Robbie Flower

[Keepin up with the Joneses 48]

I was only 6 in 1987 so I have no memories of Robbie Flower playing

He is heralded as one of the all time greats, and reading the 1987 article, i notice he kicked a lot of goals that year; bags of 5 and 6 seemed regular, and in his last year of football too?

Did he need to retire?

How many goals did he actually kick?

Who would you liken him to a s a modern day player?

I appreciate everyones thoughts.

I'm a big believer we need the priority picks, but I also can't wait for next year where we can return to the unadulterated passion of winning games of football and pushing for a flag!

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I was only 6 in 1987 so I have no memories of Robbie Flower playing

He is heralded as one of the all time greats, and reading the 1987 article, i notice he kicked a lot of goals that year; bags of 5 and 6 seemed regular, and in his last year of football too?

Did he need to retire?

How many goals did he actually kick?

Who would you liken him to a s a modern day player?

I appreciate everyones thoughts.

I'm a big believer we need the priority picks, but I also can't wait for next year where we can return to the unadulterated passion of winning games of football and pushing for a flag!

Do a Forum search on Robert Flower.

There are a number of threads on Flower with some great posts.

Best footballer I have ever seen in an MFC jumper in the past 40 years. Peerless, inspiring, courageous, skillful and just so damn good. Superb in the air and on the ground and on both sides of his body.

I think he would still be good a modern player. Might have to do some weights though.

[Craig Drinker 179]

Robbie Flower was a freak! He was like the Indian Rubber Man , near impossible to tackle.I've never seen better baulking and evasive skills.(Except maybe myself trying to get out of doing jobs around the house!)

One of his greatest attributes was his heart.He loved the MFC and always stood up when the team needed a leader.You have to remember he was built like a pretzel and often played on much stronger and taller opponents.

I remember his shoulder used to pop out a lot and you would often see him in the latter part of his career running around with one arm hanging limply on one side until he had his shoulder popped back in.

Robbie was a reason to turn up to the footy in those days as he didn't exactly play in the strongest MFC teams.Be good to hear others views?

[no cigar 0]

Undoubtedly one of the best. There was a long period in the early 80's when we were crap but at least we had Robbie to give us something to smile about at the footy. Beautiful balance, long arms, one of those players who played "tall" and could also move like Keith Greig. In the two word analysis of the games in those days Robbie would need just one - "graceful". Make no mistake, the march to the GF in '87, so cruelly cut short, for we supporters was all about doing it for Robbie to return some of the pleasure he had given us over the years.

[H_T 2,941]

To give you some idea, in terms of 'build' Flower was much like Cale Morton is today. Although not as tall. Very skillful player. The best footballer I've seen with a Melbourne jumper on, in my time.

I used to love getting home from school as quick as I could to see the State Of Origin clashes with Flower playing for the mighty VICS alongside other great players of his era. I was proud that he was Captain.

He was so evasive and elusive with the ball in hand, deceptively quick.

Alot of people used to come to the footy just to watch him play. I know my dad did. A good mark. Took some pearlers in his time.

I recall on an April Fools Day, in the 80's, dad told me Robbie was leaving Melbourne and going to play at St.Kilda. I was probably only 10yo at the time. I was shattered. I don't know what possessed him to tell me an untruth, perhaps it was him educating me of 'April Fools'. But once he saw my 'displeasure' and my 'reaction', he soon enough came clean on the matter. It's fair to say I've been paying him back every April Fools Day since! :angry:

Flower's ability to play at the level he did during late 1987, at his age (including home&away + finals) was 'something extraordinary.'

PS. There can never be enough R.Flower threads.

edit: - He implemented the best blind-turn baulks you'd ever see.

[montasaurus 0]

What made him that much better was that for most of his career there was nobody else around him. A star in an average side. My first memories of the footy is from the mid 80's as an 8 or 9yr/old going only to watch robbie.

Wore the #2 throughout hi-school with pride.

[mo64 5,230]

He was an incredible mark, and was always up in the leading marks stat, at a time when marks where relevant. Quite often from kick-outs, we'd have Robbie one out against his opponent, with everyone else on the other flank.

