Dennis Sachse (North Adelaide)

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After 1967, sadly, Dennis Sachse's career entered something of a roller coaster phase.  He managed 51 goals from a full season in 1968 to top North's list, but the next couple of seasons were virtual write-offs owing to a persistent knee injury.  Prior to the start of the 1971 season Sachse actually retired, but a year later he was lured into making a return and, after commencing the season in the seconds, bounced back to play some of his best football since his debut season.  He managed 71 goals in 1972, including 6 in the Roosters' grand final victory over Port Adelaide.  In 1973 he kicked a career best 105 goals (2 fewer than Sturt's Ken Whelan), but over the next couple of years a career that had promised so much petered out disappointingly as Sachse's knee problems recurred.  When he retired in 1975 he had played a total of 102 SANFL games, plus 2 for the state, and booted 358 club and 3 interstate match goals.

Colin Saddington (Richmond & Sturt)

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James Sadler (Collingwood)

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Len Sallis (Glenelg)

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Glenelg did not actually win its first game in league football until the opening round of the 1925 season, when it unexpectedly overcame reigning premier West Torrens.  Len Sallis was a major contributor to that win, as he was almost a decade later when the Seasiders made an even bigger breakthrough, winning their first league premiership with an 18.15 (123) to 16.18 (114) defeat of Port Adelaide.  In between, Sallis had earned interstate selection for South Australia on 13 occasions, including participation in the 1930 and 1933 carnivals, and established a reputation as a centreman and on field leader par excellence.  

In 1934, his form was so consistently brilliant that he was rated a favourite to land the Magarey Medal, only for the umpires to favour a team mate, George 'Bluey' Johnston, instead.  Sallis could not have cared less; as far as he was concerned, the only prize in football worth pursuing was the one he helped his team mates procure against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday 6 October 1934.

Len Sallis played on for another year after the premiership win, taking his final tally of league games to 172.  His eminence as a Tiger was formally ratified in 2002 when he was selected as an inaugural member of the Glenelg Hall of Fame.

Ian Salmon (Footscray)

Paul Salmon (Essendon & Hawthorn)

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A highly accomplished junior player, Salmon was a key member of Victoria's 1981 Teal Cup winning side, claiming the Larke Medal for best and fairest in the competition.

During the initial phase of his his senior career, Salmon was Essendon's leading goalkicker on 7 occasions as well as forming a formidable ruck partnership with Simon Madden.  A regular Big V representative (14 appearances) he won the Tassie Medal at the 1988 bicentennial carnival.

On moving to Hawthorn in 1996 after 209 games and 509 goals for the Bombers Salmon seemingly gained a new lease of life and was instrumental in the Hawks' return to prominence after a number of lean years.  He won his first ever club best and fairest award after his first season at Hawthorn and repeated the feat the following year.  He also gained selection in the 1997 AFL All Australian team exactly a decade after the first of his two selections as an old style All Australian.

Salmon retired at the end of the 2000 season after 285 senior games only to be tempted out of retirement a year later by his old mentor Kevin Sheedy who was anxious to bolster Essendon's big man department.  After one last season in the 'big time', however, Salmon finally decided to hang up his boots for good.

Brian Sampson (Essendon & West Perth)

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Sampson's first serious injury hitch, a potentially career threatening knee problem, arose while he was playing for Essendon Thirds in 1958.  He made an unexpectedly swift and full recovery, however, and in 1959 was promoted to the seniors, where he played so well that he kept his place in the side for the finals.  The Bombers ultimately reached the grand final against Melbourne, and for a quarter and a half Sampson was just about the best player on view.  However, he fell awkwardly after taking a mark and badly wrenched his back, forcing him to withdraw from a match which, until then, had been evenly poised, but which the Demons would ultimately run away with by 37 points.

Sampson returned to action in 1960 but before long he had injured his knee once again and was sidelined for most of the year.  After that he struggled for consistency for a time, and when Essendon played off for the premiership against Carlton in 1962 he only scraped into the side as 19th man.  Nevertheless, at least he got to participate in premiership celebrations on this occasion as the Dons won with ease.

