Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
James John Bradford

Known as
Jim Bradford

Nickname
Mighty Mouse, Nipper

Born
2 March 1926

Died
8 March 2005 (aged 79)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 17y 116d
Last game: 23y 103d

Height and weight
Height: 155 cm
Weight: 53 kg

Senior clubs
Collingwood; Camberwell; North Melbourne; West Torrens

Jumper numbers
Collingwood: 14
North Melbourne: 15

Recruited from
Collingwood (1945); Camberwell (1949); North Melbourne (1950)

Jim Bradford

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
CollingwoodV/AFL19437162.2929%0
CamberwellVFA1945-1948761692.22
North MelbourneV/AFL1949980.8967%0
West TorrensSANFL1950-1954761972.59
V/AFL1943, 194916241.5050%0
VFA1945-1948761692.22
SANFL1950-1954761972.59
Total1943, 1945-19541683902.32

AFL: 5,214th player to appear, 7,107th most games played, 3,354th most goals kickedCollingwood: 467th player to appear, 805th most games played, 357th most goals kickedNorth Melbourne: 409th player to appear, 643rd most games played, 389th most goals kicked

Fatuously, but perhaps a tad evocatively, nicknamed either 'Mighty Mouse' or 'Nipper', West Torrens' diminutive goal kicking rover Jim Bradford was a real crowd pleaser over the course of 76 league games between 1950 and 1954. He booted a total of 197 goals during that time, including a club list-topping 52 (jointly with John Willis) in 1951. 

Bradford began his senior career with Collingwood where he managed seven VFL games and 16 goals in 1943. Bradford then spent the four year period from 1945 to 1948 with VFA side Camberwell,winning consecutive club best and fairest awards in 1945-6, and starring in the 1946 Grand Final, in which the 'Wells lost to Sandringham by seven points. His VFA career comprised 76 games and saw him kick 169 goals. 

In 1949 he added another nine VFL games, and eight goals, with North Melbourne, but it is for his stints at Camberwell and West Torrens that he deserves to be best remembered. "About the goal front he was the quickest ever," opined Jeff Pash. "When he was in motion every hair lay along the line of his flight."¹ When Camberwell announced its official 'Team of the Century 1884 to 1994' in 2003, 'Nipper' Bradford was named as first rover.

Author - John Devaney

Footnotes

  1. The Pash Papers by Jeff Pash, page 82.

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.