Your Best by the Numbers.

It's a long offseason, so hopefully this keeps a few of us amused for the next 6 weeks or so.

Starting at #44 who is the best player from the sanfl to wear that number?
If you've got any higher numbers than that, then chuck them in the ring at the start.

You can nominate players from other clubs, doesn't have to be your own.
We'll try to keep it to 1 number per day. At the end, I'll compile a consensus list of the players selected.

So starting at #44 fire away.........

Struggling to think of too many but John Platten, Central Districts springs to mind.

I think you've stopped discussion on that immediately, Chambo.

Tom Warhurst comes to mind at Norwood, but yes as Lee has said, Platts kills the first challenge immediately

What a superstar the Rat was, and champion bloke to boot.

Lee wrote:I think you've stopped discussion on that immediately, Chambo.

Sorry! Mia Culpa.
Thought I'd just give everyone the gist of it.
Maybe concentrate on the 45+ numbers for today!

Not sure if this counts (as he was technically on loan from the Power) but another 44 for Centrals was Brent Guerra. Played about 30-ish games for the Dogs before he was traded to St Kilda, but won 3 flags in those 30-ish games.

44
Norwood

Nick Lower
Matt Thomas
Tom Warhurst

I will assume only Matt Thomas has won a Magarey Medal wearing 44 for the legs
Tom Warhurts one of the or the tallest 44 for Norwood

It would be safe to say the best player with the number 44 jumper in the SANFL was Johnny Platten

Some very good players there. I'm surprised at the quality of the #44 wearers.

From a Central perspective, 2 players in particular come to mind for number 45.

First up - Heath Hopwood

A tough as nails, hard at it half back who was one of the most courageous players I've seen, closely behind former West skipper Ryan Ferguson.

He did take time to find his spot at League level but once settled, established himself as clearly one of the best defenders in the competition, through the 2000's.

I know St Kilda and the Swans were pretty close to signing him but he never got the AFL chance and was a great servant for the Dogs, winning 2 x B&F's, played for SA a couple of times and won 5 flags.

Was a really down to earth, humble guy but once he crossed into the field of play, it was massive white line fever.

Secondly, Adam Richardson

An unassuming full forward who came to the Dogs from Port Adelaide as he couldn't get a game in front of Scott Hodges, Mark Tylor or Darren Smith.

Only played for about 3 of 4 seasons, in the early to mid 90's, but won a CDFC Goal Kicking Award for 80+ majors in the '92 season.

Was renowned for an extremely long run-up for goal and was mocked for this is the now defunct Bulldogs Fans 'BM Magazine'.

Not sure where Adam ended up after this but do remember he was a likeable character and as a young kid that used to hang around training, I'd often be behind the goals after training when he was having extra goal kicking practice.

He would also give me a lift home sometimes if it was getting too late. We had an agreement one season where he'd give me $2 for every goal he kicked.

He used to pay out with the shrapnel from his console change. The day he kicked 8 or 9 was a good day for a 13 or 14 year old who would end up with some extra pocket money.

Who was the better 44
Al Molinaro or Victor French ?

As a westies supporter i am ready when you get to 52

oldfella wrote:As a westies supporter i am ready when you get to 52

Fire away now. 45+ is open as we speak. it would take too long to count down from 50s.

Matt Slade would be hard to top for number 59.

Here are 70 players who wore 44 at one time or another - My list of player numbers is complete WA, ND, NA 1897-2016, All other Clubs 1897-1918, 1989-2016

Jumper, Name, Club, Years and Career Span - I'm no good at formatting when copying across from my old database. - Search through the numbers and have fun

