Responses
to our forum topic:
Daniel has his say!
It’s time for our first Forum topic and for you to have your say.
Forward your response to the following question via our ‘Contact’ link…
‘Which North Melbourne player should be the first elevated to ‘Legend’
status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame?’
The list below contains the names of the official ‘Legends’ of the Australian
Football Hall of Fame and the year they received elevation.
Have a close
look and ask yourself what’s missing from the list. Have another look and
you might also notice something else.
Darrel Baldock (St Kilda) 1996
Ron Barassi (Melbourne/Carlton) 1996
Kevin Bartlett (Richmond) 2000
Haydn Bunton senior (Fitzroy/Subiaco/Port
Adelaide) 1996
Roy Cazaly (St Kilda/South Melbourne) 1996
John Coleman (Essendon) 1996
Gordon Coventry (Collingwood) 1998
Jack Dyer (Richmond) 1996
Graham Farmer (Geelong/East Perth/West Perth)
1996
Peter Hudson (Hawthorn) 1999
Bill Hutchison (Essendon)
Alex Jesaulenko (Carlton/St Kilda) 2008
James 'Jock' McHale
Leigh Matthews (Hawthorn) 1996
Bob Pratt (South Melbourne) 1996
Dick Reynolds (Essendon) 1996
Barrie Robran (North Adelaide) 2001
Bob Skilton (South Melbourne) 1996
Norm Smith 1996
Ian Stewart (St Kilda/Richmond) 1997
Ted Whitten (Footscray) 1996
Yep, you’re right. There is no North Melbourne player on that list and if
you’re really alert, you may have noticed ours is the only Victorian club
yet to have a player elevated to ‘Legend’ status.
Yes, I can see Barassi’s name on the list, however, the Supercoach didn’t
play for our great club.
Now, I don’t begrudge any of the players or coaches on the above list. They
all deserve their ‘Legend’ status.
However, it’s our turn. WE DESERVE TO HAVE A PLAYER RECOGNISED AS AN OFFICIAL
LEGEND OF THE GAME!!!
Below is the list of Northerners inducted into the Australian Football Hall
of Fame. I’ve included career highlights for some (I hope you can understand
the abbreviations). Have a read and a think and tell us who should be elevated
to ‘Legend’ by the AFL.
I’ve also included our Team of the Century to give you an extra hand.
Allen Aylett – club captain and president;
’58-’60 Best and Fairests; VFL president ’77-’84; member of the Team of the
Century;
Malcolm Blight AM – ’78 Brownlow; Magarey
Medal; capt of Vic. and SA; ’82 Coleman medalist; 4 times leading goalkicker;’75
and ’77 premierships; playing coach ’81; T of the C;
Barry Cable – 3 Sandover Medals; ’70 B and
F; ’75, ’77 prem’ps; club coach;
T of the C;
David Dench – ’72 youngest ever captain
aged 20; ’77 prem’p capt; 4 B and Fs; 275 games; T of the C;
Barry Davis – ’75 prem’p capt; ’73 B and
F; T of the C;
Wayne Schimmelbusch – ’75 and ’77 prem’ps;
29 finals; ’79-’87 club capt; ’90-’92 club coach; ’76 leading goal kicker;
Vic capt; 306 games; T of the C;
Noel Teasdale – 4 B and Fs in the ‘60s;
’65 joint Brownlow; T of the C;
Les Foote – senior debut aged 16; ’50 club’s
first grand final capt; 3 B and Fs; T of the C;
Ross Glendinning – ’78 Brownlow; 4 times
All-Aust’n; 2 B and Fs; T of the C;
Keith Greig MBE – ’73-’74 Brownlows; ’75
prem’p; ’80 B and F; ’76-’79 capt; 294 games; T of the C;
John Rantall – ’75 prem’p; ’74 B and F;
then league record 336 games with North, South and Fitzroy;
Gary Dempsey;
Doug Wade;
Russell Ebert;
Wels Eicke;
Tom Fitzmaurice;
John Kennedy Snr;
Johnny Lewis;
John Murphy;
Of course, the late, great Ron Casey is
a Hall of Fame member for his services to the game.
NORTH MELBOURNE TEAM OF THE CENTURY
B: Glenn Archer, David Dench, Michael Martyn
HB: John Rantall, Ross Glendinning, Ted
Jarrard
C: Keith Greig, Les Foote, Laurie Dwyer
HF: Malcolm Blight, Wayne Carey, Wayne Schimmelbusch
FF: John Dugdale, Jock Spencer, Allen Aylett
F: Noel Teasdale, Anthony Stevens, Barry
Cable
I: Brent Crosswell, Barry Davis, Peter Steward,
Sam Kekovich
E: David King, John Blakey, Wayne Schwass,
Gary Dempsey
So, there you go…who’s it going to be? HAVE YOUR SAY….
Hang on, I’ve had a thought. Maybe The King or Arch will go straight to
‘Legend’ status when they become hall of famers. Just kidding.
Hi Andrew
I actually stumbled upon www.nfc1869.com.au whilst
trying to figure out what happened to Surf Coast Footy Chat.
Anyway, it also bothers me that there are no North players in the Australian
Rules Hall of Fame. A couple of less successful clubs fluke a Premiership each,
and they have legends. We changed the face of the game in the 70s, have four
flags to our name, and somehow, we don't have any legends?
I think you've put together a fine list of ex-North players as candidates for
the Hall of Fame. But some do need to be eliminated. For instance, let's say
goodbye to the likes of Davis, Rantall, Ebert, Wade, and Kennedy Snr. because
they're more strongly identified with other clubs than our's. Anyone looking
at the Legends could be forgiven for thinking that apart from Leigh Matthews,
there were no decent footballers after 1980. So my apologies to Eicke, Fitzmaurice,
Lewis, Foote, Teasdale, and Cable. I still haven't forgiven some people for
their part in the attempt to shift our club to the Gold Coast, so it's with a
sad and heavy heart that I must put a line through Doc Aylett's name. I think
it's fairly essential that a Legend should have experienced Premiership success,
so my apologies to Dempsey and Glendinning. Being a club that prided itself
on its unity of purpose, a legend should have kept up some involvement in the
club and not threaten to boycott functions like the "Team of the Century
Dinner", so sorry Keith Greig. We've attracted enough controversy of late,
so perhaps someone who hasn't tangled with the law lately should be avoided -
sadly, that means goodbye to David Dench.
That leaves just two names, Blight and Schimma. Honestly, I can't split them.
They both should be elevated. Schimma was Voss, Buckley, and Hird before those
guys still sperm and eggs being carried around in two different bodies. Blight
was, well, Blight. If we can only have one though, then it was the number 15
that was on the back of my duffel coat - so Blight gets the nod from me. But
by the time they're giving me my last rites, Blight had better be joined by Schimma,
Carey, Archer, and Ziebell.
Cheers
Daniel
p.s. Say G'day to Squeezebox Wally for me. He would have known me as Shinboners
from the BigFooty website.
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