NEW SOUTH WALES TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Interchange Bench

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Interchange - Bruce McGregor (West Broken Hill, West Adelaide, North Hobart, South Adelaide)

After winning a Hurley Medal for best and fairest in the Broken Hill Football League in 1922, West Broken Hill's Bruce McGregor was wooed by Norwood, Port Adelaide and West Adelaide.  Eventually, he elected to join West, where another Broken Hill footballer, Bobbie Barnes, had made a name for himself, and over the next 7 seasons he proceeded to emulate, and indeed arguably outshine, his compatriot.

Records vary, but it is possible that McGregor won West's Best All Round Player Award as many as 6 times during his 102 game career with the club.  What cannot be disputed, however, is that he won both the 1926 and 1927 Magarey Medals.

Strong overhead, McGregor was also an excellent kick, equally adept over long or short distances, and as capable with the drop kick as he was with his trademark torpedo punt.

In 1927 McGregor not only landed the Magarey Medal, he was also West Adelaide's star player throughout a finals series which culminated in a 13 point challenge final victory over North Adelaide.

With the economic privations of the Depression beginning to hit home in 1930 McGregor, along with team mate Bob Snell, the 1929 Magarey Medallist, was lured to Tasmania, where the money on offer was significantly better than at home.  He spent 2 seasons as captain-coach of North Hobart but was unable to steer his charges to a flag.

In 1932 he returned to South Australia as captain-coach of South Adelaide, only to stand down as a player after just 2 games.

The McGregor lineage has continued with son Ken representing West Adelaide and South Australia with distinction in the 1950s, besides playing tennis at the highest level.  Bruce's grandson (also named Ken) is currently on the list of the Adelaide Crows, having also played for West Adelaide.

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Interchange - John Longmire (North Melbourne)

Something of a schoolboy prodigy, Longmire, who hailed from Corrowa-Rutherglen, was originally tied to Sydney, but in the end actually joined North Melbourne.  Tall (194cm), powerful and, particularly early in his career, surprisingly quick, Longmire could adapt to a variety of positions with equal success.  Excellent overhead, he was also a prodigious kick, qualities which came to the fore during 1990, arguably his best AFL season, when, with 98 goals, he topped the League list, despite playing in the backlines for some of the year.  Aged only 20 at the time, he was the youngest player in V/AFL history to kick so many goals.  He was rewarded with the North Melbourne best and fairest award.

The farcical nature of the rules determining state of origin eligibility was vividly highlighted during that same 1990 season when Longmire played for both Victoria against Tasmania, and for his home state of New South Wales against Victoria.  In the latter game he booted 8 of New South Wales' 13 goals and was a near unanimous choice as best player afield.  To top things off, New South Wales won the match.

For most of the first half of the 1990s Longmire was used primarily in a key attacking role where, with Wayne Carey, he gave North Melbourne one of the most potent forward lines in the game.  Between 1990 and 1994, as North gradually emerged from the doldrums to become arguably the team of the '90s, Longmire headed the club's list of goalkickers every year at an average of 81 goals per season.  After unfortunately missing the 1996 grand final, in which North defeated Sydney, with injury, he capped off his career in style by helping the Kangas overcome Carlton in the 1999 flag decider in what was his 200th and final league game.  He kicked 511 goals.

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Interchange - Neil Davies (Glenelg, Richmond, St Marys, Western Districts)

Neil Davies enjoyed a varied and mercurial football career in 4 competitions but overall his achievements fell a little short of what might reasonably have been expected for someone possessing his formidable array of talents.

Touted as 'the next big thing', Davies joined Glenelg from Broken Hill in 1951 and had an immediate, and significant, impact.  In only his 2nd senior game, playing in the centre, he comprehensively outpointed his West Torrens opponent Bob Hank and was instrumental in steering the Tigers to a comfortable win.  After only 3 games of League football he was selected in the state squad for the forthcoming match against the VFA, and played well as South Australia won by 95 points.

The Davies cocktail comprised equal parts aggression, determination, speed and skill, making him, when on form, almost irrepressible.  In 1953 he mixed this cocktail to perfection almost every week, winning Glenelg's best and fairest award, and finishing 2nd to South Adelaide's Jim Deane in the Magarey Medal.  He was also one of South Australia's most prominent performers at that year's Adelaide Carnival, earning All Australian selection as a result. 

In 1955 Neil Davies moved to Richmond in the VFL but he quit the Tigers after just 2 games over what he considered to be his harsh treatment by the club.  With time on his hands, Davies decided to see Australia.  He ended up in Darwin, where he captain-coached St Marys to a premiership and won the 1955-56 Nichols Medal for good measure.  

