One of the greatest goalkeepers in AFL history has officially become the sport’s 32nd legend at tonight’s Australian Football Hall of Fame ceremony.
Hawthorn champion and Fox Footy favorite Jason Dunstall was elevated to legend status on Tuesday night, while Collingwood larrikin Dane Swan headlined six new inductees into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Inaugural Adelaide Crows AFL captain Chris McDermott, New South Wales product Ralph Robertson, 1980 Brownlow medalist Kelvin Templeton, West Australian star Ray Schofield and Indigenous trailblazer Michael Graham were also inducted.
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The first inductee of the night was first Adelaide Crows AFL captain Chris McDermott.
After a decade of success in South Australia with Glenelg, McDermott was seen as the perfect fit as a natural leader to spearhead the Crows in the national competition.
McDermott was known as one of the competition’s toughest and bravest midfielders and was among Glenelg’s best in their 1985 and 1986 triumphs.
McDermott captained the Crows for four seasons and was the first player to reach 100 games for the club. In 1992 he won the club champions trophy and received an All-Australian blazer.
McDermott opened to push back interstate interest from the likes of Fitzroy, Brisbane Bears and Carlton to remain loyal to his South Australian roots.
“At the end of the day I’m a South Australian, I’m a Glenelg boy and I loved the club and I couldn’t at that stage consider playing anywhere else,” he said on Tuesday night.
He says the opportunity to become the first captain of the Adelaide Crows AFL side “was impossible to pass up”.
McDermott appeared on AFL360 immediately after receiving the award and spoke about his relationship with Carlton icon Stephen Kernahan.
“We’ve been really good mates for a really long time,” he said.
“It’s a really strong friendship, that’s the beauty of this game, this crowd and this event, it’s about the people.”
Ralph Robertson, the evening’s other inductee, was one of New South Wales’ finest products, having played 40 times for the state in 1903-1914.
Robertson captained NSW in three national carnivals during his career and made his VFL debut with St Kilda aged just 17.
At just 171cm tall, the diminutive rover/half-forward was vice-captain for East Sydney in their 1903 premiership team. Robertson was tragically killed during the First World War.
Western Bulldogs goal kicking extraordinaire and 1980 Brownlow medalist Kelvin Templeton was the third inductee of the night.
Double Coleman Medal winner Templeton played 143 games for the Red, White and Blue and scored 494 goals, winning Footscray’s leading goalkeeping award on five occasions.
The two-time club best and fairest winner was inducted into the Bulldogs’ Hall of Fame in 2010 and was named at center half-forward in their Team of the Century.
Templeton spent three seasons in Melbourne for 34 games before retiring and later becoming CEO of the Sydney Swans.
Templeton spoke about how he lived out his childhood dream of playing football at the highest level.
“The AFL game gave a small country kid a chance to live out his dreams of playing at the highest level,” Templeton said.
“It taught me a lot about life, the value of effort and sacrifice in relation to reward.
“This is a wonderful honor and I am so proud and privileged to have been awarded it.”
Collingwood cult hero Dane Swan was immortalized on Tuesday night when he was inducted into the AFL’s Hall of Fame.
Taken with pick 58 in the 2001 National Draft, Swan went on to play 258 games in black and white over a 15-year career.
Swan won the Brownlow Medal in 2011 and has three Copeland Trophies to his name, along with five Australian Blazers.
The prolific midfielder had an incredible ability to hit the scoreboard and won two ANZAC Day medals throughout his career.
Swan will forever be enshrined in Collingwood folklore, a fan favorite with his relaxed nature, he really thrived on the big stage.
Ray Schofield, the fifth member to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, was one of Western Australia’s brightest talents, playing 298 games in his career for West Perth and Western Australia.
A five-time West Perth best and fairest winner, Schofield also won two WANFL premierships during his time.
A talented swingman who could do damage on both ends of the floor; Schofield was inducted into the Western Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Michael Graham, the final inductee of the night, was perhaps best known for his performances in the Northern Territory amid a stellar SANFL career.
Graham won the 1973/74 Nichols Medal, the highest individual award of the season, in addition to a club best and fairest at St Mary’s in the same season.
Graham won three flags with St Mary’s in the NTFL along with two SANFL premierships with Sturt in 1974 and 1976. An illustrious SANFL career of 282 games yielded 455 goals which has since seen him inducted into both the SANFL and National Indigenous Halls of Fame.
Nicknamed ‘The Flash’ for his blistering pace, Graham also coached the Darwin Buffaloes and Waratahs towards the end of his playing career.
“Football has been a big part of my life,” Graham said.
Graham joked that he was “still feeling good” and that he might have “one more chance” at another match in the National Super Rules!
Hawthorn champion and Fox Footy’s own Jason Dunstall became the 32nd player to be elevated to legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
It completes the amazing resume of one of the game’s all-time greats.
Playing in a golden era at Hawthorn in the late 1980s and early 90s where he won four premierships, Dunstall credited his superstar ex-teammates for his success and said he was “blessed” to be at the end of “some of the most skilled players”. to ever play the game.”
As dominant as any forward in league history, Dunstall kicked 1254 career goals – ranked third all-time in the VFL/AFL record books behind only Tony Lockett and Gordon Coventry – from 269 games for Hawthorn from 1985 to 1998.
In addition to his four premierships, Dunstall is a three-time Coleman Medallist, including leading Hawthorn’s goal kicking on 12 occasions, an AFLPA MVP, two-time All-Australian and four-time best and fairest winner.
He averaged just under 4.7 goals per game including double-digit kicks in 16 separate games. Dunstall’s 17 goals against Richmond in 1992 marks the second highest tally in a VFL/AFL game ever.
Dunstall, who was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002, already had legend status in Hawthorn’s Hall of Fame and is in the club’s Team of the Century.
Dunstall retired in 1998 after a decorated AFL career, and has continued to feature prominently in the media, including starring in Fox Footy broadcasts and the long-running host of the popular show Bounce.
The Queenslander played at just 188cm, making him shorter than current midfield stars Patrick Cripps and Nat Fyfe, and was self-deprecating about his chances of playing in the modern era when he spoke earlier this year.
“I wouldn’t make it through pre-season, to be brutally honest,” Dunstall said.
“I don’t know if I’d be a good enough athlete, to be honest. But you think if you grew up in a different era, you’d be physiologically a little bit different and better prepared coming into the game.
“Because they have such a good road now, which didn’t really exist in the eighties.”
Dunstall will join the likes of Ron Barassi, John Coleman, Jack Dyer, Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer and former teammate Leigh Matthews as a legend.
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