THE BOOK OF NUMBERS - NUMBER THIRTY-FIVE

[Demonland 66,977]

by the Professor

The last of a large number of delistings by Melbourne at the end of the 2007 season was Ryan Ferguson whose departure means the club will soon select a player to take the number 35 jumper. The number has not always been fashionable at the club and not all previous wearers of the number have set the world on fire since jumper numbers were introduced in 1914 but there will nevertheless be plenty of interest in who becomes its next owner.

Although very few star players have held the number 35 guernsey since it was first claimed by a rather excitable character named Jack Bacquie almost a century ago, the list of a little over two dozen wearers reveals a collection of serviceable players at the club and one or two outstanding footballers and club personalities.

Those who have been assigned the number 35 and over the years have collected two best and fairest trophies, the captaincy for two seasons, one club leading goal kicker, three state representatives and more importantly, it has been worn in nine premierships.

Jack Baquie came to the club from Brunswick in 1907 but he crossed to Carlton in 1909 where he suffered the misfortune of being rubbed out for fighting in the 1910 grand final. After 42 games and 20 goals with the Blues he returned to Melbourne and claimed the number 35 in 1914. He switched to number 11 in 1915 but his career with Melbourne was interrupted again when the club went into recess for the First World War and it finally ended in 1920 with the forward finishing with a record of 49 games (14 goals).

Curiously, the next wearer of the number 35 also had interrupted career and like Baquie, wore the number for one year only and then changed to the number 11. Dave Elliman from Malvern and Armadale Presbyterians came to the club in 1919 as a 17 year old but missed the next two seasons before returning for three more years at the club. He played a total of 20 games (10 goals) before moving to VFL newcomer Hawthorn in its debut season but played only three games there.

Little is know of the next number 35 Aubrey Neal who played only one game for the Melbourne Football Club in 1920.

Dick Taylor claimed guernsey number 35 in 1923 and held it until he transferred to North Melbourne as captain/coach in 1932. He returned to Melbourne for his final season in the VFL in 1935. Taylor was a star midfielder with the club and proudly wore the number in its premiership of 1926 when he played on a wing alongside the great Ivor Warne-Smith who occupied the centre and won that year's Brownlow Medal. It was a champion centreline with Jack Collins on the other wing. Taylor had magnificent ground skills, the ability to pick the ball up a pace and deliver it with precision with a magnificent stab kick. His pairing with flanker "Bunny" Wittman was said to have caused havoc amongst opposition defences. Taylor played a total of 164 games with Melbourne (for 100 goals), and a further 40 games (25 goals) with North Melbourne. He represented Victoria 15 times, and was awarded Life Membership in 1943.

Bill Sweeney from Wonthaggi wore the number for in Taylor’s absence. He only managed four games (3 goals) in a brief career with the club in 1934-5. Derek Symonds from Yea had an even shorter stint of one game in 1939.

(Arthur) Noel Ellis from Wesley College wore the number in 1940 and 1941 but managed to play only three games before becoming a sergeant in the Royal Australian Artillery. He was killed in a training accident in Queensland only days before his 21st birthday.

The jumper was also briefly worn in the war years by Danny Powell (in 1942) who managed 7 games and six goals and ex-Magpie Charles Newman (1943 – 1945) who played 15 games for the Demons.

The next claimant for number 35 arrived at the club in 1946 from Mordialloc. Although he came to be one of football's most feared defenders, Noel McMahen played in the club's 1948 premiership team on a half forward flank. Before that he was laid low by an attack of Bell's Palsy which kept him out of his first season. He then took some time to find his real spot before finally claiming the half back flank and winning the best and fairest in 1951. McMahen became renowned for his vigour, skill and straight-ahead style as attested by his "collision" with Collingwood’s Bob Rose in the 1955 Grand Final. He represented Victoria four times and was made skipper of the Demons in 1955, leading the club to premierships that year and in the next for a total of three flags in his eleven-year career. He left in 1957 for a successful coaching stint with Rochester and later coached South Melbourne in 1962-1964 and came back to serve on the club's committee. McMahen is a Life Member, was named in Melbourne's Team of the Century in 2000, and was an inaugural inductee into the Club's Hall of Fame in 2001 ranking him among the club's "greats" and making him its most influential wearer of the number 35.

Clyde Laidlaw wore the number 16 guernsey when he first came to Melbourne in 1954 as a highly sought-after left-footed centreman from Portland who had shared the Western District Football League's Best and Fairest award (the Munro Medal) with Ian Ridley of Hamilton Imperials a year earlier. On McMahen's departure he took over the number 35. He also made the centre half forward position at the club his own despite his lack of inches at just six feet tall. However, he was a strong mark and a courageous and determined team player who played in the winning Grand Final sides of 1955, 1956, 1959 and 1960. He missed the 1957 and 1958 Grand Finals due to torn hamstrings and retired at the end of 1962 with 124 games and 59 goals to his credit.

Don Williams from Elsternwick Amateurs wore guernsey 25 for the first half of his brilliant career with Melbourne in the years 1953 to 1959. The dashing half back flanker started out with the club's thirds in 1953 before breaking into the senior team in the following season. He was a fine athlete blessed with blistering speed and a terrific leap playing in the premiership sides of 1955, 1956 and 1957 and the losing Grand Final of 1958 against Collingwood before being named on the bench for the 1959 Grand Final. His displeasure at this resulted in him transferring to West Perth the following year but he later admitted it was "the silliest move" he had ever made. He played in the WA team that beat the "Big V" in the Carnival in Brisbane in 1961, and returned to Victoria in 1963 to coach Sale but was enticed back to the Demons in 1964.