He kicked the best goal I've ever seen live against Essendon at Windy Hill. He literally strolled down the wing bouncing the ball, baulked 3 or 4 players, and kicked the goal. Even the hard-a#se Essendon members applauded. Unfortunately, he didn't win the World of Sport goal of the day, because the game wasn't covered, and you only got to see a distorted version of the goal.

He also took one of the best marks I've seen live against Fitzroy at the G on the members wing. He was running with the flight of ball with his opponent purched under it. He ran past his opponent, turned around, then leapt and took a hanger. Again, the camera work didn't capture the difficulty of the mark.

At a time when Melbourne supporters had little to enthuse about, Robbie and Alan Jarrott invariably made the final of the World of Sport handball.

[FlowerPower 3]

I was only 6 in 1987 so I have no memories of Robbie Flower playing

He is heralded as one of the all time greats, and reading the 1987 article, i notice he kicked a lot of goals that year; bags of 5 and 6 seemed regular, and in his last year of football too?

Did he need to retire?

How many goals did he actually kick?

Who would you liken him to a s a modern day player?

I appreciate everyones thoughts.

I'm a big believer we need the priority picks, but I also can't wait for next year where we can return to the unadulterated passion of winning games of football and pushing for a flag!

Cant remember the year but it was a game at the G against Colliwobbles about the 20 min mark last qtr and we were being well beaten. Flower received the ball in front of the members wing and basically walked and bounced the ball all the way to the goal square avoiding collingwood players and then kicked the goal. He looked back at the members as if to say...........and then jogged back to his position it was unbelievable.

[Deeoldfart 7,804]

...............................

Best footballer I have ever seen in an MFC jumper in the past 40 years. Peerless, inspiring, courageous, skillful and just so damn good. Superb in the air and on the ground and on both sides of his body.

I think he would still be good a modern player. Might have to do some weights though.

................ and Rhino, even though its not a term you like to use liberally, you would have to acknowledge that he 'bled for the jumper'.

All Robbie ever wanted to do was to play football for Melbourne. When he was a scrawny, bespectaled 16 year old he stayed out of the game for a year because he didn't want to jeopardise his chances of playing for the Demons. And after he had established himself as an elite footballer, he regularly turned down offers to move elsewhere for more $s. The following extract from his 1987 autobiography sums up his passion for the Red and Blue:

".........A rival club once offered to pay off the mortgage on a new house I had just bought - all I had to do , of course, was sign to play with them. The deal would have been worth $60,000 there and then - and it did not include a playing contract. That would have been extra. This happened eight years ago when I had not been married long. It was an enormous amount of money then, and very, very tempting. But I said no. For one thing it would have meant selling my loyalty, and I was never able to bring myself do that, even though there were plenty of chances over the years to cash in on my abilty..........

IMO Robbie was an out and out champion with few peers. I was lucky enough to see our Premiership teams of the 1950's and early 60's, and I don't think I've ever seen a better player in the Red and Blue. He always seemed to be playing against the odds, but his silky skills, enormous courage and determination ensured that he was very rarely beaten.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

................ and Rhino, even though its not a term you like to use liberally, you would have to acknowledge that he 'bled for the jumper'.

I think there were so many aspects of Flower that make him unrivalled in time watching MFC. His loyalty was no doubt one of them. However, I would also put players like Hardeman, Alves and Wells in the same category. Underpaid, under recognised and in many cases treated abysmally by the Club.

However, the use of the term " bleeds for the jumper" on this Forum is erroneous because it implies a distinguishing feature of one player that another player does not have and places that "bleeding" B) player on some higher plane of entitlement, performance etc,. . Its carp. Its as bad as identifying that a possible or prospective player from another Club is worth a look on the basis that one of the reasons is that he barracked for MFC as a kid.

[CHAMP 347]

He played some of his first seven games of his debut season in the Reserves wearing black-rimmed glasses, taped to his head. I saw the end of one of these games and I said to myself "Who's this bozo".

It soon became apparent though that this was one bozo who could play.

