Discussion Unusual short playing careers

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killer said:
captain of South adelaide, vice captain of Sturt, played in the All Australian carnival in sydney
What he was doing in the years inbetween playing his one game for collingwood and all this
we'll never know
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AustralianFootball.com has him at South Adelaide in 1907:
1555779430598.png
He obviously turned into a very good footballer, but at that stage (1905-06) he would have been a virtual unknown who had played one game for Collingwood as an 18 year old, and he might have just played local/junior level football for the next couple of years. I don't know when he went to Adelaide, but it was probably only in 1907, and it seems he made a name for himself quite quickly there.

Not exactly in the Ron Todd category, but he may still have been one that "got away" from Collingwood!! I find it a very interesting story overall, especially now that I know he tried to return to his old club so many years later.
 
35Daicos said:
This name being thrown up has worked out very well!! I received a very nice email from Michael Roberts [Collingwood History & Archives Manager] earlier today. Whereas they didn't have a photo of the player previously, they now have several to pick from (and have one up on his Collingwood Forever page). Michael said "He looks very similar to Bertie McDougall, who played for us in 1910, so I wonder if they're brothers? We'll do some more digging."

I've checked Vic BDM and there was no sign of a birth reg. for Darcy, but Bertie (Bertram) was there in 1890, with Matilda (nee Curtis) and Malcolm as parents. Wikipedia says the two McDougall's who played for Collingwood were born at Clifton Hill and died in NSW, making it seem reasonably likely. A check of their death registrations on NSW BDM basically confirms the two are brothers:
View attachment 645800
View attachment 645801
That represents a really good result, I would say!! Incidentally, The Encyclopedia leaves Bertie McDougall (he only played the one game as well) out completely.
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As a follow up and confirmation of Darcy Vincent being 'doug' I think we can use Sands and McDougall 1905 entry for Malcolm at 20 Berry St Clifton Hill

The 1920 entry has Darcy at 19 Gordon St Clifton Hill (Berry and Gordon are intersected by Ramsden St)

Darcy Vincent McDougall married Caroline Emma Davis in 1908 in Adelaide reg district

Vera Evelyn born 1908 and Raymond Malcom born 1910.No more births appear in SA BDM for this couple

This obit link names Darcy and Bertram as brothers to Raymond son of Matilda and Malcolm http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203283116 of Berry St Clifton Hill

No deaths for these names on SA BDM
 
35Daicos said:
AustralianFootball.com has him at South Adelaide in 1907:
View attachment 658809
He obviously turned into a very good footballer, but at that stage (1905-06) he would have been a virtual unknown who had played one game for Collingwood as an 18 year old, and he might have just played local/junior level football for the next couple of years. I don't know when he went to Adelaide, but it was probably only in 1907, and it seems he made a name for himself quite quickly there.

Not exactly in the Ron Todd category, but he may still have been one that "got away" from Collingwood!! I find it a very interesting story overall, especially now that I know he tried to return to his old club so many years later.
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The things we come was cross. Standing in the South Adelaide football club and spot DV McDougall as captain in 1909. South finished 7th and DV ends up at Sturt in 1910
 

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Courteney Munn played 2 games in the AFLW for North Melbourne in 2019, kicking 4 goals on debut and earning a Rising Star nomination. She then crossed to St Kilda for the 2020 season, playing three games before retiring at the end of the season.
 
Gibbsy said:
Off-topic question, but is there any way to make Demonwiki HTTPS? It's the only website I visit on a semi-regular basis that has the big red "Not Secure" warning come up every time :(
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Buggered if I know. Will consult the technical department!
 

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At West Perth, the Aboriginal half-forward flanker Ron Davis burst on to the scene with two goals in the last few minutes to secure a draw against South Fremantle in May 1984. He played only 13 games in total (in 1984-85) and quietly disappeared from the scene. Another star Aboriginal prospect at West Perth was Lyndsay (or Lindsay) Henry, who played a handful of games in 1988. It would be nice to get some more information about these two players.
 
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A friend of mine, Adrian Burns, played 11 games for Essendon between 1990 and 1993 and 4 games for St.Kilda in 1994. He was the player who collided with Alan Richardson in the semi final in 1990, causing Richardson to miss out on a premiership.
 
raskolnikov said:
A friend of mine, Adrian Burns, played 11 games for Essendon between 1990 and 1993 and 4 games for St.Kilda in 1994. He was the player who collided with Alan Richardson in the semi final in 1990, causing Richardson to miss out on a premiership.
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Just out of interest, why didn't he play more league games after that? Did he want to keep on playing?
 
Michael Johnston had a 10 game career in the early 1990s with 8 matches for Hawthorn and 2 for the Bulldogs, but boasted a remarkable 9-1 win loss record in his brief career, the only loss an after the siren defeat by Hawthorn to Carlton at Princes Park in Round 3 1993.

What's more, Johnston seemed to appear in games where the team won by big margins. His debut in 1991 saw Hawthorn demolish the Brisbane Bears by 87 points at Princes Park, and a 50 point thrashing of Melbourne the week after. He played four games late in 1992, two of which saw Hawthorn destroy Essendon and Richmond by 160 & 84 points respectively plus comfortable Hawthorn victories over Collingwood and Melbourne where the results were never in doubt. His two appearances for the Hawks came early in 1993, and besides the narrow Carlton defeat his other appearance saw Hawthorn trounce the Sydney Swans by 57 points at the SCG in Round 2.

