Teammate (Darren Millane Memorial Trophy) – Collingwood Forever

Scott Crow

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:09 +0000

Originally from Port Fairy, he had limited opportunities at Hawthorn where there were many players of his type. A good worker in the packs who marked strongly for his size. He became a regular at Victoria Park as an on-baller, and was almost lost to the club at the start of 1998 due to a contract dispute, but then had a consistent year. But he struggled in 1999 and was cut from the list.

Scott Burns

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:05 +0000

A strong and fearless defender from SA club Norwood. Collingwood had to wait two years after they drafted Burns for the determined backman to move to Victoria. While the Magpies drafted seven players ahead of him, Burns turned out to be the best of the batch by a long way. The underrated Burns was runner-up in the best and fairest award of 1996 and there were few players who could match his work ethic. Surprisingly for a player standing just 181 cm, he was second (to Nathan Buckley) on Collingwood’s 2000 marks list. A determined backman who never gave an inch on the field and was remorseless in applying pressure. By 1996 he broadened his role from being purely a defender to taking a hand in midfield and pushing forward. In that year he represented South Australia for the first time. The Magpies missed him when he injured his groin in the latter part of 1997 and the bad luck with injuries continued when he broke his arm in the first round of 1998. Two weeks after his return he was suspended for two games then to continue a horror season he was knocked out when he received the full force of a kick by Nathan Buckley. As a measure of his stature in the club the gritty all-rounder was appointed joint vice-captain in 1999. He was a fine example for the younger players in the team. Burns missed four games with a hamstring injury late in the year, but still polled well enough in the club best and fairest to run fourth. He had a solid 2000, but hamstring problems restricted him to eight games in 2001. He returned to fitness in 2002 and his hardness made him a leading light in Collingwood’s great year. He played in the Magpies’ losing grand final side and was runner-up in the best and fairest. He was again a constant driving force in 2003 when he came third in the best and fairest. As he reached veteran stage Burns was still able to make a significant impact coming off the bench and spending concentrated periods in the midfield. He was a fine captain for his final year in 2008.

Paul Williams

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:51 +0000

One of the fastest players of his era, Williams had the exceptional knack of being able to kick long goals when running at breakneck pace. His breakaway speed made him a match-winner – his trademark was a dash out of the centre and a long bomb goal from 50 metres. Great stamina also made him a quality centreman. Serious ankle injuries hampered his preparation for 1995 and 1996 but he was still a fine player and at Collingwood he was regarded as the consummate professional. He had a shock introduction to League football in his first game when he was wrestled to the ground by John Worsfold in retaliation for Craig Kelly’s attempts to rough up Peter Sumich further afield. At the end of 1994 ,Collingwood paid big dollars to keep him out of the clutches of Fremantle and while some doubted the investment at first in the long run they were won over by his exciting style. Recruited from North Hobart, he seemed unsettled at Collingwood in 2000 and was traded to Sydney at the end of that season. Although he started slowly with the Swans, he found top form mid-season and won the club’s best and fairest award in his debut season in the red and white. He followed up with another best and fairest win with the Swans the following year to justify the club’s faith in him and capped a fine year with All-Australian selection. Williams had another fine season in 2003 and was once more productive in 2004. Although he fractured a collarbone in 2005 he capped off the year on the highest note as part of a premiership team. In 2006 he re-injured the collarbone late in the season and decided to retire. A career as a coach followed, peaking when he was anointed interim coach at the Western Bulldogs after Rodney Eade’s departure at the tail end of 2011.

