1978 The year it was

[baggy8]

I BRADMORE....star junior, never reached the dizzy heights I had expected of him

Ian Bradmore - unfortunately I remember him more for "turning back the clocks" in his used cars yard than for his footy.

P RUSCUKLIC....from Fitzroy, good mark

Can't remember if he was still at South in '79 (Doc?), but kicked 156 goals for East Sydney in 1980 and then a colossal 213 for them in '81

Andy Bennett went across to play for Hawthorn and later ended up coaching in Tassie, where he still lives.

Andy Bennett went everywhere. As nickname says he went from South to Hawthorn, then to St Kilda and then to Sandy Bay in Tassie where he won the league medal. After retiring he came back here to coach Torrens for their last two seasons and then back to a successful coaching career in Tassie.

[GWW]

Andy Bennett was a bit "different", a bit similar to his rugby league namesake Wayne Bennett, perhaps a relation.

[nickname]

IIRC Bennett came to football late in the piece, and played soccer until he was 15 or so.

[GWW]

P RUSCUKLIC....from Fitzroy, good mark
Can't remember if he was still at South in '79 (Doc?), but kicked 156 goals for East Sydney in 1980 and then a colossal 213 for them in '81

That must be close to a record for a metropolitan league in Australia.

[mal]

Two players in the Port list, MAL:

- Was T.Evans better than Scott Hodges? I firmly believe so, and by a reasonable stretch too (and that is in no way to denigrate Scott Hodges, who was a very, very good full forward in his own right), but Evans was one of those players who was very hard to move off the spot while remaining very mobile when the ball hit the ground, vice like hands and a very good converter from most places.

- Trevor Sorrell; coached me in the country, with both sons playing in the team. Very interesting bloke to talk to and had some great stories from the era. Not sure coaching was his forte though.

In the air Tim
On the ground Scott
Overall Scott by a whisker

[mal]

S CLIFFORD...bomber, a larrikan but also a talented player, recruited from CO

Legend has it - He used to eat a pie and suck down a smoke at half time ????

I remember this on one of the SANFL Football shows
Clifford was in discussion
Mentioned that Richmond superstar Royce Hart had a brother called Jouff
I absolutely pissed myself laughing

Not surprised IF he ate pies and smoked at half time
He didnt look fit on the field, but geez he could play, a tough bugger on field, and had all the skills

[CK]

S CLIFFORD...bomber, a larrikan but also a talented player, recruited from CO

Legend has it - He used to eat a pie and suck down a smoke at half time ????

I remember this on one of the SANFL Football shows
Clifford was in discussion
Mentioned that Richmond superstar Royce Hart had a brother called Jouff
I absolutely pissed myself laughing

Not surprised IF he ate pies and smoked at half timeHe didnt look fit on the field, but geez he could play, a tough bugger on field, and had all the skills

I reckon this may be Darrell Cahill rather than Bomber Clifford, but stand corrected. I know Cahill used to have a diet akin to this during games.

[GWW]

There's a fair chance that it applied to both Bomber and Cahill

[smithy]

S CLIFFORD...bomber, a larrikan but also a talented player, recruited from CO

Legend has it - He used to eat a pie and suck down a smoke at half time ????

I remember this on one of the SANFL Football shows
Clifford was in discussion
Mentioned that Richmond superstar Royce Hart had a brother called Jouff
I absolutely pissed myself laughing

Not surprised IF he ate pies and smoked at half time
He didnt look fit on the field, but geez he could play, a tough bugger on field, and had all the skills

And would quite often kick some very big screwies.

[GWW]

G PHILLIPS...was he the best or near best CHB at PA ?

Not only at Port, but he would have to be up there with the greatest CHB's in SANFL history.

[bulldogs]

evans over hodges. murray batt wasnt he a big ruckman from collingwood

[mal]

Andy Bennett went across to play for Hawthorn and later ended up coaching in Tassie, where he still lives.

Robert Doyle, ex South Melb, was a very good ruckman, and father of Stephen.

The B. Lewis I reckon would be Brendan, who also played for Westies and possibly one other club, Torrens?

Robin White was a terrific, gutsy HBF who played some very good footy for Melbourne, if memory serves.

Its Brendan lewis
played in defence, and went OK
His brother was Vin Lewis the TV trotting commentator and TV presenter
The show Vin compared I reckon was called Penthouse ?

