [J.A. 'Dodger' Evans] [Jack Evans] [Ron Evans] [Roy Evans] [Tim Evans] [Reg Evendon] [Allan Everett] [Jim Everett] [Tom Everett] [Alec Ewers] [Murray Exelby] [Alan Ezard]
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Rodney Eade (Glenorchy, Hawthorn, Brisbane, Sydney)
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| Rodney
Eade began his senior football career with Glenorchy
in 1975 where he made an immediate impact, catching the eye of mainland
talent scouts and being voted the best first year player in the TFL. He
moved to Hawthorn the following year and
went on to be a tremendous performer for the Hawks in 229 games over the
course of the next twelve seasons. Wearing the number 26 jumper previously
made famous by fellow Tasmanian great Peter Hudson (Eade's coach while at
Glenorchy) he played in a premiership side during his debut season at
Glenferrie, and added further appearances in flag-winning combinations in
1978, 1983 and 1986. In 1988 he was named captain of the Tasmanian team
which competed at the bicentennial
Australian football carnival in Adelaide. Eade joined Brisbane
in 1988 but found himself stymied by injury and was only able to add a
further 30 senior games over his final three seasons in league football.
There have been flashier and more extravagantly skilled players than
Rodney Eade, but few who were as exhilarating to watch when in full
flight.
In 1996 Eade replaced the great Ron Barassi as coach of Sydney and promptly steered the Swans to their first grand final in 51 years. North Melbourne, however, proved too strong, and thereafter, in just over six seasons at the helm, Eade was unable propel his charges higher than 5th place on the ladder. After a disappointing start to the 2002 season he stepped aside in favour of Paul Roos. When AFL Tasmania announced its Tasmanian 'Team of the Century' in June 2004, Rodney Eade was named at right centre wing. The following year he was inducted as an inaugural legend in Tasmanian Football's official Hall of Fame. |
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Peter Eakins (Subiaco & Collingwood)
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| Archetypal
'blond bombshell' Peter Eakins burst onto the WANFL football scene with Subiaco
in the opening round of the 1966 season when, although shaded on the day
by East Perth's Mal
Brown, he displayed enough skill and poise to serve notice of a
noteworthy career in prospect. Tall, strong and perfectly
balanced, Eakins could also kick the ball a proverbial 'country mile', was
an excellent spoiler, and would become one of the primary ingredients in Haydn
Bunton junior's rebuilding programme at the club, which began with his
arrival in the coaching hot seat in 1968. That same season, Eakins
made the state team for the first time, while the following year saw him
achieve his career highlight, the Tassie
Medal (shared with South Australia's Graham
Molloy), after a sequence of performances of great verve and authority
at the Adelaide carnival.
Consistently eye catching performances at interstate level were increasingly becoming passports to the VFL at this time, and it was small surprise that the 1970 football season saw Eakins relocating to Melbourne, where he lined up with Collingwood. The Magpies reached the grand final that year, losing one of the most famous VFL grand finals of all time to Carlton after leading by more than 7 goals at half time. In common with many of his team mates, Eakins was a conspicuous performer during the first two quarters of the game, but faded badly in the second half. It was a similar story with his VFL career: after a promising start, a succession of injuries undermined his performances, and after just three seasons and 32 games he returned home to Subiaco. Unfortunately, however, the pressure and intensity of VFL football had taken their toll, and after just one senior and three reserves appearances he was forced into premature retirement, aged just twenty six. |
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| Prior to the arrival of Tom Leahy in 1910, John Earl was the man saddled with the responsibility of leading North Adelaide's rucks, a task he performed with considerable distinction for the better part of a decade. In the 1902 grand final defeat of South Adelaide, he was among the best players afield, as he was three years later when Port Adelaide was vanquished. Tall and thin, he was an excellent palmer of the ball, and was one of the few footballers of his generation to wear a cap while playing. In 1908, his penultimate season, Earl was the first recorded winner of North's best and fairest award. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, he was not chosen to represent South Australia in the inaugural Australasian championship series that season in Melbourne, but he did play half a dozen games for his state during his career. |
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Gordon Earnshaw (Kalgoorlie City, South Fremantle, East Perth)
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| He may not have been in the very top rank as a player, but by a combination of hard work and determination Gordon Earnshaw managed to achieve more in the game than many footballers of considerably greater ability. He commenced his senior career with Kalgoorlie City in 1950 but the following season saw him forced to relocate to Perth because of his work. As far as football was concerned, he threw in his lot with South Fremantle, which at the time boasted one of the strongest teams in Australia. Earnshaw's three seasons with the red and whites saw him play 18 senior games, including the losing grand final of 1951 against West Perth, which he began on the bench. In 1954 he crossed to East Perth where he added another 83 league games over the next five seasons. These included the winning grand final of 1956 (as a reserve) against his previous club, and the following year's losing grand final against East Fremantle. |
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Alec Eason (Geelong, Richmond, Footscray, Prahran)
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| Originally
from Barwon, rover Alec Eason played precisely 150 VFL games for Geelong
on either side of World War One. He was popularly known as 'Bunny'
owing to his pace off the mark, which was said to be rabbit-like in its
alacrity. Typically playing with his socks down, he ran opponents
ragged with his verve, aggression, skill, heart and fitness, while his
kicking, particularly when picking out team mates over shorter to medium
distances, was superb. His playing prowess was acquired despite his
having just three digits on his right hand, and he was renowned for his
incessant talking on the field. (A team mate allegedly said that
Eason was the only player he knew who could run half the length of the
field whilst talking simultaneously non-stop.)
