Chris Langford

[AlwaysHawks15]

I'm sure he is held in the highest regard from his peers and the club, for good reason and got on the beach for the Hawks TOTC. Doull, Silvagni and Langford had arguably the toughest time in the loneliest position on the field against some of the greatest power forwards from the 80's/90's. Langford gave away a few inches and about 25kgs to Lockett but had a good leap and regularly performed very well. Best FB for Hawthorn I can recall seeing.

He was actually quite a tall fullback for his era so that is incorrect. Listed at 193-194cm so would actually fit in today as well. Gave away kilos but was just behind the Chief in regards to strength so was able to stand his ground in wrestles many times. Was also a beautiful kick of the ball, used to love him kicking from fullback as he could roost it 60 without any problems and had a great technique.

 

[TylerDurden]

He was actually quite a tall fullback for his era so that is incorrect. Listed at 193-194cm so would actually fit in today as well. Gave away kilos but was just behind the Chief in regards to strength so was able to stand his ground in wrestles many times. Was also a beautiful kick of the ball, used to love him kicking from fullback as he could roost it 60 without any problems and had a great technique.

Collins Langford Ayres

So damn reliable.

Then you throw in blokes like Mew and Jenke. Such a great backline unit.

 

[grumbleguts]

He was actually quite a tall fullback for his era so that is incorrect. Listed at 193-194cm so would actually fit in today as well. Gave away kilos but was just behind the Chief in regards to strength so was able to stand his ground in wrestles many times. Was also a beautiful kick of the ball, used to love him kicking from fullback as he could roost it 60 without any problems and had a great technique.

A friend of mine who played for Richmond, kicked 5 goals in a half on langford in a preseason game said afterwards, he was almost impossible to move once he'd established a position. He also knew Langford was playing bruise free and allowed him to kick those goals. But the thing he remembered most was the sheer strength of the guy.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Where does Silvagni sit in your list of full backs CLA?

Langers was a great footballer, no doubt. He is a Hawthorn great and that is good enough for me. In these sorts of things, you will never get consensus on who is the best.

This question of best actually came up recently in a tribute to Hodge. In the video which I saw on YouTube, one his fellow players described him as Hawthorns greatest ever captain. I grew up watching Lethal and Tucky and that is a big call.

Maybe it's true and maybe it isn't, but I think we tend to rate the current players more highly because our memory of them is more recent.

I'd probably have Silvagni at the front end of the 5 - 10 range. Would take Langers, Rance, Scarlett and Lake ahead of him. Silvagni then in the group with Fletcher, Mal Michael, Pert, Glass...

 

[Soft as malaxos]

Collins Langford Ayres

So damn reliable.

Then you throw in blokes like Mew and Jenke. Such a great backline unit.

It was an amazing defensive unit, that drove so much attacking footy. Was a real pleasure to watch.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

A friend of mine who played for Richmond, kicked 5 goals in a half on langford in a preseason game said afterwards, he was almost impossible to move once he'd established a position. He also knew Langford was playing bruise free and allowed him to kick those goals. But the thing he remembered most was the sheer strength of the guy.

Ask Carey who he rated alongside Jakovich as his toughest opponent. I remember a game out at Waverley around 95 with Carey smack bang in his prime and Langers destroyed him even though we lost comfortably that day. Was a masterclass in defensive positioning mixed with attack. Wouldn't be any footage of it anywhere but remember it as I was there that day.

 

[andrew coombs]

Elite athlete. Like another great defender in Chris Mew he started out in the senior team as a tall, rangy wingman. The main difference being that Mewy was a bit of a skinny bag of bones as a teenager and Langers was built like an Adonis. After Kel Moore retired we struggled to replace him with a permanent key defender. Blokes like Mick McCarthy and David O’Halloran were too small or light for the role. In the 1985 Grand Final our lack of a matchup for Salmon and Merrett ( who rotated out of the goal square ) was a real weakness. When we came up against the Bombers in early 1986 Alan Jeans decided to give young Langford a try. At that stage it wasn’t clear where the immensely promising youngster would be best suited. The rest is history.

 

[TylerDurden]

Elite athlete. Like another great defender in Chris Mew he started out in the senior team as a tall, rangy wingman. The main difference being that Mewy was a bit of a skinny bag of bones as a teenager and Langers was built like an Adonis. After Kel Moore retired we struggled to replace him with a permanent key defender. Blokes like Mick McCarthy and David O’Halloran were too small or light for the role. In the 1985 Grand Final our lack of a matchup for Salmon and Merrett ( who rotated out of the goal square ) was a real weakness. When we came up against the Bombers in early 1986 Alan Jeans decided to give young Langford a try. At that stage it wasn’t clear where the immensely promising youngster would be best suited. The rest is history.

