The ten best guernsey number oddities

by PAUL DAFFEY

1. Merv Keane, 18

Keane's 238 games for Richmond on the ball or at half-back recently received due recognition when he was inducted into the Tigers' hall of fame. The most notable record from his largely unsung career was that he played in three premierships, in 1973, 74 and 80. Among the asides, it was noted that he wore the No.40 and No.18 guernseys, but this told only part of the story. While Keane did start out wearing No.40 (before handing it onto Geoff Raines), he then wore the forgotten No.19 during the 1975 season, only to have Ray Boyanich, the defender who had worn the number before him, return from Perth after a year and ask for his old guernsey back. Keane agreed to the request, then took the No.18 guernsey that had been vacant since Mal Brown's return to Perth. As it happened, Keane liked moving down one number. Tom Hafey, Richmond's much-loved coach, had worn No.18 as a determined back pocket in the 1950s. Besides, Keane thought, it simply suited him better. Australian footballers (and fans) can be funny about numbers, in part because they're assigned by choice rather than position. It's one of the attractions of our game.

2. Bruce Doull, 11

Besides being known by one of the most evocative football nicknames, The Flying Doormat has one of the great number stories. For his first three seasons in Carlton's senior team, he wore No.4. Given that lockers were assigned according to guernsey numbers, he changed into his footy gear alongside Serge Silvagni (No.1), Big Nick (No.2), Kevin Hall (No.3), Syd Jackson (No.5) and Garry Crane (No.6). In such a glamorous line-up, the attention feted on the stars with the low numbers was too much for Doull, who before the 1972 season asked for something of a higher order. He received the nondescript No.11 that had been vacated by the colourful John Goold. Around him were Adrian Gallagher (No.10), who, while a big name, was at least funnier than those with single-digit numbers, and Barry Armstrong (No.12), who was just beginning to make his way. The move seemed to suit Doull. He played 329 games wearing No.11.

3. Robert Walls, 42

Amid the strange goings-on at Carlton in this era, Walls defied the practice of moving to a lower number after becoming a regular senior player. Having made his debut in No.42 as a 16-year-old in 1967, he wore it for more than a decade - in three premiership teams! - until moving to Fitzroy, where his decision to take No.9 changed the course of his life. By wearing a number befitting his status (it also looked good straddling the guernsey's maroon and blue panels), Walls earned the credibility that enabled him to coach four clubs. No one might have considered him if he'd stuck with No.42 all along.

4. David McKay, 43

What was going on at Carlton in this era? McKay made his senior debut with Carlton in 1969 wearing the No.43. He soared in defence and attack in four premiership teams (!) and was still wearing his original number when he retired after 13 seasons. The wonder is that he managed to lug such a high number over enough packs to earn the nickname "Swan". The sad wash-up to the Swan story is that Kouta has also worn No.43 throughout his career, lending cache to a number that doesn't deserve it.

5. Justin Madden, 44

Argh! As if they shouldn't have learned from their mistakes, Carlton officials went too far when they allowed Madden to not only wear No.44, which he had worn at Essendon before being recruited to the Blues, but they bumped a young player out of the jumper to do so. Shane Robertson wore No.44 before moving to No.38 (crap number; why bother?) to accommodate Big Harry (not the same ring to it as Big Nick, is there?). Wearing such a high number would have tickled Madden's highly developed sense of the ridiculous, but it fails to explain why other players have found the number so appealing. John Platten and Richard Osborne both had distinguished careers wearing the 44. Nigel Lappin, the current custodian of football's unlikeliest popular digits, is mentioned as an annual Brownlow prospect, but I fail to see him winning in No.44 unless, like Platten, he lets his hair grow and starts looking like Tiny Tim.

6. Shaun Rehn, 52

It's possible that I could go through every high number and raise objections (Brian Cordy played more than 120 games for Footscray wearing No.49!), but I might as well go to the top and mention that Shaun Rehn, an obstreperous character at the best of times, wore No.52 proudly, even belligerently, in two Adelaide premierships, and he then kept it when he crossed to Hawthorn. I thought it was wrong.

7. Jason Cloke, 34

Cloke's father David is in the records as the player who has worn No. 33 in the most league games: 290, at Richmond and Collingwood over 16 seasons. David Cloke was a confident, some would say vain, type of character (remember the perm?), so there's no doubt he would have given his sons an earful about his performances in extremely tight shorts over many excellent seasons. I quite liked Jason Cloke's choice of No.34, the rationale being that he would go one better than his father. His shorts are bigger, too.

8. Tony Lockett, 46

While No.4 earns great acclaim at St Kilda as the number worn by Darrel Baldock, Plugger surprised me by changing to No.4 after winning a Brownlow Medal wearing No.14. But any misgivings about that move were put in the shade by his antics after coming out of retirement at Sydney. Having worn No.4 with great success at the Swans, he returned after spending two seasons on the sidelines and found that Ben Mathews was comfortable in his old number. Plugger's decision to take No.46 because his father, Plugger senior, had worn the number at North Ballarat was as misplaced as his decision to come out of retirement. It just looked weird.

9. Paul Hudson, 17

Hudson was handed a high accolade when he inherited Michael Tuck's No.17 guernsey at Hawthorn. But when he went to Richmond, having worn No.9 during his stint at the Western Bulldogs, the decision to give him No.17 got him off on the wrong foot with fans immediately. How dare Hudson, a half-forward flanker in all senses of the term, dare take the number of Jack Dyer, the most rugged player to pull on boots! During Hudson's one season at Punt Road, Tiger fans all but blamed him for the malaise that had afflicted their club for the previous two decades. The carry-on was enough for the club to concoct a rule in which the captain, in this case Wayne Campbell, was required to wear No.17 for a season. That way, the memory of Paul Hudson wearing Jack Dyer's number could be banished.

10. Jack Regan, miscellaneous

For a good while during the early part of last century, Collingwood assigned numbers alphabetically, a practice that had little effect on Bruce Andrews, who wore No.1 over four seasons, but had a marked impact on Jack Regan, the prince of full-backs, who wore a total of 11 guernsey numbers: 27, 19, 20, 24, 25, 16, 22, 18, 23, 1 and 2. His final two numbers were in keeping with the developing tradition of the captain and the vice-captain wearing the lowest two numbers. Harry Collier had begun the practice of taking the lowest number when he was named captain in 1935. Regan continued it when he took over the captaincy in 1940. The tradition continued until 1979, when Ray Shaw kept his No.23 guernsey despite being named Collingwood captain.

This article first appeared in The Age on Sunday 3 April.

Editor's note: Mr Daffey's obviously never heard of a Chaddy. That's 22, the number worn by the great Derek Chadwick at East Perth and sown by my mum onto the back of the black and blue jumper that still fits me.

5 April 2005

Justin Madden wore 44 at Essendon and Carlton. Probably a glamour thing.

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