Our top 5 Coodabeens

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Arathrawn

Arathrawn

Club Legend
Veteran
Nov 14, 2013
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3,551
AFL Club
North Melbourne
I like a good top 5 thread but I'm also a masochist so let's look at my top 5 players who Coodabeen anything.

1. Jesse.W. Smith
Incredible runner with great skills. Tore up that final against the Hawks thought we had a star. Ankles are stupid
2. Kieran Harper
Great speed and size, could turn opponents inside out and finish. Ankles are stupid.
3. Josh Smith
Watched him win best on for North Ballarat in the VFL GF. Thought he was our next great CHF. When he played AFL had the turning circle if the Queen Mary. I blame his Ankles.
4. Gavin Urquhart
I don't even know what happened to him. Great penetrating kick, quick and a good size. Probably had dodgy Ankles.
5. Aaron Black
Athletic and agile, would have been a tough match up as a third tall. Had all the tools... even had decent Ankles. Shoulders are stupid.
 
Good thread, always like to go further back for the young'uns here;

. Stephen Easton - actually went to school with Stephen ( coupla years behind ). Of course famous for our u/19's team losing all it's premiership points in 1975

Stephen Easton - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
He was famous at school for taking on Assumption College at Vic.Park one day and literally tearing them a new one single-handedly. Sight to behold. Ran into him at the MCG years later and he admitted he just didn't put the work in which he regretted.

. Richard Michakczyk - CHB who came over from W.A. recruited by Barassi. Solid 190cm and 90kg. Literal brick sheizenhausen.
Could defend, mark, kick, 1 on 1's 👍
Had an interrupted time with injuries but got it together 2nd half of '75. Would have been a huge part of that flag. Did a medial in the finals and that was virtually the last we saw him. Would have been a star.

. Adrian McAdam - 😥 What coudda been.

. Peter Steward - Another CHB ruined by injury at North. 7th in the Brownlow '68 and AA in 1969, but his knee ( which kept him out in '65 ) couldn't keep up. Went to W.A. and played good footy over there for West Perth.

. Johnny Byrne - 😥 Ruck roving star. Flowing blond locks, skilled by hand & foot, hard as a cat's head. 2 broken legs in '79 & 80 saw him retire at 26.
 
Adrian McAdam is the captain of this side. Josh Smith didn't have half the talent of those already mentioned - bit of a BF overrate like Jeremy Clayton, Ben Ross and Djars were.
 

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Hojuman said:
Good thread, always like to go further back for the young'uns here;

. Stephen Easton - actually went to school with Stephen ( coupla years behind ). Of course famous for our u/19's team losing all it's premiership points in 1975

Stephen Easton - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
He was famous at school for taking on Assumption College at Vic.Park one day and literally tearing them a new one single-handedly. Sight to behold. Ran into him at the MCG years later and he admitted he just didn't put the work in which he regretted.

. Richard Michakczyk - CHB who came over from W.A. recruited by Barassi. Solid 190cm and 90kg. Literal brick sheizenhausen.
Could defend, mark, kick, 1 on 1's 👍
Had an interrupted time with injuries but got it together 2nd half of '75. Would have been a huge part of that flag. Did a medial in the finals and that was virtually the last we saw him. Would have been a star.

. Adrian McAdam - 😥 What coudda been.

. Peter Steward - Another CHB ruined by injury at North. 7th in the Brownlow '68 and AA in 1969, but his knee ( which kept him out in '65 ) couldn't keep up. Went to W.A. and played good footy over there for West Perth.

. Johnny Byrne - 😥 Ruck roving star. Flowing blond locks, skilled by hand & foot, hard as a cat's head. 2 broken legs in '79 & 80 saw him retire at 26.
Click to expand...
Johnny Byrne could have been anything. Fantastic to watch. Agree with all of these.
Hojuman said:
Good thread, always like to go further back for the young'uns here;

. Stephen Easton - actually went to school with Stephen ( coupla years behind ). Of course famous for our u/19's team losing all it's premiership points in 1975

Stephen Easton - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
He was famous at school for taking on Assumption College at Vic.Park one day and literally tearing them a new one single-handedly. Sight to behold. Ran into him at the MCG years later and he admitted he just didn't put the work in which he regretted.