Midway through his career, in 1916, Eason spent a season playing a dozen games with Richmond because Geelong had ceased operations owing to the war. He finally left the Pivotonians for good in 1922 when he accepted an offer, reputed to be highly lucrative, to play for Footscray in the VFA. He was a member of Tricolours premiership teams in 1923-4. In 1933, he spent the second half of the season as non-playing coach of a struggling Prahran side that finished just one place from the bottom of the ladder. When three players failed to show up for the club's final fixture of the year against last-placed club Brunswick, Eason, aged forty-three, was compelled to lace up his boots one last time. |
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| The older brother of 'Bunny', centreman Bill Eason was the first Geelong player to notch 200 VFL games. A dashing and brilliant attacking player, he was renowned for his elusiveness and exemplary kicking to position. When needed, he could perform effectively on either a half forward or half back flank. In all, he played 220 senior games from 1902 to 1915, and was Geelong captain between 1910 and 1913. His attacking prowess is evidenced by his feat in kicking 186 career goals. He played one interstate match for the VFL. |
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Gerald Eastmure (North Melbourne)
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| Slick, adroit and cunning, rover Gerald Eastmure played for both the thirds and reserves at North Melbourne before making his senior debut in 1954. He went on to play 122 VFL games and kick 127 goals for the club between 1954 and 1961. The high esteem in which he was held during his career is clearly evidenced by his selection to represent the VFL in 1957, 1959 and 1960. |
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Darrel Eaton (North Hobart, Wynyard, Devonport)
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| Popularly
known as 'Dasher', Darrel Eaton was one of North
Hobart's greatest post-war identities. After spending the 1946
season in the club's seconds he made his senior debut the following year
when he was good enough to achieve selection in Tasmania's Hobart
carnival team. Eaton, who was a regular member of interstate
teams for much of his career, also represented the Apple Isle at the
carnivals of 1950 in Brisbane and
1953 in Adelaide. In 1952 and '53
he served as captain-coach of NWFU side Wynyard,
masterminding a premiership in his first season, and winning the league's
best and fairest award, the Wander
Medal, in his second. After spending the 1954 season with Devonport
he returned home to North Hobart for his last three seasons of top level
footy, culminating in a premiership - his second with the club - in 1957.
After a couple of seasons as a league umpire Darrel Eaton returned to the Robins as non-playing coach in 1960 and enjoyed the satisfaction of overseeing the enviable 'double' of local and state titles in both 1961 and 1962. Midway through the 1964 season, however, he resigned as coach after the committee endorsed the selection of a player that Eaton, as well as the club's captain Peter Marquis and vice-captain Ray Bailey, did not believe warranted a place in the team. |
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Allan Ebbs (Kalgoorlie Railways & East Fremantle)
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| Allan
Ebbs is probably best remembered for being the first ever winner of the Simpson
Medal, which he collected after helping East
Fremantle to a 36 point win over South
Fremantle in the 1945 WANFL grand final. Agile and, especially
in his early years, quite quick for a big man, he was a formidable knock ruckman
whose work at boundary throw-ins was especially noteworthy. A
powerful overhead mark, he was a long if not always accurate kick, and
always teamed effectively with his rovers. He played 128 league
games for Old Easts between 1938 and 1941, and from 1945 to 1948,
captaining the side in 1947, and winning the fairest and best award in
1946. He had a strong claim to a second Simpson Medal after putting
in a Herculean performance in the 1946 grand final, in which East
Fremantle beat West Perth by a goal, but
the Cardinals' John
Loughridge became the first ever winner from a losing
team.
Allan Ebbs, who actually commenced his senior football career with East Fremantle Amateurs before undertaking a one season stint with Kalgoorlie Railways in 1937, was included as a ruckman changing in the forward pocket in East Fremantle's official 'Team of the Century'. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, unlike his younger brother Ken, he was never selected to represent Western Australia in the interstate arena. |
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| Less eye catching and imposing than his older brother Allan, Ken Ebbs was every bit as important to East Fremantle, and enjoyed a longer and arguably even more illustrious playing career. Whether in defence or attack or as a ruck-rover type on the ball he was lively, shrewd and almost always effective. He made his league debut in 1945, and experienced the thrill of playing in a premiership team in his very first season when he lined up on a half back flank in the grand final defeat of South Fremantle. Twelve months later he was at centre half back as Old Easts edged out West Perth on grand final day by a goal. The 1949 season saw him make his interstate debut for Western Australia in a 53 point victory over New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He went on to play a total of 4 state games. When he retired at the end of the 1956 season he had made 159 appearances in an Old Easts jumper, winning a fairest and best award in 1949. He finished 4th in the voting for the Sandover Medal in 1953. Ken Ebbs might be adjudged slightly unfortunate not to have been chosen in his club's official 'Team of the Century', but few Team of the Century selection panels had a more difficult task than East Fremantle's, given the embarrassment of riches from which they were required to select just twenty-one players and one coach. |
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Russell Ebert (Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Woodville)
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| Four
times a winner of South Australia's most prestigious individual football
award, the Magarey Medal,
Russell Ebert's solo achievements belied the fact that he was, above all
else, a quintessential team man. Like his contemporary, Barrie
Robran, frequently regarded as Ebert's chief rival for the unofficial
title of South Australia's greatest ever footballer, Russell Ebert off the
field was shy and unassuming, preferring - if the cliché can be allowed -
to 'let his football do the talking'.