Alan Richardson

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:39 +0000

A steady influence on the half back flank across nine seasons, Richardson narrowly missed out on a place as a Collingwood immortal when he was a late withdrawal from the 1990 Grand Final due to injury. Rarely a high possession winner, Richardson was a reliable solider under Leigh Matthews and Tony Shaw for almost a decade, and he later returned to the club to serve as a development coach. Richardson’s football journey began with East Burwood in Melbourne’s Eastern Football League. He received his first shot at the big time when he landed a position with the North Melbourne reserves but he was soon cut loose. Barry Price, his coach at East Burwood, recommended that Collingwood recruit him. Debuting against Melbourne in 1987, it took until his fourth season for Richardson to establish himself in the senior side He played 18 games in 1990, collecting 20 or more disposals in his first three games of the year. He featured in each of the first three finals before breaking his collarbone in a collision with Essendon’s Adrian Burns in the Semi-Final. With a week off to recover, he was still considered to be in the frame to face the Bombers on Grand Final day. But, sadly, a no-holds-barred fitness test with coach Leigh Matthews in the fading Victoria Park light at the final training session sealed his fate. He was withdrawn from the side, his place taken by Shane Kerrison. In the five years that followed, Richardson was a dependable back pocket whose No. 13 jumper was a comforting presence in the Collingwood backline He was on the receiving end of a vicious shirtfront from Brisbane’s Michael Voss in his first game of 1996 and played just four more games, returning for a farewell game at Victoria Park alongside Craig Kelly in round 22. Fortunately their teammates did the pair justice, winning by 49 points. Post-football, Richardson coached East Burwood (EFL) and Coburg (VFL) before joining the AFL system with the Western Bulldogs as an assistant. He served as a development manager at Collingwood from 2006-2008, seeing the likes of Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury, Ben Reid, Nathan Brown and Sharrod Wellingham through their early years, before moving to Essendon, to Carlton and then Port Adelaide, before finally assuming a senior role at St Kilda ahead of the 2014 season.

Gavin Crosisca

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:35 +0000

Gavin Crosisca was the kind of player teammates love to have on their side: tough, unrelenting, a guy who left everything out on the field every time he played. He was a Premiership player at 22, and an under-19s flag-winner before that. He placed in the Copeland three times, and won three “Wrecker” awards for his bone-jarring tackles and penchant for the one-percenters. His final tally of 246 games tally puts him among the club’s elite. Yet for all those achievements, it may well prove to be that his most important contributions to the Collingwood Football Club – and to his teammates – came years after he finished playing. Crosisca was born in Brisbane and played his junior footy with the Moorooka Roosters. By the age of 16 he had starred in the 1984 Teal Cup competition (making the all-Australian team alongside names such as Garry Lyon, Darren Bewick, Steve Silvagni, Ron McKeown and Craig Starcevich), had played senior football for Western Districts, and represented his native Queensland. It was former defender and later gun footballing administrator Andrew Ireland who saw the talent and first recommended him to the Magpies. Gavin moved to Melbourne in 1986 and started with our under-19s under coach Keith Burns. His mother Kay packed up her own life when he moved to Melbourne, coming with him and taking her support beyond simply watching all his games by taking charge of the club’s Coventry House, where a host of Magpies from interstate and country Victoria nested.

Gavin and his mum Kay at Coventry House with Brett Gloury, Mark Orval, Mick McGuane and Greg Faull.

That year produced a flag for the thirds, and Burns’ post-season notes on his young charge proved prescient: “Powerfully built young player shows a determination to succeed. Excellent running player, reasonable skills on both sides of his body (kicking needs further work), straight lines the ball well, takes a strong overhead mark, is a very good team man and is tough. Needs to gain in speed and improve concentration.” Crosisca went straight from that under-19s flag into the senior team for Round 1 of the following season. He played seven senior games in 1987 – a promising start. But in 1988, Gavin’s world was turned upside down when Kay passed away suddenly just before the start of the season. He flew to Brisbane twice in the space of a week – once for her funeral, and six days later for the season opener against Brisbane. From that moment on, he resolved to honour her memory by doing everything he could to play in a Magpies’ Premiership side. Despite his grief, Crosisca cemented his place within Leigh Matthews’ revamped side in 1988, and again represented his native state in the Bicentennial Carnival. Incredibly, given the changing eligibility of state football, he would have the distinction of representing Victoria, Queensland and The Allies over the course of his career. He was third in the Copeland Trophy in his third season (1989), and was a key member of the side that broke the club’s 32-year Premiership drought in 1990. (For a brief moment, he feared he might have missed the Grand Final after he suffered a corkie sliding down the bannister at the Peninsula Golf Course during a moment of “high jinx” on a club retreat the week before the match, as revealed in Michael Gleeson’sCakewalk). Crosisca’s two goals in the second quarter of that 1990 Grand Final were significant in a game-defining term. The first was a trademark long, left-footer on the run from 45m out and the second came after he floated across a pack to take a contested grab. By the time the game ended he was among our very best players.

