Past Chris Smith (1973-1982)

[Grimreepah]

 

[Grimreepah]

footyinfo

Full name: Chris Smith
Born: September 29, 1955
Teams: Fitzroy 1973-82
Height: 189cm
Weight: 97kg
Debut: Fitzroy vs Hawthorn Round 6, Junction Oval, 12 May 1973

Statistics:

afl tables
all the stats

 

[Grimreepah]

Fitzroy team of the century nominees

Chris Smith played 163 games for Fitzroy between 1973 and 1982. He played predominately at centre half back, although he did finish second in the club goalkicking in 1975 with 31 goals. He was a strong mark but disciplined enough to know when to spoil. He wore a bicycle helmet at a similar time to his teammate Garry Wilson. In 1980, he was a surprise leader at the half way point of the Brownlow Medal count and finished with 16 votes.

 

[Grimreepah]

1980 Brownlow Medal

Player             Team              Votes

Kelvin Templeton   Footscray         23
Merv Neagle        Essendon          20
Rod Blake          Geelong           19
Peter Moore        Collingwood       18
Tim Watson         Essendon          17
[U]Chris Smith[/U]        Fitzroy           16
Leigh Matthews     Hawthorn          16
Mark Lee           Richmond          16
Keith Greig        North Melbourne   15
Gary Dempsey       North Melbourne   15

 

[Grimreepah]

Link ....

Chris Smith played more than 100 of his 163 games for Fitzroy (1973-82) in a bike helmet and credits it with helping make him the player he became.But he said helmets would never become commonplace because they didn't fit the image of an AFL player.
"You see them as mandatory in junior football, which is a good thing, then they disappear as those players move into senior ranks," Smith, 55, said.
"I got knocked out three times in my first three years and then started suffering what was diagnosed as 'footballer's migraines'.
"I bought a $10 bike helmet from a bike shop to minimise the knocks. I'd have to say it worked for me."

 

[Grimreepah]

Blast from the Past
3:41 PM Thu 14 Jul, 2011

What are you up to these days?

I’m currently the Managing Director of a civil engineering, surveying and planning consultancy based in Shepparton. I’ve been involved in the industry since moving up here in 1984. I played my last senior game of VFL for Fitzroy in June of 1982 and attempted an unsuccessful comeback in 1983. Then I retired and moved to Shepparton where I, in the first instance, took up the position of playing/coach with Mooroopna Football Club in the Goulburn Valley Football League. I coached there for three years and we went on to win back-to-back flags in 1985-86 - breaking a 47-year drought! Then it was time for me to pursue a professional career.

What are the main changes you’ve noticed in the game since your playing days?

It’s a whole lot quicker and the skills have certainly improved. I wasn’t the fast. I wouldn’t have been quick enough to survive in today’s game. My style of footy was to use my body to protect the ball and my team-mates. I’d be umpired out of the game now with the new rules that are protecting players from bumps and knocks. The game has also been sanitised a lot from when I played in the 1970s and early 1980s. I played most of my career wearing a helmet, mostly to help soften the blows on my head. I suffered from migraines even if I got a small knock to the head. I actually gave Garry Wilson his first helmet and suggested he try it on. He had suffered from some bad concussions and I thought it might help. There was actually a time during my playing days when myself, Peter Keays and Gerry McCarthy all wore helmets across the half-back line. We used to call ourselves the ‘half-helmet line’.

 

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Lions prowl for pride of Olde Fitzroy
March 12 2003

The defending premier has its travelling roadshow, entitled "Kings of the Jungle", rollicking through Wodonga, Shepparton, Bendigo, Ballarat and Warrnambool, starring the likes of Chris Smith and of course, Kevin "Bulldog" Murray.

 

[Grimreepah]

Fitzroy-Brisbane Lions Past Players and Officials Association

Kevin Dixon, Chris Smith, David Purchell and Neil Gahgan

 

[Grimreepah]

Grand final flashbacks
By Matt Dowling
30 September, 2011 9:23AM AEST

The last time Shepparton United and Mooroopna met in a Gouburn Valley Football League grand final, former Fitzroy star Chris Smith was coaching the Cats and Dallas Terlich was an emerging star for the Demons.

That was 25 years ago, with Mooroopna making it back-to-back premierships (having also beaten United the year before) while the Demons went on to win the next three premierships.

Dallas and Chris, armed with scrapbooks and stats, were our guests on Conversation Corner this morning, reliving the great games and names of the era.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Features prominently in this clip (number 8).

[YOUTUBE]MfruDau6NYA[/YOUTUBE]

 

[3KZ is Football]

Features prominently in this clip (number 8).

[YOUTUBE]MfruDau6NYA[/YOUTUBE]

At this one and remember it well. Smith was a great defender, but on occasion Bill Stephen would swing him forward to try and change our fortunes when we were in trouble. Here against Hawthorn it worked and I seem to recall another game that year against North Melbourne at Arden street where we were twenty something points up at 3/4 time, but North were coming home with a 5 to 6 goal wind at their backs. Smith hadn't done much all day as a defender, but he was moved to centre half forward in the last quarter and while he didn't score, he helped turn the game around with some sensational efforts. In the end we had an 8 goal quarter against the gale force wind.

What the heck ... here's the link: http://stats.rleague.com/afl/stats/games/1979/061219790526.html

Check out the scoring fluctuations for the first three quarters. Fitzroy started kicking with the wind.

 

[blynd_freddie]

One of my favourite Fitzroy Lions – I lived as a kid on the same road as Chris, both he and Paul Roos came from the same club, Beverley Hills in the Melbourne suburb of East Doncaster. Coincidently, the final season for Chris Smith was the debut year for Paul Roos - they only played 5 home & away games together in this year - 1982.