. Richard Michakczyk - CHB who came over from W.A. recruited by Barassi. Solid 190cm and 90kg. Literal brick sheizenhausen.
Could defend, mark, kick, 1 on 1's 👍
Had an interrupted time with injuries but got it together 2nd half of '75. Would have been a huge part of that flag. Did a medial in the finals and that was virtually the last we saw him. Would have been a star.

. Adrian McAdam - 😥 What coudda been.

. Peter Steward - Another CHB ruined by injury at North. 7th in the Brownlow '68 and AA in 1969, but his knee ( which kept him out in '65 ) couldn't keep up. Went to W.A. and played good footy over there for West Perth.

. Johnny Byrne - 😥 Ruck roving star. Flowing blond locks, skilled by hand & foot, hard as a cat's head. 2 broken legs in '79 & 80 saw him retire at 26.
Click to expand...
You could almost put Kekovich in there Hoj. For the amount of talent he had he should be up there with all the greats. Injuries got him but mostly that was a result of not enough off field effort ( women excluded)
 
I remember reading Peter Mann was going to be another Wayne Carey.
 
Toney Furey, Peter Jonas, Blake Grima, Paul Spargo
 
Title reminds me of the old coodabeen champions with Timmy, Ivan, Peter, Stan, Massive.
Horace
 
SonofSamsquanch said:
Hojuman - you were an u19 watcher.

Eric Lissenden

Another consideration is the Great McCarthy.

And Digby Morrell - we saw him almost set the G on fire one Friday night. What happened?

And Gasometer would be nominating Shannon Watts I reckon.
Click to expand...


Eric only played 2 games, first was servicible v Carltank. But that 10 goal thrashing v Pies the next week.....
Met him in a Brisbane Officeworks years later.
 
I remember Adam Lange making a huge impression in his first few games in 2000, taking some duck-esque one handed marks and looked like a huge strong power forward that would make life easier for Carey and Corey.

Djaran Whyman in 2007 had pace and could kick a goal, was really exciting.

Jesse Smith as has been mentioned and those paper mache ankle genetics.

Gary Dhurkhay. Patches of briliance in 1999 (that late goal against Brisbane on the boundary in round 14 which helped win us the game I won't forget Duck clapping with awe) but decided to leave to focus on his community. RIP :(

Honorable mention to Winnie....he doesn't quite fit but was only 26 when that knee went. We only had 3 or so years of him but he made an impression beyond that. We were robbed of 5-6 more years of his wizardry
 

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Arathrawn said:
I like a good top 5 thread but I'm also a masochist so let's look at my top 5 players who Coodabeen anything.

1. Jesse.W. Smith
Incredible runner with great skills. Tore up that final against the Hawks thought we had a star. Ankles are stupid
2. Kieran Harper
Great speed and size, could turn opponents inside out and finish. Ankles are stupid.
3. Josh Smith
Watched him win best on for North Ballarat in the VFL GF. Thought he was our next great CHF. When he played AFL had the turning circle if the Queen Mary. I blame his Ankles.
4. Gavin Urquhart
I don't even know what happened to him. Great penetrating kick, quick and a good size. Probably had dodgy Ankles.
5. Aaron Black
Athletic and agile, would have been a tough match up as a third tall. Had all the tools... even had decent Ankles. Shoulders are stupid.
Click to expand...
Black wasn’t hampered by injury. He just wasn’t very good. Same with the rest of the list aside from 1#.
 
Jesse Smith.

Back in the day where if you had a FS, you just got them - no points, no bidding. And we never really got any. Meanwhile, the best team of the time had Scarlett, G.Ablett, N.Ablett and Hawkins all more or less for free.

