All Time Fantasy Draft: Clubs

[BratPack]

Positional need. Dennis Carroll

Dennis Carroll (born 7 November 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
From Ganmain, a small town outside of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Carroll came from a football family. Carroll's father Laurie (St Kilda Football Club) and uncle Tom (Carlton Football Club) also played in the VFL.[1]
Carroll was recruited by the Swans in the VFL via a zoning rule, which enabled the Swans to recruit players from New South Wales. His first season was playing out of the Lake Oval in Melbourne in 1981, before moving with the Swans permanently to Sydney.
Carroll, a back flanker, became known as one of the finest kicks in the VFL, with the ability to dispose of the ball equally well on either foot. As an experienced campaigner and local product, Carroll was selected to captain the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League, an honour which he held for seven seasons between 1986 and 1992, during some of the club's darkest days and the brink of extinction. He represented both Victoria and New South Wales at State of Origin level.
Carroll retired from the AFL in 1993. During his career he totalled 219 games for the Swans and was named on the Swans team of the century.[2] The award for the most improved player at the Sydney Swans, the Dennis Carroll Award is named in his honour.[3] The Sydney Cricket Ground has named a room the Kippax/Carroll room in honour of Dennis Carroll and cricketer Alan Kippax.[4]
After retiring in 1993, Dennis spent four years as Sydney reserves coach and was later the Swans' match committee chairman.

[DazBurg]

well my pick for the bulldogs and no surprises here

Ted Whitten

Few footballers have given as much to the game as Edward James Whitten. First as a player, in 321 games for Footscray and 29 for his beloved 'Big V', but perhaps even more significantly in the quarter of a century which elapsed between his retirement as a player and his death in 1995, as one of Australian football's few genuine living icons.

However, it was his achievements as a player which constituted the seed-bed out of which such legendary status grew. After being rejected by Collingwood (in whose zone he resided) in 1950, on the grounds that he lacked bulk, Whitten was free to turn out with his boyhood heroes at the Western Oval. His debut in 1951 has gone down in football folklore. Opposed by renowned hard man Don 'Mopsy' Fraser of Richmond the young Whitten politely offered his hand prior to the opening bounce only to receive a sharp kick in the ankles in return. Undeterred, Whitten goaled after marking early in the first term, an act of insolence which did not go down at all well with 'Mopsy', whose retaliation this time was even more pronounced - suffice to say that Whitten had much to reflect upon that night as he lay in his hospital bed!

E.J. Whitten was nothing if not a quick learner. He soon realised that the best way to achieve success in the sport he loved was to intimidate rather than be intimidated, and if 90% of this was bluster it nevertheless could not mask the fact that he was also a supremely gifted - and tough - exponent of the game.

Aside from participating in Footscray's famous 1954 premiership win, Whitten did not enjoy much success at club level during his career. (This included a disastrous 1975 season spent coaching 1st division VFA club Williamstown. The Seagulls managed just four wins from 14 home and away matches, which consigned them to last place and relegation to second division.) His volatile personality and fondness for back-chatting meant that he seldom fared well with the umpires when it came to Brownlow votes: equal third, half a dozen votes off the pace, in 1959 was his best effort. This perhaps in part explains his excessive partiality for interstate football - a predilection all the more remarkable when you bear in mind that many Victorians at the time regarded the interstate arena as redundant given the VFL's unarguable supremacy. Whitten, however, liked nothing better than to remind the other states of that supremacy, a feat he achieved in 27 of the 29 interstate matches he played. So fanatical was Whitten's devotion to interstate football, both during and after his playing career, that to many his name is synonymous with the big white V, an emblem tantamount to the Holy Grail to many South Australian, Western Australian and Tasmanian footballers of the twentieth century.

An emblem which, sadly, was probably consigned to posterity at more or less the same time as the mortal remains of Edward James Whitten. Both the emblem and the man played significant roles in the history of the greatest sport on earth, however, and as such deserve to be feted and acclaimed as long as the sport is played.