Joining Footscray in 1995, Johnston made just two appearances for the Dogs, interestingly against the same opponents he played against for Hawthorn in his debut season, Melbourne and Brisbane. And both games saw comfortable wins for the Bulldogs over the Demons and the Bears.
 
emuboy said:
Michael Johnston had a 10 game career in the early 1990s with 8 matches for Hawthorn and 2 for the Bulldogs, but boasted a remarkable 9-1 win loss record in his brief career, the only loss an after the siren defeat by Hawthorn to Carlton at Princes Park in Round 3 1993.

What's more, Johnston seemed to appear in games where the team won by big margins. His debut in 1991 saw Hawthorn demolish the Brisbane Bears by 87 points at Princes Park, and a 50 point thrashing of Melbourne the week after. He played four games late in 1992, two of which saw Hawthorn destroy Essendon and Richmond by 160 & 84 points respectively plus comfortable Hawthorn victories over Collingwood and Melbourne where the results were never in doubt. His two appearances for the Hawks came early in 1993, and besides the narrow Carlton defeat his other appearance saw Hawthorn trounce the Sydney Swans by 57 points at the SCG in Round 2.

Joining Footscray in 1995, Johnston made just two appearances for the Dogs, interestingly against the same opponents he played against for Hawthorn in his debut season, Melbourne and Brisbane. And both games saw comfortable wins for the Bulldogs over the Demons and the Bears.
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That's very interesting. Someone at the time should have picked up on his amazing correlation with winning teams and given him more games or signed him up at somewhere new.
 
megadeth86 said:
That's very interesting. Someone at the time should have picked up on his amazing correlation with winning teams and given him more games or signed him up at somewhere new.
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In 1992 Johnston played in Hawthorn's last 4 matches of the season, all won easily by the Hawks. However, he was not in the Hawthorn team that travelled to Perth to play the Eagles in an Elimination Final, which the Hawks lost. Who knows, if the Hawks had kept him in the finals they may well have held aloft the 1992 premiership cup against Geelong.

At the other end of the scale is Shayne Stevenson, who was drafted by Fitzroy in 1990. When the Lions inducted their new recruit into the team, he was allocated jumper 13, which was to prove auspicious. Stevenson's debut match was Fitzroy's first game of the season against Melbourne at Princes Park in Round 2 1991, the Demons thrashing the Lions by 131-points, a then record loss for Fitzroy. Things didn't improve much from there and at times got even worse for Fitzroy and Stevenson, his matches for 1991 resulting in losses by 59-points (Collingwood), 16-points (Footscray), 24-points (Richmond), 157-points (Hawthorn), 77-points (Sydney) and 99-points (West Coast).

After the big loss to the Eagles at Subiaco in Round 9, Stevenson didn't play senior football again for the rest of the year, and in 1992 and 1993 he made only limited appearances for Fitzroy, the Lions losing all of them despite improving to be a very competent, mid-ladder side in those years.

Leaving Fitzroy at the end of 1993 without a senior win to his credit, Stevenson was drafted by Hawthorn and finally he experienced that winning feeling, playing in quite a number of victorious Hawks teams in 1994, 1995 & 1996. Unfortunately in his last season in 1997, the jinx came back, and his 8 matches for the Hawks were all losses. Hawthorn did finish second last, but with an 8-14 record and a percentage of 95 were not a bad team by any stretch. In fact in Round 15 had they beaten Richmond they would have cemented a spot in the Top 4, but a 76-point defeat by the Tigers was the start of 8 successive losses to finish the season. However, Stevenson's appearances were not limited to the Hawks' 8-match losing streak, but scattered all over the season.
 
GrahamClayton said:
Brodie Atkinson started his AFL career with 2 games for St Kilda in 1993, had a 6 year break, and ended his AFL career with 5 games for Adelaide in 1999.
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Pretty sure he got a Rising Star nom in one of those Saints games and he seemed the odd one out in what was considered an outstanding group of nominated youngsters that year.
 
emuboy said:
At the other end of the scale is Shayne Stevenson, who was drafted by Fitzroy in 1990. When the Lions inducted their new recruit into the team, he was allocated jumper 13, which was to prove auspicious. Stevenson's debut match was Fitzroy's first game of the season against Melbourne at Princes Park in Round 2 1991, the Demons thrashing the Lions by 131-points, a then record loss for Fitzroy. Things didn't improve much from there and at times got even worse for Fitzroy and Stevenson, his matches for 1991 resulting in losses by 59-points (Collingwood), 16-points (Footscray), 24-points (Richmond), 157-points (Hawthorn), 77-points (Sydney) and 99-points (West Coast).

After the big loss to the Eagles at Subiaco in Round 9, Stevenson didn't play senior football again for the rest of the year, and in 1992 and 1993 he made only limited appearances for Fitzroy, the Lions losing all of them despite improving to be a very competent, mid-ladder side in those years.

Leaving Fitzroy at the end of 1993 without a senior win to his credit, Stevenson was drafted by Hawthorn and finally he experienced that winning feeling, playing in quite a number of victorious Hawks teams in 1994, 1995 & 1996. Unfortunately in his last season in 1997, the jinx came back, and his 8 matches for the Hawks were all losses. Hawthorn did finish second last, but with an 8-14 record and a percentage of 95 were not a bad team by any stretch. In fact in Round 15 had they beaten Richmond they would have cemented a spot in the Top 4, but a 76-point defeat by the Tigers was the start of 8 successive losses to finish the season. However, Stevenson's appearances were not limited to the Hawks' 8-match losing streak, but scattered all over the season.
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I watched Stevenson kick a goal with a broken leg out at Waverley one day . I think the hawks won with him kicking the sealer.
 
Relton Roberts is surely the only 2 game AFL player who has his own wikipedia page.

Two games, two 9 goal losses.
Carlton 18.12.120 def Richmond9.10.64
Sydney 16.15.111 def Richmond 7.14.56
 
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