https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au The complete history of Australia's greatest sporting club Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:13:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.21 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/taylor-adams/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:03:15 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/taylor-adams/ https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/jarryd-blair/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:03:02 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/jarryd-blair/ https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/luke-ball/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:03:01 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/luke-ball/ When he finally made his debut in early 2003 he looked as if he had been on the League scene for years. His anticipation and vision were keynotes of his play and he had an impressive debut year apart from a couple of mid-season injuries. In 2009 he seemingly fell out of favour at St Kilda with two stints in the reserves before returning just before the finals. He was only on the ground for 54 per cent of the Grand Final, but did well in that time. messy break with St Kilda saw him request a trade to Collingwood before going into the draft and being picked at No.30. He produced a strong year and capped it off with a premiership medallion, ironically against his old side. Ball refused to claim any vindication and he was widely lauded for his humility. He had an even better year in 2011, but injured a knee in round three of 2012 and missed the rest of the year. He returned two months into 2013 and remained solid until the end, bowing out twelve months later.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/heath-shaw/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:48 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/heath-shaw/ Although he was mooted as a potential debutant early in 2004, Shaw made his AFL debut late in 2005 and had an impressive start as he demonstrated his ball-winning skills in defence. To start 2006 he was a late call up against Hawthorn in round 2 after having won 35 touches for Williamstown the previous day. After that, he played in all the remaining games and rapidly became a major component of the team as a running, penetrating half-back who could launch constant attacks, as illustrated when he won the ANZAC Day Medal in 2007. His influence was so strong that by the end of the season, opposing teams were allocating negating forwards to the job of limiting him. Always busy on the field, he had been diagnosed with ADD as a kid, and his energetic style endeared him to the hearts of the Collingwood faithful. He was touted as a future leader after he ran fourth in the 2007 best and fairest and continued the momentum into early 2008 but his form wasn’t quite as consistent. His season ended dramatically when the club suspended him after round 18 when he and teammate Alan Didak found themselves in off-field strife. He admitted later that it shook his feeling of being invulnerable. He responded in the best way possible by running third in the 2009 best and fairest and at the start of 2010 he joined the leadership group. A fine year ended with a premiership for the Magpies and he provided a highlight of the Grand Final Replay when he desperately lunged to smother a Nick Riewoldt kick from the square. In late 2011 he was suspended for eight games (with a further six suspended) in a football betting scandal, but he bounced back to continue as one of the foremost running half backs in the competition. Unfortunately, a number of undisciplined acts in 2013 left him on the outer and he was placed on the trade market, being traded to Greater Western Sydney in exchange for Taylor Adams.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/nick-maxwell/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:42 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/nick-maxwell/ https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/shane-wakelin/ Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:33 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/shane-wakelin/ In later years, he admitted that he had lied to coach Mick Malthouse when asked about the extent of his Achilles problem when the coach had interviewed him about coming to Collingwood. He was one of a band of experienced players who added substance to the Collingwood side and in 2002 enjoyed one of his best seasons, finishing fifth in the Copeland Trophy. He played in the Magpies’ Grand Final sides of 2002-03, locking horns in several engrossing duels with Brisbane’s Alistair Lynch and getting the better of him on several occasions. Wakelin was a stalwart in defence in 2004 until he broke his arm and missed the final six games of the season, and his third placing in the best and fairest of 2005 was his highest individual honour. His career began to flag as a young group of Magpie backmen, led by Nick Maxwell and Heritier Lumumba, became senior players in the years that followed, but instead of fading into the darkness, Wakelin enjoyed an Indian summer. After playing just four games in the first 10 rounds of 2007, the then 32-year-old Wakelin returned for the Queen’s Birthday clash with Melbourne and missed just two more games as his side shocked the competition by charging into the Preliminary Final. During the finals series, Wakelin performed admirably on the likes of Barry Hall and Cameron Mooney and typified his team’s fighting spirit with a one-handed tackle on Mooney at a critical stage of the epic Preliminary Final. In 2008, Wakelin’s renacconce continued, managing 20 games in his final season at the age of 34. He was caught in the crossfire when Barry Hall took a swipe at hime durng the team’s visit to Stadium Australia in round 14 and he notched his 250th career game in round 20, fittingly, against Port Adelaide, the club at which he played much of his junior football. Although he missed the Elimination Final, he returned for one last hurrah against his old club St Kilda in the Semi-Final. To the end he was an honorable and respected footballer who fashioned a proud record, and later returned to St Kilda where he worked in the club’s administration.]]>