And how loquacious that football was! Quite simply, Russell Ebert probably came as close as any player in history to exhibiting complete mastery over all the essential skills of the game. On the attacking side he was a superb mark, handled the ball brilliantly in all conditions, and typically disposed of it, whether by foot or by hand, with pinpoint accuracy. However, it was his defensive qualities which really marked Ebert out from the herd; unlike many acknowledged champion players Ebert excelled in performing the small, often unnoticed, ostensibly ignominious tasks that are so vital to a winning performance - tasks like shepherding, smothering, checking, tackling, spoiling which are the traditional function of the football journeyman rather than the superstar. And 'superstar' - an admittedly much over-used term - is exactly what Russell Ebert was. Between 1968 and 1985 he played a total of 417 games of league football, all but 25 of them with Port Adelaide. He also represented South Australia 29 times. In addition to his Magarey Medal wins in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1980 he was Port's best and fairest player on no fewer than half a dozen occasions. He had the satisfaction in 1977 of captaining the Magpies to their first premiership in twelve years, and also played in the premiership teams of 1980 and 1981. After the 1981 grand final victory over Glenelg, he won the Jack Oatey Medal for best afield. Mere statistics can only hint at the true genius that was Russell Ebert, however. As a coach, Ebert enjoyed rather less success, but his accomplishments were by no means negligible. He steered Port Adelaide to the 1984 grand final, for instance, and masterminded South Australia's state of origin victories over Western Australia in 1996 and 1998. |
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Ivan Eckermann (Port Adelaide)
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| In
his autobiography, Lethal, Leigh
Matthews recounts how Port Adelaide
defender Ivan Eckermann was the only opponent who ever 'put him to sleep'
during the course of his illustrious seventeen season top level football
career. The incident in question occurred just after half time of
the state of origin match between South Australia and Victoria at Football
Park in 1982 - which, quite ironically, was the only interstate appearance
of Eckermann's career. "The ball was kicked towards our half
forward flank and I can remember doing the logical thing and going after
it from the forward pocket," Matthews recalled. "My next
memory was being steered around the boundary line by a couple of
trainers........ For the only time in my career, I had 'lost' a few
minutes." (See footnote 1)
Although the incident was scarcely the highlight of Eckermann's playing career - albeit that it may have been the nadir of Matthews' - it is useful in highlighting the tough back pocket player's approach to the game. Put simply, Eckermann was a footballer in the traditional Port Adelaide mould: rugged, gutsy, and relentlessly hard at both opponents and the ball. There was nothing flashy or elegant about his style, but it served him admirably throughout an eleven season, 150 game league career that ran from 1974 to 1983, and included participation in the premiership teams of 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1981. Recruited from Blyth, Eckermann never came within spitting distance of a best and fairest award, but his value to the club was nevertheless considerable, and there can be no doubt that he left his mark on the game - just ask Leigh Matthews. |
Footnotes1. Lethal by Leigh Matthews with Mike Sheehan, pages 89-90. Return to Main Text |
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Jack Edmeades (Claremont- Cottesloe/Claremont)
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| A highly competent and serviceable player who could perform equally well in a back pocket, on a half back flank or across centre, Claremont's Jack Edmeades began his league career with the Monts in 1934, and his 141 senior games for the club included the losing grand finals of 1936 and 1937 and the winning ones of 1938 and 1940. He missed the 1939 grand final, which Claremont won, with injury. Between 1942 and 1944 the WANFL senior competition was suspended, meaning Edmeades missed potentially the best seasons of his career. He carried on after the war, however, before finally retiring in 1946. Although he was never selected to represent Western Australia, he did play for a number two state side against St Kilda in 1938. |
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Jim Edmond (Footscray, Sydney, Brisbane)
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| A
tough customer who knew how to use his weight, but also boasted a fair
amount of natural ability, Footsc |
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Horrie Edmonds (Collingwood, Richmond, Footscray, Preston)
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| Horrie Edmonds enjoyed an exceptional debut league season with Collingwood in 1929, capped by a 5 goal performance from a forward pocket in the challenge final win over Richmond. After that, however, he failed to build on his promise, although he was a serviceable player for both the Magpies (79 VFL games and 124 goals from 1929 to 1934) and Richmond (30 games and 20 goals, 1934-5). Stockily built (he gloried in the nickname 'Tubby'), but boasting good skills of anticipation and a fair turn of pace, Edmonds played in a second premiership side for Collingwood in 1930, and was nineteenth man in Richmond's 1934 flag-winning combination. He made a brief, aborted return to league football with Footscray in 1937, but managed just 1 final appearance for the year. After retiring as a player, 'Tubby' Edmonds turned his hand to coaching. Highlights of this phase of his career included overseeing reserves premierships at Hawthorn in 1958 and 1959, and getting VFA 2nd division side Preston into the finals in 1961 and 1962. |
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Travis Edmonds (Swan Districts & Fremantle)
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| Swan
Districts big man Travis Edmonds retired from the WAFL competition at the end of the 2005
season, bringing down the curtain on a 262 game WAFL career that saw
him overcome significant personal disappointment early on to become
acknowledged as one of the greatest champions in the club's history.
At the end of his debut season of 1990, the nineteen year old Edmonds came
within an ace of being selected for Swans' grand final team against Claremont, only to be
excluded at the eleventh hour. Swans went on to win the game, and
Travis Edmonds' only chance of playing in a premiership team had
gone. However, over the course of the fifteen seasons that followed,
he procured virtually every other distinction the game has to offer.
A Swan Medallist as the club's fairest and best player on a record (shared
with Bill Walker)
five occasions, he captained the side in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and
represented Western Australia at state league level 4 times. In 1995
he was included on Fremantle's inaugural
AFL list, but played just 1 game, and while this would almost certainly
have been a disappointment to him, one presumes that no-one at Bassendean
was complaining.
