Countdown the best VFL-AFL nicknames and find out the interesting stories behind them
BUDDY, Plugger or Yabby? Countdown the 30 best VFL-AFL nicknames — and find out the interesting, surprising and sometimes bizarre tales behind them.
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BUDDY, Plugger and Yabby are some of the biggest names in footy. So it’s strange the origin of their famous nicknames remain a mystery to many fans.
After some serious digging, we can spread some light on an aspect of our great game that doesn’t change much from suburban ovals to the MCG, and has survived every AFL rule change.
If you haven’t guessed, we love footy nicknames. Every club (and newsroom) has a Macca, Gazza and Robbo. But some nicknames set themselves apart from the pack.
Most fall into a few broad categories.
Many are based purely on a player’s physical appearance — ‘Sticks’ Kernanan was tall and skinny, Dale ‘The Flea’ Weightman was small, Ben Rutten was known as ‘Truck’ because of his size and strength (and possibly his large turning circle) and Mark Roberts was simply ‘The Fridge’ — let’s just say you wouldn’t want either to land on you.
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Other nicknames have their origins in a particular playing style — Bernie Quinlan was ‘Superboot’ because he could kick the footy a mile (and very straight), Terry Wallace was ‘Plough’ because he burrowed under packs.
But not all good nicknames stick. Richmond defender Nick Vlastuin is known as ‘Flossy’, which is unfortunate because the name his parents gave him is much better. They called him Tigger because he was such a hyperactive child.
Here’s our countdown of the 30 best VFL-AFL nicknames — and the interesting, surprising and sometimes bizarre tales behind them.
The totally unscientific ranking system is based on originality, creativity, impact and staying power. And how much we like it. Disagree? Leave a comment below!
30. Rodney Eade — Rocket
Rocket is — or was — a standard nickname for boys named Rodney, but in Eade’s case it seems particularly apt, especially if you ask players on the receiving end of one of his sprays. Eade also has a habit of bestowing nicknames on his own players — Ryan Fitzgerald revealed that Eade called Adam Goodes ‘Turtle’ because he pulled his head in when flying for marks.
29. Matt Maguire — Goose
Nothing to do with the character from Top Gun. The former St Kilda and Brisbane defender inherited the nickname from his dad.
28. Dustin Fletcher — Inspector Gadget
We’re not sure who came up with it, but you have to admit there is a likeness between the ageless Essendon full-back and the long-limbed 1980s cartoon character.
27. Gary Ayres — Conan
In 1982 former bodybuilding champion Arnold Schwarzenegger hit the big screen as Conan the Barbarian. His biceps reminded fans of the Hawthorn defender.
26. Stephen Silvagni — SOS
Simple explanation for this one — SOS stands for Son of Serge, as in Sergio Silvagni who played 239 games for Carlton and was the most famous Silvagni until Stephen was named full-back in the Team of the Century. Now we have a third generation Silvagni, but the nickname SOSOS hasn’t really caught on.
25. Robert Dipierdomenico — Dipper
That 13-letter surname was just too much for fans and commentators in the early 80s, but the moniker The Big Dipper was a perfect fit for the burly midfielder. He certainly had a dip, playing the 1989 Grand Final with broken ribs and a punctured lung.
24. David Schwarz — Ox
Schwarz was a superstar in the making before a pre-season injury derailed his career. He returned two years later after three knee reconstructions bigger and stronger — and with a new nickname courtesy of skipper Garry Lyon.
23. Jeff Farmer/Warwick Capper — The Wiz
Bizarrely, in both cases it appears the nickname was self-titled. It was a great fit for Farmer’s ability to create goals from nowhere. Capper’s name started with W.
22. Danny Frawley/Michael Firrito — Spud
Frawley grew up on a potato farm at Bungaree, near Ballarat. Firrito grew up on a potato farm at Gembrook, and there is a link to his namesake. “The old man used to have Frawley potato sacks from Bungaree, so I’d sort through the sacks and only fill up the Frawley ones,” Firrito said. His under-18 teammate Richard Cole picked up on it and the nickname stuck.
21. Mark Williams — Choco
The former Collingwood star and Port Adelaide premiership coach has dark skin, which makes the nickname a bit uncomfortable, until you find out it has nothing to do with his appearance. His sister Jenny says a lot of people mistakenly assume the family is indigenous. “There’s no Aboriginal in our family that we know of, but I can tell you we wouldn’t mind if there was,” she said, explaining the family has English, Irish and Russian ancestors. “Our family grew up with Aboriginals as part of our everyday society, and we greatly admire their culture. And the Aboriginals accept us, maybe because we look a little like them.” And the nickname? “We had ice-creams called Choc Ices that Mark used to eat every day at school.”
20. Jim Jess — The Ghost
The Richmond cult hero of the 80s — and possibly the game’s best exponent of the torpedo punt — was dubbed ‘The Ghost’ by coach Tom Hafey. The bearded defender had viking like looks, played like a warrior and had a bit of devil in him.
19. Graham Farmer — Polly
The Geelong ruckman who revolutionised the game in the 1960s was dubbed Polly as a six-year-old because people said he chattered like a parrot.
18. Dermott Brereton — The Kid
When journalists went to interview Brereton after he kicked five goals as a skinny 18-year-old in a 1982 semi-final, Hawthorn coach Alan Jeans told them he was “just a kid”. According to the book ‘Mongrel Punts and Hard Ball Gets’, Brereton already had the nickname after an under-19 game when his coach threatened a teammate that he would be replaced by ‘the kid over there’, referring to Brereton, who was sitting on the bench.
