I remember when Swans finally got him to go up to Perth and he kicked 10 in a pre-season game. 2 weeks later he said "bugger this for a game of soldiers" and was back at Kelly Park where he kicked a squillion. Sure could play.
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AFLW 2024 - Round 10 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Your favourite all time player never to play AFL / VFL
- Thread starter moses
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Somehow, in 1973, during a trip across the continent, I managed to fit in a game played by Robran, after he came back from his knee injury, in the SANFL. He kicked eight goals from CHF, nearly all of them from outside 50. Extraordinary! And it wasn't even him at his best. I saw a highlights video a mate had a few years later. Robran was as good as Quinlan. I can give no higher praise than that.
honkster7
Senior List
Just like to add my favorite Royal to the mix , Stephen Curtis .
also honorable mentions , Square Kilmurray , Derek Chadwick .
other West Aussie's , Stephen Michael was the best ever , used to go watch South's just to see him ,
Stan Nowotony , Panizza , and for some reason i think big Mick Rea , full forward from Perth Demons
would of gone alright , he was like the West Aussie version of Plugger .
also honorable mentions , Square Kilmurray , Derek Chadwick .
other West Aussie's , Stephen Michael was the best ever , used to go watch South's just to see him ,
Stan Nowotony , Panizza , and for some reason i think big Mick Rea , full forward from Perth Demons
would of gone alright , he was like the West Aussie version of Plugger .
honkster7
Senior List
Well I'll be buggered , Big Mick Rea played 3 games for the Melbourne Demons , my own side , now who feels
like a dick . And he's Victorian to boot , if he couldn't get into the Melbourne side in 1978 he mustn't
have been much chop .
like a dick . And he's Victorian to boot , if he couldn't get into the Melbourne side in 1978 he mustn't
have been much chop .
Barrie Robran from SA and Stephen Michael from WA are the two best players never to play VFL/AFL. Not sure why either one of them didn't do it, Geelong tried real hard for both of them and almost had Michael at one point locked in the early 80's. He completely dominated WA football for many years, he would've have won Geelong a flag in 1980 or 1981 had he gone there. Robran was another who almost went to the Cats, he was a natural talent and humble man who just liked playing football in SA. He was never that interested in moving, dickie knees might have prevented him going, but he also played at a time when many great SA players simply never made the move to Victoria. The SANFL was always a strong league, but it took the signing of Diamond Jim Tilbrook (who failed) and then South Australia's best player at the time Malcolm Blight to begin many a move for some of SA's great players. Those early state Of Origin matches against SA are some of the best games ever played, it cannot be repeated now due to the national competition, but for those not old enough to remember this is how State Of Origin began, it was not a Northern thing, it was the rivalry between SA and Victoria. NSW And QLD adopted it and made it their own, it's pretty much all they have going for them in the NRL.
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Great post!
I would like to see Adelaide Oval place a bronze statue of Robran at the oval, as they have with some of our cricketing greats. It's awesome to see all the statues around the MCG, something i think the Adelaide Oval should also do (Tony Modra being unveiled at the first game in 2014 ;-) )
@Matt_nichols
Great post
Would love to see someone take a punt on Weekes,who knows what he could be if put in a professional afl environment
The best country footballer I've ever seen was Bendigo league legend Derick Filo, strong as an ox , all the skills and I reckon he would have made it. Played about 4 thousand games in the Bendigo league and was a collosus, and a brilliant coach too
Years ago there was also a kid at Golden Square called Nathan Brown who won the u18 medal who wasn't too shabby but he shared the award with a teammate in that side who's surname I think was Jacobs ( ! ) who was a mountain of a kid but I never knew what became of him, was the best junior I ever played against
But Filo was the man
Great post
Would love to see someone take a punt on Weekes,who knows what he could be if put in a professional afl environment
The best country footballer I've ever seen was Bendigo league legend Derick Filo, strong as an ox , all the skills and I reckon he would have made it. Played about 4 thousand games in the Bendigo league and was a collosus, and a brilliant coach too
Years ago there was also a kid at Golden Square called Nathan Brown who won the u18 medal who wasn't too shabby but he shared the award with a teammate in that side who's surname I think was Jacobs ( ! ) who was a mountain of a kid but I never knew what became of him, was the best junior I ever played against
But Filo was the man
The Falcon Strike
Hall of Famer
From memory he kicked 30 goals in 3 games in that pre-season.