44 Ah CHEE, Paul, G. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1977 1981 5
44 BAILEY, Douglas, B. Woodville-West Torrens 1996 1997 2
44 BARMBY, Luke, A. N. Central District 2009 2016 8
44 BOCK, Nathan, P. Woodville-West Torrens 2002 2010 6
44 BROWN, Damien, M. Port Adelaide (1870-2010) 1999 2000 2
44 BUTTON, Lachlan, D. Glenelg 2007 2015 8
44 BYRNES, David, J. West Adelaide 1999 1999 1
44 CARTER, Mitchell, S. Norwood 2016 2016 1
44 CAVEN, Peter, C. Sturt 1996 2000 4
44 COOK, Sudjai, A. Norwood 1994 1998 4
44 COOK, Sudjai, A. Glenelg 1999 2005 7
44 COPPING, Jon, -. Glenelg 1998 1998 1
44 COTTON, Jarrod, P. Central District 1994 1997 4
44 CROSSLEY, Troy, A. West Adelaide 1996 1997 2
44 CROUCH, Matthew, D. Crows SANFL 2014 2015 2
44 DOUGHTY, Michael, J. South Adelaide 2003 2007 3
44 EICHNER, Steven, R. Port Adelaide (1870-2010) 2005 2005 1
44 FLATMAN, Christopher, J. West Adelaide 2006 2006 1
44 GUERRA, Brent, M. Central District 2000 2003 4
44 HART, Benjamin, M. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1990 1990 1
44 HEWETT, Cameron, D. Port Adelaide Magpies 2016 2016 1
44 HEWITT, Evan, R. Norwood 2002 2002 1
44 HOGG, Allan, P. West Adelaide 1990 1990 1
44 JAQUES, Jeremy, J. Port Adelaide (1870-2010) 2004 2004 1
44 JONAS, Samuel, J. Sturt 2015 2016 2
44 KEANE, Shane, L. South Adelaide 1994 1994 1
44 KIRKWOOD, Zane, -. Port Adelaide (1870-2010) 2008 2008 1
44 KOSTER, Josh, B. Glenelg 2016 2016 1
44 KUPSCH, David, J. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1988 1990 3
44 LLOYD, Billy, J. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 2016 2016 1
44 LOGAN, Thomas, R. Port Adelaide Magpies 2014 2015 2
44 LOWER, Nicholas, D. B. C. Norwood 2005 2005 1
44 McGUINNESS, Philip, S. Glenelg 1991 1993 3
44 McNAMARA, Damian, E. Glenelg 1994 1994 1
44 MEESEN, John, P. Norwood 2005 2005 1
44 MELLOR, Peter, D. West Adelaide 1993 1993 1
44 MILERA, Terrance, L. A. Port Adelaide (1870-2010) 2009 2010 2
44 MILERA, Terrance, L. A. Port Adelaide Magpies 2011 2011 1
44 MILLS, Trent, -. South Adelaide 1992 1992 1
44 MOORE, Andrew, J. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 2011 2013 3
44 MOORE, Benjamin, R. Glenelg 1995 1995 1
44 MORAN, Bradley, W. West Adelaide 2011 2011 1
44 MOTLOP, Marlon, A. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 2014 2014 1
44 MOTLOP, Shannon, E. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 2004 2008 3
44 NEGRI, Romano, -. Woodville-West Torrens 1991 1995 5
44 NEWBERRY, Joshua, A. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1998 2001 3
44 NUNN, Matthew, T. Norwood 2014 2014 1
44 PEARCE, Danyle, A. Sturt 2004 2012 5
44 PLANT, Ryan, J. West Adelaide 2008 2009 2
44 PLATTEN, John, P. Central District 1998 1998 1
44 POLLOCK, Steven, D. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 2010 2010 1
44 ROSS, Lachlan, J. West Adelaide 1992 1992 1
44 RYAN, Mark, J. South Adelaide 1995 1997 3
44 RYNNE, Paul, A. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1986 1986 1
44 SALISBURY, Justin, A. Sturt 1992 1993 2
44 SANDERY, Leslie, J. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1974 1974 1
44 SLATTERY, Charles, A. West Adelaide 2003 2003 1
44 SMITH, Adam, R. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1992 1992 1
44 SPORN, Peter, G. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 1975 1977 3
44 STAGG, Matthew, T. Sturt 1994 1994 1
44 STEVENS, Nicholas, J. West Adelaide 1998 1998 1
44 TAYLOR, Brad, -. Norwood 1999 2000 2
44 THOMAS, Matthew, P. C. Norwood 2006 2013 6
44 VON BERTOUCH, Jake, R. Woodville-West Torrens 2013 2016 4
44 WARHURST, Thomas, P. F. Norwood 1981 1991 11
44 WILKIE, Callum, S. North Adelaide (Medindie 1881-1892) 2015 2015 1
44 WILLIAMS, Kevin, T. Woodville 1990 1990 1
44 WILSON, Patrick, F. Sturt 2014 2014 1
44 WOODS, Stephen, J. West Adelaide 1991 1991 1
44 YEOMANS, Bradley, P. Glenelg 2006 2006 1

Chambo Off To Work We Go wrote:

oldfella wrote:As a westies supporter i am ready when you get to 52

Fire away now. 45+ is open as we speak. it would take too long to count down from 50s.

Shaun Rhen 52

lot of ordinary footy cards in that list

I think Paul ah Chee held the NT goal kicking record in the early 70s

Thanks Mark, there are some top players on that list. McGuinness, Nick Stevens, Ben Hart, etc.

killer wrote:lot of ordinary footy cards in that list

I think Paul ah Chee held the NT goal kicking record in the early 70s

Not too much Killer.

C.K wrote:Matt Slade would be hard to top for number 59.

CK, long time, no post.

Agreed on Slade, although Jamie Thomas went alright, as well.

Not in the same ilk as Slade, but a solid career, nonetheless.

I think 44 is done . 43 ? Looking forward to the numbers below 40 . That might generate some conversation ( and commas lol)

Great list to bring back memories of some lesser known players of the past.

Very much so . Not many memories there mate. What are your memories of that list Lee ? I haven't heard of the majority of them . It would be great to hear your thoughts on them all.

Errrata

I stil - Just realised I have Port, South Sturt, Woodville and Torrens 1989 to add in for the season so may be a couple more Number 44's to add. Will take me till the weeks end to add these clubs gameXgame for Foundation Cup and H&A/Finals.

Slowly making headway!

Big Phil one player you didnt mention who wore 45 for us was Peter Jonas a pretty good player

Lachlan Ross did take one of the great marks at Footy Park against South. There is a photo of it around on the net. He was recruited to Essendon (with Darren Bartsch) when Kevin Morris went to work there after his time with Westies.

Could we do this at 1 number per day?
That will allow some discussion as we get to the low numbers.

Also this is looking for SANFL players not majority of the career in the AFL.
Perhaps in the interest of shortlisting, would 100 sanfl games or thereabouts be reasonable?

Also for Port Adelaide whose captains traditionally wear #1, perhaps we could use the number that they had for the majority of their career.

So far we have;
Matt Slade 59
Shaun Rehn 52 (how much sanfl did he play?)
Peter Jonas 45
John Platten 44