A hard working, dependable, extremely consistent footballer, Travis Edmonds would almost certainly have been a strong contender for inclusion in Swan Districts' official 'Team of the Twentieth Century' had the selection process for that team been undertaken in 2005 rather than five years earlier. Nevertheless, he deserves to be remembered as one of the club's all time favourite sons, as well as serving as a conspicuous recent reminder that notoriety in football is not, as some would maintain, the exclusive preserve of those who ply their trade in the national competition. In 2006, Travis Edmonds played with South West Football League side Carey Park and emphasised that there was still a fair amount of football left in him by winning both his club's and the competition's fairest and best awards. |
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| No one epitomised wholehearted adherence to Hawthorn coach John Kennedy's 'commando ethic' better than Brendan Edwards. A prototype of the modern day 'athlete footballer', Edwards, who hailed from Bendigo Football League club Sandhurst, was fanatically devoted to personal fitness, and few players before or since have run out a game better. During his comparatively brief, 109 game VFL career he was a regular Big V selection and won the Hawks' best and fairest award in 1960. Arguably his best, and certainly his most significant, performance came in the 1961 grand final when he was head and shoulders above every other player afield in Hawthorn's breakthrough VFL premiership win over Footscray. |
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by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher |
| Craig Edwards was born in Gladstone but was a Nambour product who trialed with Sydney and Brisbane before carving out a decorated career with Morningside, which included three premierships and two best and fairest awards. A highly-skilled, versatile midfielder, he is the Panthers' games record-holder (247). Edwards represented Queensland with distinction, including a 47 possession game against New South Wales at the SCG in 1992. |
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Jack Edwards (North Melbourne, Coburg, Brunswick)
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| Although it would probably be fair to suggest that he would go on to enjoy somewhat greater fame as a TV football commentator, North Melbourne's Jack Edwards also enjoyed a by no means inauspicious career as a VFL footballer. Recruited from West Brunswick Juniors, he made his league debut in 1951 and, after struggling to carve out a niche for himself at first, went on to total 115 senior games over the next nine seasons. By 1956 he had developed into a fine full back, whose ultra-reliability more than compensated for any perceived lack of class; he won North's club champion award that year, and went on to round off his playing career in style by representing the VFL for the first time in his final league season. In 1961 and 1962, Jack Edwards coached VFA 1st division club Coburg, getting the side as far as the preliminary final in the latter season. He later spent the 1969 to 1971 seasons coaching Brunswick. |
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Wells Eicke (St Kilda & North Melbourne)
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| Without doubt one of the greatest players in the history of the St Kilda Football Club, Wells Eicke was only 15 years and 315 days of when he made his VFL debut in 1909. Initially used mainly as a rover, he soon developed into a highly courageous, strong marking, long kicking defender. His ability to launch his 177cm, 74kg frame high over packs to grab telling marks was little short of legendary. He was on a half back flank, and one of the Saints' best, in the 1913 challenge final loss to Fitzroy. The following year saw him win the first of three club best and fairest awards. Eicke represented the VFL on 8 occasions during his career, a figure that would doubtless have been much higher had not the intervention of war brought a four year halt to interstate football. Captain-coach of the Saints in 1919, when they finished 7th, he was appointed captain again in 1924, his last season before crossing to North Melbourne. Eicke was North's inaugural VFL coach, steering the side to a 5-12 record and 10th place on the ladder, the best performance of the three newly admitted league clubs. He continued as coach in 1926 but part way through the year returned to St Kilda where he finished a career comprising 218 VFL games, all but 21 with the Saints, whom he later served as a committee member. His non-inclusion in St Kilda's official 'Team of the Century', announced in 2002, would have to rate as something of a surprise. |
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Russell Ellen (Essendon & West Perth)
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| Ruckman Russ Ellen was recruited by Essendon from Marnoo and commenced in the under nineteens in 1971. He made his league debut in 1973 but struggled to hold down a regular spot in the team and managed just 35 games in five seasons. In 1978 he crossed to West Perth and gave the club consistently solid service in 108 WANFL games over half a dozen seasons. Always a disciplined and resolute footballer, some of his best games were played as a strong marking back pocket after the fashion of an illustrious predecessor in the Cardinals team, Bill Dempsey. In 1984, Ellen crossed to amateur club Wembley as coach, and steered the side to that year's WAAFL A Grade premiership. The 1985 season saw him back at Marnoo, but towards the end of the year he joined South Broken Hill. In 1986 he won the Broken Hill Football League's best and fairest player award. |
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| Few players typified the Fos
Williams ethos better than Berri recruit Ron Elleway, who took the
daunting task of stepping into the shoes of triple All
Australian full back John
Abley in his stride, going on to play 203 games for Port
Adelaide plus 9 state games between 1961 and 1971. Later in his
career the 193cm, slimly built Elleway sometimes played as a ruckman, but
it is as a hard bumping, dogged, ultra-miserly full back that he is
probably best remembered.