Problem with Kurnut - he was just as likely to go pigshooting as he was to turn up to a game.
Still, as a young boy growing up in Bunbury - he was my first hero. The speccies he would take most weeks were awesome.
In my time - Brad Smith of Subiaco. Gun goal kicker. Spent 2 seasons on the Eagles list but never played.
Dudley Leopard
All Australian
Benny Vigona from South Freo had rare natural ability. Think of Derek Kickett.
In Alan East's book The Sandover Medal Men, he asks Stephen Michael why he never played VFL, and without having the book in front of me, the gist of the piece was that he may have signed a Form Four with Geelong, and that they flew him and the family over there to show him around Kardinia Park. The weather was horrible, and the BBQ they threw for him had to be held undercover.
Michael basically said "why would I want to go play in a place where the weather was so bad that you can't have a BBQ outside?"
Michael basically said "why would I want to go play in a place where the weather was so bad that you can't have a BBQ outside?"
2 knee reconstructions in 2005 and 2006. Kicked 83 goals for Subi in 2003, 109 in 2004, then came back after two years out and kicked 126.42 in 2007, 110.50 in 2008 and then 52.36 in his last season in 2009.
Given our lack of forward strength in 2005, you can only wonder how the season would have gone if Smith was fit and in the forward line. He was 194cm and weighed just under 100kg. Was a very good shot at goal (as evidenced by his 126.42 in 2007), and would have had a midfield of Cousins, Kerr and Judd delivering the ball down his throat. I'm not saying he would have kicked 100 goals or won the Coleman, but even if he'd kicked 50 goals that year... it's one of the great WCE "what ifs" of all time.
Jack_the_Ninja
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Brad Smith
http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/p...ry/past/season/2012/selected/bio/default.aspx
We would of won a couple of more flags in that 04-07 era with him playing at FF, he kept on doing his cruciate ligaments.
http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/p...ry/past/season/2012/selected/bio/default.aspx
We would of won a couple of more flags in that 04-07 era with him playing at FF, he kept on doing his cruciate ligaments.
Barrie Robran, AFL Hall of Fame Legend. I think that probably says it all. Some reckon he was the greatest ever - better even than Carey, Matthews and Ablett. That point may be debatable, but the fact he is considered in that company speaks volumes.
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Darren Winter, Ricky O'Toole, John Albon, plenty of North Shore guns from the 70s and 80s.
Was that the same Stephen Curtis who played at the Port Adelaide Magpies? Nuggety rover who played with a helmet?
If so he was a good player who was bloody hard at it IIRC - possible that he played his best footy back west as I think he was late 20s/early 30s by the time he played in the SANFL.
willoblue
Club Legend
we used to call Stephen Curtis "Fancy Pants" for the way he seemed to prance around, but he was a good back pocket, better than Ross Gibbs at the time, but they were both behind Rod Barrett in my opinion.
Garry McIntosh and Michael Aish.
Same one. One of the youngest blokes to have played 200 games in the WAFL and then headed for the SANFL. According to the WA Football Register at the time, his preferred club was Centrals, but ended up a PAFC.
Actually WA started State of Origin, SA didn't come in till 2 years later.
It always amazes me about this myth that is Melbourne weather, love the climate here. So it gets cold in winter that's nothing compared to playing Soccer in England in December/January. My guess is Michael was just not up to it. April is great and the summers here are fantastic.
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