BEST CATS BY JUMPER NO.
Geelong Advertiser chief football writer LACHIE
YOUNG continues to look at the greatest Geelong players for every jumper number. After revealing No.1 to
No.10 on Saturday, today we look at the best players from jumper numbers 11 to 20 in the second part of this series. We are going all the way through to No.58.
NO.11 BERNIE SMITH
Honourable mentions: Joel Corey, Percy Martini, Eric Fleming
To beat a two-time club best-and-fairest winner and three-time premiership player you have to be very special, but that is exactly what Bernie Smith was. Joel Corey could feel harshly done by, and there is merit to every argument that will be put forward about why he should have got the nod. But Smith is widely regarded as the greatest back pocket player the game has produced. He won a Brownlow Medal, two club best-and-fairest awards (one in a premiership year), was a club captain and a member of the AFL Team of the Century. As a testament to just how good he was, many would still have him in that side now, more than 20 years after it was released.
NO.12 RON HOVEY Honourable mentions: Brad
Sholl, Gordon Hynes
Perhaps best known for his administrative work, Hovey was nonetheless a handy utility who was capable of playing in the midfield and defence. He was agile and found a home in the backline, where he used his pace and smarts to ensure he was rarely caught with the ball. A member of the 1951 and 1952 premiership teams, Hovey finished seventh in the 1959 Brownlow Medal and captained the Cats in five games in 1960 before his career came to an end after a nasty knee injury. He stepped straight into administration and was one of the longest serving committee members in the club’s history, serving as president between 1988 and 1998.
NO.13 TOM LONERGAN
Honourable mentions: Arthur Coghlan, Bert Rankin, Clive Coles
Courage can be defined in many ways, but to watch Tom Lonergan return to football after nearly dying on the field in just his seventh game reminds you of just how tough footballers are. Lonergan showed promising signs as a forward early in his career, but it was in defence where he made his name. He was one of few backmen who was regularly able to curtail, or at the very least limit, the effect of Lance Franklin. The battles they shared became legendary within the walls of GMHBA Stadium. Remarkably he finished with no Brownlow Medal votes from 209 games, but has a premiership medal.
NO.14 JOEL SELWOOD Honourable mentions:
David Clarke Sr, Lloyd Hagger
Will finish his career as one of the club’s greatest ever servants. A six-time all-Australian who has won three premierships, three best-andfairest awards and a Rising Star award, Selwood has been captain since 2012 and overtook Reg Hickey’s record as longest serving captain in 2018. Selwood’s reputation was established in his debut season and has grown every year since. Knowing no fear, his attack on the ball and the man is relentless, as proven by the fact he has won the AFLPA’s Most Courageous player award four times. Now just four matches away from 300 games, he is a
certainty for Australian Football Hall of Fame honours when he becomes eligible. NO.15 PETER RICCARDI
Honourable mentions: Bill Eason, Colin Rice, Edward Stevenson
Denied a flag despite playing in three Grand Finals in the ’90s, Riccardi retired at the end of 2006, a year before the Cats broke their premiership drought. A local product who arrived at Geelong in 1992, the pacy left-footer made an immediate impact and had a knack for finding the goals, finishing with 286 from his 288 games. Riccardi claimed the 1998 Carji Greeves Medal and was named in the Italian VFL/ AFL Team of the Century.
NO.16 TOM QUINN
Honourable mentions: John Hyde, Billy Brownless, Rod Blake
Originally from Port Adelaide, Quinn wasted little time asserting his dominance on the VFL, playing in a premiership with Geelong in his first season, in 1931. He would play in another in 1937, when he also claimed his second best-andfairest award in two years. A rover known for his elite stab passing and sure hands, Quinn was among the first footballers to play 100 consecutive games and was named as an emergency in Geelong’s Team of the 20th Century. He also averaged a goal a game across his 168 matches in a career spanning 1931-1940.
NO.17 JOHN ‘SAM’ NEWMAN Honourable mentions: Tim
McGrath, Shannon Byrnes,
Frank Mockridge
Learnt his trade from the finest exponent of the ruck craft the game has seen in ‘Polly’ Farmer and went on to play 300 games over a career that spanned 17 years. A member of the Geelong Team of the 20th Century - where he was named as a back pocket to act as resting ruck behind Farmer - who could have played 400 games if injuries had not got the better of him, Newman played hurt regularly and never complained. Despite offers to go elsewhere, he stayed loyal to the Cats and finished with two best-and-fairests.
NO.18 REG HICKEY
Honourable mentions: George Goninon, Kent Kingsley
Captain, coach and centre half-back of Geelong’s Team of the Century, Reg Hickey did it all at the Cats. He played 245 games – a club record for more than 30 years – including two premierships (one as captaincoach), before moving into a non-playing coaching role and guiding the Cats to back-toback flags. His 142 games as captain was a club record until overtaken by Joel Selwood. It was as a player that he forged his reputation as one of the VFL’s great defenders of his era thanks to his footy smarts and ability on both sides of the body. Named in the Victorian Team of the 20th Century.
NO.19 GEORGE ‘JOCKA’ TODD
Honourable mentions: Joe
Slater, Neville Bruns
Todd started his time at Geelong playing as a forward but soon built his career as a champion defender. He earned a reputation as one of the toughest opponents for forwards to play on and at his peak he regularly managed to keep the likes of Jack Titus, Gordon Coventry and Bob Pratt quiet, thanks to his ability to spoil incoming passes with routine consistency. He was arguably the greatest full back in VFL history – certainly in the first half of the 20th century – and despite the bestand-fairest award not being allocated in four of the 13 seasons he played, he still managed to win three, including one in 1931 – the second of his premierships. Todd was a Victorian representative 12 times and was named as full back in the Geelong Team of the Century.
NO.20 EDWARD ‘CARJI’ GREEVES Honourable mentions: Steve
Johnson, Ray Card
There wasn’t a lot that Steve Johnson didn’t do at Geelong, with his smarts around goal and capacity to bring teammates into the game routinely causing headaches among rival coaches. But Stevie J narrowly misses out here in favour of ‘Carji’ Greeves. Often remembered as the first winner of the Brownlow Medal in 1924, Greeves also finished second in 1925, 1926 and 1928 and fourth in 1927. He played in two premierships for the Cats and is widely regarded as one of the best centreman the game has seen behind Ian Stewart and Greg Williams.