Extremely adept in the air, and surprisingly quick on the ground, Elleway was also a superb, seemingly effortless left foot kick. In interstate matches he formed an effective partnership with Sturt's 1966 All Australian back pocket player, Brenton Adcock, an alliance which in some ways resembled that of the 1980s and '90s Port Adelaide pair Roger Delaney and George Fiachi. At Port Adelaide, Elleway's main defensive partner was Bob Fabian until his retirement in1965,and thereafter 1967 Magarey Medallist Trevor Obst. If Elleway had a weakness, it was probably his short fuse, which sometimes caused him to lose his focus, allowing his opponent to obtain easy possessions. This happened in the second half of the 1966 grand final when Sturt full forward Malcolm 'Emmy' Jones was able to cut loose and procure 8 match-winning goals. Whether by chance or through a deliberate process of cultivation, Elleway tended to look every bit as fierce as he was. Indeed, Peter McConnell's memorable description of Elleway as resembling the character Lurch from The Addams Family TV series is actually uncannily accurate (see footnote 1). Following his retirement as a player, Ron Elleway returned to Port for a time as senior team runner. |
Footnotes1. McConnell's excellent website, Legends of SANFL, contains numerous profiles of SANFL players of the last forty or so years, and is well worth a visit. Return to Main Text |
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| Known as 'Puffer', Ern Elliott was one of the finest Fitzroy players of the 1920s. He was on a half back flank for the Roys in the victorious 1922 challenge final against Collingwood, and again in the equivalent match a year later when the Maroons lost to Essendon. Boasting all the skills of the game, Elliott was a regular VFL representative player and one of the most accomplished half backs of his era. He played 95 VFL games for Fitzroy from 1921 to 1927. |
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Fred Elliott (Melbourne & Carlton)
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| After starting his league career with an unconvincing 14 game stint at Melbourne in 1899, Fred Elliott moved to Carlton where he underwent a rapid and dramatic metamorphosis into one of the leading ruckmen of his day. Spirited, aggressive and hard-working, he was a pivotal player for Carlton throughout the Jack Worrall era, captaining the club to the third of its three premierships in a row in 1908, having missed the previous season's finals series through suspension. When Worrall left in 1909, 'Pompey' Elliott assumed the mantle of captain-coach, which he retained until he retired as a player, with a total of 211 VFL games under his belt, at the end of the 1911 season. |
| George
Elliott was a highly serviceable all round footballer, the highlight of
whose league career was captaining University
in 1911 and 1912. Originally from |
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John Ellis (Essendon, Perth, Sandgate, Cooee, Dandenong)
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| John Ellis was a smooth moving, highly creative footballer who possessed the champion's knack of always seeming unflustered, irrespective of the amount of physical pressure he was under. He joined Essendon in 1966 from local side Keilor, and after spending a season in the reserves made his league debut in 1967 before becoming an ever present the following year. Superbly balanced, Ellis's foot passing - with either foot - was delight to behold. He played in the centre in Essendon's 1968 grand final loss to Carlton, but after sustaining a serious knee injury the following year he was never quite the same player. Midway through the 1971 season, after 44 VFL games and 43 goals for the Bombers, he was told that he was surplus to requirements, and crossed to Footscray. After a handful of reserves games for the Bulldogs he packed his bags and headed west where he embarked on a two and a half season, 40 game stint with Perth. With the effects of his knee injury now seemingly behind him, Ellis spent the next ten years undertaking what amounted to a tour of Australia, playing football as he went. From 1974 to 1976 he captain-coached Sandgate, steering the side to a flag in his first season, as well as to a club record score of 33.28 (226) against Wilston Grange a few weeks earlier. He spent the 1977 season with Cooee and was chosen to represent the NWFU. Returning to Victoria in 1978, he captain-coached Dandenong to 4th place in the VFA 1st division before rounding off his career with brief tours of duty at Watsonia (where he won the Diamond Valley League best and fairest award in1979), Keilor (1980) and Greensborough (1981-3). |
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Percy Ellis (Preston & Fitzroy)
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| Perce Ellis commenced his senior football career with Preston as that club resumed its involvement in the VFA in 1926 after a fifteen year hiatus. A lively half forward type, he attracted Collingwood's attention, but a brief stint at Victoria Park yielded no senior games. Recruited by Fitzroy in 1929 he was converted by coach Doug Ringrose into a solid, dependable permanent back pocket, in which position he played most of his 59 league games over the ensuing four seasons. He booted 5 goals. |
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| Peter Ellis was a 203cm beanpole ruckman who began with the highly successful Mayne combination during the mid-1960s, representing Queensland in 1966 and 1967 before joining Fitzroy. Unable to manage more than a handful of VFL games with the Lions, Ellis headed west in 1972 to join Haydn Bunton junior's Subiaco. After struggling initially, Ellis finally hit his straps under the insightful coaching of ex St Kilda star Ross Smith and his successor David Parkin, formerly of Hawthorn, and went on to play 88 WAFL games before returning home to Queensland in 1979. Later that year, he represented the Maroons at the inaugural state of origin carnival in Perth, when he would undoubtedly have felt considerably more at home than most of his team mates. |
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Shane Ellis (East Fremantle & West Coast)
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| One of the most reliable West Australian half backs of his era, Shane Ellis played a total of 204 league games for East Fremantle between 1980 and 1991. A fairest and best award recipient in 1982, he represented his state on 5 occasions, typically with great distinction and effectiveness. In 1989 he made a total of 10 VFL appearances for West Coast. |
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Ted Ellis (North Melbourne & Footscray)
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| A strong, solidly built utility who could play in a variety of positions, Ted Ellis enjoyed a fine, twelve season VFL career with two clubs. He began with North Melbourne in 1933, where he was used, to consistently telling effect, as a spare parts man, filling in wherever the team had a noticeable weakness. In 1937 he was chosen to represent the VFL at the Perth carnival. At the end of the 1939 season, after 85 games and 41 goals for the shinboners, he crossed to Footscray, where he continued to produce effective football, mainly as a defender, in a final 65 VFL games over the next five years. While with Footscray he had the satisfaction of playing in his only league final, the 1st semi final of 1943, but his fine personal performance in a back pocket was insufficient to stop South Melbourne running away with a comfortable 27 point victory. |
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| After a promising junior career as a golfer, Robert Elphinstone opted to transfer his attention to football during his late teens - much to the eventual delight of everyone associated with the St Kilda Football Club. Known as 'Eel' because of his tall, lithe physique (191cm, 78.5kg), Elphinstone was a fine defender for the Saints in 157 VFL games between 1980 and 1989, during which he booted 51 goals. He was a Victorian state of origin representative in 1983, but never got to play in a VFL final as the highest the Saints finished during his time with them was 10th. |
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Tony Elshaug (Melbourne, Essendon, Collingwood, Dandenong)
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| A pacy rover who racked up numerous possessions, many of them telling, Tony Elshaug may not have been a household name but he was nevertheless a fine player. He represented Victoria at the age of just nineteen, and was first rover for Essendon in the 1985 grand final annihilation of Hawthorn. Nicknamed 'Trout', Elshaug commenced his league career at Melbourne in 1979, having worked his way up through the club's junior ranks. He played 66 VFL games and kicked 92 goals for the Demons before crossing to Essendon in 1984, where he added another 65 games and 75 goals. His next port of call was Collingwood, where he played 8 games and kicked 6 goals in 1988, and he then finished his career at Dandenong in the VFA, captain-coaching the side to the 1991 flag. |
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Ken Emselle (Melbourne & Prahran)
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| Ken Emselle was a gifted rover who worked his way through the ranks at Melbourne. He was on the bench for the 1964 VFL grand final in which the Demons edged out Collingwood by 4 points, and all told played a total of 93 league games, booting 113 goals, from 1962 to 1969. Between 1970 and 1973 he played 71 games for Prahran, winning two club best and fairest awards, and playing in the centre in 1st Division grand final-winning sides of 1970 and 1973, the latter game as captain. |
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| One
of many former Unley High School pupils to go on to play league football for Sturt,
Peter Endersbee attracted more attention than most when he began his
senior career with the Blues in earnest in 1968, after having played 1
game as 20th man the previous year. In part, the attention was
focused on his skill as a player, which he exhibited in no uncertain terms
by amassing 26 kicks as a rover against South
Adelaide on his debut. In the main, however, it was Endersbee's
excessively long, flowing, blond locks that elicited comment, and which,
within a matter of weeks, saw his portrait adorning the bedroom walls of
virtually every teenage girl in Adelaide.