[loges 6,162]

I think there were so many aspects of Flower that make him unrivalled in time watching MFC. His loyalty was no doubt one of them. However, I would also put players like Hardeman, Alves and Wells in the same category. Underpaid, under recognised and in many cases treated abysmally by the Club.

However, the use of the term " bleeds for the jumper" on this Forum is erroneous because it implies a distinguishing feature of one player that another player does not have and places that "bleeding" B) player on some higher plane of entitlement, performance etc,. . Its carp. Its as bad as identifying that a possible or prospective player from another Club is worth a look on the basis that one of the reasons is that he barracked for MFC as a kid.

Our only real quality line around that time Alves, Wells, Flower

[Einstein 1]

One of the MFC's greatest. I was young when I saw Robbie play in the 80's. One of the first football games I ever went to was as a 7 year old, a 1981 game out at the Western Oval against the Bulldogs. We won that game by a point with Robbie kicking the winning goal. It was our only win for the entire season and it was against an equally hopeless team that only won two games for the entire season. This sums up much of Robbies career, sticking thick with the club and playing amazing football on some very ordinary teams.

It was a shame he was injured for the Panasonic Cup Final back in '87. I remember him being held aloft by the players that night after the game even though he didn't play such was the regard held for him by the playing group. But fortunately he got to play finals that same year, something that was rarely a opportunity throughout his playing days (1976 and perhaps 1984 were exceptions.) It's a great shame that his last game was that sad day out at Waverley against Hawthorn. He played with one arm most of that day and what might have been sadder would have been had we won, it was questionable if Robbie would have come up the next week for the Grand Final. No doubt he would have given himself every chance of playing, injured or not. His light frame didn't reflect his physical toughness and courage.

Another thing I would say about Robbie was the fact that I truly didn't appreciate him at the time. I was young and though I marvelled often at his talents, it was only years after watching him play and watching other Melbourne players come and go that I really could reflect and recognise just how great he was.

How he never won a Brownlow Medal is a mystery. Playing on teams that rarely won wouldn't have helped. His win-loss record as a player was 88-184. But he still collected 150 Brownlow votes in his 15 seasons.

As far his goal kicking went, he kicked 315 in his career, kicking a career high 47 in his final season.

I wish I could go back and watch him play all over again.

[dee-luded 2,958]

I was only 6 in 1987 so I have no memories of Robbie Flower playing

He is heralded as one of the all time greats, and reading the 1987 article, i notice he kicked a lot of goals that year; bags of 5 and 6 seemed regular, and in his last year of football too?

Did he need to retire?

How many goals did he actually kick?

Who would you liken him to a s a modern day player?

I appreciate everyones thoughts.

Evasive with the ball in hand as Ablett Jnr. Equally as effective as either Ablett Jnr or Judd transporting the ball. Not really a in/under type but definately inside/outside mid. Played Wing, midfield, back flank, CHF on the likes of Ross Glendinning & gave him a bath then towelled him down as well. Quick yet not super quick, sensational reader of the play, would take flying pack marks over the likes of St-kilda ruckman Jeff Sarau in the backline then run off carrying the ball upfield weaving his way through oncoming tacklers then pass the ball lace out to teammate or kick the goal on the run from 50. Athletic like Trevor Barker in the air, ball control & evasiveness like Kevin Bartlett, change of direction, cut, blind turn like Rudolph Nuraeve & Heart like Glen Archer. Kick elite off either foot , handball both hands & would beat any winger he played on of his time.

Got towelled once or so playing on Malclm Blight, a mismatch in size.

Pound for pound you would not find a better footballer anywhere today.

[discworld demon 0]

I saw quite a lot of Robert Flower and he was like a ballet dancer on the field: all grace and fluidity. He had an amazing presence.

Martin Flanagan wrote a really good piece about him in the Age many years ago and if anyone knows where to find it and post it please do.

Flanagan is of course a superb writer and his piece (as far as I can remember) captured Robert Flower beautifully.

[Deeoldfart 7,804]

I think there were so many aspects of Flower that make him unrivalled in time watching MFC. His loyalty was no doubt one of them. However, I would also put players like Hardeman, Alves and Wells in the same category. Underpaid, under recognised and in many cases treated abysmally by the Club.