The undoubted highlight of Sampson's career came in 1965 when he was one of Essendon's best players throughout a finals series that culminated in a 14.21 (105) to 9.16 (70) grand final defeat of St Kilda.  The early departure from the fray of the Saints' senior ruckman Alan Morrow left the way clear for Sampson to stamp his authority on the game, and he produced a best afield performance.

Injury woes resurfaced in 1966 when he missed much of the season with shoulder problems and in 1967 he decided to embrace a new set of challenges when he sought, and was granted, a clearance to West Perth.  Sampson spent three seasons with the Cardinals, with the last of his 50 senior games coming in the 1969 grand final defeat of East Perth, when he was 20th man.  In 1968 he had represented Western Australia against his home state at the MCG.  His Essendon career had comprised precisely 100 VFL games and 45 goals.

Darryl Sanders (Yeronga & Coorparoo)

by Murray Bird and Peter Blucher

Brenton Sanderson (Sturt, Adelaide, Collingwood, Geelong)

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Laurie Sandilands (Footscray & Collingwood)

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Phil Sandland (North Adelaide)

Sandland's memorable season comprised 14 Association games for North, plus both of South Australia's interstate matches for the year against the VFL.  In 1902 he departed for Western Australia, where he 'went bush', although on a brief return visit to Adelaide later in the year he was rushed into North Adelaide's team for its premiership-deciding match against South Adelaide.  Sandland promptly proved that he still had what it took with a fine display in North's crushing 9.14 (68) to 4.7 (31) win.

Thereafter, apart from an appearance in 'Dinny' Reedman's testimonial match the following year, Phil Sandland never played senior football again.  After the Reedman testimonial he returned to Western Australia where he lived until his death in 1970.

Phil Sandland remains the youngest ever winner of what, for most of the twentieth century, was South Australian football's most prestigious individual award.

Maurice Sankey (Latrobe & Carlton)

Geoff Sara (West Adelaide)

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Jeff Sarau (Sandringham, St Kilda, West Torrens, Frankston)

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Eric Sarich (South Fremantle, Swan Districts, South Melbourne, East Fremantle, Subiaco)

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In 1969 Sarich headed home to Western Australia when he was appointed captain-coach of East Fremantle.  In his debut season the team managed just 8 wins from 21 games, but given that this was a 100% improvement on their 1968 showing it seems reasonable to suppose that Sarich was judged a success, or at any rate that he was maneuvering things in the right direction.  An abysmal first half of the 1970 season, however, saw him unceremoniously dumped in favour of Harry Neesham.  Sarich finished the season at Subiaco, where he added 14 league games to the 17 he had played with Old Easts.  In 1971 he returned to South Melbourne for one last season of VFL football, taking his final tally of games with the club to 62. 

Brian Sarre (Subiaco)

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Throughout what was a consistently dismal era for Subi, Sarre was a shining light.  In 1963, after West Australia had succumbed to a shock home loss against Tasmania, he was called up to the state team for the first time for the clash with the VFL at Subiaco Oval.  Although the visitors came from behind late in the game to sneak a 1 point win, Sarre's own performance was brilliant as he completely blanketed his star opponent Doug Wade to become the first ever Subiaco player to earn the Simpson Medal.  Over the next four seasons, Sarre became a virtual ever-present in West Australian interstate teams.  At the 1966 Hobart carnival he was the best full back on view, earning All Australian selection.

When Brian Sarre retired in 1969 after 172 club and a dozen interstate games the closest he had come to a premiership was 3rd place in 1961.  Ironically, under the expert guidance of 'the little master', Haydn Bunton junior, the team was just about to embark on its most successful spell since the 1920s, culminating in a 1973 premiership under Bunton's successor as coach, Ross Smith.

