Woewodin Opens Up

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

1 hour ago, Deestar9 said:

Who still has a bottle of the Woewodin port in their liquor cabinet ? 

I gave mine away to a neighbour when I moved to Perth. Also there were eyebrows raised and rumours about him and his Brownlow year.

[deebug 1,754]

Poor guy was in tears, i think it was our B&F of that year, when told he was being shoved out the door.

He has copped a lot of *&@% over the years, i can't remember who it was but some ex-player who was working at triple m, made a comment about how Woey is the only player who won it but shouldn't have.

I had came home from shopping, and my late mother had said Woey is being traded to the pies, i was shatted.

?

 

[58er 6,425]

11 hours ago, Demon_spurs said:

Great player, and one of those really popular supporter favourites, I remember when he was traded to Collingwood, I was angry and couldn't understand the logic, one of the poorest decisions by the club, along with the early retirement of Junior. I sometimes think this is why we lack the solidarity of other clubs, because at times we have got it wrong with our champions. 

Good player who had ONE great year.

Thats why we vary in this discussion Zi guess. 

[Demon trucker 1,800]

6 hours ago, Yze_13 said:

My good mate and I went to the first practice match that year which as I recall was at Optus Oval against Carlton. Woewodin was miles ahead of anyone else on the ground - had about 35 touches. Old mate went and plonked $20 on him for the Brownlow the next day at $401. I stupidly didn’t.

That was one of my biggest regrets in my life too, in December 1999 at a Christmas party I told everyone that woewodin was going to win the Brownlow in 2000, was so sure about it, sport betting was not a big thing back then, and I just didn't think to put a few dollars on it.

[tiers 2,832]

Woewodin played a great 2000 as an attacking, free-running, left- footed on baller who could run all day, get in front of the pack to get us moving and could score goals.  Together with his lefty mates Powell and A MacDonald he made a huge contribution to our success that year.

After 2000 he was treated shabbily and prevented from playing his natural running game as the coaching panel sought to make him into a defender playing in the BP or HBF. They destroyed his greatest strength - running. No wonder his form diminished and he ultimately left in an act of extreme bastardry by our club.

[Tony Tea 2,809]

The fact that you can win the Brownlow because you had one really good year should be reflected on by the AA selectors who employ legacy picks to reflect a player's body of work, not their performance in a particular year. Robbo... cough, cough... Brad Johnson.

[Sir Why You Little 37,034]

10 hours ago, america de cali said:

I gave mine away to a neighbour when I moved to Perth. Also there were eyebrows raised and rumours about him and his Brownlow year.

Dietary Supplements?

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

3 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

Dietary Supplements?

Some of his efforts that season were super human.

[Sir Why You Little 37,034]

1 minute ago, america de cali said:

Some of his efforts that season were super human.

Yes. He was ahead of his time in that era

[Hellaintabadplacetobe 4,294]

11 hours ago, america de cali said:

I gave mine away to a neighbour when I moved to Perth. Also there were eyebrows raised and rumours about him and his Brownlow year.

For a few seasons including 2000 worked directly with Shane Charter (known as a pharmaceutical company salesman/ fitness instructor among other things ) on his fitness.

Certainly worked for him that year! 

 

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

The Brownlow is not the "best player" award. Nor the "best and fairest".

It's the "fairest and best", which is why dark horses having a good season, like Woey, can win it. It's why guys like Matthews and Carey never won it (although that doesn't explain how a Dipper could win it).

It's somewhat flawed, but in no way is it an "MVP" award. Anyone who wins it deserves to, even if arguments can be made for other players in any given year.

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

36 minutes ago, Hell Bent said:

For a few seasons including 2000 worked directly with Shane Charter (known as a pharmaceutical company salesman/ fitness instructor among other things ) on his fitness.

Certainly worked for him that year! 

 

AKA Dr Ageless, linked to many unsavoury types.

