THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - NUMBER THIRTY-ONE: PART ONE

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - NUMBER THIRTY-ONE: PART ONE by the Professor

It would be fair to say that of those who have worn the number 31 at the Melbourne Football Club over the past one hundred years only one could be considered a true champion of the club. Although he would always maintain that our game is a team sport, Ronald Dale Barassi stands so far apart from the rest that he warrants his own chapter in the Melbourne Football Club Book of Numbers. He played in six premierships and eight grand finals in his dozen years as a player, proudly filling the jumper his late father wore before he became an Anzac and gave his life for his country at a time when young Ron Junior was just five years of age.

Ron Senior and Colin Deane before him and Stan Rule after them were premiership players. Ray Groom was a good footballer who won the Keith "Bluey" Truscott Memorial Trophy for club best and fairest in 1968 and Paul Wheatley was a steady performer who notched up 135 games in ten seasons but to be honest, the rest of those who wore the number were underachievers and cast offs from other clubs who never quite made it in the red and the blue.

Ten players wore Melbourne's famous number 31 guernsey before it found its way into the hands of a Barassi. Another ten have worn it since the last Barassi finished at the club at the end of 1964 but, only now, can we really accept that this famous number can again be associated with the success that attached itself to the name of the greatest Demon ever. In his first season, Tom Scully made a promising debut and while a knee injury in the first half of his second year is a setback, his undoubted skills promise a great deal for his future and that of the Melbourne Football Club.

It all began almost a hundred years ago in 1913 when Frank Ellis formerly of Williamstown and Richmond crossed over from Punt Road Oval to play six games. He also wore the number 30 during his short stint at the club then known as "The Fuschias".

Jack Woolley was a football journeyman who played two games for two goals at Melbourne in 1914 wearing the number 31. He also played at Carlton and Essendon as well as minor league clubs South Yarra, Northcote, Preston and Hawthorn.

The next custodian of 31 was A.M. "Max" Hislop in 1915. The year before, he had played nine games for Collingwood but after just one game at Melbourne he retired. Two years later Hislop was talked into playing for Richmond in where he became a 100 game dual premiership player.

Leo Little had been a fine servant of the University Football Club before it disbanded during the Great War. He was recruited to Melbourne in 1919 and was given the number 31 but discarded it in favour of 3 the following year. He played 12 games for 4 goals before transferring in his work to Canberra.

Reginald Ellis was a veteran defender from St. Kilda (he had played in the Saints' first grand final in 1913) when he acquired the number 31 in 1920. The solid 179 cm defender played only one game for the club. He was also a fine cricketer who made a century on debut for Victoria at the age of 36.

Ellis handed the jumper to Fred Long who played just 6 games between 1921 and 1922 and he was followed by Marcus Glasscock in 1923 who also played six games in his two seasons at Melbourne.

Next to wear 31 was Tasmanian Colin Deane, a vigorous rover who played from 1925 to 1930 and was a member of the club's 1926 premiership side. His 82 games yielded 53 goals before returning home. Deane made a brief comeback as a player (3 games) and coach of St. Kilda in 1933.

Former Hawthorn player, Lew Gough wore 39 in 1930, his first season at the club but he switched to 31 in his second season. Gough managed just five games before returning to Hawthorn the following year.

Jack Power carried the number 12 on his back in 1930 and 1931 and followed Gough's lead taking 31 the next year. From Police and CYMS, the strongly built Power was 185cm and 95kg and played 36 games (6 goals) before transferring to Collingwood where he played three games in 1935. He was the grandfather of AFL footballers Luke and Sam Power.

Ronald James Barassi was handed the number 31 guernsey when he arrived at the club from Castlemaine-Guildford in 1936. The honest, hardworking and courageous rover stood at 171cm and weighed 71kg and played 58 games for 84 goals. His last game was the club's 1940 premiership where he was 19th man. He died in action at Tobruk.

Diminutive Leslie Gibbs was just 163cm tall. He wore number 28 in 1939 and switched to 31 in 1941. Gibbs played a total of 13 games for 8 goals and reclaimed the number for a short time after a break of a year in 1943 during which time, Melbourne Grammarian Ken Levey wore the jumper. Levey, who switched to 29 in 1944 played 17 games in his two seasons with the club.

Harry New made a fleeting appearance in the number after Gibbs in 1944 but changed to 20 in 1945. He managed just two games in his two years in the red and the blue.

Frank "Checker" Hughes Jnr (180 cm 77.5 kg) was the son of legendary coach Frank V. "Checker" Hughes who, like his father, crossed to Melbourne from Richmond. Hughes Senior was responsible for changing the club from Fuschias to Demons and coached four premierships at the club. His son played eight games in 1945.

Stan Rule was a 22 year old, 185 cm, 86kg follower/defender when recruited from Brighton Technical School Old Boys in 1946 and he was fortunate enough to play in that year's grand final. Two years later he experienced two more grand finals, the first a draw and the second was Melbourne's famous 1948 premiership against Essendon. Rule played 74 games for 13 goals between 1946 and 1950 and also playing in the 46 grand final he also represented Victoria in 1949.