Sarre's contribution to the club was not forgotten, however.  In 1973 he was made a Life Member, and when Subiaco selected its greatest post-war team in 1976, Sarre was the almost inevitable choice as full back.   

Peter Sartori (Swan Districts, Carlton, Fitzroy)

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Harry Saunders (Collingwood & Footscray)

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A splendid mark and one of the finest kicks in the VFL at the time, he represented the VFL on 3 occasions and was a member of two Collingwood premiership teams.  Late in the 1926 season he had a very brief stint as coach of Footscray.

Brian Sawley (Norwood)

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David Saywell (Central District)

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Paddy Scanlan (South Melbourne, Footscray, North Melbourne)

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In 1930-31 he returned to South Melbourne as non-playing coach, steering the side to 7th position on the ladder in both years.  His final VFL coaching stint was at North Melbourne between 1935 and 1937, but it was not an experience that Scanlan would look back upon with any great pleasure or pride, yielding as it did two wooden spoons and one near miss.

William Scanlan (Melbourne & Footscray)

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Joseph Scanlon (West Adelaide & South Adelaide)

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John Scarlett (Geelong, South Melbourne, Geelong West)

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After 183 games with Geelong between 1967 and 1977 he was the subject of a highly unusual transfer arrangement whereby he joined finals qualifier South Melbourne 'on loan'.  The arrangement was ostensibly for the duration of the finals, but after the Swans capitulated to Richmond in the elimination final the clubs unexpectedly agreed to make the deal permanent.  John Scarlett is best remembered as a Geelong player, however, and it is therefore highly appropriate that his son, Matthew Scarlett, later continued the family tradition at Skilled Stadium.

Keith Schaefer (South Melbourne)

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Andrew Schauble (Collingwood & Sydney)

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Wayne Schimmelbusch (Brunswick & North Melbourne)

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Perhaps the biggest surprise relating to Wayne Schimmelsbusch's illustrious fifteen season VFL career is that he never won North Melbourne's best and fairest award.  He did, however, captain the club for eight successive seasons, top the club's goal kicking list in 1976 with 43 goals, and play in the Kangas' first two league premiership teams.  He also represented the 'Big V' 11 times, including 4 games as captain.  Equally at home on a wing or at half forward, he was selected in the latter position in the Kangaroos' official 'Team of the Century'.

Had it not been for a serious knee injury sustained against Sydney midway through the 1987 season 'Schimma' might easily have carried on playing at the top level for at least another season.  As it was, despite making strenuous efforts to resume, he was eventually forced to admit defeat, and retired.  Three years after his retirement, he returned to North as coach, but after narrowly failing to get the team into the finals in his first two seasons, things declined alarmingly.  In 1992, the Roos finished 12th with just 7 wins, and when they opened the following year with a humiliating annihilation at the hands of Adelaide in the AFL's pre-season competition, the club hierarchy felt compelled to replace him with Denis Pagan, a move which eventually bore spectacular fruit in the shape of two premierships.  Despite being ostensibly forced into the background, however, there is little doubt that one of the happiest observers of these triumphs would have been the man with a strong claim to having been the greatest individual contributor to the North Melbourne cause over the years, Wayne Schimmelbusch.

Footnotes

1.  'Football Life', September 1973, inside front cover.  Return to Main Text

Bob Schmidt (South Adelaide)

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The loss of a finger in 1966 scarcely slowed Schmidt down, and he was chosen to represent South Australia at the Hobart carnival, where his performance against the VFL in a losing team was particularly praiseworthy.

After 1966 South Adelaide tended to struggle but Bob Schmidt was always a worthy contributor.  His worth to the club was later recognised by inclusion, on a half back flank, in its official 'Greatest Team'.