Finally we got one. Best player of the U19 championships and we only got him for #42. Debuts in 2005, misses all of 2006 with injury, shows plenty in 2007 including his career best in a winning final. Only plays two games after 2007, playing his last game aged 21.

He's still only 36. Hawkins, Pendlebury, Selwood, Hurn, Higgins, Gray, Ryder and Boak were all nominated as Rising Stars along with JWS in 2007 and all played in 2022. The Rising Star class of 2007 have 11 premierships, 23 B&Fs, a Coleman Medal, 29 AAs, 14 club goalkickers, a Norm Smith, 37 years as club captain.

We got 27 games in 5 years from JWS. And we baulked at Selwood in 2006 because he was injury prone.

Phuk.
 
Last edited:
its too depressing to contemplate 5, but ill throw out an underrated one: cam delaney. he was a hell of an athlete, great size, great footy talent. he could have been something special, trust me.

his journeyman brother took some of the shine off him for the fans i think, but he was a serious talent.

look at this just from his first couple of afl games. smarts, size, pace, skill:

www.geelongcats.com.au

Cam Delaney highlights

Watch new rookie Cam Delaney in action
www.geelongcats.com.au www.geelongcats.com.au
 
Last edited:
Hojuman said:
Good thread, always like to go further back for the young'uns here;

. Stephen Easton - actually went to school with Stephen ( coupla years behind ). Of course famous for our u/19's team losing all it's premiership points in 1975

Stephen Easton - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
He was famous at school for taking on Assumption College at Vic.Park one day and literally tearing them a new one single-handedly. Sight to behold. Ran into him at the MCG years later and he admitted he just didn't put the work in which he regretted.

. Richard Michakczyk - CHB who came over from W.A. recruited by Barassi. Solid 190cm and 90kg. Literal brick sheizenhausen.
Could defend, mark, kick, 1 on 1's 👍
Had an interrupted time with injuries but got it together 2nd half of '75. Would have been a huge part of that flag. Did a medial in the finals and that was virtually the last we saw him. Would have been a star.

. Adrian McAdam - 😥 What coudda been.

. Peter Steward - Another CHB ruined by injury at North. 7th in the Brownlow '68 and AA in 1969, but his knee ( which kept him out in '65 ) couldn't keep up. Went to W.A. and played good footy over there for West Perth.

. Johnny Byrne - 😥 Ruck roving star. Flowing blond locks, skilled by hand & foot, hard as a cat's head. 2 broken legs in '79 & 80 saw him retire at 26.
Click to expand...
Well done Hoj. All memorable recollections.

Richard Michalczyk was a very good player. After some great efforts in the Qualifying Final in 1975 (including a pressure set shot) he hurt his knee and that was him done. Missed the Flag. For his op he was in a hospital bed next to my dad so I spoke to him a few times. Sadly in those days a cartilage op meant 6 months. These days it's about 2 weeks. Luck of the draw.

Johnny Byrne...what could have been!! You missed mentioning that he played in the 77 Flag. They didn't have the Norm Smith medal in those days but watching back, he would have been right up there in the voting with Blighty, Cable, Arnold and Xavier Tanner.
 
Bertie22 said:
Well done Hoj. All memorable recollections.

Richard Michalczyk was a very good player. After some great efforts in the Qualifying Final in 1975 (including a pressure set shot) he hurt his knee and that was him done. Missed the Flag. For his op he was in a hospital bed next to my dad so I spoke to him a few times. Sadly in those days a cartilage op meant 6 months. These days it's about 2 weeks. Luck of the draw.

Johnny Byrne...what could have been!! You missed mentioning that he played in the 77 Flag. They didn't have the Norm Smith medal in those days but watching back, he would have been right up there in the voting with Blighty, Cable, Arnold and Xavier Tanner.
Click to expand...


Always wondered who l'd give my '75 Norm Smith too 🤔
Johnny Burns for setting us up and 4 goals l reckon.
 
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