Gavin celebrates after the siren in 1990 with James Manson, Peter Daicos and Denis Banks

At the start of his career, he initially played off half-back, where his ferocious tackling and attack on the football seemed a natural fit. He was a hard, uncompromising player whose flint-edged honesty earned him the nickname ‘Bagger’, and whose appetite for the contest always won the admiration of his teammates. He was strong above his head, moved well across the ground and his kicking developed to the point where it became a weapon. In short he seemed like an ideal half-back. But as his confidence grew his attacking forays out of defence convinced coach Leigh Matthews to use him more consistently in the middle of the ground, with his creativity an asset. During this time Tony Shaw described him as “the best half-back in the league and (he) is now one of the best ruck-rovers”. The years after the flag were trickier. He would later admit that his own standards of professionalism dropped in the early 1990s, and he was plagued by ongoing back, groin and hamstring issues. But his determination to overcome the obstacles saw him regain his status within the team, finishing third in the 1995 Copeland Trophy. Two years later, he became only the third Queensland-born player to reach 200 games. And he enjoyed his most consistent season – as a 29-year-old – when second to Nathan Buckley in the 1998 best-and-fairest award. A persistent foot injury and the club’s youth policy in Mick Malthouse’s first season as coach counted against Crosisca in 2000, his final year. But fittingly, he made his way back into the senior team late in the season – on merit, not sentiment. His final game came against Essendon in Round 22, when he and fellow under-19s alumnus Gavin Brown bade farewell together. Crosisca immediately moved into coaching. He was an assistant coach at North Melbourne under Denis Pagan, then shifted to Hawthorn before becoming the head coach at North Ballarat in the VFL. He served as an assistant at Carlton in 2007 and then moved into suburban football. But in the early 2010s he shocked the football world when he revealed the alcohol and drug dependence he had endured throughout his playing career – and beyond. He admitted he had been addicted to alcohol and cannabis during his playing career, adding speed once retired, and that those addictions had nearly destroyed his life. But newly clean after his wife Nicole forced him into rehab, Gavin came out the other side determined to use his own experiences to help others. “I want to make this my life,” he said at the time. “I will tell this story every day for the rest of my life if it makes a difference.” And true to his word, that’s what he has done. He helped set up Sober Living Rehab, which provides drug and alcohol addiction treatment services, and has told his story to many different audiences in many different settings, inspiring and educating others in equal measure. Then he dramatically increased his involvement in the Collingwood Past Players Association, his enthusiasm and drive helping to re-energise the organisation. A particular focus for him has been in the player welfare area, improving support for former players struggling with injuries, mental health or other issues once their playing careers have finished. More than 20 years after his own career ended, he’s still looking out for not just his own teammates, but all former Magpies. It’s that kind of selflessness and commitment that made Gavin Crosisca such a respected and loved member of the teams he played in. And it’s helped turn him into a significant figure in the ongoing community battle against drug and alcohol addiction, and also in the fight to help former players who might be doing it tough. As wonderful as his playing career was – and it really was wonderful – these feel like even more meaningful accomplishments.