William Schmidt (Richmond & St Kilda)

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John Schneebichler (South Adelaide & Glenelg)

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Rick Schoff (Sturt)

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Blond-haired and stocky of build, Schoff was frequently, if predictably, likened to a 'tank' during his career, a cliché which unfortunately concentrated on one aspect of his game at the expense of others, and perhaps in part explains why, in spite of his noteworthy achievements in the interstate arena, he tended to be somewhat underrated.  One person who certainly did not underrate him was his frequent interstate opponent John Nicholls, who observed that Schoff "was a fearless tear through player, who drove the ball forward with left foot kicks.  A fine mark, he was a great stopper - I have seen him take Robert Walls apart and I've also seen him nullify Royce Hart" (see footnote 1).

Schoff was equally effective as an attacking player, and in important games he was often used by coach Jack Oatey as the fulcrum of the Sturt attack, where his excellent positioning sense allied to great body strength repeatedly enabled him to gain possession under even the most intense duress before squeezing out telling handballs to team mates running past.

Injured in 1966 when the Double Blues won their first premiership for twenty-six years, Rick Schoff gained more than ample consolation in each of the ensuing four seasons with influential grand final performances as the side went on to make it a near record five flags in a row.

Footnotes

1.  Big Nick by John Nicholls with Ian McDonald, page 179.  Return to Main Text

Ray Schofield (West Perth)

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Among the main highlights in Western Australian club football during the late '40s and early '50s were the clashes between arguably the strongest teams of the period, West Perth and South Fremantle.  One of the things that made these games so fascinating was the individual confrontation between Schofield and the greatest goal kicker of his era, Bernie Naylor.  The South spearhead kicked more than his share of goals in these contests, but the converse of this was he that he also lowered his colours to Schofield more than to any other opponent.

No more nor less intrinsically talented than many other league full backs of his day, Ray Schofield rose above them because of his fanatical, never say die approach.  Quite simply, he never knew when he was beaten - and, indeed, as many Cardinals fans of long standing will tell you, he very seldom was.

Trevor Schofield (West Perth & Claremont)

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Keith Schow (Queanbeyan, Queanbeyan-Acton, Collingwood, St George, Turner)

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Between 1956 and 1958 Schow was captain-coach of St George, steering the Dragons to the finals in two out of the three seasons.  He was also selected to represent New South Wales in interstate games.

Upon returning to a now autonomous Queanbeyan club in 1959 Keith Schow took on the duties of captain-coach but in three seasons at the helm was unable to get the Tigers over the line for a premiership.  The closest they came was runners up to Ainslie in 1961.  The following season saw Schow on the move yet again, this time to Turner, where he spent the final three seasons of a career which had seen him occupy the full back position with as much poise and distinction as any Canberra player before or since.  According to Barbara Marshall in her superb chronicle of the history of football in the ACT, The National Game in the National Capital: 60 Years of Achievement, Keith Schow "was a sound positional player and a brilliant high mark (although only 178 centimetres tall).  He had great pace and his dashing style of play was an inspiration to his team mates.  Perhaps the best known feature of Keith's game was his long driving drop kicks, particularly from the kick outs." (See footnote 1)

Footnotes

1. The National Game in the National Capital: 60 Years of Achievement by Barbara Marshall, page 72.  Return to Main Text

Bruce Schultz (Norwood)

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Quite thinly built and tall, Schultz was quick on the lead, a fine overhead mark, and - it almost goes without saying - an extremely accurate kick.  He topped Norwood's goal kicking on five occasions, and was the SANFL's leading goal kicker in his final season when he 'topped the ton' for the one and only time in his career.  His hundredth goal that year actually came as early as round 13, but moments later he succumbed to a serious knee injury which put paid not only to his season and career, but also to his prospects of overhauling Farmer's SANFL record tally of 134 goals in a season.  Indeed, had Schultz managed to play the remainder of Norwood's matches in 1941, and maintained his goals per game average, he would have stood a realistic chance of establishing a record that not even Scott Hodges, with his total of 153 goals in 1990, would have been able to overhaul.  

Given all this, Bruce Schultz's position at the goalfront in Norwood's official 'Team of the Century' was, one ventures to suppose, as good as guaranteed.