[Deespicable 2,726]

4 hours ago, tiers said:

Woewodin played a great 2000 as an attacking, free-running, left- footed on baller who could run all day, get in front of the pack to get us moving and could score goals.  Together with his lefty mates Powell and A MacDonald he made a huge contribution to our success that year.

After 2000 he was treated shabbily and prevented from playing his natural running game as the coaching panel sought to make him into a defender playing in the BP or HBF. They destroyed his greatest strength - running. No wonder his form diminished and he ultimately left in an act of extreme bastardry by our club.

Woey spent his first two years as a defender developing his craft and by 2000 was moved into midfield and had a super year - I recall a game at Telstra Stadium against the emerging Lions with Voss and Black where our midfield matched and even beat them and Woey was a major part of our rise that year along with first-year Green and Jeffy Farmer and the old brigade of Viney, Neita, Schwarter and Yze off half back. Powell and A.Mac were handy as well as you point out.

But Woey struggled with tags in 2001 and was pushed out to the wing. There was a game at MCG where he was absolutely crunched backing back into a pack and I don't reckon he ever recovered physically from that.

As a result of his loss of form and silly dyed blonde locks, he copped criticism from everyone - and eventually I imagine it became internal. When you are on big money you have to perform - just ask T.Mac.

Anyway I was saddened when he was moved on to Pies in 2003 - I think he would only have been about 26 then. I traded away my Woey port bottle to a mate on his birthday - it had sat in my cupboard for 15 years waiting for a great Melbourne moment to uncork it.

He was never mega-quick, but he was a nice left-foot kick - the sort of player who we seem to lack on the left-side wing at the moment.

The article was a ripper and it was great to see he had a bit of perspective about his Brownlow acclaim. And yes he's in the top three for worst ever with Teaser and Libba Sr. But in 2000 he was worthy. Just never got back to that level again.

[gregdemon 624]

21 hours ago, Demon_spurs said:

Great player, and one of those really popular supporter favourites, I remember when he was traded to Collingwood, I was angry and couldn't understand the logic, one of the poorest decisions by the club, along with the early retirement of Junior. I sometimes think this is why we lack the solidarity of other clubs, because at times we have got it wrong with our champions. 

I went to to the members information night after that happened.  The club explained he was by far the highest paid player but not in the top 10 of best players.   The coach supported it.  (lot of supporters that night were not happy including one woman in tears)  Simple fact is    His form at Collingwood proved us right.

[Axis of Bob 11,801]

He was a good half back flanker for a while before moving to the middle and having a really fantastic year in 2000. His year was good enough to compete for a Brownlow in a year with no solitary standout, but winning the Brownlow did overrate his year. 

We paid very good money for his 2000 performance, but his professionalism outweighed his talent. When that caught up with him (almost immediately) he was a white elephant for the team. When the performances dried up everyone realised that he was a slowish toiler who used the ball nicely but only an average contested ball winner.

If he signed the contract a year earlier or a year later then he probably finishes his career at Melbourne.

[tiers 2,832]

52 minutes ago, Deespicable said:

The article was a ripper and it was great to see he had a bit of perspective about his Brownlow acclaim. And yes he's in the top three for worst ever with Teaser and Libba Sr. But in 2000 he was worthy. Just never got back to that level again.

Don't know about Libba snr but the year that Teasdale won he was completely dominant across the ground. As I recall, he started the year at full forward (his position at Richmond) and went into the ruck early in the season when the Swans' ruckman was injured.

From then on he was untouchable at a time when ruckmen (also known as followers) were the equivalent of our current on-ballers who not only contested ball ups and throw ins but were relied on the take big contested marks around the ground (see also Gary Dempsey, Graeme Moss and Peter Moore who also won a Brownlow).

As I said above Teasdale was dominant and his win was not a surprise. That he got injured and could never replicate that form is another story.

The Brownlow is reward for that one season only and no win should ever be diminished because the winner could not replicate that form again.