Gavin Brown

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:34 +0000

Brown’s commitment to the Collingwood cause made him a favorite at the club. He started as a winger when he came from Templestowe and showed himself to be an absolutely fearless player in all situations. Alongside Gavin Crosisca, Damian Monkhorst and Mick McGuane, he played in the Collingwood under-19s premiership side of 1986 and that was the launching pad for the team that would eventually win the 1990 senior Grand Final. Off the field he was extremely quiet in his early years and thus earned the nickname of “Rowdy”. Brown was a popular and integral part of the 1990 flag team and when he was felled at quarter time it precipitated a huge brawl. He was made skipper in 1994, but struggled in 1995 and 1996 as hamstring injuries restricted him. Talk was rife of other clubs chasing him, but he stayed with the Magpies and continued to serve the club nobly. Just when many were writing him off he made a brilliant response in 1997 and led the Victorian team in his best season for years. In the state game he showed the way to his teammates by totally negating the dangerous Darren Jarman. Over the years much of Brown’s work was not reflected in statistics. His fierce tackling and tenacious work at ground level paved the way for others, and he was considered the ultimate team man. He wasn’t keen on meekly handing over the Collingwood captaincy at the end of 1998, but the club considered it was time to pass the baton to Nathan Buckley. Even Buckley said in mid-season that he had not thought the change necessary and was afraid that change had been made for change’s sake. His performances in 1999 showed that he still had plenty to offer when many thought that his battered body had absorbed enough punishment over the years. He came third in the club best and fairest voting and turned in a year of consistent high quality football. In 1999, despite the side’s struggle at the foot of the ladder, he seemed to thrive on the enthusiasm that was generated by the youngsters around him. His five seasons as captain from 1994 to 1998 would be enough on its own to ensure a place in Collingwood’s Hall of Fame, but he also won the Copeland Trophy as best and fairest on three occasions – 1989, 1994 and 1997- and was twice an All-Australian selection. Ever the ultimate clubman, Brown was a conditioning assistant in 2001 before taking an assistant coaching post from 2002 until the end of 2007. He then led the rebirth of the club’s stand alone VFL team, where he oversaw the development of several 2010 premiership stars before moving to Carlton at the end of the flag campaign. After three years at Princes Park, Brown took up a role as a development coach at North Melbourne ahead of the 2014 season.

