Toast Essendon Football Club 150 Year Anniversary 1872-2022

Jul 6, 2002
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The way people speak of Coleman...it's like he was a deity. In my younger days I met a few old timers who saw him play. Not all Essendon people either. They all said he was the best they'd seen with such surety, like it didn't require any consideration; has always stayed with me.
 
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Ep 1/2 recap, Mark Harvey joined by some of the old players to talk about Reynolds and Coleman

 

Schnitzengruben

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 4, 2019
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I think 1 20 minute conversation with Jack Jones would make you a better person, what a man.
Not sure if returned in this series as I haven't watched yet, but there was a piece Sarah Jones did with Jack for ANZAC Day in maybe 2018 - can't remember the exact year. But it was really fantastic and bought a tear to my eye. Haven't been able to find it since, sadly.
 
I think 1 20 minute conversation with Jack Jones would make you a better person, what a man.
A few years ago the club put out a video covering the season launch function. He told the interviewer (might even have been Sarah):
"They only invite me to these things because I used to help around the club you know"
The lower third read:
Jack Jones - Triple premiership player
 

NAB777

Club Legend
Jul 21, 2010
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So what happened to the torpedo punt? Why did that fall out of favour?

As far as I know, the drop kick & torpedo were what everyone used & when the drop punt came in, everyone realised that it was more reliable than the other two...so they gradually fell away.
 
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We’ve lost a bit of class in society from back in the old days when you hear how guys like Dick Reynolds conducted themselves. Like that audio of him talking to the Melbourne players in the rooms after they beat the Bombers. Classy
 

NAB777

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So...I go back a fair way with the club, but my dad went way further back..! He played in the reserves for a couple of years when he was 17/18, which was during the Reynolds/Coleman era. My dad was at Coleman's first game & always told me that people would go from end to end to watch him, which was confirmed by David Parkin last night.

There are seemingly hundreds of stories that he told me about back then. Firstly, Dick Reynolds was exactly as advertised. A totally decent man, and a breathtaking footballer. Hutchison was nearly as good as him, and is vastly under-rated (but not by Essendon) when all-time greats are discussed. Interestingly, my dad reckoned that Hird & Watson Snr were as good as Hutchison. He also rated Barry Davis VERY highly.

However... until the day my dad died in the mid 2000s, he always said that Coleman stood alone as the best player he ever saw. You can only judge a player on their era, and he said that Coleman was so far ahead of everyone else, it wasn't funny, and that he was cat-like with his anticipation. Also - he was a state champ triple jumper & could jump his own height off a couple of steps. Dad said that he wouldn't run from behind the packs, he would come in from the side, and most of the time, he DIDN'T use the opponent to get a ride, he 'landed' on them, if that makes sense. Of course, if you have the fast twitch composition that Coleman did, you also have speed off the mark... A truly hard player to stop. And - only one umpire back then, so you can imagine the illegal tactics he was putting up with.

Can you imagine if a player came into the game today & did what Coleman did over 5 1/2 years?

My father-in-law played against Coleman & also said - best player he's ever seen.

I don't mind saying that I teared up a couple of times during the first two episodes. I love the club, but sometimes I forget just how much of a huge part of my life it has been...and then last night comes along & a bunch of memories start coming back. I can see visions of my family, most of who who are no longer around...I can remember going home & dying for the replay to start... sneaking my school friends into the Reynolds Stand (ending up with 4-5 people trying to cram into 2 seats)..and endless analysis I would do of the games I'd videotaped...

I really hope some of you youngsters coming through get to experience the success I saw as a kid.
 
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Will Fox show last night’s episode again? I missed it unfortunately.
They're replaying last night's two episodes now, and last week's two episodes tomorrow.

If they're still replaying last week's episodes this week then I'd expect this week's episodes to get another run next week.

TV guide also gives us names of the rest of the episodes;

Screen Shot 2021-10-27 at 12.46.38.png


Episode 1 - The Reign of King Richard
Episode 2 - The Shooting Star John Coleman
Episode 3 - Bombers Strike Turbulence
Episode 4 - Kevin Has Arrived
Episode 5 - Building The Dynasty
Episode 6 - Longs Legacy
Episode 7 - Redemption
Episode 8 - Renaissance (looks to be an hour-long last episode)
 
Jun 9, 2007
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They're replaying last night's two episodes now, and last week's two episodes tomorrow.

If they're still replaying last week's episodes this week then I'd expect this week's episodes to get another run next week.

TV guide also gives us names of the rest of the episodes;

View attachment 1268699

Episode 1 - The Reign of King Richard
Episode 2 - The Shooting Star John Coleman
Episode 3 - Bombers Strike Turbulence
Episode 4 - Kevin Has Arrived
Episode 5 - Building The Dynasty
Episode 6 - Longs Legacy
Episode 7 - Redemption
Episode 8 - Renaissance (looks to be an hour-long last episode)
Some time after work hopefully.
 
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