Anyone remember Thursday 7th May 1992?

[The Dawes]

2nd year Uni - didn't attend but watched it - can recall a young Shane Watson kicking a couple and genuine disgust with the result but that's about it.

 

[raymond35]

As a player?
Or as inspiration?
Or as a spiritual leader for the group?

Because as a player, with all due respect, they’re not on the same paddock.
Nathan Buckley is in the discussion of all time best ever Collingwood player.
An uber elite talent of the highest order.

Millane was at A grade, sure, an inspiration, tough, uncompromising and more. But just not close to the highest levels only a few at Collingwood have reached. That’s no shame. But Buckley was supreme.

This is just my view, happy to see what others think.

I rate Millane the equal of Buckley in all facets except kicking on the right foot. In every other area Millane was unbeatable. He would simply annihilate his opponents every week, and was just reaching his peak when he died.
My order of greatness I've seen remains
1 Daicos 2 Thompson 3 Buckley 4 Millane

 

[Saintly Viewed]

I rate Millane the equal of Buckley in all facets except kicking on the right foot. In every other area Millane was unbeatable. He would simply annihilate his opponents every week, and was just reaching his peak when he died.
My order of greatness I've seen remains
1 Daicos 2 Thompson 3 Buckley 4 Millane

All terrific Collingwood players.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

I wonder if any one is gutsy to name their best five NON Collingwood players they’ve seen?

For me:

• Leigh Matthews
• Malcolm Blight
• Anthony Lockett
• Gary Ablett snr
• Wayne Carey

Best players to just watch play football; the pure silk department types:

NB: I just lo Ed watching Leigh Matthews But he was a brute, so he’s my all time favourite to watch but not for silk value. So should really be top 6 then if counting Lethal. I’m very tempted to also say Daniel Wells but he’s not quite the levels of the top brass, but he was so amazing to watch from the pure joy side.
If he wasn’t at Carlton I’d say I’d love watching Bruce Doull but he was so I won’t.

• Keith Greig
• Malcolm Blight
• Robert Flower
• Peter Knights
• Bernie Quinlan (kicking)

 

[Gone Critical]

I wonder if any one is gutsy to name their best five NON Collingwood players they’ve seen?

For me:

• Leigh Matthews
• Malcolm Blight
• Anthony Lockett
• Gary Ablett snr
• Wayne Carey

Best players to just watch play football; the pure silk department types:

NB: I just lo Ed watching Leigh Matthews But he was a brute, so he’s my all time favourite to watch but not for silk value. So should really be top 6 then if counting Lethal. I’m very tempted to also say Daniel Wells but he’s not quite the levels of the top brass, but he was so amazing to watch from the pure joy side.
If he wasn’t at Carlton I’d say I’d love watching Bruce Doull but he was so I won’t.

• Keith Greig
• Malcolm Blight
• Robert Flower
• Peter Knights
• Bernie Quinlan (kicking)

We all have different views but I agree with you Buckley is a long way ahead of Pants. I would have Pants as 4th best of the 1990 grooup after Daics, Brown and Shaw. If he had have had a full career i reckon it would have been at the Dipper level which is pretty good.

My best 5 ever in order

Lethal (loved watching him and Plugger)
Hudson
Carey
Lockett
Dunstall
(GAS the most electrifying)

The 5 silk, non Collingwood (so no Daics) any order

Peter Matera
Chris Judd WCE
GAJ
Andrew McLeod
Tony Modra

The 5 if onlys

John Greening
Phil Carmen
John Greening
Phil Carmen
John Greening


Player I most enjoyed watching

Wayne Richardson childhood
Gavin Brown adulthood
Daics for magic

 

[sirlothie]

As a player?
Or as inspiration?
Or as a spiritual leader for the group?

Because as a player, with all due respect, they’re not on the same paddock.
Nathan Buckley is in the discussion of all time best ever Collingwood player.
An uber elite talent of the highest order.

Millane was at A grade, sure, an inspiration, tough, uncompromising and more. But just not close to the highest levels only a few at Collingwood have reached. That’s no shame. But Buckley was supreme.

This is just my view, happy to see what others think.

With all due respect Buckley commanded the respect of his players but was on nowhere near the level of respect Millane commanded. Millane was the greatest captain Collingwood never had, he might not have been quite the same player but his deeds were more inspiring than Buckley's and he was 10x the people person Buckley ever was as captain.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

With all due respect Buckley commanded the respect of his players but was on nowhere near the level of respect Millane commanded. Millane was the greatest captain Collingwood never had, he might not have been quite the same player but his deeds were more inspiring than Buckley's and he was 10x the people person Buckley ever was as captain.

