VICTORIAN TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

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Right Centre Wing - Keith Greig (Brunswick & North Melbourne)

Dual Brownlow Medallist Keith Greig was one of the most exciting footballers of his era.  Following a brief stint with Brunswick he embarked on a glittering 300 game career with North Melbourne during which his trademark long stride became one of football's most familiar sights.  Winner of the Brownlow Medal in both 1973 and 1974, he somewhat ironically failed to land North Melbourne's club champion award in both years, before ultimately breaking through in 1980.

A Big V representative on 13 occasions Greig was equally proficient as a wingman or on a half back flank.  He was one of North's best - on a wing - in its drought-breaking grand final defeat of Hawthorn in 1975 (the club's first premiership since its VFA days), and was also among the best in the 'Roos' grand final losses of 1974 and 1976.  Perhaps the major disappointment of his career came in 1977 when, as club skipper, he was absent because of injury from both the grand final and grand final replay against Collingwood, which yielded North's 2nd VFL flag.

Injury also blighted the later stages of Greig's career so that once he reached the 300 game milestone it was of little surprise to anyone when he announced his retirement.

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Centre - Greg Williams (Geelong, Sydney, Carlton)

Like Laurie Nash before him Greg Williams was never shy when it came to boasting of his own ability.  He also shared another Nash propensity - for honesty.

Often criticised for being slow, Williams showed that a player did not have to be endowed with phenomenal pace in order to wreak havoc among opposing backlines.  Given that the football, when either handballed or kicked, tends to move appreciably faster than even the sprightliest players are able to run, Williams' unequalled disposal skills with both hand and foot made him, when playing at his peak, almost uncontainable.  Of course, he had to get the football first, before he could use it, and this he was pre-eminently and repeatedly able to do owing to that marvellous, untutored sense of anticipation which all champion players possess, and which Williams himself possessed in unparalleled abundance.

The Greg Williams career fits neatly into 3 stages.  Between 1984 and 1985 he played for Geelong, winning the Cats' best and fairest award in the latter year whilst simultaneously displaying a nascent ability to catch the umpire's eye with 15 Brownlow votes.

In 6 seasons in the Harbour City with the Swans he truly came of age.  The compact Sydney Cricket Ground suited his style and he quickly established a reputation as the game's most prolific and effective exponent of handball, and indeed arguably its most renowned (in the sense of being 'identified' with the skill) practitioner since 'Polly' Farmer.  In 1986, he tied for the Brownlow Medal with Hawthorn's Robert Dipierdomenico.

The final phase of Williams' career saw him at Carlton where he won a second Brownlow in 1994.  Then, in 1995, he achieved his last major remaining ambition of playing in a premiership side.  His selection as Norm Smith Medallist after the Blues' demolition of his original club Geelong was the quintessential 'icing on the cake' of a stellar career.

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Left Centre Wing - Robert Flower (Melbourne)

One of football's gentlemen, Robert Flower was also a supremely gifted - and highly effective - one club footballer for 274 games, only the last 3 of which were finals.  Borrowing Fos Williams' adage about Ken Eustice, journalists often used to refer to him as 'pound for pound the best footballer in the VFL', an assertion which generated little dissent.  Blessed with all the attributes of a born champion, Flower's particular trademark was his almost implausible evasive ability, a skill which stood him in good stead as he was often the target of unseemly opposition assaults.  

Best and fairest awards might well have been concocted with players like Robbie Flower in mind, but somewhat surprisingly he only won Melbourne's premier award once, and never finished higher than 3rd, which he did twice, in the Brownlow, despite often starting as one of the favourites.  However, he won virtually every other accolade the game had to offer, including 15 (almost invariably superlative) Big V appearances (3 as captain) and selection in 2 All Australian teams.  Contemporary VFL and interstate wingmen were near unanimous in declaring him their most troublesome opponent.

Late in his career Melbourne coach Ron Barassi controversially converted Flower from a wingman into a half back flanker but he took the move in his stride and continued to be an exemplary footballer until his retirement in 1987.

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