The NTFL ran its competition on Saturday afternoons in those days, and for want of something to do on a Sunday Davies decided to throw in his lot with a local rugby league team.  So successful was he in this 'heathen' sport that he attracted the attention of talent scouts from British team Warrington, who enticed him to join them briefly that winter.

Come April 1956, however, and Neil Davies was back at the Bay Oval, ready for another season of proper football.  He soon showed that he had lost none of his natural ability, winning his 2nd club best and fairest award, and topping Glenelg's goal kicking.  The following season he was appointed captain, a position he held for 3 years, while in 1958 and '59 he coached the side, steering them to a rare preliminary final in the latter year.

With the addition of leadership responsibilities, Neil Davies' personal form began to decline somewhat.  That is not to suggest that he became a poor player, merely that he no longer seemed able to perform at his very best as consistently as during the early part of his career.

Davies left Glenelg at the end of the 1963 season and spent the final 4 seasons of his league career with Western Districts in Queensland, during which time he also represented the Queensland interstate team.  

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Interchange - Dennis Carroll (Sydney)

Noted for his skill, determination, strong marking and superb field kicking with either foot Dennis Carroll overcame the severe handicap of a rugby league background to become one of the finest Sydney players of the 1980s.  Skipper of the club for 7 seasons, he was adept in a variety of positions, and an extremely consistent performer in more than 200 League games.  He also played 'state of origin' football for both Victoria and his home state.

Dennis Carroll's father Laurie and uncle Tom were also League footballers with St Kilda and Carlton respectively.  As a youngster Dennis spent many hours practising his kicking with his uncle whose insistence that his nephew learn to use both feet would reap significant dividends later when Carroll became arguably the finest kick in the VFL.

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Interchange - Denis 'Dinny' Ryan (Fitzroy)

Recruited by Fitzroy from Albury, 'Dinny' Ryan's career was cut short by World War Two, during which he was wounded at Tobruk.

Ryan made his debut for the Maroons as an underdeveloped 18 year old in 1935 when, playing in the vital centre half forward position, he immediately caught the eye with his powerful marking and prodigious kicking.  If there was a major weakness in his game, however, it was his wayward kicking for goal, and in 1938 the Fitzroy selection committee decided to try him in a new position, centre half back.  He was a resounding and immediate success, gaining state selection, being awarded Fitzroy's Most Improved Player Award and - to almost everyone's surprise, including 'Dinny's' - landing the VFL's most prestigious individual honour, the Brownlow Medal.

In 1939, Ryan sustained a serious knee injury, and soon afterwards enlisted for active service in the army.  He made an attempt to return to League ranks after the war, but was unable to reach the level of fitness required.  'Dinny' Ryan's VFL career was over after just five seasons and 70 games, but his achievements during that time were sufficient to mark him out as a special player.

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Interchange - Jack Owens (Glenelg)

 

 Over the years, Broken Hill has produced significantly more than its fair share of elite footballers, but few as concertedly successful as Jack Owens.  In 177 games for Glenelg between 1924 and 1935, Owens kicked 827 goals, a remarkable achievement rendered all the more so by virtue of the fact that, for the vast majority of that period, Glenelg was the weakest club in the competition.  Indeed, the almost perversely anomalous 1934 premiership apart, the Bays were never remotely in contention for finals participation, much less premiership honours, in any of Jack Owens' 12 League seasons.

Like another great sharpshooter of the inter-war period, George Doig, Owens was a left footer who favoured the screw punt when lining up for goals.  Observers who saw him play contend that he was capable of making the ball swerve sharply in the air, enabling him to kick goals from seemingly impossible angles, an ability which doubtless increased his strike rate significantly.

Owens had good ground skills, often beating 2 or 3 opponents when the ball hit the turf, and he marked strongly, particularly out in the open after a fast lead.  He played 9 times for South Australia and was state captain in 1933 and 1934.  He skippered the Bays to their 1st senior premiership in 1934, and topped the League goal kicking list twice, on both occasions while playing for teams that finished 2nd last.  Had he played for a stronger club there is little doubt that Jack Owens' name might well have ended up being mentioned in the same breath as 'immortal' goalsneaks like Coleman, Coventry, Dunstall, Doig, Farmer, Lockett, Naylor, Pratt, Robertson et al.  Such 'immortality' tends to be accorded those who combine great ability with ground-breaking achievement, and while the prodigious nature of his talent cannot be doubted, the fact that he was only seldom able to perform at the absolute forefront of the game undoubtedly stymied his potential.  Not a bad player to have on the bench, though.

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