All Time Fantasy Draft: Clubs

[DazBurg]

well for my last pick

Harry Soapy Vallence

After a stuttering start to his league career with Carlton Harry 'Soapy' Vallence developed into arguably the greatest full forward in the club's history. Deceptively awkward looking, he was actually very agile when the ball hit the deck, while his overhead marking ability was second to none. Early in his career, however, the Carlton brains trust found it hard to decide where best to place him, and it was only when he was shifted to the goalfront in 1929, his fourth league season, that he began to blossom. Vallence, who used the punt kick almost exclusively when kicking for goal, registered 64 goals that year to finish second on the VFL list to Collingwood's Gordon Coventry; it was also the first of eight occasions on which he would win Carlton's top goalkicker award.

The presence in the league of numerous other full forwards of the highest quality meant that Vallence's interstate opportunities were somewhat limited; nevertheless, he represented the Big V on five occasions, booting eight goals against South Australia in 1931, the same year that saw him top the VFL's goalkicking table for the first and only time.

'Soapy' Vallence's greatness was not merely a matter of statistics, however. Perhaps more than any other full forward of his time, he habitually reserved his best displays for important occasions, such as the 1st semi final of 1931, and the following season's preliminary final, in both of which he booted 11 goals.

Vallence's last game in a Carlton jumper was almost certainly the most rewarding. In 1938, after more than a decade of almost perennial, but fruitless, finals participation, the Blues finally broke through for a flag, beating arch rivals Collingwood in a tensely fought grand final by 15 points. Lining up on a half forward flank, Harry Vallence had a quiet game, but he had consistently proved over the course of the whole season that he still had plenty to offer. It would not be the Blues though who would benefit.

In 1939, Vallence became one of the first big name VFL stars in many years to transfer to the VFA when he signed for Williamstown. In his debut season with the Seagulls he kicked 133, and the following season he embarked on a prolific, though brief, partnership with former Collingwood sharpshooter Ron Todd, who had followed Vallence to the Association. In one match against Sandringham in 1941, Vallence booted 20 goals, to add to bags of 18 and 15 kicked against Oakleigh and Yarraville in 1939 and 1940 respectively. With such firepower in its armoury, the only surprise was that Williamstown was unable to procure a premiership before the VFA ceased operations, owing to the war, in 1942.

When the VFA competition resumed in 1945, Harry Vallence joined Brighton as captaincoach, where he continued to display great skill, intelligence and goalkicking prowess for the remaining two seasons of his senior career. This was particularly the case in 1946, his last year, when his tally of 77 goals was good enough to top the club's list, and was fourth highest in the VFA. In his final senior match, aged forty-one, Vallence booted 11 goals. Vallence's importance in the history of the Carlton Football Club was endorsed with his selection in the club's official 'Team of the Century' - the only pre-World War Two player to be so honoured.



    Carlton premiership player (1938)
    VFL leading goalkicker 1931
    Carlton leading goalkicker 1929, 1931â€"1933, 1935â€"1938
    Carlton Hall of Fame (1987)
    Carlton Team of the 20th Century

[Boomz]

Good pick. Was tossing up between him & Bradley.

This was a really hard choice but I'll take the prince of full backs Jack Regan.

FB: ___ Jack Regan ___
HB: ___ Paul Roos ___
C: ___ Greg Williams ___
HF: Garry Wilson ___ Craig Bradley
FF: ___ ___ ___
R: ___ ___ ___
I/C: ___ ___ ___

[AFEV]

There are so many....Gordon Coventry.

[DazBurg]

So many to pick from as you say but I will go for a player that played 320 games for the Dons and Captain Coached 4 premierships.

Dick Reynolds

    Essendon premiership captain-coach 1942, 1946 ,1949, 1950
    Brownlow Medal 1934, 1937, 1938
    W. S. Crichton Medal 1934, 1936â€"1939, 1942, 1943
    Essendon captain 1939â€"1950
    Essendon leading goalkicker 1943
    Australian Football Hall of Fame legend 1996
    AFL Team of the Century (half forward flank)
    Essendon Team of the Century (rover)

Only up to Collingwood :P

LOL
(insert facepalm ringo)

[Ringo]

Sorry went crosseyed in my old age so try this one PETER DAICOS
Did not even twig that Coventry played for pies when  looking at previous post I have deleted my original post so if you guys want to delete post you may or you can leave to show my ineptitude

Team Structure:
FB: ___ _____  ___
HB: ___ ______ ___
C: ___  Michael Voss ___
HF: Allan Ruthven  ___ Alex Jesaulenko
FF: ___ ___  Peter Daicos
R: ___ ___ ___
I/C: Robert Walls ___ ___

[BratPack]

Going to throw up a little bit of a smokey here. I'll pick Darren Millane

[AFEV]

Going to throw up a little bit of a smokey here. I'll pick Darren Millane

Interesting pick! Weren't confident he'd make it to your second pick?

