Greatest school footy teams: Sports reporter Matt Turner picks CBC and Pulteney Grammar’s all-time best 22s
Which Adelaide school has produced the best footballers? Sports reporter Matt Turner has again pored over statistics to pick eight more schools’ greatest 22s. Next are CBC and Pulteney Grammar.
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The search for Adelaide’s best footy schools is back.
Twelve months after selecting eight Adelaide schools’ greatest 22s, The Advertiser sports reporter Matt Turner has picked another eight star-studded line-ups of old scholars.
He has again pored through the archives, scoured hundreds of footballers’ career statistics and spoken to dozens of historians and past players to finalise the teams.
There have been tough selection calls sure to cause debate – just as there will be discussions about which team is best.
Challenges of this exercise, which has taken more than three months, include comparing eras, choosing who to omit, weighing up team balance versus quality and short-lived brilliance against dogged longevity, and making calls on players we have not seen in action.
But with the help of the schools, footy-mad colleagues and SANFL club historians, particularly Rino Cialini and SANFL Budget editor Peter Cornwall, and school history buff Denis Brien, the squads have been chosen.
Turner has again made the final call with the same criteria as last year.
Players were picked on their post-school football careers, not First XVIII performances.
Achievements trumped ability, so emerging present-day footballers tended to be overlooked despite the possibility of future stardom.
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Stellar SANFL careers before the Crows came into the AFL in 1991 were given more weight but long-serving modern stars were also considered favourably.
Ultimately, gut feel was just as important as research, statistics and chatting to fans, teammates and opponents.
Day two of the five-day online series features CBC and Pulteney Grammar.
* Statistics as of Monday, August 12, 2019. AFL statistics were from afltables.com and the AFL Record: Season 2019. SANFL statistics came from the SANFL, Rino Cialini, Peter Cornwall, australianfootball.com and club historians, including the late Mark Beswick.
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS COLLEGE
If you know your SANFL history or have recently trawled through the SA Football Hall of Fame, you will be well aware of the quality in this line-up.
Take the Magarey Medal, for example – Christian Brothers College old scholars have won the award in 10 of the first 20 years of its existence.
Star West Torrens and North Adelaide rover Tom MacKenzie (1902, ‘05-06) and brilliant South Adelaide centre half-back Dan Moriarty (1919-21) have snared three each, while West Adelaide’s “Prince of Centreman” Henry Richard Head (1909), champion 1910s ruckman Tom Leahy (1913), the Panthers’ 1915 joint winner Frank “Dink” Barry, whose career was cut short by World War I, and Bloods on-baller Bobbie Barnes (1922) also claimed the league’s highest individual honour.
Add to that the fact there are eight SA and three Australian Football Hall of Famers, and you start to get a sense of how much talent the city school has produced.
The most famous name is Port Adelaide great Jack Cahill.
He is not a Magarey medallist but his list of playing accolades, let alone in coaching, is incredibly long: four premierships, four best and fairests, 29 state games, one All-Australian jumper, SA and Australian Halls of Fame memberships, and a spot in the Magpies’ Greatest Team.
Cahill has a wing named after him at Alberton Oval, so he fills that position for this side.
His uncle, Laurie Cahill, is not as well known but he too is a member of the SA Football Hall of Fame.
A half-forward in this all-time CBC side, Laurie Cahill was a dual premiership winner and two-time best and fairest at South.
In addition to the Cahills, Head, Leahy, MacKenzie and Moriarty, the other SA Hall of Fame members are West’s 1953 All-Australian wingman Jack Lynch and hard-as-nails Bloods and Glenelg back pocket Johnny Taylor, the SANFL’s first player to pass the 250-game mark.
Taylor’s brother, Don, who many regard as the more brilliant footballer, is in the team at halfback, while Leahy’s sibling, Bernie, West’s inaugural premiership captain in 1908, continues the family theme on the bench.
Tough Bloods half-back flanker Stan Costello is one of three All-Australians, along with Jack Cahill and Lynch.
Fullback Jack Londrigan also received national acclaim – as captain of the 1913 Port side that beat North then Fitzroy in the Australian championship.
Many of these players will not be known to younger footy followers and the team may appear weak on paper to some people because of its lack of recent household names.
In fact, only one player has registered a league game in the past 45 years – Woodville-West Torrens’ first skipper and 1993 premiership captain Peter Schwarz (back pocket).
Only two others – Jack Cahill and durable Eagle Glen Pill (bench) – have featured since 1970, and they both stopped playing in 1973.
But what the side does have is a stunning roll call of talent from the beginning of the 20th century and before – Jack McGaffin (forward pocket) is a five-time Norwood flag winner from the 1880s and ‘90s.
This team also boasts staggering depth.
CBC’s all-time Second XVIII would thump many other schools and could almost field an entire line-up of state players.
Among the stars to miss the cut were Frank Hansen and William Isaac, who led the SANFL goalkicking six times between them, dual Roosters best and fairest John Blunden, Glenelg’s captain/coach from its first season, Jack Hanley, 1893 state skipper Henry “Nug” Plunkett, 1960 South best and fairest winner Des Panizza and the Taylors’ SA representative brother, Laurie.