There is certainly a lot of truth there.
But let’s also state that Darren was a strong boisterous guy too, who got a bit silly at times.
Heavy drinking.
Bus.
If you think every player loved him all the time, that’s not quite right either. Overall he was much loved.

Where you are right was Darren’s inspirational play was great. But he just wasn’t as good a player as Buckley.
Different paddocks.

 

[sirlothie]

There is certainly a lot of truth there.
But let’s also state that Darren was a strong boisterous guy too, who got a bit silly at times.
Heavy drinking.
Bus.
If you think every player loved him all the time, that’s not quite right either. Overall he was much loved.

Where you are right was Darren’s inspirational play was great. But he just wasn’t as good a player as Buckley.
Different paddocks.

Millane had a Copeland and AFL MVP under his belt as well as a premiership medal at age 26 and 147 games so just coming into his peak so he was no slouch but not many in the history of the game have Buckley covered as a footballer... but in terms of 'buckle up and follow me' leadership they are probably on par.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

Millane had a Copeland and AFL MVP under his belt as well as a premiership medal at age 26 and 147 games so just coming into his peak so he was no slouch but not many in the history of the game have Buckley covered as a footballer... but in terms of 'buckle up and follow me' leadership they are probably on par.

All fair points.

I have the memory of holding one handle of the 1990 Cup with Darren on the other handle (and p.... as a newt as I recall)

 

[sirlothie]

All fair points.

I have the memory of holding one handle of the 1990 Cup with Darren on the other handle (and p.... as a newt as I recall)

I don't think the party ever stopped for him after we won... lol. Some of his pissed up stories are legendary but they all got on it a lot then. Different times. Recovery session was a piss up immediately after the game in those days, in some ways it was an amateur league by today's standards.

 

[Carringbush2010]

I was still hungover from 90, boy I got drunk that weekend. But yeah remember the match we got done, bloody carlscum!

 

[Daicos Torpedo]

I was at the game in the members with my Carlton mate. I reckons I was the reason a memo was sent to all Mcc members to be aware of their guests language!! I was filthy with the umpires and at one quiet juncture I screamed out "100 year anniversary? 100 years of umpires f...king Collingwood over against Carlton " got a good laugh...
Pants was pure inspiration and a leader. The raging bull. He was every bit as good as the highlights on you tube and more...

 

[Gone Critical]

With all due respect Buckley commanded the respect of his players but was on nowhere near the level of respect Millane commanded. Millane was the greatest captain Collingwood never had, he might not have been quite the same player but his deeds were more inspiring than Buckley's and he was 10x the people person Buckley ever was as captain.

I am going to get shot down for this and saying it on a Collingwood net site is asking for trouble but Darren Millane was a fantastic footballer and a magnetic personality in a footy club, who easily forgave him his considerable sins because he was a great footballer, but evidence would say he was a pretty ordinary human who probably was only saved from jail because he wrote himself off while driving at .32 alcohol level which is more than 6 times the legal limit.

I am someone who doesn’t want to know much about players personal lives, I think the illicit drug policy sucks, I think the desire to make our footballers into robots is rubbish, I want to embrace the idea that a footy club is not only for lily whites.

The whitewashing of our “colourful”
personalities is part of that deal. Pants was a “mans man” for sure but he was also a thug who stayed out of jail only because powerful people vouched for him which is the way of the world.

The idea that he is a greater people person than Bucks is rubbish.Pants did great things but a lot of ordinary stuff also. Bucks has looked after the people in his world much better from the evidence I can see.

 

[sirlothie]

I am going to get shot down for this and saying it on a Collingwood net site is asking for trouble but Darren Millane was a fantastic footballer and a magnetic personality in a footy club, who easily forgave him his considerable sins because he was a great footballer, but evidence would say he was a pretty ordinary human who probably was only saved from jail because he wrote himself off while driving at .32 alcohol level which is more than 6 times the legal limit.

I am someone who doesn’t want to know much about players personal lives, I think the illicit drug policy sucks, I think the desire to make our footballers into robots is rubbish, I want to embrace the idea that a footy club is not only for lily whites.

The whitewashing of our “colourful”
personalities is part of that deal. Pants was a “mans man” for sure but he was also a thug who stayed out of jail only because powerful people vouched for him which is the way of the world.

The idea that he is a greater people person than Bucks is rubbish.Pants did great things but a lot of ordinary stuff also. Bucks has looked after the people in his world much better from the evidence I can see.