Career highlights

    Official Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame
    Captain of the AFL Team of the Century
    Footscray captain, 1957â€"1970
    Club champion, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961
    Footscray premiership side, 1954

[Boomz]

Gary Dempsey... I don't need another ruck but he is one of the best and I can't leave him.

[AFEV]

Can't ignore Scott West.

[Ringo]

Can not ignore Doug Hawkins to complete my mid field

Team Structure: (Subject to final re arrangement)
FB: Gary Ayres; David Dench; Kelvin Moore;
HB: Dick Grigg  ______ Nathan Buckley
C: Todd Viney: Michael Voss; Doug Hawkins
HF: Allan Ruthven; Alex Jesaulenko; Gary Ablett Snr
FF: Norm Smith; Tony Lockett; Peter Daicos
R:Simon Madden; Ross G Smith; Kevin Bartlett
I/C: Peter Bedford; Tim Watson; Tony Morwood; Wayne Schimmelbusch.

Emergencies: Robert Walls; Kevin Sheedy;

[BratPack]

Charlie Sutton and Chris Grant

[Ringo]

To complete my team I select Wally Donald

Wally Donald (27 May 1927 â€" 8 November 2003) was recruited by Footscray Football Club (now Western Bulldogs) in the Victorian Football League, now Australian Football League, in 1946 from Braybrook. He played only one senior game that year, but from 1947 to 1957 he was a fixture in the Footscray team, missing only a total of seven games. By 1949, Donald was established as one of the best defenders in the league, and in 1950 he represented Victoria during the Brisbane Carnival. Donald even did fairly well in the Brownlow Medal that year, polling a total of nine votes out of a career total of 27.

His unique understanding with full-back Herb Henderson, made for an almost impassable backline, whose record of conceding only 959 points in the 1953 home-and-away season stands as the best defence by any team since 1920. He was a member of Footscray's 1954 premiership team (playing his landmark 150th game in the Grand Final), and was chosen as a member of the Bulldogs Team of the Century in 2000.

Donald played a total of 205 games for one goal â€" curiously kicked in the “National Day Round” of the 1952 season,[1] when a depleted Footscray (its stars playing at the MCG for Victoria) was beaten by St Kilda on a very muddy ground at Yallourn.[2][3][4] He is the only player to have two separate sequences of 100 games without a goal: the Yallourn game was his 102nd.

Donald won Footscray’s Best and Fairest in 1949 and was runner-up in 1952, 1953 and 1954. He retired in 1958 after being dropped from the senior side after two games.


Team Structure: (Subject to final re arrangement)
FB: Gary Ayres; David Dench; Kelvin Moore;
HB: Wally Donald: Dick Grigg; Nathan Buckley
C: Todd Viney: Michael Voss; Doug Hawkins
HF: Allan Ruthven; Alex Jesaulenko; Gary Ablett Snr
FF: Norm Smith; Tony Lockett; Peter Daicos
R:Simon Madden; Ross G Smith; Kevin Bartlett
I/C: Peter Bedford; Tim Watson; Tony Morwood; Wayne Schimmelbusch.

Emergencies: Robert Walls; Kevin Sheedy;

[AFEV]

Sorry this took so long guys.

Brad Johnson.

364 games, 3 B&Fs, 6 AAs.

B: Glelnn Archer, Geoff Southby, Reg Hickey
HB: Trevor Barker, Albert Collier, Bruce Doull
C: Keith Greig, Jack Clarke, Robert DiPierdomenico
HF: Jack Moriarty, Bernie Quinlan, Jack Mueller
F: Steven Milne, Gordon Coventry, Brad Johnson
R: Jack Dyer, Dick Reynolds, Ron Barassi

INT: Michael Tuck, Scott West, Laurie Nash, Doug Wade

EMG: Dale Weightman, Paul Kelly

[Boomz]

Tony Liberatore

[DazBurg]

i'll take Allan Hopkins

Footscray's first Brownlow Medallist, albeit only retrospectively, Alan Hopkins also finished as a runner-up in the award on two occasions, and fourth once.