Although one presumes he was impressed impressed by his young prodigy's football ability, Sturt coach Jack Oatey was less enamoured of the long hair, and ordered Endersbee to visit a barber, which he did. At 180cm in height Endersbee was rather tall for a rover - indeed, at the time, only West Adelaide's John Pannenburg, at 183cm, was taller - but he was also one of the sprightliest players around. Undoubtedly one of the recruits of the year in 1968, he capped off his season in sensational style with two crucial goals in the winning grand final against Port Adelaide. Both were kicked from deep in the scoreboard pocket at the Adelaide Oval, against the wind, with perfectly executed checkside punt kicks. After 1968, Endersbee's form and consistency declined, and he failed to establish himself as a long term senior player. Nevertheless, his 46 game, 65 goal league career, which ended in 1971, included exceptional performances in the winning grand finals of both 1968 and 1970. Endersbee also contributed to the 1969 premiership victory as 20th man. |
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| Des
English was a hard working and resolute defender whose football career was
curtailed when he was diagnosed with leukemia. |
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| Originally from Bendigo Football League club Sandhurst, Vin English was a close checking defender who combined strength in the air with solid all round ability. He made his Carlton debut as a twenty-one year old in 1950, and went on to play 115 VFL games and kick 9 goals over the ensuing seven seasons. Most of his football was played at centre half back where his strength, excellent judgement, and exemplary disposal skills served him well. |
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Alec Epis (Mines Rovers & Essendon)
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| Hailing
from one of Australian football's greatest hotbeds, the West Australian
goldfields, Alec Epis enjoyed an outstanding junior career before making
his senior debut with Mines Rovers in 1955
while still a few months away from his eighteenth birthday. He
enjoyed an outstanding season, winning the Fletcher Medal for fairest and
best in the GNFL, and helping the Diorites to a 13.15 (93) to 7.7 (49)
grand final victory over Kalgoorlie City.
It was to be Epis's only season in the GNFL: in 1956 he sought a clearance
to Essendon, and when this was refused
he opted to stand out of football rather than resume with Mines
Rovers. It was to be two full years before the clearance was finally
approved, but as far as the Bombers were concerned the wait was worth it,
as Epis went on to give them outstanding service in 180 VFL games over the
next eleven seasons.
Popularly known as 'Kookaburra' because of his habit of talking incessantly while playing, Alec Epis was a strong, dashing and vigorous player with phenomenal ball handling ability, and a penchant for the colourful and spectacular. Renowned for holding the ball aloft in triumph after taking a mark, he was a key member of Essendon premiership sides in 1962 (on a half back flank) and 1965 (as a wingman). He also represented the VFL a total of 4 times in 1960 and 1963. He was still producing excellent football right up to the time of his retirement after the 1968 finals series. After retiring as a player, Epis served the Bombers in a variety of off-field roles, and later worked in the media. |
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Eric Eriksson (South Fremantle)
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| Eric
Eriksson was a classy wingman who commenced with South
Fremantle during the WANFL's wartime under age competition before
progressing to the seniors when full scale football returned in
1945. At the end of that season he produced a fine display in the
grand final against East Fremantle, but could not prevent his side from
losing by 6 goals. Two years later he again produced the goods on
grand final day, and this time had the satisfaction of helping South
secure their first premiership since 1917 thanks to a 13.8 (86) to 9.17
(71) defeat of West Perth. Eriksson
was a widespread choice as best afield, and received the Simpson
Medal - no mean feat when you consider that his direct opponent was
Cardinals skipper Stan
'Pops' Heal, one of the finest wingmen in the history of the
game.
With Eriksson as a stalwart of the side South Fremantle remained a dominant force in Western Australian football for a decade, winning flags in 1948, 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1954. Eriksson was a member of all these premiership combinations except the last, and also played in the losing grand final of 1951. His form in finals was almost invariably superb, and there were few opposition wingmen who could live with him when he was on top form. He represented Western Australia on 5 occasions, and had played a total of 210 WANFL games - including a number in the wartime under age competition - by the time he retired in 1954. He also played 7 games for Western Australian representative combinations against visiting club sides from interstate. Lively, an extremely adept ball handler, and a beautiful drop kick, one imagines he would be an extremely strong contender for inclusion in any official South Fremantle all time great selection. |
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| Dennis Errey, who hailed originally from Mount Gambier, was a first rate defensive wingman or half back flanker who handled the ball superbly and was a fine running drop kick. He played a total of 176 SANFL games for Port Adelaide between 1963 and 1972, plus 3 for South Australia. At the end of his debut season he played on a wing in the Magpies' 11.14 (80) to 6.11 (47) grand final defeat of North Adelaide, as he did two years later when Sturt was edged out by 3 points in front of a then record grand final crowd of 62,543. |
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Ken Eustice (West Adelaide, Central District, Glenelg)
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| Looking
every inch the clean-cut business executive when in his street clothes, Ken
Eustice the footballer was, ostensibly at least, equally tidy, but once he
entered the fray he became a veritable dynamo whose play was replete with courage,
determination and considerably more skill than was sometimes
realised. Throughout his career, he set ever higher standards for
himself, and was frequently frustrated when he witnessed team mates
holding back, or failing to supplement their talent with maximum
effort. After South Australia crumbled in the second half of the
interstate championship decider against the VFL on home turf in 1969,
Eustice, who had been a defiantly strong, four quarter performer on a wing, acidly
observed, "Pressure football is only the determination to keep
running and check. Some players became weary just as they do in club
games. That's when they cried, 'enough'. Frankly, I thought it
was a weak effort" (see footnote 1).
