2014 Round 22, Three quarter time.

9th August Birthdays.

 

John Benison 1946.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Darren Millane, born 9th August 1965.

Who knows how many games Darren might have played for Collingwood had his life not been cut short by a tragic car accident.  As it was he racked up 147 games for 47 goals between 1984 and 1991. 

He was a bit like a pinball as he wanted to play for St. Kilda but was in the Swans recruiting zone.  He trained at Hawthorn for a short time but did not like it there and ended up with the Magpies. 

As a strong marking highly skilled wingman he became a target for his team as he dominated his wing. He won the club Best and Fairest in 1987 and was in the 1990 Premiership team.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

Footscray – The Early Years.

The actual foundation date of the Footscray Football Club is a point of conjecture with most people thinking it was somewhere between 1880 and 1883.  It is possible people were playing games in the area as early as 1876 and the club just seems to have ‘come into existence’ for the people of the suburb.

What we do know is that they entered the VFA in 1886 and their first game was against St. Kilda, which they won 4.11 to 3.10 (with only the goals counting in the score).

By 1898 they were a force to be reckoned with and at a time when there were no Grand Finals they were Premiers in 1898, 1899 and 1900 by virtue of being the top team at the end of the season. In fact, over those 3 years they won 46 of the 54 matches they were in.

Source: The Clubs.

John Platten – Magary Brownlow Double.

Joining South Australian club Central Districts in 1981, John was with them until 1985 and then for one more season in 1998, for a total of 113 games.

While he was there he won 2 Best and Fairests and the Magary Medal in 1984.

At a time when players saw playing in Victoria as the pinnacle of the sport, John was drafted by Hawthorn and from 1986 to 1997 he was in 258 games and kicked 228 goals.

Not a very big player, he was tremendously talented and had a good turn of speed.

He won 2 Best and Fairests at the club as well as being in 4 Premiership teams and was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1987.

During his career he was a regular in the South Australian state team and was All Australian 5 times.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers.

A Team Of Smiths – Back Line.

With Smith being one of the most common surnames in the English language it is not surprising that there have been enough in Australian Football to make up a team.

Here is the backline of a team of Smiths as suggested in Jim Mains book ‘Sports Screamers’

Bernie Smith - Geelong 1948-58, 183 games, 3 goals.

Started playing for West Adelaide at 16 and was in the state team by 19.  At Geelong he was in 2 Flag winning sides, was club Best and Fairest and won the Brownlow in 1951.

Steven Smith – Melbourne 1974-85, 203 games, 144 goals.

Recruited from amateur club Ormond, he became a reliable full-back and won the clubs Best and Fairest in 1981.

Has the honour of being the first Little League player to make it right through to first grade.

Craig Smith – Richmond 1986-93, 72 games, 23 goals.

A fine half back flanker who also spent some time playing in the centre and on the wing.

Came second in the Best and Fairest in his first season at the club.

Source: Sport Screamers by Jim Main.

 

John Devine – Player and Coach.

John joined Geelong from local club Colac and from 1960 to 1966 he played 118 games for 6 goals.

As a solid back line player he was a tough and feared competitor.  He was in Geelong’s 1963 Premiership team and played for Victoria in 1965.

When he finished playing at Geelong he went to North Hobart where he was Captain Coach and led them to 3 Premierships.

1986 found him back at Geelong as Coach where he stayed until 1988 and during that time he coached 66 games for 28 wins 1 draw and 37 losses.

Source: The Encyclopaedia Of AFL Footballers and Wikipedia.