Tony Shaw

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:00:56 +0000

Whenever talk turns to the great Collingwood captains, Tony Shaw’s name is always near the top of the list. And justifiably so, for Shawry’s intense and driven leadership played a huge role in guiding his teammates to their fabled drought-breaking Premiership of 1990. But so did his footy. It remains one of the great curiosities of the game that, despite a career that included two Copeland Trophies, a Norm Smith Medal, a number of Victorian jumpers and 25 years spent as the club’s games record holder, Tony Shaw’s value as a player can still be undervalued. He might just be one of the most decorated underrated Magpies of all time. The criticisms people levelled at his game over the years were largely true; his kicks never travelled far, he was not quick, he could not leap for marks. But he could always do one thing better than just about anyone else — get the ball. And that is every bit as much a skill as are the other facets of football. It is no good being able to run like a deer or kick like a mule if you can’t get the pill in the first place. And that is an area where Tony Shaw was never found wanting. He was always a remarkably high possession-winner, regularly near the top of the League’s average disposals. He averaged just on 25 touches a game across his career, but in his prime was tallying more than 600 a season. In his best year, 1990, he gathered a staggering 736 possessions (Scott Pendlebury’s best, by way of comparison, is almost identical at 742). He rarely wasted a kick, and his handball was amongst the most constructive in the game. When a bloke gets 30 or 40 touches a week, and uses them as intelligently as Shawry did, it doesn’t really matter too much if he doesn’t have a great highlights reel. Instead, his great strength was in getting the ball and getting it to a teammate. Few did it better, or as consistently, or for as long. But there were few indications of what was to come when he started out at Collingwood in the late 1970s. The Shaw family lived in the Housing Commission area of Reservoir and, by Tony’s own admission, life was a bit of a struggle. But if money wasn’t plentiful, sporting talent certainly was. His father Reg was a successful VFA footballer with Brunswick (he won the equivalent of the Liston Trophy) and mother Eileen was a good netballer. Tony’s two sisters, Judith and Christine, made their marks in basketball and netball respectively. Eldest brother Ray would go on to captain Collingwood. Kelvin captained the under-19s and played in the reserves. Neville, the youngest, was probably the most talented, but in the end managed to play just over 40 senior games. Their boyhood sporting contests were as diverse as they were aggressive; cricket, footy, basketball, running, you name it and they were into it. The impact of Shaw’s background really became apparent when he first took to sporting fields outside the confines of his family home. From that moment there were certain things that became obvious about Tony Shaw: his commitment to hard work, his competitiveness and the importance he placed on “the team” and a sense of camaraderie. All became Shaw trademarks; all can be traced, at least in part, to his early influences. He played plenty of sports: basketball was a particular favourite, he was a handy right-arm quick at cricket and a gun long-distance runner. While playing footy with Keon Park he won four club best and fairests. He decided to follow Ray to Victoria Park and had an aborted trial with the under-19s before spending 1977 with Reservoir-Lakeside seniors in the Diamond Valley Football League. Although still eligible for the under-19s in 1978, Shaw went straight into the reserves and won the team’s best and fairest award from just 14 games. Late in the season he was given his first taste of senior football, and did well enough to hold his place into the finals’ series. By 1980 he was a regular selection in the seniors, but his status as an established star still seemed a long way off. Many thought he would be a consistent, grafting battler but little more. But his career changed after he completed the 1983 Big M Melbourne Marathon with former teammate Mark Hannebery. Finishing that showed him what was possible if he set his mind to something and worked hard to achieve it. He put those lessons into effect on the football field with immediate results, winning interstate selection and his first Copeland trophy in 1984. From that point, he was one of the most valuable players in the game. At Collingwood, his value to the team was inestimable. He was a magnificent leader who set an outstanding physical example to his players. He had unbelievable courage, played with injuries that would have stopped others, never gave up on the field, and was as desperate and committed as anyone playing the game. He always pushed himself to the limit, even at training. “It inspired me just to watch him in action,” said Gavin Brown. “Mentally, he is the toughest bloke I’ve ever met. He is totally and utterly involved in what he is doing on the ground.” Peter Daicos said Shaw’s motivation was second-to-none. “He just kept going and going,” he says. “He was a tremendous motivator on-field, with continuous talking and encouragement.” He was no less vocal off-field either. Like brother Ray, Tony always had “a bit of a mouth”, and in football he used it frequently – on umpires, opponents and even his own teammates. He could be hard on his colleagues, especially if he felt someone was slackening off or looking for an easy way out. But he was also one of Collingwood’s great “stirrers”, and an intrinsic part of the club’s social fabric. When he finally retired in 1994, with Collingwood’s games record of 313 to his name, there seemed little doubt he would continue in football in some capacity. And sure enough it has been his life ever since. He assistant-coached in ’95, then was appointed Collingwood senior coach in 1996. But the club struggled in those years and he left at the end of 1999, his last game as coach also being the last the club played at Victoria Park. He then became an outspoken and highly regarded media commentator with 3AW and other media outlets. He never lost his love for Collingwood, however. And it must have been a bittersweet moment for him late in 2020 when Scott Pendlebury, another left-footer with a happy knack for finding the footy, finally broke his 313 games record. Tony Shaw held that record for 26 years, which is no small achievement. But it’s just one of many accolades gathered along the way in what turned out to be a wonderful career for an old-fashioned footballer who gave absolutely everything he had for the Collingwood cause. And then gave more again. – Michael Roberts