Are you comparing Nathan Buckley now or Nathan Buckley as a 26 year old? There is no doubt Millane was an angel with a dirty face but the good in him outweighed the bad. He was the first to visit sick kids in hospital and he did it not only once but kept visiting them every week for their entire journeys when it wasn't required of him by the club. No doubting he had a problem with alcohol and drank to the point he lost his common sense and ended up in his fair share of scrapes with the law, but on the field blokes would walk through brick walls with him. Buckley is self confessed that early in his career he was a bit selfish in his ways and only cared about getting the best out of himself, he changed later on and had more success when he did more of what the team needed but nobody has said Buckley was their best friend they ever had or saying he had outstanding leadership qualities apart from his on field play and noone said he was the best clubman. Millane at 26 had it over Buckley at 26 in social awareness. Of course Buckley was more professional and better behaved but look at Buckley in 1998 when he was 26, his teams had barely made finals, were down the bottom of the ladder more often than not and he was a one man show. Before you say it the late 80's-early 90's sides were not full of superstars, they over performed in a very strong era. Buckley commanded the respect of opponents for his play but not as a great person. Millane was revered as one of the best blokes you'd ever meet and when he did get in trouble it was usually for sticking up for his mates. Buckley had started to make AA teams and win Copelands but not winning league wide awards until the Grand Final years in his late 20's-early 30's where Millane was already dead and had won a flag and AFL MVP. Millane played through excruciating pain with a broken thumb and torn hamstring not to let his teammates down and was always sacrificial to the team cause, establishing himself as one of the best wingman in a time of great wingman. Buckley hadn't even settled on his best position yet.

Now if you are comparing the Buckley we see today at age 46 of course he is the better individual than Millane was in his youth at 26, but put them together at the same age and the difference is not so stark, both had their strengths and weaknesses and are basically yin and yang to each other...

I don't think it's fair to pin Millane's final stupid act as the defining moment of his life, of course he would like to take that back... but in the end it was a foolish decision in a different age by a very young man who let alcohol get the better of his judgement. He paid the ultimate price so I don't think he should continue to get crucified for it in death.

The best clubman award is named the Darren Millane award and his number is retired in perpetuity not because he was a dickhead who drink drove and wiped himself out... there is much more to it than that. They wouldn't have bestowed those honours to just anybody. And he still claimed his place on the wing of the team of the century which is pretty huge.

 

[Visions]

The thing I remember most about the game was in the following days when at Uni and discussing football with fellow class mates, a student who happened to be a Carlton supporter piped up and said “can’t see you winning another 100th anniversary game against us anytime soon”. Bastard!

 

[ottoman]

I am going to get shot down for this and saying it on a Collingwood net site is asking for trouble but Darren Millane was a fantastic footballer and a magnetic personality in a footy club, who easily forgave him his considerable sins because he was a great footballer, but evidence would say he was a pretty ordinary human who probably was only saved from jail because he wrote himself off while driving at .32 alcohol level which is more than 6 times the legal limit.

I am someone who doesn’t want to know much about players personal lives, I think the illicit drug policy sucks, I think the desire to make our footballers into robots is rubbish, I want to embrace the idea that a footy club is not only for lily whites.

The whitewashing of our “colourful”
personalities is part of that deal. Pants was a “mans man” for sure but he was also a thug who stayed out of jail only because powerful people vouched for him which is the way of the world.

The idea that he is a greater people person than Bucks is rubbish.Pants did great things but a lot of ordinary stuff also. Bucks has looked after the people in his world much better from the evidence I can see.

Agree and disagree.
I wouldn't go so far as to call him a thug.
In my opinion the word "thug" conjures up images of people who harm innocent people.
He was a fighter though. And so was his father.
I have mentioned it here before but I will reiterate.
Back when he was playing I was a member of the Vic Police.
On more than one occasion we got dispatched to incidents at local pubs, and when we got there we saw that Pants and his father were basically taking on the whole pub.
He was a tough man, and not necessarily the most law abiding man.
But not a thug.
Thugs bully and bash the weak. That was not what he was. He just never took a backwards step. If challenged he fought.
Not an angel but not a thug either.