John Schultz (Footscray)

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Recruited by the Bulldogs after he had played just 16 games with country side Boort, having played previously with Caulfield Grammarians in the VAFA, Schultz made his VFL debut in 1958 against Collingwood, and within 20 seconds of the opening bounce he was lying prostrate, unconscious, the victim of a Harry Sullivan back-hander.  Despite this strenuous introduction to league ranks, however, Schultz himself was never known to resort to underhanded activities of any kind during an illustrious eleven season, 188 game VFL career that saw him widely recognised by his fellow ruckmen as the most challenging and difficult opponent in the game.  During the early 1960s in particular Schultz stood head and shoulders, if not literally, then certainly in terms of impact and effectiveness, over every other ruckman in the VFL.  His Brownlow Medal win in 1960 was universally acclaimed, as were his invariably superlative performances in a Big V jumper (24 of them in all), which at the 1961 Brisbane carnival earned him an All Australian blazer.

Much more than just an effective knock ruckman, "Schultz was acclaimed for good tackling, elegant marking and hard, fair bumping" (see footnote 1).  He was also supremely fit and durable, on one occasion playing a club record 169 consecutive games.

Voted the Bulldogs' best and fairest player on five occasions, Schultz was Footscray through and through, and would have loved nothing better than to help his team to a flag.  The closest he came, however, was in 1961, when the Bulldogs made the grand final, but were overturned by Hawthorn.  Schultz, who was the best ruckman on the ground, did everything he could to inspire his team mates to victory, but the Hawks were too fit and too strong.

Schultz retired at the end of the 1968 season, still aged only twenty-nine, but keen to develop the family's grocery business.  Fittingly for a man who was notorious for his fairness, and indeed was never once reported, 'Gentleman' John Schultz later served on the league tribunal. 

Footnotes

1.  Unleashed: A History of the Footscray Football Club by John Lack, Chris McConville, Michael Small, Damien Wright,  page 207.  Return to Main Text

Bertram Schumacher (Norwood)

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Reg Schumann (Port Adelaide)

Peter Schwab (Hawthorn)

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Nine years after his retirement as a player, Peter Schwab returned to Hawthorn as senior coach, having early spent time as Allan Jeans' assistant at Richmond.  His first couple of seasons in the Hawks' hot-seat were extremely promising, yielding finals participation for 6th and 4th place finishes, but after that the wheels fell off spectacularly.  After overseeing 10th and 9th place finishes in 2001 and 2002 respectively, Schwab ended up being sacked as coach towards the end of a dismal 2004 season that ultimately produced just 4 wins and an ignominious second to last place on the ladder.

Wayne Schwass (North Melbourne & Sydney)

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Over the course of a ten season, 184 game career with North Schwass was indisputably, and consistently, one of that club's leading lights, winning the club champion award, the Syd Barker Medal, in 1994 and 1995, and being one of the best players afield in the 1996 grand final victory over Sydney.

Ironically, a couple of seasons later Schwass found himself shunted to Sydney in exchange for Shannon Grant, but any thoughts that he may have passed his 'sell by date' were rapidly dispelled.  In 1999 he enjoyed arguably his finest season to date, winning the Swans best and fairest award, and earning AFL All Australian selection. 

A Victorian state of origin representative on several occasions, Schwass was an elegant, purposeful left footer who knew where the ball was and utilised it impeccably.  Possessing evasive skills of the highest order, Schwass nevertheless was not averse to 'mixing it' when occasion demanded.  He remained an integral part of the Sydney engine room until persistent injuries and a diminished desire to play at the top level led to his retirement, after 98 games for the club, in 2002.

Jack Scobie (South Melbourne, East Fremantle, Carlton)

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Scobie left South Melbourne at the end of the 1913 season, and joined East Fremantle.  From 1914 to 1918 he played a total of 61 WAFL games, including winning grand finals in his first and last seasons.  Dolph Heinrichs wrote of Scobie, "Of all the splendid exponents in East Fremantle's colours during its (first) 50 years, I made Jack Scobie as absolutely its most fully equipped and fully accomplished player" (see footnote 1).  Scobie re-ignited his VFL career briefly with Carlton in 1919 where he added a final 11 senior games.

