2104 Round 9, Half time.

8th May Birthdays.

 

Greg Miller 1953.

 PLAYER OF THE DAY. Matthew Robbins, born 8th May 1977.

Matthew started his career at Geelong but it was a less than momentous time as he managed to play just 7 games in 1996 and 1997 due in part to a serious quadriceps injury.

He fared better after crossing to the Western Bulldogs in 1998, but was still dogged by injury.  From 1998 to 2007 he played 139 games for 135 goals starting off as a running half back, not surprising given his athletics background.  2004 saw him cement a more permanent position in the team but he missed the early part of 2005 before coming back to score 31 goals for the season.

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.

A GAME MUST HAVE SOME RULES.

In 2012 there were 22 sections of rules for the game and each of those sections has sub sections, what a lot to learn!

The first set of rules were much easier. They were written by a group of 4 men, Thomas Wills, James Thompson, William Hammersley and Thomas Smith.  It is interesting to note that Wills was the only ‘Australian’ in this group of early promoters  of the game.

There were only 10 rules in this original set known as the ‘Rules of the Melbourne Football Club’ that were written in 1859.

Some of the notable things in these rules are:

- The captains decided some of the issues for their match, such as playing distances (there were no umpires originally).

- Pushing and tripping was allowed (both of course outlawed now), but kicking an opponent was not.

- Scoring a goal, taking a mark and boundary throw ins have all been around since this first set of rules.

- If a shot on goal went wide it was brought 20 yards (app 23 meters) into the field of play and kicked off from there, much like in Rugby.  The ball was placed in a space between  two  ‘kick off posts’ which we now know as point posts.

We need to keep in mind that Thomas Wills had been brought up on Rugby and was a keen cricketer, however he did not feel Rugby was a suitable game for ‘grown men’ and that is why he pushed for a new game to be created.

Source: A National Game & More Than A Game.
 

 

Des and Matthew Kennedy.

Des J Kennedy started playing senior football at VFA club Sandringham in 1960 when he was just 16. He won their Best and Fairest award in 1963 and was in the premiership team of 1962.

He joined St. Kilda in 1965 and was there until 1970 for a total of 56 games and 26 goals.

Though he was a member of the losing Grand Final team of 1965 he wasn’t able to take his spot in the Saints only premiership in 1966 as he was injured in the second semi final.

Des ended his career where it started, at Sandringham, and won the Best and Fairest there again in 1973.

Matthew Kennedy was on Brisbane’s list from 1990 but it took until 1992 for him to be a regular in the team. 

He was played in the back line but was not quite suited to that part of the ground and found a niche on the wing. 1996, 1998 and 1999 were good years for him but injury and form saw him struggle at other times.

When he retired at the end of 2001 he had played 188 games and kicked 30 goals.
 

Source: The Encyclopaedia of  AFL Footballers.

 

Four Of The Youngest Captains.

David Dench – North Melbourne. 1969-1984. 275 games, 29 goals. Became captain at 20 years 221 days.

Haydn Bunton – Fitzroy. 1931-1937 and 1942. 119 games, 207 goals. Became captain at 20 years 299 days.

Kevin Dynon – North Melbourne. 1943-1954. 149 games, 83 goals. Became captain at 21 years 249 days.

Michael Voss – Brisbane. 1992-2006. 289 games, 245 goals. Became captain at 21 years 272 days.

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