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Dick Lee

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MarkCatsFan

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Hey Pies board, I come in peace.

Have been doing a bit of reading on early VFL history and this guys name came up, I was looking at his stats and I am in awe, typical scores in his era were along the lines of 50-43 with it being rare to see more than 12 goals per side in a game, yet this guy had numbers that would have been respectable in the 90's.

Does footage exist? Any idea what kind of a player he was? Obviously footy had a very different look back then. Would love to hear if any pie fans in here have stories or thoughts on how this guy operated and achieved such a prolific career.
 
MarkCatsFan said:
Hey Pies board, I come in peace.

Have been doing a bit of reading on early VFL history and this guys name came up, I was looking at his stats and I am in awe, typical scores in his era were along the lines of 50-43 with it being rare to see more than 12 goals per side in a game, yet this guy had numbers that would have been respectable in the 90's.

Does footage exist? Any idea what kind of a player he was? Obviously footy had a very different look back then. Would love to hear if any pie fans in here have stories or thoughts on how this guy operated and achieved such a prolific career.
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He's the guy who turned full-forwards into glamour boys...
 
Baird said:
Walter Henry "Dick" Lee

Where did "Dick" come from? :huh:
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His father also in around the club was also Walter, so young Walter was simply called Dick to differentiate.

Another similar situation was Bart Cummings both he and his father were James Cummings.

So older James Cummings known as Jim
(As many James were in those times) was called by his wife their young son Jim would also wander in.

So they decided to use his middle name Bartholemew thereafter or Bart for short.
 

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MarkCatsFan said:
Hey Pies board, I come in peace.

Have been doing a bit of reading on early VFL history and this guys name came up, I was looking at his stats and I am in awe, typical scores in his era were along the lines of 50-43 with it being rare to see more than 12 goals per side in a game, yet this guy had numbers that would have been respectable in the 90's.

Does footage exist? Any idea what kind of a player he was? Obviously footy had a very different look back then. Would love to hear if any pie fans in here have stories or thoughts on how this guy operated and achieved such a prolific career.
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One of the game's first superstars actually and sadly passed over check out the link for more than just stats.
http://australianfootball.com/players/player/dick+lee/2091
 
He's most certainly up there with the greatest footballers pre-1960. Criminally underrated when making all time lists.

Has one of the most iconic photos in vfl/afl history. Led the league goal kicking something like 13 times. Was one of the most mecurial players ever.

I have a book at home that has a detailed description of his footballing career and playing style. Can post photos of the pages when I get home from the footy today :)
 
boxmatrix said:
He's most certainly up there with the greatest footballers pre-1960. Criminally underrated when making all time lists.

Has one of the most iconic photos in vfl/afl history. Led the league goal kicking something like 13 times. Was one of the most mecurial players ever.

I have a book at home that has a detailed description of his footballing career and playing style. Can post photos of the pages when I get home from the footy today :)
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Nice, I'm interested to see!
 
Dick Lee should be an official Legend of the game. If he'd played in more recent times and dominated the League's goalkicking tally the way he did back then he'd have been one of the first selected in that category. He simply shouldn't be penalised for playing in an era when the leading goalscorer's yearly tallies were so much lower than they were from the mid-1920's onwards. Of course, some of the more cynical among us might suggest he's also being penalised because of the club that he played for!!
 

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35Daicos said:
Dick Lee should be an official Legend of the game. If he'd played in more recent times and dominated the League's goalkicking tally the way he did back then he'd have been one of the first selected in that category. He simply shouldn't be penalised for playing in an era when the leading goalscorer's yearly tallies were so much lower than they were from the mid-1920's onwards. Of course, some of the more cynical among us might suggest he's also being penalised because of the club that he played for!!
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See to me the fact he did this in a low scoring era is more, not less impressive.

Interesting on your last point, I think we all have that feeling as fans to some extent. Fwiw I think most of the footy community has a begrudging respect for the Pies, as much as we like to talk shit and get carried away in the heat of the game, Collingwood are a powerhouse and the game is better for having you. And a healthy number of footy legends have run around in the prison bars.
 
barrackers said:
It's good that Lee is in the unofficial conversation to be made a legend along with Ablett Snr, Blight, Carey, Dunstall and Sheedy. Out of that group you'd think the AFL is most likely to elevate Sheedy though.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-06-20/hall-of-fame-who-will-be-the-games-newest-legend
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Fascinating collection.

Whilst I Agree with you the most likely is Sheedy (for so many reasons and for so much that he has done for the game) I could see Blight getting the nod.

Lee will be one elevated more when they have exhausted the modern greats (and they are still living) though winning the goal kicking TEN times really says it all, repeat TEN times.

Ablett Snr and Carey both are getting there but personal sensitivities might preclude them entering without a decent passage of time.

To me Dunstall is the weakest of the candidates offered,which is really saying something as he was so good too.
 
barrackers said:
It's good that Lee is in the unofficial conversation to be made a legend along with Ablett Snr, Blight, Carey, Dunstall and Sheedy. Out of that group you'd think the AFL is most likely to elevate Sheedy though.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-06-20/hall-of-fame-who-will-be-the-games-newest-legend
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It is indeed pleasing to see Dick Lee even given a mention in that article. As it's being held in Adelaide I'm expecting a "home town decision", with Blight getting the nod! Lee will probably get there one day, he certainly deserves it.
 
boxmatrix said:
It's an absolute travesty that Lee isn't a legend already.
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His career was remarkable and without injury he would have been some chance of topping the VFL goal kicking for 13 consecutive seasons! Bayliss (1920) and Clover (1922) probably had him covered to stop it stretching further, but Cowley (1918) was significantly lower than Lee's consistent tallies and Brereton (1911, 1912) and Park/Freake (1913) were around his usual mark.

If only there was footage of this game http://cfc-forever.qodo.com.au/matches/1922-geelong-vs-collingwood-round-6/ Coventry kicked 7 and Lee 6, it would have been some sight.

upload_2017-6-20_16-3-5.png
 

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I can't believe he found the time to write all those comics!
 
Whilst I suspect Lee was also mentioned to have a Magpie flavour his time should come, though likely when most and sundry have been exhausted as Lee has died.

Will be interesting to see when the AFL allows Carey and Ablett Snr their legend status?

Of Collingwood types that would feel worthy

The aforesaid Lee, Dick Condon, Albert Collier, Harry Collier, Bob Rose, Nathan Buckley.

But I won't be holding my breath
 
Countrypie said:
As a matter of interest I don't suppose you have much on the Geelong Full Back Jocka Todd - my grandmother's brother (she always told me he was a champion Full Back but I've never found much on him)
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I don't know whether going through old newspapers online is your 'thing' or not, but doing an exact phrase search on Trove for "Jocka Todd" brings up many stories on him:- http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/r...ate=Victoria&l-advcategory=Article&sortby&s=0

Here's just a couple that look very interesting:- http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/182989931
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10950829

Fair to say that he was obviously considered an extremely fine player, given that he was deemed good enough to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996 (it's first year).
 
Saintly Viewed said:
Whilst I suspect Lee was also mentioned to have a Magpie flavour his time should come, though likely when most and sundry have been exhausted as Lee has died.

Will be interesting to see when the AFL allows Carey and Ablett Snr their legend status?

Of Collingwood types that would feel worthy

The aforesaid Lee, Dick Condon, Albert Collier, Harry Collier, Bob Rose, Nathan Buckley.

But I won't be holding my breath
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Off the top of my head I'd add Daicos and Syd Coventry to that queue
 

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