Hopkins began with the Tricolours in 1923, when they were still members of the VFA, and was a prominent member of premiership teams in his first two seasons in senior football. In 1924 he played in the famous Footscray side which defeated Essendon for the championship of Victoria.

Notoriously ungainly of gait, and rather slow for a centreman or on-baller, Hopkins was nevertheless devastatingly effective, and opponents who underestimated him were quickly made to look like mugs. A regular, and almost invariably successful, Big V representative (20 appearances), at the 1930 Adelaide carnival he was voted player of the series. Somewhat surprisingly, given that he was often seen to be carrying the load for many of his less talented team mates, Hopkins only won Footscray's top player award once.

After 151 VFL games for Footscray between 1924 and 1934 Hopkins made the short move to Yarraville, where he was appointed captain-coach for the 1935 season. It was a stunningly successful appointment as the Villains reached their first ever VFA grand final, beating Camberwell by nine points after a topsy-turvy tussle. Hopkins' form as a player was consistently good all year, and he finished runner-up in the Recorder Cup.

After three seasons away from the game, Hopkins returned to Yarraville in 1939 for one last stint as a player. Despite being one of the oldest players in the VFA, he showed that he had lost none of his class and poise.

Career highlights

Playing career:

    Footscray 1925â€"1934 (Games: 151 Goals: 205)

Player honors:

    Footscray 151 games, 187 goals
    Footscray captain 1926, 1929
    Footscray captain-coach 1930
    Footscray best and fairest 1931
    Footscray leading goalkicker 1925, 1926
    "Champion of Australia" 1930
    Victorian representative 17 matches

Coaching record:

    Footscray 1930 (18 games, 4 wins 4, 14 losses)

[Ringo]

For the first of the additional selections I will select another Collingwood player Jock McHale

McHale joined Coburg, at the time a junior club, and came to notice with his consistency, which led to an invitation to play at Collingwood. McHale made his league debut in 1903 for the black and white, playing as a half-back before moving into the centre. Durability was the cornerstone of his reputation as a player â€" he set a VFL record by playing 191 games consecutively between 1906 and 1917. This record was not beaten until 1943. He served as captain-coach from 1912â€"1913 and as a playing coach from 1914 up to the 1917 premiership, his second premiership after being part of the 1910 premiership side. McHale played a handful of matches in 1918 and 1920, but from 1918 to 1949 he made his name as the most successful coach in VFL/AFL history, deeds for which he is best remembered. As a player, McHale played 261 games and kicked 18 goals, as well as representing Victoria.

Career Highlights:
    Collingwood premiership player 1910
    Collingwood premiership playing coach 1917
    Collingwood premiership coach
        1919, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936
    Australian Football Hall of Fame, "Legend"
    Collingwood Team of the Century, coach
    Collingwood captain 1912â€"1913

Team Structure: (Subject to final re arrangement)
FB: Gary Ayres; David Dench; Kelvin Moore;
HB: Wally Donald: Dick Grigg; Nathan Buckley
C: Todd Viney: Michael Voss; Doug Hawkins
HF: Allan Ruthven; Alex Jesaulenko; Gary Ablett Snr
FF: Norm Smith; Tony Lockett; Peter Daicos
R:Simon Madden; Ross G Smith; Kevin Bartlett
I/C: Peter Bedford; Tim Watson; Tony Morwood; Wayne Schimmelbusch.

Emergencies: Robert Walls; Kevin Sheedy; Jock McHale

[Boomz]

The last thing I need but he is one of the best players of all time so Barrie Robran it is.