Eustice's own approach to the game was wholehearted in the extreme. His league coaches were unanimous in praising his attitude, both to training, and to games themselves. His propensity for running out games to their conclusion, irrespective of the scoreline or his own personal form, was a trademark. Eustice made his senior debut with West Adelaide in 1958, and the following year broke into the state team for the first time. Thereafter, he only ever missed selection for the state when injured. Adept in a variety of positions, Eustice starred for Westies on a wing in their 1961 grand final win over Norwood, the same position he occupied for much of a 1962 season that yielded a Magarey Medal. When playing for South Australia he was often named on a half back flank, while his four season stint as captain-coach of Central District saw him eke out a reputation as one of the finest centreman in the game. He enjoyed a particular noteworthy 1965 season which saw him earn a trifecta of prestigious individual awards in the shape of the Advertiser and 5AD Footballer of the Year Trophies and the Football Writers', Commentators' Award. Despite being a West Adelaide product, Eustice's approach to the game bore many of the characteristics espoused by Port Adelaide mentor Fos Williams, himself an avowed and ardent Eustice admirer, and it was largely because of Eustice's influence that Central District, in its early years, developed a style of play in which the old fashioned virtues of passion, aggression and determination often helped compensate for a basic lack of talent. That said, it would be wrong to suggest that Eustice saw football as a game for mindless thugs. In a coaching manual published in 1967 his key advice to young, aspiring footballers was, "Always keep your cool. Play with your head as well as your body. Try to play intelligently - but always play with determination" (see footnote 2). Ken Eustice finished his 224 game league career at Glenelg, winning a best and fairest award in 1969 to add to his 1967 win with Centrals. Somewhat surprisingly, he never managed to win West Adelaide's top award, but there can be little doubt of his right to be regarded as one of that club's - and South Australia's - finest ever footballers. |
Footnotes1. 'The Advertiser', 20/6/69, page 20. Return to Main Text 2. Quoted in The South Australian Football Record Yearbook 1968, page 87. Return to Main Text |
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| Despite standing only 170cm in height, Alan Evans played most of his 153 game league career with Perth, which began in 1917 and ended in 1929, as a full forward. He originally hailed from Boulder in the West Australian goldfields region, where he played with distinction as a junior. All of his senior football was played with Perth, however. Between 1920 and 1929 he headed the club's goal kicking ladder half a dozen times, while his tally of 69 in 1921 was good enough to top the league list. Given that Perth finished last in 1921, this was a noteworthy achievement. |
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Bernie Evans (Port Melbourne, South Melbourne/Sydney, Carlton)
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| Bernie Evans was a highly skilled rover and half forward who began his senior career with 29 games for Port Melbourne between 1975 and 1977. In 1978 he joined South Melbourne where he produced consistently brilliant football over 148 VFL games in eight seasons. He also booted 212 goals, and won the club's best and fairest award in 1984. However, he was not happy with South's relocation to Sydney, refusing to leave Melbourne, and in 1986 he was cleared to Carlton. Evans' 37 games (for 45 goals) in three seasons with the Blues included the losing grand final of 1986 against Hawthorn, but he missed Carlton's winning grand final the following year through suspension. |
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J.A. 'Dodger' Evans (Melbourne)
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| Popularly known as 'Dodger', Evans was an estimable defender for Melbourne during what was a predominantly lean time for the club. Recruited from Richmond District, he played a total of 61 VFL games between 1912 and 1915 and in 1919. |
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| Known as 'Copper', and renowned for having hands 'as big as frying pans', burly ruckman Jack Evans gave Geelong excellent service in 149 VFL games between 1929 and 1938. Burly he may have been, but he possessed a fair amount of pace as well, and this, allied with his aggressively competitive nature, made him extremely hard to beat. He often saved his best for big games, and it was his spectacular 6 goals burst against Collingwood in the 1937 grand final that effectively sealed Geelong's win. Evans had earlier also played in the Cats' 1931 premiership team. He topped Geelong's goal kicking in 1935 with 32 goals, and was selected to represent the VFL on 9 occasions. |
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Ron Evans (Essendon & West Perth)
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| Ron
Evans only had a comparatively brief senior league career, but he achieved
a fair amount of notoriety during it. He began with Essendon
in 1958 when still a few months short of his nineteenth birthday having
captured attention by breaking the Essendon District League goal kicking
record the previous year with Essendon Baptists. Hardly
surprisingly, the Dons elected to use him at full forward, where after
taking a while to find his feet he developed, for a brief time, into
arguably the best player in that position in the league. Certainly,
the VFL state selectors appeared to think so, because Evans was a regular
in the Big V jumper in both 1959 and 1960, the same two seasons which saw
him head the league's goal kicking list with 78 and 67 goals respectively.