 

[Gone Critical]

Are you comparing Nathan Buckley now or Nathan Buckley as a 26 year old? There is no doubt Millane was an angel with a dirty face but the good in him outweighed the bad. He was the first to visit sick kids in hospital and he did it not only once but kept visiting them every week for their entire journeys when it wasn't required of him by the club. No doubting he had a problem with alcohol and drank to the point he lost his common sense and ended up in his fair share of scrapes with the law, but on the field blokes would walk through brick walls with him. Buckley is self confessed that early in his career he was a bit selfish in his ways and only cared about getting the best out of himself, he changed later on and had more success when he did more of what the team needed but nobody has said Buckley was their best friend they ever had or saying he had outstanding leadership qualities apart from his on field play and noone said he was the best clubman. Millane at 26 had it over Buckley at 26 in social awareness. Of course Buckley was more professional and better behaved but look at Buckley in 1998 when he was 26, his teams had barely made finals, were down the bottom of the ladder more often than not and he was a one man show. Before you say it the late 80's-early 90's sides were not full of superstars, they over performed in a very strong era. Buckley commanded the respect of opponents for his play but not as a great person. Millane was revered as one of the best blokes you'd ever meet and when he did get in trouble it was usually for sticking up for his mates. Buckley had started to make AA teams and win Copelands but not winning league wide awards until the Grand Final years in his late 20's-early 30's where Millane was already dead and had won a flag and AFL MVP. Millane played through excruciating pain with a broken thumb and torn hamstring not to let his teammates down and was always sacrificial to the team cause, establishing himself as one of the best wingman in a time of great wingman. Buckley hadn't even settled on his best position yet.

Now if you are comparing the Buckley we see today at age 46 of course he is the better individual than Millane was in his youth at 26, but put them together at the same age and the difference is not so stark, both had their strengths and weaknesses and are basically yin and yang to each other...

I don't think it's fair to pin Millane's final stupid act as the defining moment of his life, of course he would like to take that back... but in the end it was a foolish decision in a different age by a very young man who let alcohol get the better of his judgement. He paid the ultimate price so I don't think he should continue to get crucified for it in death.

The best clubman award is named the Darren Millane award and his number is retired in perpetuity not because he was a dickhead who drink drove and wiped himself out... there is much more to it than that. They wouldn't have bestowed those honours to just anybody. And he still claimed his place on the wing of the team of the century which is pretty huge.

I think your point about the different ages is a good one but I still think you are selling Bucks short. For mine that happens all the time. He is our GOAT for mine and no doubt he had problems with being self absorbed especially early. Still that’s always been overdone.

Can’t agree with the idea that their playing careers were comparable. Bucks was just a different level. Won the sweep of Margery, B&F, Oatley and flag in 92 then Rising star 93, B&Fs in 4 of his 1st 6 seasons in the AFL. He was a contender, 8th, in the Brownlow in his 1st AFL season. You point out he didn’t win major awards until he was older but he contended early

Pants was a Collingwood star and led by example on the field. He won a Copeland but was never a contender in the major awards apart from the players MVP. That even has a little ? on it. He didn’t poll much in the Brownlow that year, and the MVP was voted on by the players mid finals when Pants was in the middle of his unbelievable effort to play through with a broken thumb. The MVP is the most subjective of the big awards. As good as Pants was he wasn’t the best player in the comp in 1990 for mine.


Tough hard charismatic players have always inspired. You could always do that and get away with ordinary stuff off the field especially in Millanes day when players were protected. The idea that Pants mainly got into trouble sticking up for his mates doesn’t really wash. Of course he had a good side but it’s pretty hard to say the good outweighed the bad. Maybe thug is too hard as ottoman suggested but he was a violent man who liked a fight off the field and had got into serious problems with the law over it. He only stayed out of jail earlier when he bashed a bar man and patron on different occasions because the club gave him good references. With the bus incident still to be worked out he was probably going to jail for a while and probably would have missed some of the 92 season for that reason. These issues all came up 89 and onwards when he should have been maturing. Evidence says he wasn’t. If I was to place him with like players I would say Dipper, Jimmy Buckley, Wayne Johnson would be about right. Very good players but not absolute top level who struggled a bit off the field with their personal life. That’s probably a bit harsh on Dipper.

By reputation Pants advantage is he died early. This helps, fair enough too, but reality is probably a little different.

 

[Saintly Viewed]

It’s a fascinating discussion over the legacy of Darren Millane.
Gone Critical has spelled out the other stuff of Darren’s life.
A life Ended in tragedy.

Whilst Pants did many good things on and some really good things off the field, he was still a work in progress in the maturity stakes. Hopefully, had he lived, he would have settled down.

Great tragedy his death.

I would assume that Pants’ story is one delivered to all our players to learn of the good and the pitfalls...
A salient lesson.

(ps the whole Buckley fig jam thing is exaggerated somewhat, mostly by our enemies. For all Nathan’s obsession for professionalism he was always a solid citizen. And his growth as a person is exemplary.)

