Yesterday Neil Harvey was the latest sportsmen to have a statue of him unveiled at the MCG. Reading about him and his brothers being born / living in Fitzroy I remembered that my Dad had once said he had played briefly for Fitzroy Football Club. His Wikipedia entry mentions that as well but gives no other info - does anyone know how many games he played / whether it was in the seniors?
http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricke...-fan-of-twenty20/story-fndpt0dy-1226814254894
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Harvey
After looking up Harvey, I wondered how many of the other people with MCG statues were connected to Fitzroy:
http://www.mcg.org.au/History/Heritage/Tattersalls Parade of Champions.aspx
Obviously there is perhaps the best footballer of all time, triple Brownlow medalist and triple Sandover medalist Haydn Bunton. Apparently some thought he was the luckiest to get a statue, not because he was a great but because of his lack of connection to the MCG.
Bill Ponsford was born in Fitzroy and played cricket for Fitzroy at Brunswick St Oval so surely he must have been a Fitzroy supporter. Of course for Brisbane Lions fans there is also Leigh Matthews' statue (even though it was really for his playing days at Hawthorn, I'll still claim the connection).
As for possible future statues:
- Bill Lawry - surely he will be given one soon, for those who don't know he was a life long Fitzroy supporter.
- Kevin Murray - a rough outside chance - connected to the ground only really through his Brownlow medal lap of honour and the first Sunday match, which was in front of the Queen. But God it would be great to see (it might be even better for one at the BSO - surely the city of Yarra (?) could organise that given everything else they spend money on!).
- and for the Lions - Micahel Voss - unlikely due to him being a Queenslander (albeit born in VIC). 3 premierships in a row and a Browlow medal would have made him a shoe-in if he played for a VIC club.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricke...-fan-of-twenty20/story-fndpt0dy-1226814254894
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Harvey
After looking up Harvey, I wondered how many of the other people with MCG statues were connected to Fitzroy:
http://www.mcg.org.au/History/Heritage/Tattersalls Parade of Champions.aspx
Obviously there is perhaps the best footballer of all time, triple Brownlow medalist and triple Sandover medalist Haydn Bunton. Apparently some thought he was the luckiest to get a statue, not because he was a great but because of his lack of connection to the MCG.
Bill Ponsford was born in Fitzroy and played cricket for Fitzroy at Brunswick St Oval so surely he must have been a Fitzroy supporter. Of course for Brisbane Lions fans there is also Leigh Matthews' statue (even though it was really for his playing days at Hawthorn, I'll still claim the connection).
As for possible future statues:
- Bill Lawry - surely he will be given one soon, for those who don't know he was a life long Fitzroy supporter.
- Kevin Murray - a rough outside chance - connected to the ground only really through his Brownlow medal lap of honour and the first Sunday match, which was in front of the Queen. But God it would be great to see (it might be even better for one at the BSO - surely the city of Yarra (?) could organise that given everything else they spend money on!).
- and for the Lions - Micahel Voss - unlikely due to him being a Queenslander (albeit born in VIC). 3 premierships in a row and a Browlow medal would have made him a shoe-in if he played for a VIC club.
