2014 Round 2, Half time.

20th March Birthdays.

Robert Walker 20th March 1970.

PLAYER OF THE DAY. Chris Schmidt, born 20th March 1989.

Starting at West Adelaide, Chris was first drafted to Brisbane in 2007 but spent a lot of time in the QAFL and only played 2 games. He moved on to Adelaide in a trade deal and after missing the 2009 season he managed 13 games in 2010 and 2011. He has since returned to where it all began at West Adelaide.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.


Mark Bickley - Hall Of Fame Member.

Mark has the honour of captaining Adelaide's first premiership team in 1997 and was there again when they won back to back in 1998. 

Originally from South Adelaide he started his career at the Crows in 1989 and was there until 2003.  In that time he played 272 games and kicked 77 goals.  Playing in the midfield, his forte was to do the 'one percenters', tackling and smothering, that are important to any team. 

As well as playing in Adelaide's two premierships he also played 7 games for South Australia and is a member of the SA hall of fame.  He was inducted into the Australian Football hall of fame in 2009.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers & AFL Record Season Guide 2013.

  Umpire Abuse.

It sometimes seems that Aussie Rules fans take it as a given that they will give the umpire 'stick' and it seems it has been done since the first umpire put a whistle to his mouth.

One of the worst examples was in 1896 in a VFA game between Collingwood and North Melbourne. The umpire was Jack Roberts who was a past player for Carlton. 

Apparently it seems that there were some old wounds from a previous game between the two clubs and the umpire became the target of the frustration of the fans.

According to newspaper reports from the time, at one stage a crowd actually invaded the field and wanted to get at the umpire and players but were driven off before much damage was done.  When the umpire tried to get off the ground at the end of the game the mob wanted to attack him again.

A Collingwood player named Bill Proudfoot came to his rescue.  Bill was a big man who, as well as playing in Collingwoods VFA side went on to play 108 games for them in the VFL, ending in 1906. As well as being a footballer he was a policeman and he put one arm around umpire Roberts and shielded his own head with the other.

The police commissioner later banned his officers from playing football but Bill got around that by playing under an assumed name.  This rule however must have been removed at some stage as there were a number of policemen who played in VFL teams later.

Source: Our Game (Jim Main) & The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.

A Team Of Champions.

More of Ben Collins champion team from his book 'The Champions'.  This time it is the centre line and followers.

The achievements of these players often goes beyond what I have listed here, but this gives an indication of what they did throughout their career.

                                        Greg Williams. - CENTRE.
                                             Geelong 1984-1985.
                                                                Sydney 1986-1991.
                                              Carlton 1992-1997.
                                       250 games 217goals. (Total).
                                                 1 premiership. 
                                         1 pre season premiership.
                                             2 Brownlow Medals.
                                            1 Norm Smith Medal.
                                            1 E J Whitten Medal. 
                                           6 times All Australian.


            Nathan Buckley. - Wing.                    Michael Long. - Wing.
                     Brisbane 1993.                            Essendon 1989-2001.
             Collingwood 1994-2007.                      190 games 143 goals.
          280 games 284 goals (Total).                      2 premierships.
                  1 Brownlow Medal.                      2 pre season premierships.
                1 Norm Smith Medal.                        1 Norm Smith Medal.
                   1 Magarey Medal.
                AFL Rising Star (1993).
                 7 times All Australian.                                 
                                                                  
              
                                                          Jim Stynes. - Ruck.                               
                                          Melbourne 1987-1998.
                                           264 games 130 goals.
                                             1 Brownlow Medal.
                                           2 times All Australian.

 
             Ron Barassi. - Follower.                       Bob Skilton. - Follower.
                Melbourne 1953-64.                        South Melbourne 1956-1958,
                 Carlton 1965-1969.                                    1970-1971.
          254 games 330 goals. (Total).                     237 games 412 goals.
                    6 premierships.                                  3 Brownlow Medals.
                                                                    

Source: The Champions & The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


Six Backmen Turned Forwards.

Nowadays most players are expected to be able to play in just about any position on the ground, but years ago players tended to 'own' a position, so it was quite a change for a player to go from one end of the ground to the other. 

Here is a short list of some players that did that and made a success of it.

Phil Baker. North Melbourne 1971-75 and 1977.  97 games 116 goals.  Geelong 1975 9 games 9 goals.

Kicked 6 goals in the drawn '77 grand final with Collingwood and 3 in the replay.

Fraser Gehrig.

West Coast 1995-2000.  115 games 159 goals.  St. Kilda 2001-08.  145 games 389 goals.

Obviously found his niche at St.Kilda.
 

Ross Glendinning.

North Melbourne 1978-86.  190 games 214 goals.  West Coast 1987-88.  40 games 111 goals.

What a return at West Coast, averaging almost 60 goals per season.

Fred Goldsmith.

South Melbourne 1951-59.  119 games 107 goals.

Not bad for a guy who won a Brownlow as a fullback.

 

Alastair Lynch.

Fitzroy 1988-93.  120 games 173 goals.  Brisbane 1994-2004.  186 games 460.

Imagine what he could have scored if he hadn't suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome.

 

Ken McGregor.

Adelaide 1999-2008.  152 games 114 goals. 

Actually started as a forward, went back and then finished up in the forward line again.

 Source: The Greatest Game by Ken Piesse & The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.


 Rene Kink-Journeyman.

Rene was known as 'the incredible hulk' due to his resemblance to the TV character of that name.  But it may surprise you to know that by day this big, barrel chested player plied his trade as a hairdresser.

Coming from Ararat in Victorias central west he joined Collingwood in 1973 and was there until 1983 for 154 games and 240 goals.

He made a name for himself by replacing Collingwoods goal kicking hero peter McKenna in his first full senior game, the 1973 preliminary final.  And he was only 16 at the time.  Just as well he kicked 3 goals!

With up and down form and disagreements with coaches, he moved to Essendon during 1983 and played there again in 1985 for a total of 20 games and 35 goals.

His final club was St. Kilda in 1986 but he was obviously past his prime as he only played 7 games, but did still manage to kick 5 goals.

He played for Victoria twice and retired just short of his 30th birthday. 

Source: The Encyclopaedia of AFL Footballers.


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