Club History The legend of John Coleman

[Bombermania]

So I wonder, who would he resemble today?

I get a feeling he would be a combined mix of Jack Riewoldt, Jeremy Howe and Matty Lloyd.

Remember he was only mid 180cms too

I had this conversation with a fellow bomber before a home game a few years ago, he was around the club in those days, and I asked him who today reminded him of Coleman, he said it was difficult to say as he was something special, Coleman would be outnumbered in a pack yet just jump up and take it over his head.

This gentleman did mention Matty Lloyd among several others that were kind of like Coleman.

 

[Howard Moon]

I had this conversation with a fellow bomber before a home game a few years ago, he was around the club in those days, and I asked him who today reminded him of Coleman, he said it was difficult to say as he was something special, Coleman would be outnumbered in a pack yet just jump up and take it over his head.

This gentleman did mention Matty Lloyd among several others that were kind of like Coleman.

If you watch him kick he has that Lloydy bent leg too.

I reckon there was a game Lloyd played against Sydney at the mcg in the late 90s when he kicked 13, was just hitting the ball at full tilt, marking in front of his eyes with 2 defenders, throwing himself at packs. That's how I imagine Coleman was every week.

 

[Howard Moon]

 

[Howard Moon]

gee you talk about kicking technique being a hot topic at the moment - half of those shots from inside 50 Lloydy just stabs at

 

[NAB777]

My dad was at Coleman's first game, and knew him well. Reckoned he was the best player of all time. To answer a question above, there is nobody like him today. Jeremy Howe takes the odd spectacular grab, but that was nearly a quarterly occurrence for Coleman, not one every few weeks.
Just think about it - there was one umpire when he played - imagine how much illegal defending he had to put up with?

The stories about crowds swapping ends each quarter to watch him are true.

One of the things you cannot teach is explosiveness. Coleman was a great triple jumper with an unbelievably vertical leap - the first photo in this thread is a great example of that.

On the other side of my family, my father in law played against Coleman in the early 50's, and said that Coleman was so far ahead of the game, it was ridiculous. He also said Coleman was the best player he's ever seen - and he was a pretty handy player himself.

 

[Howard Moon]

looks like a coleman special - not much different from a few of those old pics

 

[Pweter]

AdelaideNow has a gallery of photos from the 1940s up at the moment. I love looking at those old photos and this one popped up. It really gives a good look at his vertical leap.