With young Ronald Dale Barassi residing with Demon great and new coach Norm Smith the Demons pushed hard for the inception of the father/son rule and the club was rewarded when he wore his father's number for the first time in 1953, the start of a twelve year career that co-incided with the club's golden era until 1964. Players bearing the title "champion" have been thin on the ground at Melbourne since he left dramatically in December of that year after 204 games to take on the mantle of captain coach at Carlton and begin a successful and highly decorated career as a VFL coach.

Tasmanian Ray Groom wore the number 15 in his first two seasons at Melbourne but the 187cm 82.5 centre half forward from Cooee whose pace and marking were his assets was given the honour of filling Barassi's jumper early in 1965. Groom's family had left Tasmania when the youngster was 12 years of age. He played in Melbourne's underage sides, returned home for two senior seasons at Cooee then returned to Melbourne making a big impression in his opening year. His form fell away in 1964 and he missed a place in the premiership team but Melbourne had faith safe and gave him the number 31. Groom won the Demons' best and fairest in 1968 playing mainly in defence before returning to Tasmania. In later years he was a Federal and State MP and rose to the leadership of the Tasmanian Liberal party to become Premier of Tasmania.

Legendary Melbourne Football Club administrator Jim Cardwell had put in a great deal of effort to secure Bill Barham, a star country footballer of the 1950's and he always maintained that Barham was the one that got away. Barham's eldest son Ricky was zoned to Collingwood and he became a star but Cardwell persevered and snared Bill Junior and Jamie Barham. Unfortunately, neither of them set the world alight. Given the famous number 31, the 178 cm, 73 kg Bill Barham Junior played only 12 games (14 goals) in 1974 and 1975 before handing the number to another member of a famous footballing family.

Redheaded Paul Goss stood at 169cm (71 kg) and the diminutive rover loved a scrap. He was the son of famous Port Melbourne identity Norm Goss Senior and brother to South Melbourne legend Norm Goss Junior but like many of those who followed Barassi as wearer of the number 31, his days at this level were short-lived. He managed just four games for two goals in 1976 and his replacement, the 185 cm 79.5 kg Peter Garratt from Seymour managed just one game in 1978.

The club changed tack in 1979 when it gave the number 31 to Phil Carman, the enigmatic Collingwood champion who was given his marching orders by the Pies at the end of 1978. Despite a couple of spectacular games with the Demons, he didn't really fit in with coach Carl Ditterich and left after a season in which he played 11 games and netted 23 goals.

Carmen was followed by another high priced signing whose career at the club was curtailed by a spate of injuries that hampered him in his three seasons at the club. Kelvin Templeton became a Demon in 1983 after a stellar career as a leading VFL goal kicker. He was an expensive recruit who failed to live up to his price tag after booting eight goals in an early game at Kardinia Park against the Cats. He finished with 34 games and 99 goals. He became a skills coach and later was CEO at the Sydney Swans.

At 180 cm and 83kg, the strongly built Rod Keogh not only bore a physical resemblance to Ron Barassi but he was drafted from Castemaine, the area where the Demon great's father was recruited in the 1930's. It was inevitable then that he would be given the number 31 guernsey when he arrived at the club in 1990. The expectations on him were great but he failed to live up to them although he won two Gardiner Medals. He played 22 senior games (8 goals) to 1993 before crossing to St. Kilda.

The Demons used an early draft pick to recruit Donald Cockatoo-Collins in the 1995 national draft after securing his twin David as compensation for Jason Norrish who joined the Dockers. The Demons had promised the twins' mother who was dying of cancer, that it would draft Donald at the end of the year to ensure they would stay together. The boys were schooled at Wesley College, the promise was honoured and they both made their AFL debuts early in 1996. David, a small forward managed just one more game in 1997 while Donald, a utility (181cm, 77kg) played 9 games for 3 goals but he too was gone by the end of 1998.

A Preston Knights recruit, Paul Wheatley made his debut for the Melbourne Football Club wearing 31 in 2000, after being selected at number 20 in the 1999 AFL Draft. A prodigious kick with the ability to pinpoint 60 metre passes using the drop punt, Wheatley kicked the first NAB Cup Super goal – a goal scored outside of 50 m and still holds the record for kicking more of these than any other player.

At 188cm and 89kg, Wheatley was able to play in key positions as well as on a flank or wing. He missed the 2000 grand final while hampered with a hamstring injury and was restricted through his career by injuries finishing with 135 games and 34 goals by the end of 2009.

As a mark of the high esteem in which he was held as a junior footballer, Tom Scully was presented his number 31 guernsey by Ronald Dale Barassi before the start of the 2010 season after being selected at number 1 in the 2009 AFL national draft. His 21 games and five goals in only his first year place him in the upper echelon of those who have worn the number over the past century. Without wanting to put too much pressure on the young man, I fully expect his name to be spoken of in similar terms to the great man who handed him the jumper some eighteen months ago.