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Ted Whitten

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courtjester

courtjester

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Just a random thread on Ted Whitten. Interested in learning a bit about his playing career, but can't be bothered reading a book on him.

Particularly interested in the way/style he played, the position/s he played etc. Often in all time teams he is selected at Centre Half Back, but is this where he usually played? Was he a strong mark? Excellent skills? etc etc
 
Whitten was one of few football players to have the ability to play any position on the field. He was regarded by his contemporaries in the 1950s and 1960s as the greatest naturally talented player of his era
^^^ A quote from Wikipedia.
 
Dazb86 said:
Whitten was one of few football players to have the ability to play any position on the field. He was regarded by his contemporaries in the 1950s and 1960s as the greatest naturally talented player of his era
^^^ A quote from Wikipedia.
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Cheers mate. So where did he actually line up most of the time? CHB? CHF?
 

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courtjester said:
That was actually another question I had in mind. Is there a recently modern player (from any club) any old Dogs supporters would compare EJ with?
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As much as I love Chris Grant, you could argue that he was the second best CHF in the 90's (behind Carey) and the second best CHB (behind Jackovich). EJ was the best CHF and CHB of his era, plus being able to run through the middle. Think of the Yates hit on Brereton in the 89 GF. Whitten was the man to dish that out, then kick 4 at CHF then shift to CHB in the last, when the wind was against you and control the game....

Grant was a more polished (skills are better these days) version of EJ, but with less mongrel in him.

Probably a pretty poor comparison and I'm sure there are others who can offer more.
 
Although I'm fairly young, I have raid a fair bit about him.

Started off as a skinny FF/CHF and lined up at CHF in our 54 flag. Moved to CHB after he kept getting injured. But he pretty much could play anywhere, except rover and wing, and even pinched hitted in the ruck. When we were a dud team in the early 60's he'd often line up on the opponents best player or wherever he though he could be most effective. In the 61 Grand Final he rucked roved.

His best feature was his clean hands and overhead marking, was the best mark in the league. Was agile, versitle, and a skillful yet athletic player.

He was a great coach as well. He took a team from second bottomin 1960 to a Grand Final in 61 (when he himself was the only player in our history to play in both Grand Finals) by utilising the flick pass, invented by Fitzroy Coach Len Smith. It was basically a handball with a open palm, but you could flick it left, right or in front which is why it was deadly. It was outlawed some time in 1961 (not sure when exactly but before the grand final). He took one of the worst teams, undersized and old, into the grand final by himself (and the only time we've won a preliminary final in our history).

that's it basically, if you have any more questions or if I missed something tell me please
 
threenewpadlocks said:
Started off as a skinny FF/CHF and lined up at CHF in our 54 flag. Moved to CHB after he kept getting injured. But he pretty much could play anywhere, except rover and wing, and even pinched hitted in the ruck. When we were a dud team in the early 60's he'd often line up on the opponents best player or wherever he though he could be most effective. In the 61 Grand Final he rucked roved.

His best feature was his clean hands and overhead marking, was the best mark in the league. Was agile, versitle, and a skillful yet athletic player.
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Cheers. Would someone like Paul Roos (but a bit tougher/more mongrel) be a fair comparison? Or Alistair Lynch?
 
dogsbody said:
If you really are interested, you'll learn a lot more by reading a book than awaiting posts on bigfooty. Don't be lazy.
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I'm aware of that, but it came up in conversation with a mate. We were talking about the greatest footballers. Just wanted an easy answer really. No drama if I don't get one!
 
courtjester said:
I'm aware of that, but it came up in conversation with a mate. We were talking about the greatest footballers. Just wanted an easy answer really. No drama if I don't get one!
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It's tough to compare Whitten with any player in the modern, sanitized era. Probably like Leigh Matthews - very tough, ultra competitive and could turn a game regularly. He had a real charisma about him, and as a kid I was always glad he played for us!

Ted dished it out like Brereton, and took it like Libba (never, ever complained). Took marks like Carey, was too quick with his hands for most of his team mates. He had the ability to tear games apart, and that always brought other players into the game. If Ted was BOG, the whole side played well. I remember him fighting all day with Kevin Murray, the match winner from Fitzroy. They punched each other silly, then walked off arm in arm after the game (probably holding each other up). He had about 30 disposals that day, too. Dogs won easily...

