Wayne Schwass

[desie]

A long time favourite of mine. Should be in the Hall of Fame - amazed he's never suggested. He was winning B&Fs at a time Carey was at his peak, regular State of Origin player, Premiership player, another B&F at the Swans, nearly 300 games, fantastic player. And, if the "shit bloke after he's retired" rule has kept Ablett and Carey from Legend status, and others from being in the Hall of Fame at all, then Schwatta's charity work should elevate him.

Whilst Stevens, Bell and Archer are all worthy, I'd argue Schwass was the second best NMFC player through the 90s and therefore deserves a place as much as them.

He absolutely should be.

So should Johnny Blakey btw - I get he wasn’t the flashiest player of all time but how someone who’s in the top 20 of AFL games played isn’t in the Hall of Fame is beyond me.

 

[northbergs]

A long time favourite of mine. Should be in the Hall of Fame - amazed he's never suggested. He was winning B&Fs at a time Carey was at his peak, regular State of Origin player, Premiership player, another B&F at the Swans, nearly 300 games, fantastic player. And, if the "shit bloke after he's retired" rule has kept Ablett and Carey from Legend status, and others from being in the Hall of Fame at all, then Schwatta's charity work should elevate him.

Whilst Stevens, Bell and Archer are all worthy, I'd argue Schwass was the second best NMFC player through the 90s and therefore deserves a place as much as them.

Carey, McKernan, Schwass - the 3 most important players in the 94-97 period.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Marstermind]

I'd perhaps rate him 3rd after Wayne and Corey, but I have no doubt that he was a champion.

I realise that Schwatta was happy to go to Sydney, and that Grant was an excellent player for us, but I would have preferred that we kept him.

If Corey was a Premiership player (as he is), Brownlow Medalist (as he nearly was), a Norm Smith Medalist (as he nearly was) and a Rising Star winner (as he nearly was) would he be in the Hall of Fame already? No player has won all four and Corey missed three by a whisker and achieved the fourth.

Having watched the 1996 Grand Final 100 times, as much as I love Arch, Corey should have won the medal that day. The suspension that cost him the Rising Star should never have been and the rule was changed. The suspension that cost him the Brownlow was clumsy but not malicious.

But I'd still have Schwatta ahead. After 1996 Corey ran hot and cold a bit. Incredible at his best, frustrating at worst. Schwatta showed up most weeks, nice mix of class and campaigner (watch him clean up Peter Dean in the 1995 PF - perfectly legal in those days- "great finals football!" says Drew Morphett).

I've heard him say that staying at North wasn't an option after 1997. He was struggling with his mental health, he needed to get out of Melbourne, his relationship with Pagan wasn't strong. He has said he was "spiritually bankrupt" and suicidal at the time. Watch the 1996 presentation - his teammates rush to the podium, Wayne gets jostled to the back and he just shrugs as if to say 'why bother'.

For us, we got 240+ games, a Norm Smith, a B&F, all-Australian and a premiership from Grant. Schwatta got another B&F ,his only AA and some happiness in Sydney, whilst never dissing North Melbourne or the people there at the time for his depression. It was just about the best ever win-win trade.

 

[franjon]

That didn’t help but it was a mutual decision. Swatta's mental health wasn't the best at the time and the Pagan relationship had pretty much reached its end, similar to Corey Mckernan a bit later on. A fresh start was needed and there were no hard feelings.

And Corey finishes up back at North, which I thought was the right decision. He's a North Melbourne person. It would have been pretty ordinary to watch him play out his career somewhere else, and he turned it on against Sydney in Archers 250th. There were flashbacks of the Corey of years gone by. Sorry to derail the Wayne Schwass thread.

 

[leighlee13]

It wasn’t me

Did you pay the $20 to get the photo with the Gold Cup?

Seemed a bit much at the time but it’s been worth every cent since and sits proudly above my computer with me and Schwatta

I had a good mop of hair back then.

Good to know ha ha. I certainly did but mine was with Stuart Anderson. Still have it safely packed away as I recently moved. My hair was a horrendous bob at the time (what was I thinking) but Stuart looking fine takes the focus off me!!!