[smithy]

Not surprised IF he ate pies and smoked at half time
He didnt look fit on the field, but geez he could play, a tough bugger on field, and had all the skills

I would like to add that this "legend has it" is that Bomber Clifford brought his own cigarettes to smoke at half time and didn't accept anything else to smoke from any of his former team mates whose name might start with D and surname G .

[mal]

Phil Brooksby[SA] played in 1978, he also had a twin brother Graeme
One or both of the brothers were involved in a big brawl v NW in the 1981 final
If it is this brawl it involved NW Coach Neil Balme

Can anyone elaborate ?

[baggy8]

Was T.Evans better than Scott Hodges?

Very hard to separate IMO as both were champions best suited to the eras in which they played. Evans was a wonderful (but not beautiful) kick, always sticking to his process, but he had the turning circle of the Queen Mary, whereas as Hodges could turn and shoot in an instant (he just followed his head).

One defining moment can heavily influence a judgment like this, and I don't believe that anyone other than Scott Hodges would have kicked that goal in the '96 prelim. final.

[Leaping Lindner]

S CLIFFORD...bomber, a larrikan but also a talented player, recruited from CO

Legend has it - He used to eat a pie and suck down a smoke at half time ????

I remember this on one of the SANFL Football shows
Clifford was in discussion
Mentioned that Richmond superstar Royce Hart had a brother called Jouff
I absolutely pissed myself laughing

Not surprised IF he ate pies and smoked at half time
He didnt look fit on the field, but geez he could play, a tough bugger on field, and had all the skills

Was it 83 or 84 Magarey Medal count that Bomber did comedy bits for? Some of the funniest football gags I've ever seen. Most footballers come across as trying too hard when being funny but Bomber was genuinely funny and a natural. Met him once and he was nice guy off the field as well.

[GWW]

I remember the skit that Bomber did, I think Bruce Lindner was involved as well.

[Magpiespower]

Andy Bennett made possibly the greatest TV appearance by a coach.

Channel 9 Sunday Footy Show, 1989.

Answered just every question with a 'yes' or 'no'.

Except for one question asking about a position somebody was playing.
Q: Where was he?
A: On the ground.

Kym Dillon & co. were beside themselves.

Torrens apologised and tried to get him to improve...

Was it 83 or 84 Magarey Medal count that Bomber did comedy bits for? Some of the funniest football gags I've ever seen. Most footballers come across as trying too hard when being funny but Bomber was genuinely funny and a natural. Met him once and he was nice guy off the field as well.

Reckon that was '85 or '86?

Cracked up at the 'Bomber Boy Bread' skit.

And the one taking the urine out of the Malcolm Blight removalist ad.

My brother used to hire cars off him back in the day.

And Bomber had a crack at my (then married) sister...

[Adelaide Hawk]

Phil Brooksby[SA] played in 1978, he also had a twin brother Graeme
One or both of the brothers were involved in a big brawl v NW in the 1981 final
If it is this brawl it involved NW Coach Neil Balme

Can anyone elaborate ?

Not really a brawl, just a couple of incidents. Earlier in the game, Graham Brooksby decided to dish one out to Balme, and you never do that unless you expect to get one back.

Balmey waited his time and in the next quarter he went for a marking contest in the scoreboard pocket with Phil behind him. The ball spilt to ground and Graham bent over to gain the ball. That was all Balmey needed to "square up", and as Brooksby was fumbling the ball, Balmey pretended to be knocking the ball clear .. he was in fact dishing out two punches to Graham's head region.

Phil saw this and ran in to support his brother. Balme picked Phil up and body slammed him. That's all that happened, a free kick was awarded to South, and a few words from the umpire to Balme. No players ran in because, let's face it, the three of them were big strong boys, and I wouldn't like to take any of them on.

Balmey had an amazing talent for making an act of aggression look like an accident. In today's footy, Graham would have got 1 game for the first incident, and Balmey would have possibly got 3 for his.

[Adelaide Hawk]

Was it 83 or 84 Magarey Medal count that Bomber did comedy bits for?

The comedy in 1983 was supplied by the SANFL when they declared Antrobus the winner, then realised they still had 20 votes to be counted. Amateur hour at its' best.