It was generally up to Ted to win the game. Last quarter at Whitten Oval, couple of goals down, kicking to the southern end with a strong wind, Ted was the go-to player. I saw him kick many goals from 50-60 out to get the Dogs over the line.

The only Dogs player anywhere near Ted, in terms of importance, was John Schultz, who won the Brownlow in 1960.

The only shame of it all was that the Doggies' sides of the 60s didn't have many other star players, and relied on him so much...
 
GetDimmaBack said:
It's tough to compare Whitten with any player in the modern, sanitized era. Probably like Leigh Matthews - very tough, ultra competitive and could turn a game regularly. He had a real charisma about him, and as a kid I was always glad he played for us!

Ted dished it out like Brereton, and took it like Libba (never, ever complained). Took marks like Carey, was too quick with his hands for most of his team mates. He had the ability to tear games apart, and that always brought other players into the game. If Ted was BOG, the whole side played well. I remember him fighting all day with Kevin Murray, the match winner from Fitzroy. They punched each other silly, then walked off arm in arm after the game (probably holding each other up). He had about 30 disposals that day, too. Dogs won easily...

It was generally up to Ted to win the game. Last quarter at Whitten Oval, couple of goals down, kicking to the southern end with a strong wind, Ted was the go-to player. I saw him kick many goals from 50-60 out to get the Dogs over the line.

The only Dogs player anywhere near Ted, in terms of importance, was John Schultz, who won the Brownlow in 1960.

The only shame of it all was that the Doggies' sides of the 60s didn't have many other star players, and relied on him so much...
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I saw him play many times as a kid and agree with GetDimmaBack. He was like Leigh Matherws on steriods. Even later in his career he was an unbelievable contested mark and I saw him kick 6 goals once in a quater and a half in an interstate game when these games were taken seriously. I don't think anyone really compared favorably with him then and certainly not now. He was the "Bradman" of footy, but a much nicer bloke :)
 
Great hearing about this. So much insight. I'm sure a bit of the technical talk has gone over my head though. Stories like this is what builds passion, pride and commitment.
 

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lateniter said:
Ted Whitten was recognised by everyone as Mr Football and we were lucky we had him. Who could forget his last lap around the MCG with Ted Jnr? There was hardly a dry eye in the house, says it all really....
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Had to use the like button because there's no "love" button.
 

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lateniter said:
Ted Whitten was recognised by everyone as Mr Football and we were lucky we had him. Who could forget his last lap around the MCG with Ted Jnr? There was hardly a dry eye in the house, says it all really....
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... oh wow ... just wow.
 
I can't watch that without tearing up......wonderful moment.
 
Igloo said:
Here's an article that explains it, since I can't be bothered typing it out :p
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/mor...ldog-chris-grant/story-e6frf9jf-1225888681972

Chris Grant is a great man. You wont find a person alive who says a bad word about him.
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Grant, who played 252 games at the Bulldogs from 1990 to 2001, described the decision as the hardest of his football career.
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Brilliant reporting by the Hun. They were incorrect by the small amount of 89 games and 6 years. All you have to do is check his Wikipedia page ffs.
 
threenewpadlocks said:
Brilliant reporting by the Hun. They were incorrect by the small amount of 89 games and 6 years. All you have to do is check his Wikipedia page ffs.
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Yeah, I saw that as well. To be expected by the HUN, though :thumbsd:
 
DynamiteShifty said:
Care to share?
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Chris was a rare player, being a tall key position player that had better skills than most of todays midfielders, he could play anywhere and had amazing durability (at one stage holding our games record). Unfortunately he suffered from our lack of profile as a club, and many of us on who saw him play week in week out believe him to be on par with (or better than) many of the game's greats.

But unbelieveably that is all beside the point he is just as rare a person. The man turned down at the time the most lucrative contract in the sport to stay with his club. The same club that years later asked him (along with a few teammates) to take a pay cut. He knew he represented the our only hope and he stayed, if he had left I have no doubt our club would have folded in 1997. And to top that off anecdotes about how damn nice he is are littered through various Bulldog forums and I've heard my fair share of them at family days and in the stands. Loyalty and class runs through the man's veins.
 

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