Peter Koerner was selected in our greatest Rostrevor 22 last year but was overlooked this time, as were 1984 Redlegs premiership backman Justin Scanlon, South’s James Templeton, Bryan Ploenges and Jack Doherty, West Torrens 100-gamer from the 1920s Bernard McCarthy, Central District key position player Hugh Reimers, four-time Bloods flag winner James McCarthy and three-club goalsneak Jake Johansen.
Interestingly, CBC and Rostrevor have some shared players and history – the city school’s boarders moved to Rossies when the Christian Brothers opened it in 1923.
Although CBC has been light on recent talent, old scholars Martin Frederick (Port Adelaide) and Andrew McPherson (Crows) will be ones to watch coming through AFL ranks.
The captaincy was given to John Cahill but could just as easily have gone to North’s 1920 premiership skipper Tom Leahy.
FP: Jack McGaffin (Norwood/South Adelaide): unknown games and goals, five flags (SANFL)
FF: George Margitich (South Adelaide/Melbourne): 75 games, 267 goals (VFL/AFL); 34 games, 121 goals (SANFL)
FP: Frank “Dink” Barry (South Adelaide): 43 games, 31 goals (SANFL); state representative, one Magarey Medal
HF: Laurie Cahill (South Adelaide/Richmond): 7 games, 4 goals, one flag (VFL/AFL); 174 games, 23 goals, two flags, two best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, South Adelaide Team of the Century, SA Football Hall of Fame
CHF: Mick Clingly (West Torrens): 156 games, 219 goals, one flag (SANFL); state representative
HF: Stan Jaffer (South Adelaide): 98 games, 10 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL); state representative
W: Jack Cahill (Port Adelaide): 266 games, 286 goals, four flags, four best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, one-time All-Australian, Port Adelaide’s Greatest Team, SA Football Hall of Fame, Australian Football Hall of Fame
C: Henry Head (West Adelaide/Sturt/Glenelg): 154 games, 22 goals, four flags, six best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, one Magarey Medal, West Adelaide Team of the Centuries, SA Football Hall of Fame
W: Jack Lynch (West Adelaide): 147 games, 14 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL); state representative, one-time All-Australian, West Adelaide Team of the Centuries, SA Football Hall of Fame
HB: Stan Costello (West Adelaide): 126 games, 62 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL); state representative, one-time All-Australian
CHB: Dan Moriarty (South Adelaide): 97 games, 2 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL); South Adelaide Team of the Century, three Magarey Medals, SA Football Hall of Fame, Australian Football Hall of Fame
HB: Don Taylor (West Adelaide/South Melbourne/Glenelg): 36 games, 38 goals (VFL/AFL); 135 games, 76 goals, two best and fairests (SANFL); state representative
BP: Peter Schwarz (Woodville/Woodville-West Torrens): 268 games, 100 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL)
FB: Jack Londrigan (Sturt/Port Adelaide): 89 games, 0 goals (SANFL); state representative
BP: Johnny Taylor (West Adelaide/Glenelg): 258 games, 87 goals, one flag (SANFL); state representative, SA Football Hall of Fame
R: Tom Leahy (West Adelaide/North Adelaide) (c): 168 games, 90 goals, three flags, four best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, one Magarey Medal, SA Football Hall of Fame
R/R: William Dowling (West Adelaide): 134 games, 108 goals, four flags, two best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, West Adelaide Team of the Centuries
Rover: Tom MacKenzie (West Torrens/North Adelaide): 175 games, 49 goals, two flags, three best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, three Magarey Medals, SA Football Hall of Fame, Australian Football Hall of Fame
I/C: Bobbie Barnes (West Adelaide): 60 games, 68 goals (SANFL); state representative, one Magarey Medal
Colin Brown (West Adelaide): 227 games, 185 goals, one flag, two best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, West Adelaide Team of the Centuries
Glen Pill (West Torrens): 252 games, 58 goals (SANFL)
Bernie Leahy (West Adelaide/North Adelaide): 107 games, 1 goal, two flags (SANFL); state representative
All-Australians: 3 – J. Cahill, Costello, Lynch
Magarey medallists: 6 – Barnes, Barry, Head, T. Leahy, MacKenzie, Moriarty
Brownlow medallists: Nil
SA Football Hall of Famers: 8 – J. Cahill, L. Cahill, Head, T. Leahy, Lynch, MacKenzie, Moriarty, J. Taylor
Australian Football Hall of Famers: 3 – Cahill, MacKenzie, Moriarty
PULTENEY GRAMMAR
All 10 SANFL clubs are represented in this Pulteney team that is also a blend of eras.
There are three present-day players – fringe Crows midfielder Patrick Wilson, Norwood captain Jace Bode and triple premiership-winning Redlegs tall forward Brady Dawe – but so too are there names from footy’s formative years in SA during the late 1800s with Dick Correll (forward pocket) and Harry Blinman (bench) in the 22.
Norwood has the most members with seven, followed by Sturt (five) and Port Adelaide and Glenelg (both four).