[DazBurg]

ok for my double pick

Syd Coventry

Originally from Diamond Creek, Syd Coventry journeyed across the Bass Strait after the first world war to work in the mines at Queenstown, taking with him a reputation as a fine footballer. While still in Queenstown he was approached by St Kilda who wanted him to play for them in 1921. Syd duly agreed, but when he returned to Melbourne he was persuaded by his younger brother Gordon, who had just finished his first season with Collingwood, to reconsider. Apart from the issue of family loyalty, there was the small matter of the excessive distance between Diamond Creek and St Kilda to think of.

The upshot of it all was that Syd Coventry elected to throw in his lot with Collingwood, whereupon St Kilda, not surprisingly, screamed "foul!" The VFL Permits Committee was called in to adjudicate, and Coventry was faced with the choice of playing with St Kilda, or sitting out of football for twelve months so that he could join the Woods. He opted for the latter course of action, and in 1922 he started out on an illustrious thirteen season, 227 game league career with Collingwood.

Despite standing only 180cm in height, Syd Coventry played mainly as a ruckman, where his aggression, vigour and dynamism more than compensated for any deficiency in stature. A born leader, he captained the Magpies from 1927 until he moved to Footscray as coach at the end of the 1934 season. He thus enjoyed the unique privilege of captaining four successive VFL premiership teams.

Often at his best when the going was rough, one of Syd Coventry's finest performances came on a waterlogged MCG in the 1927 grand final, when Collingwood and Richmond between them could manage only three goals for the match. The 1927 season also saw him win both the Brownlow Medal and Collingwood's best and fairest award. He repeated the second achievement five years later.

A virtual ever-present in VFL representative teams for most of his career, Coventry made a total of 27 interstate appearances. His eventual departure from Victoria Park to coach Footscray came with the blessing of the Collingwood committee, but only on the proviso that he did not continue as a player.

After two unsuccessful and unhappy years with Footscray, Syd Coventry returned to Collingwood in an administrative capacity. He served as club vice-president from 1939 to 1949, and as president between 1950 and 1962. From 1963 until 1976 he was Collingwood's patron, rounding off more than fifty years of involvement with the club.



    Collingwood premiership captain 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930
    Collingwood Team of the Century, captain
    Brownlow Medal 1927
    Collingwood captain 1927â€"1934
    Copeland Trophy 1927, 1932

and
Bob rose

Bob Rose made a sterling contribution to the Collingwood Football Club for much of his adult life. As a player he was tough, powerful, quick, well balanced and highly skilled. He won a then unprecedented four Copeland trophies for the club's best and fairest player in 1949 and from 1951-3, played 15 consecutive interstate matches for the VFL, was chosen in the inaugural All Australian team in 1953, and was a member that same year of the Magpies' winning grand final team against Geelong.

His extraordinary toughness was a legacy of his notorious side-line as a prize fighter, in which he enjoyed a fair amount of success. A superb drop kick, he was said to rove "like a ruckman" (see footnote 1), and often sustained needless injuries by preferring to crash through packs rather than dodge his way out of trouble.

After leaving Collingwood, Bob Rose enjoyed an auspicious seven season career as captaincoach of Ovens and Murray League side Wangaratta Rovers, winning two Morris Medals for the best and fairest player in the competition, as well as four club champion awards. He also steered the team to four grand finals for two wins.

Rose returned to coach Collingwood for eight years from 1964 but, despite having many fine players available to him, had to endure the heartache of three losing grand finals. Between 1972 and 1975 he was coach of Footscray, and in 1974 steered the Bulldogs into their first finals series in twelve years.

With Collingwood in dire trouble financially he returned briefly as coach in 1985 in a bid to 'steady the ship'. After a horror start to the 1986 season, however, he handed over the reins to his acolyte, Leigh Matthews, who would go on to mastermind the club's first flag for three decades.

Bob Rose continued to have an impact on the club behind the scenes, and his importance to Collingwood goes well beyond the overt achievements listed here.


    Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee, 1996
    All-Australian 1953
    Sports Life Team Of The Year 1951-52-53-54
    Runner-up Brownlow Medal 1953
    Collingwood best and fairest 1949, 1951-52-53
    Collingwood leading goalkicker 1953
    Collingwood Team of the Century (centre)
    AFLPA Award for Most Courageous Player named in his honour

Edit: Syd may have plyed alot in ruck but putting him in back pocket just like his name din collingwood team of century

[BratPack]

Len Thompson

[Ringo]

Need to start getting some backs so will choose Nathan Buckley on the half back line.