However, the use of the term " bleeds for the jumper" on this Forum is erroneous because it implies a distinguishing feature of one player that another player does not have and places that "bleeding" B) player on some higher plane of entitlement, performance etc,. . Its carp. Its as bad as identifying that a possible or prospective player from another Club is worth a look on the basis that one of the reasons is that he barracked for MFC as a kid.

I see where you're coming from Rhino, but if your view is correct, the term should never be applied to any footballer. It's really just colourful jargon that actually means bugger-all, but personally, I think it has a place in the language of our great game. Let's just agree to differ on that one.

I also loved the three other great players that you mentioned, but two of them did end up moving to other clubs for the lure of more $s and/or the prospect of playing in a premiership. I guess it could be argued that they didn't share the same degree of loyalty to the Red and Blue, as Robbie, but then again, another legend of the of the MFC, the great RDB, moved to Carlton in 1965.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I also loved the three other great players that you mentioned, but two of them did end up moving to other clubs for the lure of more $s and/or the prospect of playing in a premiership. I guess it could be argued that they didn't share the same degree of loyalty to the Red and Blue, as Robbie, but then again, another legend of the of the MFC, the great RDB, moved to Carlton in 1965.

They were treated poorly during their playing days at MFC and if anything the Club owed them loyalty. They gave far more than they everr got back. I dont deny either Wells or Alves the success they deserve. FWIW, Stan Alves "bled for jumper" as much as any player and the Club did not respond in the same fashion.

[Old Man Rivers 326]

I was only 6 in 1987 so I have no memories of Robbie Flower playing

He is heralded as one of the all time greats, and reading the 1987 article, i notice he kicked a lot of goals that year; bags of 5 and 6 seemed regular, and in his last year of football too?

Did he need to retire?

How many goals did he actually kick?

Who would you liken him to a s a modern day player?

I appreciate everyones thoughts.

I'm a big believer we need the priority picks, but I also can't wait for next year where we can return to the unadulterated passion of winning games of football and pushing for a flag!

Robbie Flower was the most skillful, sublime player I have ever witnessed.

To witness him take the field 3 times in September in the 1987 Finals series was a privelage.

Who would I liken him to as a modern day player ?

CALE MORTON.

[Swampfox 190]

Flower,s greatest moments is when he played in a good side ...............VICTORIA

Being forced to play in other positions for the teams sake could have cost him the Brownlow and the wing position in the AFL Team of the Century

Regarded by most as the best pound for pound player to ever play the game.........still

[Deeoldfart 7,804]

........................ I dont deny either Wells or Alves the success they deserve. ..................

Me neither. I'm firmly in your camp on that one.

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,099]

I am 40 and was fortunate enough to grow up as a young lad and all my teenage years watching most of Robbie`s career. We rarely missed a game, in fact I still rarely miss a game. As far as the best MFC player in my lifetime Robbie stands clearly on his own with a massive gap to 2nd best ( I can`t decide between Garry Lyon and the injury plagued Steven Tingay)

Late 70`s and most of the 80`s was quite simply a graveyard for the Dees. We were very ordinary for nearly 10 years plus until 87. For me though, just being able to watch Flower display his magic made the losses bearable. Even at the age of about 10, I knew that Flower was something special, he was rarely beaten by any opponent. He and Keith Greig used to have some epic battles, but Flower would win nearly every time. Melbourne would regularly lose by 10 goals plus, but Robbie was not only our best player, but best on ground by a country mile. It was hard to tell if he was naturally left or right kick, handball and even bouncing the ball. It just looked so easy for him.

You would fear for his life the way he attacked the ball and backed into packs but he rarely got hurt and rarely got tackled! Dipper is the only bloke I ever saw clean him up and bust his shoulder! For those of you not fortunate enough to see him play, there must be some old videos or dvd`s floating around that you simply must get your hands on. If not, then go to the G and watch Cale Morton go around, because he not only is showing early likeness, he will challenge Robbies title as the best ever Demon after we dissect his 300 game career.