2014 Round 10, Quarter time.

PLAYER OF THE DAY. Ron Andrews, born 13th May 1955.

I can remember Ron being referred to as 'Rugged Ronnie' and I guess this was partly because it rhymed with his name.  The other reason was because of his team role and style of play.

 

He played 151 games as a defender for Essendon from 1973 to 1983 and kicked 32 goals.  As the team was generally rather young and lightly framed Ron became the team enforcer; the other reason for his nickname.

 

Injury and trips to the tribunal affected the number of games he played and in fact a penalty kept him out of the 1983 preliminary final and he was not recalled by his team for the grand final.

 

Probably, at least in part, due to that decision by the club he moved to Collingwood in 1984 where he played just 6 games for 8 goals in his one year there.  He also played for Victoria in 1977 and 1978.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.

Three Hawthorn Players Turned Commentators.

Many players have turned to the media after their playing days are over. Here are three Hawthorn players that have done just that. 

Dermott Brereton was just about a walking head line and certainly stood out as a player in his time at the Hawks.

He played 189 games and kicked 427 goals between 1982 and 1992 with his debut game being the first semi-final against North Melbourne where he kicked 5 goals. 

There was never any doubt about his courage and he often either took to the field with an injury or played out a match with an injury sustained during the game.

Ben Dixon was at Hawthorn from 1997 to 2007 and in 203 games he was able to score 282 goals.

Originally drafted in 1994 he worked on his game until finally getting a senior call up in 1997.  From 1998 he became a fixture in the team playing as a forward at the feet of the taller players.

Later in his career his game dropped off a little but a move to the back line saw him regain form.

Jason Dunstall played mostly as full forward at the Hawks from 1985 to 1998 and in 269 games he kicked an incredible 1254 goals.

He had a good strong lead and a big frame that made him hard to play on and not surprisingly he headed the clubs goal kicking from 1986 to 1996 and 1998.

Scoring over 100 goals a year 6 times he won the Coleman medal 3 times and was in 4 premiership teams.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.

 

Bill Hutchison – Dual Brownlow Medalist.

Winning back to back Brownlow Medals in 1952 and 1953 Bill played 290 games for Essendon and kicked 496 goals.

Whilst he was alive he was only honoured with 1 medal as he initially lost the 1952 medal on a count back but was awarded it retrospectively in 1989.  Known as an honest player he did however have a tendency to question the umpires and this quite possibly led to him missing out on getting at least one more Brownlow.

He played in 10 grand final sides for 4 flags and was a part of the Victorian side from 1945 to 1954 and 1956.  In 1953 and 1956 he was Captain of the Victorian team and also All Australian.

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

Richmond Team Of  The Century – Full Back Line.

Kevin Sheedy is probably best known as the long serving coach of the Essendon Football Club but he was a great player as well.

With Richmond from 1967 to 1979 he played 251 games and scored 91 goals and thoroughly deserved his selection as a back pocket in the Team Of The Century.

Playing as a back pocket or in the centre he went hard at the ball and showed no fear. He was part of the clubs 1969, 1973 and 1974 premiership sides and was Best And Fairest in 1976.

Full back Victor Thorpe was renowned as being one of the best and most honest players of his time.

With the ability to read the game exceptionally well, he backed his judgement and once he had the ball in hand either dashed out of defence or cleared the ball with one of his great drop kicks.

As a Richmond player from 1910 to 1925 he played 263 games for 7 goals and was in the flag sides of 1920 and 1921. In his first 11 years he only missed 4 games and though not playing his first game for Victoria until 1919 he was then in the squad 14 times.

Michael Green seems to be an interesting choice as the other back pocket as he was a 193 cm Ruck man; however he did play the early part of his career in the back line as the club already had 2 established Rucks.

He initially played from 1966 to 1971 but was talked into coming back in 1973 and finally retired at the end of 1975.  In all he played 146 games and kicked 83 goals and was part of the 1969, ’73 and ’74 premiership teams.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers and Richmond Football Club web site.