Didn't Langers ruck a bit in the 85 GF v S Madden?

 

[andrew coombs]

Didn't Langers ruck a bit in the 85 GF v S Madden?

Yes he did. It shows how light on for ruckman we were back then. Simon Madden dominated against a non ruckman and won the Norm Smith. Dermott kicked eight on three different opponents in a side that lost by 13 goals and didn’t. Cracking decision that.

 

[Pessimistic]

Didn't Langers ruck a bit in the 85 GF v S Madden?

84 semi was on fox recently langers took out vanderhar with a shirtfront

 

[MrFujiMoto]

What a backline that was. Langford looked and played like Superman. Ayers looked and played like Conan the Barbarian. Mew, Collins, Jenke. Someone like Langford would have thrived today but was just as equally great one on one. He still had the odd brain fart. Most notably in the 91gf. I think he cost us our first 3 or 4 goals against. 2 50s against to Sumich and another free against to Heady or someone. He was angry at the start of that game. Was a great GF to watch up until half time when we started to get on top.

 

[LuckyHawk]

Yep, we have two full backs who could easily qualify for the AFL Team of the Century.
Chris Langford was one of the all time greats.

But I preferred Kelvin Moore just because I could! I saw all of his career; I loved that he was recruited as a slow-moving full forward at a time when Peter Hudson was the best ever, then he transformed himself into a great full back, such a cool and reliable defender.

And for those who never saw Kel play, have a look at the last quarter of the 1971 Grand Final. He took mark after mark, he had a similar but better game than Brian Lake in 2013.

.

Spot on, Kel's last quarter was totally match winning. He possessed incredible judgement especially in a marking duel
and back in '71 he was quick!

 

[TAITA]

What a backline that was. Langford looked and played like Superman. Ayers looked and played like Conan the Barbarian. Mew, Collins, Jenke. Someone like Langford would have thrived today but was just as equally great one on one. He still had the odd brain fart. Most notably in the 91gf. I think he cost us our first 3 or 4 goals against. 2 50s against to Sumich and another free against to Heady or someone. He was angry at the start of that game. Was a great GF to watch up until half time when we started to get on top.

Yeah, that's when it became a really good grand final to watch. Thanks Angry. Thanks Batman.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

What a backline that was. Langford looked and played like Superman. Ayers looked and played like Conan the Barbarian. Mew, Collins, Jenke. Someone like Langford would have thrived today but was just as equally great one on one. He still had the odd brain fart. Most notably in the 91gf. I think he cost us our first 3 or 4 goals against. 2 50s against to Sumich and another free against to Heady or someone. He was angry at the start of that game. Was a great GF to watch up until half time when we started to get on top.

If you go back and look at footage of the 1st 50m penalty you will notice the sly dog Chris Lewis pushing Sumich into Langford causing him to throw him into the ground. Than Lewis proceeds to look at the ump and call 50 like the snitch that he was and they got a goal out of it. You don't notice it until you look at that incident closely.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

If you go back and look at footage of the 1st 50m penalty you will notice the sly dog Chris Lewis pushing Sumich into Langford causing him to throw him into the ground. Than Lewis proceeds to look at the ump and call 50 like the snitch that he was and they got a goal out of it. You don't notice it until you look at that incident closely.

The biggest push in the back not penalised was Goodes on Lake in the 2014 GF when mcGlynn kicked a goal in the 2nd Q. Absolute disgrace it wasn't paid. Right in the goalsquare.

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

The biggest push in the back not penalised was Goodes on Lake in the 2014 GF when mcGlynn kicked a goal in the 2nd Q. Absolute disgrace it wasn't paid. Right in the goalsquare.

Goodes was a seriously protected species at the end of his career.

 

[Satchel]

He was actually quite a tall fullback for his era so that is incorrect. Listed at 193-194cm so would actually fit in today as well. Gave away kilos but was just behind the Chief in regards to strength so was able to stand his ground in wrestles many times. Was also a beautiful kick of the ball, used to love him kicking from fullback as he could roost it 60 without any problems and had a great technique.

what a shame his son didn't get that ability - could have been anything

 

[hawkheart]

Remember seeing Langers' first game at Arden Street. I think he played wing. Remember he took a decent specky right in front of us. Very solid backman.