17. Brian Roberts — The Whale
He was a big guy — weighing in at 198cm and 120kg during his 93-game career with Richmond and South Melbourne in the 1970s.
16. Andrew McLeod — Bunji
The Crows champ arrived in Adelaide with the nickname ‘My Bunji’, which was given to him by an indigenous mate in Darwin and means ‘My Brother’. It was quickly shortened to ‘Bunji’. He’s lucky that name had more staying power than one his new teammates used in his early days at Adelaide: “He was painfully shy and a little overweight and pretty soon we started calling him ‘Hamburger’ because he looked like he’d been eating too many of them’ Mark Bickley says in McLeod’s biography Black Crow.
15. Garry Hocking — Buddha
The brilliant Cats midfielder of the 1990s was given the nickname by his dad, who reportedly thought he looked like Buddha when he sat cross-legged watching footy on the TV. In 1999 Hocking changed his name by deed poll to ‘Whiskas’ as part of a cat food sponsorship deal.
14. Wayne Johnston — The Dominator
One of footy’s most fitting on-field nicknames had its origins in a very different arena. According to the blueseum website, teammates approached the brilliant midfielder during the 1981 season during a visit to an inner-city nightclub. “Having a good night, Johnno?” one asked, prompting the reply: “Boys, I’m dominating here.” From that night on, he became The Dominator.
13. Mick Nolan — The Galloping Gasometer
Broadcasting legend Lou Richards is responsible for many of the best known nicknames of the 70s and 80s, and this is a Lou classic. Evidently the North Melbourne ruckman’s figure reminded Lou of the giant gasometer across the road from the Kangaroos’ old home ground at Arden St.
12. Corey Enright — Boris
The recently retired Geelong champ’s nickname has a strange evolution starting from childhood. He used to do a bit of damage by kicking a footy around the family home until his parents took the leather off it. Left with just the bladder, that didn’t stop him, and the “Boom Boom” of the ball on the walls, crockery and whatever else led to his first nickname. At school “Boom Boom” was quickly adapted to Boris, after German tennis ace Boris Becker, who had the same nickname.
11. Brent Harvey — Boomer
The AFL games record-holder received his nickname in the Preston RSL juniors. “The coach’s wife was handing out the most courageous award and made up the name ‘Little Boomer’ on the spot. No one knew who she was talking about until she said: ‘C’mon Boomer … Brent Harvey, come and get your award’.”
10. Alan Jeans — Yabby
The former St Kilda player and four-time premiership coach had one of the great nicknames, and there is a great story behind it — as Jeans recounted to footy writer Ken Piesse: ‘I used to follow my big brother around. He was pretty red in the face and was known as ‘Lobby’ — short for lobster. They asked him one day who the little tyke tagging around with him was? ‘Oh, that’s just a little yabby’.”
9. Bruce Doull — The Flying Doormat
Another Richards creation. Possibly the most bizarre nickname on this list was in deference to the shaggy beard and hair of one of footy’s great centre half-backs.
8. Ted Whitten — Mr Football
EJ was a VFL icon, a footy media pioneer and a champion player as well. He was reportedly dubbed Mr Football by another all-time great, Ron Barassi. He would know.
7. Greg Williams — Diesel
Former teammate Mick Turner can lay claim to this one. Turner lined up alongside Williams in his first VFL game in 1984 (and another debutante, Gary Ablett). Williams collected 38 disposals and his slow but effective style prompted Turner to refer to him as Diesel — as in the engine. And it stuck.
6. Wayne Carey — Duck
Carey had a swagger on the footy field which was fair enough considering some say he is the best player to ever take the field. The way he walked earned him the nickname ‘Duck’ from early in his career.
5. Lance Franklin — Buddy
It’s the most instantly recognisable nickname in footy but its origins are a mystery to many. Franklin revealed in a TV interview the nickname was invented by his family when he was young to distinguish him from his dad, also called Lance.
4. Jack Dyer — Captain Blood
The fitting nickname for Richmond’s inspirational and occasionally terrifying captain was taken from a popular 1935 Errol Flynn movie of the same name in which Flynn plays Peter Blood, an English doctor exiled to the Caribbean where he becomes a pirate. The nickname’s creator is lost to history but it became common after a season in which Dyer broke the collarbones of five different opponents.
3. Kevin Bartlett — Hungry
The first member of the VFL-AFL’s 400-game club is also known as KB but is happy to play up to his nickname, coined by the media during his playing days thanks to a reputation of avoiding handballing at all costs. When you kick 778 career goals, including seven in a Grand Final, we reckon that’s fair enough.
2. Tony Lockett — Plugger
He has kicked more goals than any other player in VFL-AFL history, but Plugger’s nickname has nothing to do with footy. It was passed down over three generations of Locketts after originally being bestowed on Tony’s grandfather for the way he plugged around the garden at their Ballarat home.
1. Leigh Matthews — Lethal
Lou Richards made a habit of christening players with nicknames during his long media career but none was more apt than ‘Lethal Leigh’ for Matthews’ brilliant and at times brutal approach to the game.
Others …
Peter Everitt/Matthew Burton — Spider
Fraser Gehrig — G-Train
Robert Harvey — Banger
Bob Skilton — Chimp
Mark Lee — The General
Bernie Quinlan — Superboot
Peter Keenan — Crackers
Brett Burton — The Birdman
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