Research Random Footy History article thread (Trove/Google etc)

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Andrew Kuka 'played' one game at 16yr, 46 days. Given that he didn't register a stat it looks like he sat on the bench all day. Seems like it was a ruse just to tie him to Fitzroy before he went back to the country, then he didn't play another league game.

No record of him playing a game against Essendon as it suggests in the article.

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Supermercado said:
Andrew Kuka 'played' one game at 16yr, 46 days. Given that he didn't register a stat it looks like he sat on the bench all day. Seems like it was a ruse just to tie him to Fitzroy before he went back to the country, then he didn't play another league game.

No record of him playing a game against Essendon as it suggests in the article.

View attachment 726879
Click to expand...
His one and only game at League level was against Essendon in Rd. 10, 1967: https://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/1967/050619670624.html
He doesn't get a mention in The Age match report, but he made it onto the ground *, despite not "troubling the statisticians"!:
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* The Football Record (many years later) doesn't agree with this (see end of post)! Perhaps they just assumed that he didn't get onto the field due to his lack of stats!

It seems he returned to Fitzroy in 1969 and played U19's and Reserves that year (from Football Record 1969 Week 1 Finals):
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His name appears quite a few times in the best players for the U19's in 1969. Perhaps he headed back home again after that year.

Football Record 1994 Rd. 20:
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Football Record 1996 Rd. 20:
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killer said:
Swan districts named a 13yr old (Joe O'Neil) as a reserve in 1967
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I'm afraid your source for that piece of information appears to be in error by rather a wide margin !!

WAFL FootyFacts - O'NEIL, John Anthony

WAFL player records, Individual WAFL player stats page, career player stats by season, game, opponent and venue
www.waflfootyfacts.net
 
Weekly Times Wed 26 May 1943 I don't believe it.jpg

the "Investigator Replies" column may 1943
people would write in with their queries

what does luftwaffe mean ?
why does my steak glow in the dark ?
what is the world record for sewing hessian bags ?


This guy

Lyall Williams - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

trove.nla.gov.au

St. Kilda Challenging Melbourne for a Place Among the Four - Notes and Comments on Current Football Topics - The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954) - 9 Aug 1929

To complete the first round four matches have to be played. The all important question bears on the composition of the four teams which will qualify to carry on in the second round--the semi-final and final games. ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
 
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Table talk VFL articles 1933 1-6

trove.nla.gov.au

Round the Training Rooms - Being the first of a series of articles describing visits made weekly to League football grounds. | No. 1.—HAWTHORN - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 1 Jun 1933

THE first person I met when I entered Hawthorn's dressing-room on Thursday evening last was Eddie Hood, the ex-Richmond and ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

Round the Training Rooms - No. 2 —ST. KILDA - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 8 Jun 1933

ASTRONG smell of iodoform, lint and iodine smote me when I opened the door of the St. Kilda training room on the Tuesday evening ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

Round the Training Rooms - No. 3—MELBOURNE - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 15 Jun 1933

MELBOURNE (alias "the Red Legs" alias "the Fuchsias") has long been regarded as the "mystery team" of the League. ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

Round the Training Rooms - No. 4: SOUTH MELBOURNE - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 22 Jun 1933

FOR many years Carlton was notorious for the zeal with which it ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

ROUND THE TRAINING ROOMS - No. 5: FITZROY - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 6 Jul 1933

THE all-round improvement of Fitzroy and their sudden rise from a low position on the list last year to a place in the Four, is, to date, one ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

ROUND THE TRAINING ROOMS - No. 6: ESSENDON - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 13 Jul 1933

"THE same old Essendon"! That line in the club song, that gave to Essendon the title of the "Same Olds," was recalled to my mind as I entered ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
 
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The rest of the Table Talk - "Round the Training Rooms" articles 1933
trove.nla.gov.au

ROUND THE TRAINING ROOMS - No. 7. NORTH MELBOURNE. - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 20 Jul 1933

WHEN Dick Ovenden and I visited North Melbourne training room last week, the first person we met with was Dick Taylor, the team's captain ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

Round the Training Rooms - No. 8—FOOTSCRAY - Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939) - 27 Jul 1933

FOR a practical example of perfectly equipped football training quarters, one could not do better than pay a visit to the Footscray ground. Here in the ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

The Secret of the Collingwood System - No. 9. of

THE next best thing to viewing an actual football match is to watch ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

A DOSE OF THE

WHEN I strolled into the Carlton room with Dick Ovenden on the Tuesday night of last week, I found them all singing. ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
trove.nla.gov.au

