The 12 VFL personalities of 1949
"I want you to write up the personalities of the League for the season, and you will have to watch your step, because I'm going to turn our team of football writers on to you to criticise your selections."
That is what the News Editor hurled at me, so, feeling a bit like the Christmas goose, I now proceed to put my neck out, hoping for the best, but fearful of whet might happen to me.
Here are my selections, and I will then explain why I have chosen these 12 players:
JOHN COLEMAN (Essendon)
ERN HENFRY (Carlton)
RON CLEGG (Sth Melb)
LES FOOTE (Nth Melb)
JIM ROSS (St Kilda)
COL AUSTEN (Hawthorn)
LOU RICHARDS (Collingwood)
REG NICHOLLS (Fitzroy)
CHARLIE SUTTON (Footscray)
BOB DAVIS (Geelong)
GEORGE BICKFORD (Melb)
JACK DYER (Richmond)
If you analyse this list you will find that it does not correspond altogether with Brownlow Medal voting, or club best and fairest players. It certainly gives my office critics something to work on, but I think I can justify it.
Taking football as a game, it is the personalities that make it. I know dozens of people who went to the first semi-final to see JOHN COLEMAN in action. If I know dozens, it is safe to say that hundreds, possibly thousands, went for the same reason. See what I mean? That is why young John is first on my list. Of course a full forward cannot begin to function until his team mates give him the opportunities, but don't you feel that there is something thrilling in the way a full forward manoeuvres for position to outwit the full back; something exciting in the way he files through the air to take a finger-tip mark; something exhilarating in the sight of the ball going through the two goal posts? For years we have missed a glamorous full forward. In fact, we have had no one in that category since the days of Gordon Coventry, Bob Pratt and Ron Todd. That is why Coleman has been so acclaimed.
Next on my list is ERN HENFRY, the Carlton captain, who played such a great part in helping his team to beat North Melbourne in the sensational semi-final. Ern played two games for Carlton during the war, when he was on service here with a West Australian crowd of Air Force chaps. His play, and his demeanour, so impressed Carlton officials that they marked him out immediately as a captain of the future. It took them some time to get him to Victoria, but he played his next game in 1947 and it was as captain. He led his team to the premiership, too. Isn't that something? Apart from his shrewdness as a leader Ern is probably the best centre man in the League, and his ability to squirm out of crushes and direct the ball accurately to the forwards makes him extremely valuable.
RON CLEGG must be high on the list. The Brownlow Medal for best and fairest player in the whole of the League is not given as a prize for a good boy-it is hard to win and only a star can win it. Ron is a real personality-and looks it, too. To win such an award when aged only 20, and to be almost a veteran at that age, shows the ability of the man. Moreover, he will go to higher things.
LES FOOTE, the young North Melbourne captain, makes mistakes, but at least he is the positive type of player-the type that can lift a team out of the rut and send it on its way to a premiership. There is no more enthusiastic player than Les and he just loves the game. One does not need to ask him that-it is evident in every move on the field. I sometimes think Les would give better service to North if he were not captain. He is so keen to urge his players on that he seems to forget his own play, which means such a lot to his team. Few men in the game have so much natural talent for the game. It is really intriguing to see how he can twist and turn out of trouble. Of course he gets caught, they all do in similar situations, but he is still able to do a lot of damage.
You will remember that during the season South Melbourne thought that JIM ROSS, the St Kilda ruck man, should really have played with South Melbourne. There was talk of the League taking action, but it all fizzled out, and Ross remained to give the Saints a great season. He is a beautifully built boy, and is destined to be a great club man. As a ruck man he has a bit of bother in coping with the Howells, the Cordners, and other ruck men who are 6ft 3in to 6ft 4in, but, nevertheless, he has done a real job for his team.
At Hawthorn COL AUSTEN is called the "Rock of Gibraltar." He is small as defenders go, but he is solidly built, and has all the dash and judgment needed in the job. He, and all club supporters, were greatly disappointed at the result of the Brownlow Medal voting. He tied for first place with Ron Clegg, but, because Ron had six first votes and Col had only five, Ron got the award.
LOU RICHARDS has been a great player for Collingwood, and is always a source of inspiration. One of the unlucky players of the season, his injury kept him out of lots of games, including the semi-final, and his absence meant much to his team. Both as a rover and a forward he has the capacity to lift the game. His presence on the forward line usually gives opposing defenders the jitters, because he is as elusive as a mosquito, and his sting is even more deadly. Few players are better at snapping goals, and some of his efforts have been most spectacular.