Quite tall at 188cm, but wiry at only 78kg, Evans relied for his success on fine judgement, excellent marking - made easier by his uncannily long arms - and accurate kicking. In 1961, however, he appeared to lose his way somewhat, and the following year he was replaced at full forward by Charlie Payne. The 1963 season found him at West Perth, where he quickly succeeded in resurrecting his career, booting 97 goals in his debut season to top the WANFL list, and following that with tallies of 84 and 90 goals in 1964 and 1965 respectively, both of which were good enough to head the Cardinals' list. Ron Evans departed the league football scene at the end of the 1965 season having played 64 VFL games and booted 209 goals with Essendon, and 60 WANFL games for 271 goals with West Perth. He later enjoyed a successful career as a football administrator. |
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Roy Evans (Yarraville & Footscray)
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| After a long career with Yarraville, highlighted by participation in the club's inaugural VFA premiership win in 1935, Roy Evans crossed to VFL side Footscray in 1936. Although his career with the Bulldogs was comparatively brief - just 49 games in four seasons - he enjoyed the distinction, in 1938, of captaining the club's first ever VFL finals team. It was not a memorable match for the 'Scray, however, as they were unceremoniously bundled out of finals contention by Collingwood, which won by 41 points, 18.9 (117) to 10.16 (76). Evans, who also skippered Footscray in 1939, was a tall, lithe wingman or centreman who moved gracefully and boasted excellent judgement. |
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Tim Evans (Geelong & Port Adelaide)
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| After playing junior football in Tasmania's North West Football Union with Penguin, Tim Evans was lured to the mainland by Geelong in 1971. In four seasons with the Cats, playing mainly on the half back line, he notched up 59 games, and impressed with his strong marking and robust ground play. However, it was only after transferring to Port Adelaide in 1975 that his career truly began to blossom. Transferred to the goalfront by coach John Cahill when regular spearhead Randall Gerlach was indisposed, Evans proved a revelation, going on to become one of the greatest goalkickers in Australian football history. In 248 games for the Magpies between 1975 and 1986 Evans accumulated 1,041 goals, topping the league list on six occasions, and Port's no fewer than ten times. He also booted 25 goals in 7 appearances for South Australia. Seldom spectacular, Evans was the archetypal 'goal machine'. As the late John Wood, writing in 'Magpie News' in August 1986 at the time of Evans' retirement, put it, "He was an ideal amalgam of finesse and raw strength. If the players ahead of him delivered it, Tim was a certainty to mark it. If they blasted it in high he (more often than not with two flying against him) was a fifty-fifty go. Either way you could get your pen ready to mark down another one." |
| Footsc |
| Allan
Everett was a pacy rebound defender whom |
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| A
stalwart of West Perth's strong early
twentieth century combinations, Jim Everett was on a half forward flank
when the Cardinals came from behind to draw with East
Fremantle in the 1905 grand final. In the following week's
replay he lined up at centre half back on Old Easts great Dolph Heinrichs,
who later somewhat bitterly recalled that "West Perth's defenders
were allowed to pull and reef with impunity" (see
footnote 1). Whatever the reason, West Perth scored a highly
popular 4 point victory over the team that had dominated Western
Australian football since the turn of the century.
In the following year's grand final, once more against Old Easts, Jim Everett again had his hands full as he lined up on Dave Christy, the redoubtable former Melbourne champion. On this occasion he was unable to prevent the blue and whites surging to victory on the strength of a 7 goals to 1 second half performance. From 1901 to 1915, Everett played a total of 178 senior games for the Cardinals. He also represented Western Australia twice (see footnote 2). |
Footnotes1. Celebrating 100 Years Of Tradition by Jack Lee, page 34. Return to Main Text 2. Statistical details courtesy of Steve Davies. Return to Main Text |
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Tom Everett (East Perth & East Fremantle)
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| Tom Everett was a fine centreman who performed to a consistently high standard with two WANFL clubs for almost a decade. He began with East Perth in 1953, and was a key factor in the club's emergence as a power three years later. He included membership of the Royals' 1956 and 1958 premiership teams among his career tally of 117 senior games with the club. After a particularly fine 1956 season he finished joint second with Perth's Reg Zeuner in the Sandover Medal voting, just one vote adrift of Royals team mate 'Polly' Farmer. In 1959 he crossed to East Fremantle where he spent three seasons, adding another 55 league games. Everett's 8 interstate appearances for Western Australia included games at the 1956 Perth carnival. In 2006 he was named on the interchange bench in East Perth's official 'Team of the Century 1945 to 2005'. |
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| Memorably, if for reasons long forgotten, nicknamed 'Duck', North Adelaide's Alec Ewers was a tall, powerful defender who gave North Adelaide assured and highly efficient service for well over a decade. He also played 8 interstate games for South Australia, including matches at the 1908 Melbourne carnival. When North downed South Adelaide by 37 points in the 1902 grand final Ewers made a solid if unspectacular contribution from full back. Three years later he played in a back pocket in the red and whites' crushing 6.8 (44) to 1.6 (14) grand final demolition of Port Adelaide. Ewers also played in the losing grand final of 1906 against Port, when he was one of the best players afield, while his last game of league football was the 1913 premiership decider, also against Port, which the Magpies won by 14 points. |
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Hailing originally from After leaving
Essendon Exelby joined VFA club |
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Alan Ezard (Coburg & Essendon)
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| A rover of considerable all round quality and determination, Alan Ezard played for Broadford and then Coburg before being signed by Essendon. He was actually tied to Melbourne, but the Demons failed to discern his potential, and were happy to allow the Bombers to snap him up. Between 1983 and 1993 he would play a total of 180 league games and kick 200 goals for Essendon, play in the winning grand final sides of 1984 and 1985, represent Victoria in 1985, 1990 and 1991, win his club's best and fairest award in 1991, and top his club's goal kicking list with 47 goals in 1986. Over and above mere statistics, however, he proved himself one of the finest small men of his generation, combining exceptional pace and a superb eye for goal with aerial abilities befitting a much bigger man (he was 163cm, and 70kg). Besides roving, he could play as a crumbing forward, across centre, or even in the back pocket. |