Footnotes

1.  Celebrating 100 Years Of Tradition by Jack Lee, page 79.  Return to Main Text

Allan Scott (North Launceston, Cananore, St Kilda, New Town)

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After a season in Victorian country football, Scott returned to Tasmania in 1927 and joined TFL club Cananore, where he remained for two years.  In his first season with the club he was a member of both local and state premiership-winning teams, and also travelled to Melbourne as part of the Tasmanian carnival team.  In 1929 he ventured to Melbourne on a more permanent basis when he joined St Kilda, establishing himself in two seasons and 32 games in the VFL as a powerful and sometimes spectacular player.  When the Saints enjoyed all too rare participation in the major round in 1929, Allan Scott was one of their best players in a narrow 1st semi final loss to Carlton.

Returning to the Apple Isle in 1931 he assumed the reins as captain-coach of his original club, North Launceston, and immediately masterminded a premiership.  After a total of 133 games for the Robins he travelled to the south of the island in 1933 for one last season of league football as captain-coach of New Town.

Brad Scott (Hawthorn & Brisbane)

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Don Scott (West Perth, South Melbourne, Swan Districts, Waverley)

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One presumes there were members of the visiting Victorian party in 1948 who took note of Scott's precocious talent, for two years later he was lining up for South Melbourne in the VFL.  Between 1950 and 1954 he played a total of 83 senior games and booted 58 goals, impressing equally as a defender or ruckman.

Scott returned to West Perth as the club's captain-coach in 1955, taking his final tally of WANFL games with the Cardinals to 43 whilst steering them to 4th position on the ladder.  In 1956 he crossed to Swan Districts, also as captain-coach, but the side managed just 5 wins from 19 matches to finish last.  Midway through the following season, when another wooden spoon looked likely, Scott and the Swans parted company.  

In 1961, he was appointed captain-coach of Waverley, which had just been admitted to the VFA's newly formed 2nd division.  Scott moulded the Panthers into a competitive combination right from the outset.  They won 8 out of 18 matches in their debut season, and in 1962 missed the finals only on percentage.  Scott, who had finished 3rd in both the Field Trophy and the 2nd division goal kicking list (with 57 goals) in 1961, stood down as coach in 1963, but continued to perform effectively as a player under his successor, Ian Thorogood.

Don W. Scott (Box Hill, Hawthorn, South Adelaide)

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Scott's aggressively determined approach helped make him a highly effective on field leader, and he captained the Hawks to the 1976 and 1978 premierships, having earlier been a member of the 1971 flag-winning team.  He represented the VFL and Victoria on numerous occasions.

After retiring as a player, Don Scott had a brief, abjectly unsuccessful stint as coach of South Adelaide in 1985.  He later embarked on a much more successful media career.

Gary Scott (South Fremantle)

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Graham Scott (South Fremantle, St Kilda, Melbourne)

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Ray Scott (West Perth)

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Ray Scott booted a total of 901 goals for West Perth during a 198 game league career that saw him defy the challenge of Naylor to top the WAFL goal kicking list in 1951 with 141 goals.  Four years later, after Naylor had departed the scene, he did so again with 83 goals.  His best single season though was 1953 when he managed 143 goals, 24 shy of Naylor's all time record tally of 167.  Scott 'topped the ton' on four occasions, and invariably kicked at least twice as many goals as behinds.  In one game against Perth in 1953 he booted a club record 15 goals.

After his retirement as a player, Ray Scott coached briefly in Wagga Wagga before embarking on an illustrious 141 game umpiring career which included three WANFL grand finals.

When the Falcons announced their official 'Team of the Century' in October 2000, Ray Scott was, one presumes, an almost automatic inclusion.