07 Sep 1933 - "Men Who Have Never Played the Game! - Trove

THE men who have never played the game have spoilt it!" That is the contention of Billy Schmidt, Richmond's non-playing coach, as I ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
 
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The law on the football field 1911

trove.nla.gov.au

ROUGH FOOTBALL. POLICE ACTION RESENTED. - LEAGUE'S DISCUSSION. - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 15 Jul 1911

The Victorian Football League yesterday evening had an interesting debate on the recent police prosecutions of footballers for offences on the playing field. Mr. Alex. ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au


trove.nla.gov.au

FOOTBALLER IN TROUBLE. - FITZROY-ESSENDON INCIDENT. MARTIN FINED £5 1. - The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) - 11 Jul 1911

The hearing in the District Court yesterday of a charge of assault preferred against James Martin, an Essendon footballer, attracted considerable attention and the court was filled to over flowing. It ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au
 
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killer said:
Any truth to this?

View attachment 757385
Click to expand...

No, no truth at all as far as I'm aware.

Looks to me as if you have found that in the "3AW Book of Footy Records" or book of similar contents published in 1970s or early 1980s.
Unfortunately, that immediately causes alarm bells to go off for me as I have found such publications to be less than reliable.

Over many years of research, I have never come across any reference in 1858 to
1) a club called Richmond Cricketers or
2) a player named Bruce

Have just checked Trove newspapers and confirmed the same still applies.

Of course, this BF/History bracket of threads has for some years known that the "champion of the colony" award is a hoax.
 
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killer said:
there was a george bruce but much later:

trove.nla.gov.au

MR. GEORGE BRUCE DEAD - Football and Bowls Champion - The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954) - 6 Jun 1928

Mr George Bruce, Athlete, and prominent business man in Lygon street Carlton, died last night after a brief illness. ...
trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au

oh what a pity. Could have revolutionised the handball
Click to expand...
A George Bruce was a star player for Richmond (early version) and Hotham in the 1870's. I'm not at all sure whether the George Bruce who ended up with Hotham (played until 1881, it seems) is the same player who was meant to be with the "Richmond Cricketers FC" side way back in 1858. If so, he must have played until he was in his 40's, which seems rather unlikely. I've also never seen mention of this chap having that disability. So who knows?!

A Bruce played for a Richmond side in 1860: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/201377720
1570083251563.png

From The Footballer 1875:
1570084206657.png

The Footballer 1876:
1570084455502.png

G. Bruce joined Hotham from Richmond in 1877 (Origins of Australian Football- Victoria's Early History. Volume 2):
1570090823099.png
The book names the player as George Bruce.

The Footballer 1879:
1570084719292.png
1570084779892.png
 
killer said:
Any truth to this?

View attachment 757385
Click to expand...
This player was Alex Bruce, who lost a hand in an accident, & played with a metal hook from 1858. He is actually named on the Rules Committee (with Tom Wills), in the oldest, surviving 1859 Rules. The early accounts state he "was known to dish out violence with it". He was a Scotsman.
It would be very dangerous being tackled around the neck by Bruce, with his "bad" hand.
 
BringBackTorps said:
This player was Alex Bruce, who lost a hand in an accident, & played with a metal hook from 1858. He is actually named on the Rules Committee (with Tom Wills), in the oldest, surviving 1859 Rules. The early accounts state he "was known to dish out violence with it". He was a Scotsman.
It would be very dangerous being tackled around the neck by Bruce, with his "bad" hand.
Click to expand...
Now that makes sense! I tried to find him on Vic BDM before and decided the Geo Alex (George Alexander) Bruce who died at Longwarry in 1911 (born c. 1838) was most likely him. He named one of his sons George Richmond, perhaps due to the football connection!

trove.nla.gov.au

Family Notices - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 1 Dec 1911

trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au

So this would not have been the same chap who played with Richmond and Hotham a fair few years down the track?
 
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35Daicos said:
Now that makes sense! I tried to find him on Vic BDM before and decided the Geo Alex (George Alexander) Bruce who died at Longwarry in 1911 (born c. 1838) was most likely him. He named one of his sons George Richmond, perhaps due to the football connection.

trove.nla.gov.au

Family Notices - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 1 Dec 1911

trove.nla.gov.au trove.nla.gov.au

So this would not have been the same chap who played with Richmond and Hotham a fair few years down the track?
Click to expand...

Not sure the George Alexander Bruce (DOD 30 Nov 1911) is the player. This G.A. Bruce signed his will "Geo A. Bruce."
Would have thought the player might have signed as Alex or at least G Alex rather than Geo A. ?
 
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