[BratPack]

With Sid skipped it comes to me. And I might welcome a old friend from my All Time Eras Team back to help my backline a bit

Walter Scott

Walter Scott was one of South Australia's finest ever defenders and arguably the most illustrious name in the history of the Norwood Football Club. His abilities were evident right from the start of his League career in 1920 when, in a Norwood team that was good enough to play off for the premiership, he won the club's best and fairest award.
The following season saw Scott (known affectionately as 'Wat' or 'Wacka') make the first of what would end up being an Australian record 38 consecutive interstate appearances.  He was also runner up in the Magarey Medal despite receiving the same number of votes as the winner,South Adelaide's Dan Moriarty. [see footnote 1]   Consolation was later to arrive in the shape of the 1924 and 1930 Medals.
Along with Dan Moriarty and Jack Hamilton ( who was later replaced by Jim Handby), Walter Scott completed South Australia's most celebrated interstate half back line.  Normally placed on a flank, with Moriarty in the middle, Scott was arguably the most defensively-minded member of the unit.  A strong, safe mark when in front position, he was also a redoubtable spoiler from behind, with uncanny judgement of the flight of the ball the key to both skills.  Sound judgement was also a major element in Scott's prowess as a ground player, and he shared with the likes of Bruce Doull, Guy McKenna, Frank Jenkins and Kevin Murray the quintessential defender's capacity for seldom lowering his colours in a one on one contest.
A club record (shared with Michael Taylor) six times winner of the Norwood best and fairest award Walter Scott's career effectively ended after he sustained a serious knee injury in the last minor round game of 1930 against Port Adelaide.  He did later play 2 further games, taking his final tally to 174, but all this did was prove to him that his knee was genuinely 'gone'.  It is perhaps no coincidence that the Redlegs, who had won four premierships and contested seven grand finals during Scott's eleven year career, would have to wait another eleven years for their next flag.
During the 1930s, Walter Scott undertook coaching stints at Norwood, West Adelaide, Glenelg and Sturt, but failed to lift any of these teams above 3rd place on the ladder.  As a player, however, there have been few better.

[AFEV]

Woah didn't realise that Boomz had picked... :o

Sorry guys.

Was a tight call between a second ruckman and this guy but ultimately not going to overlook Ken Farmer.

[DazBurg]

well i'm going with
Russell Ebert

Four times a winner of South Australia's most prestigious individual football award, the Magarey Medal, Russell Ebert's solo achievements belied the fact that he was, above all else, a quintessential team man. Like his contemporary, Barrie Robran, frequently regarded as Ebert's chief rival for the unofficial title of South Australia?? greatest ever footballer, Russell Ebert off the field was shy and unassuming, preferring - if the cliché can be allowed - to "Let his football do the talking"

And how loquacious that football was! Quite simply, Russell Ebert probably came as close as any player in history to exhibiting complete mastery over all the essential skills of the game. On the attacking side he was a superb mark, handled the ball brilliantly in all conditions, and typically disposed of it, whether by foot or by hand, with pinpoint accuracy. However, it was his defensive qualities which really marked Ebert out from the herd; unlike many acknowledged champion players Ebert excelled in performing the small, often unnoticed, ostensibly ignominious tasks that are so vital to a winning performance - tasks like shepherding, smothering, checking, tackling, spoiling which are the traditional function of the football journeyman rather than the superstar.

And "Superstar"- an admittedly much over-used term - is exactly what Russell Ebert was.

Between 1968 and 1985 he played a total of 417 games of league football, all but 25 of them with Port Adelaide. (The others came during a single season stint with North Melbourne in 1979.) He also represented South Australia 29 times. In addition to his Magarey Medal wins in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1980 he was Port's best and fairest player on no fewer than half a dozen occasions. He had the satisfaction in 1977 of captaining the Magpies to their first premiership in twelve years, and also played in the premiership teams of 1980 and 1981. After the 1981 grand final victory over Glenelg, he won the Jack Oatey Medal for best afield. Mere statistics can only hint at the true genius that was Russell Ebert, however.

As a coach, Ebert enjoyed rather less success, but his accomplishments were by no means negligible. He steered Port Adelaide to the 1984 grand final, for instance, and masterminded South Australia's state of origin victories over Western Australia in 1996 and 1998.

Career highlights

    Magarey Medal 1971, 1974, 1976, 1980
    Port Adelaide best and fairest 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1981
    Port Adelaide leading goalkicker 1968
    Port Adelaide captain 1974-1978, 1983-1985
    Port Adelaide premierships 1977, 1980, 1981