Walter Scott (Norwood, West Adelaide, Glenelg, Sturt)

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His abilities were evident right from the start of his League career in 1920 when, in a Norwood team that was good enough to play off for the premiership, he won the club's best and fairest award.

The following season saw Scott (known affectionately as 'Wat' or 'Wacka') make the first of what would end up being an Australian record 38 consecutive interstate appearances.  He was also runner up in the Magarey Medal despite receiving the same number of votes as the winner, South Adelaide's Dan Moriarty. [see footnote 1]   Consolation was later to arrive in the shape of the 1924 and 1930 Medals.

Along with Dan Moriarty and Jack Hamilton ( who was later replaced by Jim Handby), Walter Scott completed South Australia's most celebrated interstate half back line.  Normally placed on a flank, with Moriarty in the middle, Scott was arguably the most defensively-minded member of the unit.  A strong, safe mark when in front position, he was also a redoubtable spoiler from behind, with uncanny judgement of the flight of the ball the key to both skills.  Sound judgement was also a major element in Scott's prowess as a ground player, and he shared with the likes of Bruce Doull, Guy McKenna, Frank Jenkins and Kevin Murray the quintessential defender's capacity for seldom lowering his colours in a one on one contest.

A club record (shared with Michael Taylor) six times winner of the Norwood best and fairest award Walter Scott's career effectively ended after he sustained a serious knee injury in the last minor round game of 1930 against Port Adelaide.  He did later play 2 further games, taking his final tally to 174, but all this did was prove to him that his knee was genuinely 'gone'.  It is perhaps no coincidence that the Redlegs, who had won four premierships and contested seven grand finals during Scott's eleven year career, would have to wait another eleven years for their next flag.  

During the 1930s, Walter Scott undertook coaching stints at Norwood, West Adelaide, Glenelg and Sturt, but failed to lift any of these teams above 3rd place on the ladder.  As a player, however, there have been few better.

Footnotes

1.  The rules of the time dictated that, in the event of two or more players tying for the Medal, the umpires would be required to convene and decide the winner.  In 1921, after prolonged deliberation, they chose Moriarty.  Seventy seven seasons later the SANFL, following the highly dubious example set by the AFL in regards to the Brownlow, decided that all players who lost Magarey Medals either on countback or through some kind of post-count adjudication process should retrospectively be declared 'joint winners'.   The implications of this kind of historical revisionism are potentially enormous - and quite disturbing.  What next, one wonders?  If, let's say, the criterion of 'fairness' is at some stage in the future removed from the Brownlow, will we end up with votes being retrospectively allowed for all disqualified players, thereby effectively generating a completely new list of winners?  What if some future rules committee decides to tinker with the game's scoring system?  Would any modifications be applied retrospectively?  (Football's scoring system has been sacrosanct for over 100 years now, but since when did genuine tradition, as opposed to manufactured 'tradition', count for anything with the AFL?)   These examples might, on the face of it, seem far fetched, but they differ from the process of retrospectively awarding extra Brownlows, Magareys or Sandovers only in scale.  When one generation makes assumptions of moral superiority over another (and that, when all is said and done, is what the awarding of retrospective medals is all about) it is actually doing the precise opposite of what it claims, and declaring itself morally bankrupt.  Return to Main Text   

William Scott (South Melbourne)

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Percy Scown (Geelong)

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Herbert Screaigh (East Perth)

Clarrie Scrutton (Sturt)

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Paul Seal (East Perth)

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Charles Searl (Lefroy & North Launceston)

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Back home, Searl finished the season with NTFA side North Launceston after being relocated to the northern city in his work.  He continued to perform with great distinction, and shortly after joining the Robins he was chosen in the NTFA's representative side which travelled to Hobart to take on the TFL.  Given that earlier in the year he had been a member of the TFL team which played the NTFA in Launceston this gave him something of a rare if not unique distinction.  (Sadly for Searl, he ended up on the losing side on both occasions.)