The team’s captain is also a Redleg – 1981 Magarey winner Michael Aish, Norwood’s skipper from 1987-89.
He has been named as ruck-rover, alongside two other recipients of the SANFL’s top individual award – 1996 victor and ex-Power star Josh Francou and 1949 joint medallist Allan Crabb, a dominant ruckman.
Crabb had finished runner-up in 1949 on countback then second again in 1950 before being retrospectively upgraded for that initial result in 1998.
Aish, Francou and Crabb are three of the side’s four SA Football Hall of Famers, along with 1988 Jack Oatey medallist Bruce Abernethy.
Abernethy could play on a wing or halfback but was picked in the centre, while fellow Magpies Tony Giles (centre half-back) and Lloyd Rudd (fullback) were also selected slightly out of position to help team balance.
Giles was more of a flanker, while Rudd, who was killed in action in World War II in Syria in 1941, would likely have been undersized in a key defensive post.
Also in defence are ex-Western Bulldogs and Richmond running backman Jordan McMahon, Central District’s sole player in the team, Julian Swinstead, and former Panthers skipper Michael Bennett.
SA representative Bob Morrell would be a focal point in attack with Dawe, while Norwood triple premiership on-baller Tim Webber and Sturt 1919 flag winner Stan Scrutton offer support at ground level.
Former SA medium-pacer and 1977 Glenelg grand final footballer David Johnston, fellow ex-Tiger Terry Crabb and Woodville-West Torrens 2006 premiership halfback Ryan Potter join Blinman on the bench.
Those seriously considered but missing out included Redleg and Eagle Matthew James, Sturt trio Jack Kaethner, Jeremy Gask and Corey Gray, Port’s Dan Pritchard and Michael Aish’s son, Jesse.
Playing just one season in 1877 ensured South inaugural team member William Holmesby was overlooked, while Glenelg player and ex-Gold Coast Sun Timmy Sumner was also in the mix but deemed to have not yet featured in enough games to make the 22.
FP: Tim Webber (Norwood): 124 games, 20 goals, three flags (SANFL); state representative
FF: Brady Dawe (Norwood): 206 games, 130 goals, three flags (SANFL)
FP: Dick Correll (Port Adelaide/Norwood/Sturt): unknown games, unknown goals, two flags (SANFL); state representative
HF: Stan Scrutton (Sturt): 72 games, 19 goals, one flag (SANFL); state representative
CHF: Bob Morrell (West Torrens): 110 games, 63 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL); state representative
HF: Patrick Wilson (Sturt/Adelaide): 2 games, 0 goals (AFL); 75 games, 42 goals, one flag, one best and fairest (SANFL)
W: Andrew Aish (Norwood): 89 games, 62 goals, one flag (SANFL); state representative
C: Bruce Abernethy (Port Adelaide/North Melbourne/Collingwood/Adelaide): 112 games, 39 goals (VFL/AFL); 190 games, 120 goals, seven flags, one best and fairest (SANFL); state representative, one Jack Oatey Medal, SA Football Hall of Fame
W: Scott Field (Sturt): 125 games, 127 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL)
HB: Jordan McMahon (Glenelg/Western Bulldogs/Richmond): 148 games, 46 goals (AFL); 20 games, 4 goals (SANFL)
CHB: Tony Giles (Port Adelaide): 190 games, 12 goals, one flag (SANFL); state representative, one-time All-Australian
HB: Jace Bode (Melbourne/Sturt/Norwood): 9 games, 3 goals (AFL), 194 games, 20, three flags (SANFL), state representative
BP: Julian Swinstead (Central District): 107 games, 22 goals (SANFL)
FB:Lloyd Rudd (Port Adelaide): 77 games, 23 goals, one flag (SANFL)
BP: Michael Bennett (South Adelaide): 270 games, 85 goals (SANFL)
R: Allan Crabb (Glenelg): 204 games, 168 goals, one best and fairest (SANFL); state representative, one Magarey Medal, SA Football Hall of Fame
R/R: Michael Aish (Norwood) (c): 307 games, 449 goals, two flags, four best and fairests (SANFL); state representative, two-time All-Australian, Norwood Team of the Century, one Magarey Medal, SA Football Hall of Fame
Rover: J osh Francou (North Adelaide/Port Adelaide): 156 games, 72 goals (AFL); 58 games, 35 goals (SANFL); state representative, one-time All-Australian one Magarey Medal, SA Football Hall of Fame
I/C: Terry Crabb (Glenelg): 65 games, 21 goals (SANFL)
Harry Blinman (Norwood): Unknown games or goals, two flags (SANFL)
David Johnston (Glenelg): 43 games, 9 goals (SANFL)
Ryan Potter (Woodville-West Torrens): 47 games, 0 goals, one flag (SANFL)
All-Australians: 3 – M. Aish, Francou, Giles
Magarey medallists: 3 – M. Aish, A. Crabb, Francou
Brownlow medallists: Nil
SA Football Hall of Famers: 4 – Abernethy, M. Aish, A. Crabb, Francou
Australian Football Hall of Famers: Nil