REG NICHOLLS was such a good full back for Fitzroy that selectors felt he could play anywhere, so Reg was picked for the hot-spots. He could be centre half back one week, and the next would find him in attack, trying to cover the absence through injury of Eddie Hart. While I feel that Reg did his best work in defending the goal, he also did a job wherever placed.
Another pocket Hercules is CHARLIE SUTTON, a rugged defender from Footscray. Charlie has the reputation of hitting opponents hard as he dashes through with the ball but he has great ball control and balance, and all the determination in the world. He has done a good job, too, when he has been playing for Victoria.
BOB DAVIS, the well-built Geelong half-forward, is not the best player on the ground in every match, but he is one of the best in the League in his particular position. He has had little experience, and his form thus early in his career indicates that Geelong will get much useful service from this 5ft 11 in, 13 1/2st boy from Golden Point. This year—his second—saw him chosen to play for Victoria in Sydney, so he has taken little time to break into the big stuff.
When Melbourne was making a bold bid for the semi-finals, after an awful start, much of the drive was coming from cheery GEORGE BICKFORD, the tall centre, who came from Wesley College to join Melbourne in 1946. George is a nice mover, but his aerial ascendancy over most of his opponents gives him a great advantage. His capacity does not end there, however, as he can put the ball down the throat of his forwards.
For sheer inspiration and leadership few players can approach JACK DYER, who. has announced his retirement after having played 310 games for Richmond. This is a new League record, just passing the years old record of Gordon Coventry, the former Collingwood goal-kicking wizard. Dyer, big in his frame and big in his outlook, does not say to his teammates, "Do as I tell you." He says "Do as I do," and when a strong man game is needed, Jack is the boy to show how it is done. I have seen him grassed on various occasions, but he just gets up again, shakes him self, and goes on with the game.
Other football writers have their say
Football writers, like doctors, it seems, do not always agree, far from it. On page 2 Percy Taylor sets out his 12 best VFL personalities. In their opinions given below other argus football writers agree with him up to a point and then proceed to disagree, with much enthusiasm.
Nigel Balfe says:
Probably you're right, Perce, when you name Coleman, Clegg, Foote, Ross, Austen, and Dyer, but after that I think you're a bit off the beam. For instance, why Lou Richards at Collingwood? He's a great footballer, but what about Phonse Kyne? He's the man who gets the big cheers from Collingwood's barrackers. They know just what he means to his side, and they show it with their roar of "Phonse!" every time he goes for the ball.
When you name Ern Hentry as Carlton's "personality" you have chosen one of the greatest players in League football. But, for all his neatness, do you think he is as much a personality as "Chook" Howell? I don't.
Geelong and Fitzroy are problems. Davis, your selection at Geelong, has everything a footballer needs. But Geelong also has Lindsay White and Fred Flanagan. Maybe you ruled out White because injuries kept him out of a lot of games this season, but why rule out Flanagan? Perhaps Davis does lift the morale of his team, but I don't think he can lift it as high as Flanagan.
The same applies to Fitzroy. If you ruled out Eddie Hart because he also missed games, you may be right in selecting Reg Nicholls. If you didn't, well, you and I disagree. Hart's the man they go for at Fitzroy.
George Bickford, at Melbourne, is another selection I can't pass. I have seen Bickford play some great games, but I don't think he can make the stands at the MCG react in the same way as "the Doc" Don Cordner is the glamour boy at Melbourne.
Footscray's selection is a neck-and-neck struggle between Sutton and Arthur Olliver. I think Sutton is a certainty to be the man soon, but this year I'm not so sure. Olliver means a lot to Footscray, and the fans will hate to see him go.
Bill Cust says:
Yes, Percy Taylor, I like your choice of Coleman, Clegg, Foote, Ross, Austen, and Dyer, and, I'll grant you, most of the others named are hard to beat, but haven't you forgotten Carlton's "Chook" Howell and Phonse Kyne of Collingwood?
For sheer brilliance and levelheadedness, Ern Henfry probably has no rival, but I can't say I have heard him draw the ooh's and ah's which "Chook" seems always to extract from Carlton's many female followers. If it's personality we want, I'll put my faith in a woman's judgment and go for Howell.
Kyne is different. He, like Jack Dyer, is an institution. He grew up in the Collingwood club, eventually to become a highly respected and popular player-leader, and he can be a match winner, too, veteran though he is. Phonse went into the game a gentleman, and he'll finish that way. I cannot agree that Lou Richards is a personality in the same sense as Kyne, although I do admit he's a "tiger" and a wonderful player, whose loyalty to Collingwood is matched only by that of his captain.