Williams was handed the number 35 on his return to the club and was good enough to claim the centre position in the famous 1964 Grand Final which was won by the Demons in an exciting finish that saw "Froggy" Crompton kick a last-gasp goal against the Magpies. He remained a club stalwart as the club lost many of its stars and went into decline before a knee injury ended his 205 game career in 1968. He made the "Big V" in both periods - 1957-58 and 1965, was awarded Life Membership in 1966, and named on a half back flank in Melbourne's Team of the Century in 2000.

The solidly built but tiny (at 165cm) rover) Paul Callery from Oakleigh YCW rose through the Under 19 ranks and made his debut wearing the number 35 in 1970. He was smallest senior player in the competition at that time but fitness, hard work and courage made him a favourite of the fans. He led the club’s goal kicking with 44 in 1971 and by the end of 1973 he had notched up 76 games and 102 goals. He transferred to St. Kilda and played there for seven seasons and finished with South Melbourne in 1980.

A 193 cm tall young recruit from the club's local zone came to the club in 1974, took over the number 35 guernsey and wore it with distinction for most of his 203 game (144 goals) career. Steven Smith from Ormond Amateurs was the first "little leaguer" to play in a VFA/AFL senior team and was a reliable player for the club over many seasons. He occupied a key forward position for most of his early career and also was given the occasional stint in the ruck but he found his niche at full back and won the best and fairest in 1981 He was awarded Life Membership in 1984 and retired a year later. He has served as a Director of the Club, and is presently a member of the MCC Committee. Late in his career Smith switched to the number 1 which he wore for his last 23 games.

Darryl Cox, a strong, tough defender from Fitzroy was the next claimant of the number 35 but his career at the club was short-lived (1984-6) and largely uneventful yielding only 13 games and 7 goals before he switched clubs again to be a foundation member of the Brisbane Bears where played only one game.

The Melbourne Football Club had been in the doldrums for over two decades when a trio of interstaters joined the club at the beginning of 1987 to play under John Northey at a time of revival for the club's fortunes. Todd Viney came from Sturt, SA, Warren Dean from Subiaco WA and Earl Spalding from Perth WA. A strongly built key position player, the 198cm tall Spalding claimed the vacant number 35 jumper and played 109 games (63 goals) to 1991 before transferring to Carlton where he played a further 102 games (106 goals). The interstaters immediately made their mark and the Demons won the night premiership, made the finals for the first time since 1964 and played off in the 1988 Grand Final (albeit with the disastrous result of a then record losing 96 point margin). Spalding played key defence, key forward and occasionally in the ruck but whilst he was a strong mark, he was not the most reliable kick in the game. He went on to play in Carlton's 1995 premiership team. He was a frequent selection in WA's State of Origin team and was also a versatile sportsman who represented WA as a pace bowler at Sheffield Shield level.

Michael Pickering was a 100 game player and a team leader when he fell out of favour with the Tigers at the end of 1991 and found a new home at Melbourne where he wore the number 35 Guernsey in 15 games for 12 goals in 1992 and 1993. Tall forward Brad Campbell, son a former player Des Campbell followed him in 1994 but the youngster never really settled into city life and left after one season and one solitary game.

The Demons had high hopes for Port Adelaide Magpies' Trent Ormond-Allen, an early draft pick at number 10 in the 1993 National Draft and were prepared to be patient with the talented youngster. Unfortunately, Ormond-Allen failed to live up to expectations and managed only eight games in a struggling Demons’ side before being released at the end of 1996 when he was drafted by Adelaide where he played a further 42 games.

The next (and last) 100 gamer to wear the number 35 at the club was Anthony McDonald whose career was a perfect example of persistence and determination. Born on 13 June 1972, the 182 cm tall McDonald hailed from Ballarat YCW and was selected by Carlton at pick 73 in the 1990 National Draft. He was dropped from the Blues list but redrafted in the 1991 National Draft at number 57 but managed a total of only 9 games with Carlton Reserves before his next delisting. The Hawks, who had drafted his older brother Alex at number 1 in the 1988 National Draft, selected Anthony in the 1992 Mid-Season Draft at 41, but he could only add another 11 reserves matches to his tally of games before the end of 1993. McDonald spent time with both Coburg in the VFL and Old Xaverians in the VAFA before receiving the call to play on Melbourne’s supplementary list and he played in all of the club’s reserves games and won their best and fairest in 1996, a performance that saw him taken by Melbourne at No.59 in the 1996 National Draft. He finally made his AFL senior debut at the age of 24 in 1997 wearing the number 35.

McDonald, a hard working utility who used principally in a mid-field role was the club's Best First Year Player award in his senior debut season. After a disappointing season in 1999 when he also suffered a knee injury, McDonald knuckled down and came back fitter than ever to play an important role as a high possession winner in the Demon midfield of 2000 and was named on the wing in the team's losing Grand Final against the Bombers. Despite his late start to senior AFL football, he managed to notch up the century of games in his final year of 2002 and he bowed out of the game with 104 games (41 goals). Younger brother, James who also made his debut in 1997, is still a senior player with the club and has won the last two club best and fairests.

Ryan Ferguson was another late developer to wear the number 35. Drafted from Frankston with National Draft selection number 66, the 195cm tall rebounding defender was 21 years of age when he made his debut with the club. His career was studded with injury woes and despite his courage and some promising signs at the end of 2007, he was cut from the list in October and recently nominated for the end of the year drafts. He managed 47 games and 5 goals at the club.

And so for the time being, the 35 guernsey number is vacant and we are left to wait the announcement of who will be its next custodian.

[With thanks to the Melbourne Past Players and Officials Newsletter from which some of the information contained in this article was adapted]