One of the all-time greats of the game and arguably the best ever to pull on the black and white stripes, Buckley’s record speaks for itself. Six Copeland Trophies (1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003), a Brownlow Medal (2003), Norm Smith Medal (2003) and seven-time All-Australian (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003). Became the club's most capped skipper when he led the Magpies for the 154th time in the thrilling round 21 victory over Port in 2006. Came to the club in 1994 after one season with Brisbane and immediately stamped his brilliance on the club, tying with Gavin Brown for the first of his best-and-fairest awards, and setting the tone for a brilliant career with Collingwood after one season with Brisbane. Named at half back flank in Collingwoods Team of the Century

Team Structure:
FB: ___ _____  ___
HB: ___ ______ Nathan Buckley
C: ___  Michael Voss ___
HF: Allan Ruthven  ___ Alex Jesaulenko
FF: ___ ___  Peter Daicos
R: ___ ___ ___
I/C: Robert Walls ___ ___

[AFEV]

Surprised this bloke made it back to me. Albert Collier, one of the great centre half backs who played in one of (if not the) greatest teams of all time.



B: _______, Geoff Southby, _______
HB: _______, Albert Collier, Bruce Doull
C: _______, _______, _______
HF: _______, Bernie Quinlan, _______
F: Jack Moriarty, Gordon Coventry, _______

[Boomz]

Dick Lee
One of the first of the game's truly great full forwards, Walter 'Dick' Lee's VFL career spanned 230 games over 17 seasons and spawned 707 goals. The last of those 707 goals came with Lee's final kick in League football, in Collingwood's losing 1922 challenge final against Fitzroy. Small (175cm) and lightweight (70kg) by the standards of modern full forwards Lee was nevertheless a commanding figure on the ground, and "matched spectacular, high-flying aerobatics with superb ground-level skills and unerring accuracy in front of goal, whether by punt or place kick". Testimony to this accuracy is afforded by the tale that Lee was a frequent visitor to an amusement hall which had a game which required participants to kick at a target from various difficult angles; in the end, the proprietors allegedly had to bar Lee from participating owing to his near faultless proficiency.

Perhaps more than any other leading club, Collingwood has a tradition of producing full forwards of the highest quality - a tradition which originated almost a century ago with a lightweight place kicking genius whose exploits arguably did more than those of any one else to transform full forward into the glamorous, distinctive position it remains to this day.

FB: ___ ___ ___
HB: ___ Paul Roos ___
C: ___ Greg Williams ___
HF: Garry Wilson ___ Craig Bradley
FF: Dick Lee ___ ___
R: ___ ___ ___
I/C: ___ ___ ___

[AFEV]

I'll take Dick Reynolds.

[Ringo]

Will stitch up a Ruckmen with Simon Madden

One of the greatest ruckmen to play the game, he played in the last six games in 1974, slotting into the team as a forward pocket and relief ruckman and delighted fans with his big marking and goalkicking. He kicked 18 goals and won the best first year player award.

By the time he was twenty-two he was captain of Essendon, replacing Ken Fletcher. But a succession of injuries and illness sapped his strength and stamina in his first year as skipper and after a disappointing year in 1981 he was replaced as captain.

Madden holds the games record at Windy Hill 378 â€" and also holds the goals record of 575. He won Essendon's best and fairest award in 1977, 1979, 1983 and 1984 and finished third in the award in 1978. Only Dick Reynolds and Bill Hutchison have collected the best and fairest more times. He headed the Dons' goalkickers in 1980 with 45 goals and in 1982 with 49 goals. He was second top in 1977, 1979 and 1981 and third top in 1976 and 1978.

He finished third in the Medal in 1983 with 22 votes and was also the Dons' top vote scorer in 1977 with 24 votes and in 1984 with 14 votes. He was in the ruck in the 1984 and 1985 premiership teams and he won the Norm Smith Medal for being best on the ground in the 1985 flag.

He was also on the interchange bench and captain of the 1981 night premiership team and was in the ruck in the 1984 night premiership team. He has always had difficulty adjusting to night conditions because he wears contact lenses.

He was chosen in the interstate team in 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1987. This is the equal fourth most interstate years of any Essendon player. He played in nine interstate games. He was chosen in the All Australian team in 1983, 1984 and 1987.

Team Structure:
FB: ___ _____  ___
HB: ___ ______ Nathan Buckley
C: ___  Michael Voss ___
HF: Allan Ruthven  ___ Alex Jesaulenko
FF: ___ ___  Peter Daicos
R:Simon Madden  ___ ___
I/C: Robert Walls ___ ___

[BratPack]

Wow. I really wasn't expecting him to fall to me at #3. But I'll take John Coleman with many thanks