Whenever Fitzroy is mentioned I think of Eddie Hart; at Footscray Arthur Olliver is first in my mind, and at Geelong, it must be Lindsay White. So, Percy, I'll give my personality votes to these three, disregarding the fact that Hart and White have been unfortunate this season with injuries.
And, at Melbourne, I will go for the handsome medico, Don Cordner, remembering his leadership of the team in last year's spectacular rise to an unexpected premiership. If Don isn't a personality, then my face is red. I've missed the meaning.
Jack Cannon says:
My 12 personality players would be Dick Reynolds (Essendon), Jack Howell (Carlton), Ron Clegg (South Melbourne), Les Foote (North Melbourne), Jim Ross (St Kilda), Alex Albiston (Hawthorn), Phonse Kyne (Collingwood), Eddie Hart (Fitzroy), Arthur Olliver (Footscray), Lindsay White (Geelong), Bob McKenzie (Melbourne), and Jack Dyer ( Richmond ).
The only players on Percy's list who would get my vote are: Ron Clegg, Les Foote, Jack Dyer, and Jim Ross.
John Coleman is a "red-hot" player, and full forwards like him are the answer to any football fan's dream. However, when Percy Taylor selects him as the idol of the Essendon crowd I think he has made a mistake. Surely he has overlooked Dick Reynolds, the Essendon champion of the past and present. "King Richard" is still the top man at Essendon, and every time he runs on to the ground or gets near the ball the cry of "Dickie" echoes from all parts of the crowd. Reynolds has been the hero at Essendon for too long to be displaced by Coleman in one season.
Jack Howell is to Carlton what Jack Dyer was once to Richmond. He is one of the few men in League football who can completely dominate a game. I am sure that Howell is the glamour boy at Carlton, despite skipper Henfry's brilliance and wonderful leadership.
Bald-headed Alex Albiston, the Hawthorn skipper, has never played a bad game in his life, and he is the whole inspiration of his young side. His team mate Austen is a fine player, as illustrated by his Brownlow Medal voting, but the local fans know that "Old Alex" has moulded most of the Hawks' stars.
Most Collingwood supporters regret that their team is no longer the "Magpie machine" that won its way to glory a few years back. The only member of the old brigade still playing is Phonse Kyne, and he, in my opinion, is the top man with Collingwood fans. He is the brains of the side, and I have never seen him beaten. Percy must realise that Lou Richards would not get many kicks if he did not have Kyne to hand feed him.
I cannot imagine why Percy Taylor has not mentioned Lindsay White. He, more than any other League player, is the limelight figure of his side. Geelong without White would be like the Liberal Party without Mr. Menzies.
Peter Golding says:
Having heard the crowd scream "Chooker" whenever he goes within 100 yards of the ball, I must go for Howell as Carlton's ace drawcard and personality man. Seventy per cent of Carlton supporters wouldn't see Henfry if Howell was in the same part of the ground.
I like your selection of Coleman, undoubtedly the League's 1949 glamour boy for Essendon; Ross for St Kilda; Clegg for South; Foote for North (although Dynon comes in for his share of the bouquets); Austen for the Hawks; and, of course, I couldn't go past Dyer for Richmond. But, after that, I don't agree with you any more.
Have you ever heard the Collingwood crowd yell "Phonse," as though Kyne could handle any ten of his opponents? He's my pick for Collingwood. Lou Richards is a drawcard, certainly, but no more so than his brother or half a dozen others in the team.
Nicholls could be right for Fitzroy at that, but what about Ruthven? Surely, he shares equal honours, at least.
Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I'll stick to Olliver for Footscray. He still raises the blood pressure as he used to, and even if some of the cries thrown in his direction are not so complimentary, he is still the boy the crowd likes to watch.
I'll pass Davis for Geelong and put my faith in White or Flanagan. Flanagan has had a big boost this year, so he might win on points, but if White had been on the field a bit more he would have been right there, too. I think the absence of White from the team is talked about more than the presence of Davis.
I like "Doc" Don Cordner for Melbourne (and if I had to look for the next favourite I'd pick brother Denis).
Footnotes
Title: Percy Taylor Picks His "12 Best" VFL Personalities Author: Percy Taylor Publisher: The Argus (Melbourne, Victoria, 1848-1957) Date: Saturday, 24 September 1949 (Supplement, p.3) Web: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22781066 Web: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22781069
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