 

[raymond35]

Agree and disagree.
I wouldn't go so far as to call him a thug.
In my opinion the word "thug" conjures up images of people who harm innocent people.
He was a fighter though. And so was his father.
I have mentioned it here before but I will reiterate.
Back when he was playing I was a member of the Vic Police.
On more than one occasion we got dispatched to incidents at local pubs, and when we got there we saw that Pants and his father were basically taking on the whole pub.
He was a tough man, and not necessarily the most law abiding man.
But not a thug.
Thugs bully and bash the weak. That was not what he was. He just never took a backwards step. If challenged he fought.
Not an angel but not a thug either.

Agree completely. He was surprisingly big in real life too, not to be messed with.

 

[sr36]

I am going to get shot down for this and saying it on a Collingwood net site is asking for trouble but Darren Millane was a fantastic footballer and a magnetic personality in a footy club, who easily forgave him his considerable sins because he was a great footballer, but evidence would say he was a pretty ordinary human who probably was only saved from jail because he wrote himself off while driving at .32 alcohol level which is more than 6 times the legal limit.

I am someone who doesn’t want to know much about players personal lives, I think the illicit drug policy sucks, I think the desire to make our footballers into robots is rubbish, I want to embrace the idea that a footy club is not only for lily whites.

The whitewashing of our “colourful”
personalities is part of that deal. Pants was a “mans man” for sure but he was also a thug who stayed out of jail only because powerful people vouched for him which is the way of the world.

The idea that he is a greater people person than Bucks is rubbish.Pants did great things but a lot of ordinary stuff also. Bucks has looked after the people in his world much better from the evidence I can see.

If you judge him by today's standards and truths, you're probably right. But times have changed, in his era, he was the bloke on and off the field, that everyone wanted to be.

 

[sr36]

But I don't think he belongs at the pointy in the list of recent Collingwood players. He woulda, coulda, shoulda, but ultimately, he played a couple of years at a standard a bit below the standard that Pendles, Bucks and Swan played for six to ten years.

 

[jackcass]

expunged from the memory banks, never happened!

 

[jackcass]

I wonder if any one is gutsy to name their best five NON Collingwood players they’ve seen?

For me:

• Leigh Matthews
• Malcolm Blight
• Anthony Lockett
• Gary Ablett snr
• Wayne Carey

Best players to just watch play football; the pure silk department types:

NB: I just lo Ed watching Leigh Matthews But he was a brute, so he’s my all time favourite to watch but not for silk value. So should really be top 6 then if counting Lethal. I’m very tempted to also say Daniel Wells but he’s not quite the levels of the top brass, but he was so amazing to watch from the pure joy side.
If he wasn’t at Carlton I’d say I’d love watching Bruce Doull but he was so I won’t.

• Keith Greig
• Malcolm Blight
• Robert Flower
• Peter Knights
• Bernie Quinlan (kicking)

Without giving it a lot of thought, team of favorites seen from other teams...

B: G Wanganeen ~ D Dench ~ G McKenna
HB: P Roos ~ G Jakovich ~ K Murray
C: R Flower ~ S Black ~ K Greig
HF: G Ablett ~ W Carey ~ R Hart
F: M Ricciuto ~ T Lockett ~ A Jesalenko
R: G Dempsey ~ M Voss ~ B Cable

I: P Matera ~ P Kelly ~ M Rioli ~ N Riewoldt

Apologies to quite a few like W Schimmelbusch.

Excluding Collingwood players also means a few who made their names elsewhere miss out as well (IE: Pert)

 

[TKiL]

Agree and disagree.
I wouldn't go so far as to call him a thug.
In my opinion the word "thug" conjures up images of people who harm innocent people.
He was a fighter though. And so was his father.
I have mentioned it here before but I will reiterate.
Back when he was playing I was a member of the Vic Police.
On more than one occasion we got dispatched to incidents at local pubs, and when we got there we saw that Pants and his father were basically taking on the whole pub.
He was a tough man, and not necessarily the most law abiding man.
But not a thug.
Thugs bully and bash the weak. That was not what he was. He just never took a backwards step. If challenged he fought.
Not an angel but not a thug either.

Think Darren Millane had more death notices posted than anyone previously or probably since - pages and pages of them (I remember the exact words of mine) - he and his Dad might have taken on whole pubs but he wouldn't dare take on his Mum whom he loved - I remember meeting her at her workplace out Dandenong way - such a football talent lost way too soon - big lesson in just staying inside the boundaries

 

[sirlothie]

I remember Brad Rowe was the boom recruit we were all excited about at the time. A bit of a cult figure.