Charlie Searl continued to play for North Launceston until 1911 after which, having helped the club to that year's premiership, he chose to hang up his boots.  It was the second time he had played in a premiership team, the first having been with Lefroy in 1907.

Doug Searl (Collingwood, Fitzroy, Port Melbourne)

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Malcolm Seddon (Collingwood)

Malcolm Seddon was tough, hard hitting and resilient, as he proved both on the field of play as a redoubtable ruck shepherd, and off it during World War One when he fought his way back to health and fitness after being exposed to toxic gas while serving on the western front.

Nicknamed 'Doc', Seddon was the sort of player whom opposition supporters loved to hate, which needless to say meant that he was a firm favourite among the Collingwood faithful. He commenced with the Magpies in 1911, and went on to play a total of 102 VFL games and tick 56 goals in two stints which were split by wartime service from 1916 to 1918.  He was a member of the Magpies' winning challenge final team against Richmond in 1919, and represented the VFL against South Australia the following year, which was his last in league football.

Fred Seinor (South Fremantle)

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Ernie Sellars (St Kilda & East Perth)

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Bob Sellers (Hawthorn)

Joe Sellwood (Geelong)

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Sellwood continued to play with Geelong until the opening round of 1945 (missing the entire 1942 and 1943 seasons as the Cats went into temporary abeyance owing to the war), by which time he had played a total of 180 VFL games and kicked 97 goals.  He also played 1 interstate game for the VFL.  

Thomas Serjeant (Claremont)

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Leo Seward (Ballarat, University, Perth)

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William Sewart (Essendon & Footscray)

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Gregory Sewell (Essendon)

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Sewell, who was Essendon through and through, went on to serve the club in a variety of capacities, culminating in a seven year tenure as president between 1981 and 1987. 

Jim Sewell (East Fremantle & Footscray)

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Ralph Sewer (Woodville & Glenelg)

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The following profile appears on the excellent Legends Of SANFL website, and is reproduced here by kind permission of the site author and owner Peter McConnell.

The quintessential left footed half forward flanker who couldn't kick right foot, Ralph Sewer is truly a legend of the SANFL and the Woodville Football Club.

A larger than life personality, he was an exciting player to watch. Blessed with electrifying speed and a bullet-like foot pass, Sewer was nicknamed 'Zip Zap' for his ability to baulk and dodge opponents. He was also a feisty customer who wasn't backward in coming forward.

Like a bad FM radio station, Zip Zap played in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s - a truly amazing effort. From 1969 to 1990, he racked up 325 games for his beloved Peckers/Warriors. Throw in four permed hair years and 57 games down at the Bay, along with regular state appearances, and in the end he tallied no fewer than 394 matches, putting him behind only Peter Carey (467 games) and Russell Ebert (421) on the SANFL's all time 'games played' ladder.

The great tragedy of Sewer's career came in 1979 when Woodville reached its first finals series. In what seems unthinkable today, Sewer played in a midweek match for the Fire Brigade and badly damaged his knee, missing Woodville's first tilt at finals football.

An everlasting memory of Woodville's barnstorming run in the 1986 finals series, though, is Sewer streaming into goals against Port Adelaide - by now as a dangerous forward pocket. Indeed, in his last match (coincidentally Woodville's last before their merger) against West Torrens in 1990, Sewer produced a vintage performance at the age of thirty-eight and polled two Magarey Medal votes. It took a 10 goal performance by century goalkicking Allen Jakovich to deny him the best on ground.

Jack Sexton (Glenelg, West Adelaide, Fitzroy, Norwood)

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Frank Seymour (Carlton, Northcote, Fitzroy)

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Between 1928 and 1938, Seymour played 201 VFA games for Northcote, kicking 880 goals, a tally only exceeded by five other Association players.  He topped the VFA's goal kicking list on three occasions, each time accumulating in excess of 100 goals.  In 1935 he made another attempt to establish himself in the VFL, this time with Fitzroy, but after just 5 games which netted 9 goals he returned to the more familiar surroundings at Northcote.