THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - NUMBER FORTY-EIGHT

by the Professor

The Jurrahcane, a Warlpiri warrior known as Liam Jungarray Jurrah blew onto the football scene the other night at Etihad Stadium wearing the number 48 for Melbourne against Essendon. It was obvious from the moment he stepped on the field that Jurrah was not your average footballer; that he's someone special and that everything that he comes into contact with will be immersed in that magic touch. And that includes his guernsey number - 48.

The number hasn't yet been associated with any really big names and in the past it has often been a transitory number worn by a player in the early stages of his career only to be discarded in favour of a lower and more popular number. This is exactly what has happened with the last five custodians of the number which fell out of favour and was previously last worn in an AFL game more than a decade ago.

The trend for the number was first set by Bob Gormly who came across to the club as a 184cm teenager from Old Scotch Collegians, Launceston and played the final game of 1965 against Footscray on a half back flank, a game narrowly lost by the Demons 10.12.72 to 10.15.75. The promising youngster was allocated the number 7 at the start of the following season but a knee injury put an end to his career before it even started. These days Gormly lives and works on the Gold Coast and still follows the Demons.

Three years later, Daryl Powell, 179cm rover from Woodend came to the club but could manage no more than two games for the club wearing the number 48 guernsey with little impact. He started both games, in Round 19 against Fitzroy and Round 20 against South Melbourne on the bench.

Midfielder Michael J Collins from Caulfield made his debut in 1971 wearing 48 at VFL Park in the same game in which South Australian recruit "Diamond Jim" Tilbrook played his first game for the club. Collins played 3 games that year, progressing to the number 12 through 1972 to 1974 for a career total of 27 games and 11 goals.

Seventeen year old defender Brett Marchant from the club's suburban zone club Mentone was next to wear the 48 jumper. He played in four games in 1977 starting on a half back flank against Richmond in Round 16 but his career never took off. Two years later, the same fate befell the guernsey's next wearer John Wallace from Thornton. He was a reserve starting on the bench in the Round 3 game against South Melbourne but managed just one more game.

John Tossol, a rover from Assumption College, Kilmore, came to the club in 1981 and played in the last two games of the season kicking three goals on debut against Richmond. His brother Peter arrived the following year but alas, the brothers never got to play together.

The guernsey number 48 was next worm in 1984 by Gisborne wingman Ross Fisher who started in the Under 19's. By this time, the jumper was starting to appear jinxed because Fisher managed only one game.

Utility Stephen Newport, who came to the Demons from Dingley in 1985, bucked the trend that had been set previously for the number as he became its first centurion although most of his 101 games and 58 goals came after he switched to the number 34 after his first season. He finished fourth in the club champion voting in 1986 and made the Victorian squad. He was part of the club's meteoric charge for the finals in 1987 and played in a grand final in 1988 before being traded to St. Kilda after the 1990 season. Meanwhile, Luke Beveridge, the grandson of Collingwood star Jack and son of St. Kilda recruiting guru John wore the number 48 in 1989. A clever goal kicking rover, Beveridge switched to the number 24 in 1990 and, when cleared to the Bulldogs at the end of 1992, he had 42 games for 41 goals to his credit. He later joined his father at the Saints and finished there in 1999.

The rise of Darren Cuthbertson who donned the number 48 for the Demons in 1991 was meteoric. He booted bags of seven goals against North Melbourne and Collingwood in just his fourth and fifth games and followed that effort up with another five against the Brisbane Bears for 19 in the space of just three matches. The opposition teams started working him out and his output declined but he finished his debut season with 16 games and 29 goals.

Cuthbertson was awarded the coveted number 9 guernsey the following year but never lived up to his earlier promise and his career was over after just 32 games and 43 goals in three seasons.

The jumper was not worn again until 1997 when Brent Grgic from Bell Post Hill near Geelong arrived on the scene via the 1996 National Draft where the Demons selected him with their first round draft pick. Grgic was likened to star forward and former captain Garry Lyon early in his career but his star waned almost as quickly as that of Cuthbertson after moving to the number 4 locker in 1998. He was traded to the Cats at the end of 2001 after 77 games and 29 goals.

Meanwhile, Grgic's old 48 guernsey was handed down to Box Hill draftee Matthew Bishop in1998 when he wore the jumper for 10 games (3 goals). Like many of his predecessors, Bishop discarded the number after just one year, shifting to number 18. He was also traded off elsewhere and finished at Port Adelaide(as part of a three way swap) where he became a premiership player. The lanky defender played 18 games for 4 goals for the Demons.

Since the turn of the century not a single player wire 48 for Melbourne until Jurrah stepped onto Etihad Stadium to weave his magic and suddenly the sight of that number will never be the same!