 

[franjon]

Good to know ha ha. I certainly did but mine was with Stuart Anderson. Still have it safely packed away as I recently moved. My hair was a horrendous bob at the time (what was I thinking) but Stuart looking fine takes the focus off me!!!

Stuart Anderson?

The guy who shouldn't have replaced Matty Armstrong in the 1996 GF

 

[Marstermind]

It wasn’t me

Did you pay the $20 to get the photo with the Gold Cup?

Seemed a bit much at the time but it’s been worth every cent since and sits proudly above my computer with me and Schwatta

I had a good mop of hair back then.

My photo with the gold cup from Luna Park still sits pride of place on the shelf. Aside from anything else, it's one of the best photos of me ever taken - I was 24, thin with a good crop of black hair - it was the one back in the day I'd send in chat rooms to girls when they'd ask for a photo and A/S/L!!!!

My oldest son is 18. How I'd love to recreate the photo in 6 years. He'll be thin, 24, good crop of black hair. I'm thicker, older, with a good crop of grey.

 

[franjon]

My hazy memory recalls Swatta got reported/suspended in a final and cost us a flag, that was why we got rid of him.

It didn't really cost us the flag, we were hamstrung from the first game (I knew it was going to be a bad night given the parking) against Melbourne when Carey went down and even though he played the next week Corey had a crook knee. We were lucky that we were a top side and that we managed through to a Preliminary final, but St.Kilda had belted us twice that year, fortunately we altered the result, in a big way in '98.

 

[ferball]

I recommend watching this video while listening to Primal Scream sing Come Together.

 

[Gasometer]

My photo with the gold cup from Luna Park still sits pride of place on the shelf. Aside from anything else, it's one of the best photos of me ever taken - I was 24, thin with a good crop of black hair - it was the one back in the day I'd send in chat rooms to girls when they'd ask for a photo and A/S/L!!!!

My oldest son is 18. How I'd love to recreate the photo in 6 years. He'll be thin, 24, good crop of black hair. I'm thicker, older, with a good crop of grey.

I am tipping that photo will cost you $200 next time around but it will be worth every cent

 

[Gasometer]

Reckon you must be happy he is gone!!
Though.. would be nice to bring back Schwass


Go Roos

Watever happened to you

 

[Marstermind]

I am tipping that photo will cost you $200 next time around but it will be worth every cent

It'll be priceless.

Hopefully when North Melbourne win their 5th premiership, I'll be sitting between my sons somewhere in the MCG and reminding them that I said it would all be worth it. If not, that they'd raise a glass for me, shed a tear that I wasn't there, thank me for making them true Shinboners and partying hard that night.

 

[Gasometer]

It'll be priceless.

Hopefully when North Melbourne win their 5th premiership, I'll be sitting between my sons somewhere in the MCG and reminding them that I said it would all be worth it. If not, that they'd raise a glass for me, shed a tear that I wasn't there, thank me for making them true Shinboners and partying hard that night.

Geezus look it’s just dust in my eye ffs

 

[Shermanator]

Hopefully when North Melbourne win their 5th premiership, I'll be sitting between my sons somewhere in the MCG and reminding them that I said it would all be worth it. If not, that they'd raise a glass for me, shed a tear that I wasn't there, thank me for making them true Shinboners and partying hard that night.

I’m sure you’ll still be around in 2028 MM

 

[Devil Fish]

Ball-carrying, line-breaking, booming left foot midfielder who could hit the scoreboard.
Been a while since we’ve had one of those.

 

[Teen Wolf]

It's not like they've stopped inducting players from the '90s. Whether he should already be in is highly debatable, unlike whether he should get in at some point. Still an illustrious waiting list for that era, and my guess is the next 5 are:

Couch, Paul (1x Brownlow, 2x AA, 3x club B&F)

Lynch, Alastair (1x AA, 1x club B&F, 306 games, 633 goals, 3x premierships)

Lyon, Garry (5x AA, 2x club B&F)

Modra, Anthony (1x Coleman, 2x AA, 588 goals)

Schwass, Wayne (1x AA, 3x club B&F, 1x premiership)

(stats/awards shown are VFL/AFL only)