Player's Who Could Have Been Anything, Except For Injury.

[bulldogtragic]

Teddy Jnr was long before my time, but reading and learning from the older guys on here (thanks one and all) Teddy Jnr sounds like he could've been anything but injuries got him.

I still blame Mark West for 1997, but he seem's he might have been something.

I always liked Tim Walsh, I think my first posts on WOOF were denying his critics. I think he had something, I hope he's dream of become a fireman came true for him.

Currently, I'm hoping injuries are long behind Higgins.

[SonofScray]

Mark West, I was at Windy Hill watching the reserves or a preseason game when he busted his shoulder the last time. Threw a chair at the dugout and was distraught. He just couldn't get it right, which was a shame because the guy could play. A physically robust, classy player.

Tim Walsh, he gets bagged but I felt he had it in him to be a star. The day he broke his leg at Geelong he was looking a million dollars. The day he busted a tendon in his finger v Nth Melbourne he did it on a strong mark and lead about 45m out. Those two injuries turned out to be serious and just robbed him of a decent crack at it.

Higgins. He'll never reach the level he was destined for. Should have been a star. Will only ever be a good-ordinary player. He has slowed up too much and lost the strong overhead marking he had early on. Still got the class, but not the mobility or durability to perform at an elite level consistently.

I thought Wood was one, but a bit like Croft and Kretiuk it seems his hamstring issues have started to become a less prominent feature of our narrative for him. I think he could finish his career held in similar esteem to an Eagleton or Gilbee.

[bulldogtragic]

Tim Walsh, he gets bagged but I felt he had it in him to be a star. The day he broke his leg at Geelong he was looking a million dollars. The day he busted a tendon in his finger v Nth Melbourne he did it on a strong mark and lead about 45m out. Those two injuries turned out to be serious and just robbed him of a decent crack at it.

So it wasn't just me! :)

I followed him like a messiah, when he looked good he looked good, albeit the next level down. Got to really wonder what he could've been if not for injury.

[Sedat]

Adrian Campbell. Looked a really exciting KP prospect in 1988 when, from memory he topped our goal kicking, but then a serious knee injury completely ruined his career. I think all 4 knee ligaments were torn in the wet at Waverley and his lower leg was virtually hanging by the skin.

[Mofra]

Adrian Campbell. Looked a really exciting KP prospect in 1988 when, from memory he topped our goal kicking, but then a serious knee injury completely ruined his career. I think all 4 knee ligaments were torn in the wet at Waverley and his lower leg was virtually hanging by the skin.
This is the first one I thought of.
At the time it was regarded as the worst knee injury anyone had seen in football.

[G-Mo77]

Walsh would have been OK if it wasn't for injuries. I would have liked a clean run to see what we had there.

I loved Mark West. He only played a handful of games but I loved the way he played.

Ayce Cordy is a could have story right now. The poor kid almost retired. He could still make it IMO but injuries have made that battle to be an AFL player very hard.

[Maddog37]

Tom Williams for me. Looks shot now though.

[LostDoggy]

Christian Howard? :p

[craigsahibee]

Teddy Jnr was long before my time, but reading and learning from the older guys on here (thanks one and all) Teddy Jnr sounds like he could've been anything but injuries got him.

I still blame Mark West for 1997, but he seem's he might have been something.

I always liked Tim Walsh, I think my first posts on WOOF were denying his critics. I think he had something, I hope he's dream of become a fireman came true for him.

Currently, I'm hoping injuries are long behind Higgins.

It did.

[Greystache]

Tim Walsh, he gets bagged but I felt he had it in him to be a star. The day he broke his leg at Geelong he was looking a million dollars. The day he busted a tendon in his finger v Nth Melbourne he did it on a strong mark and lead about 45m out. Those two injuries turned out to be serious and just robbed him of a decent crack at it.


So it wasn't just me! :)

I followed him like a messiah, when he looked good he looked good, albeit the next level down. Got to really wonder what he could've been if not for injury.

I knew his coach when he was playing in the Amo's, he said with some coaching and development he could be a reasonable key forward at A grade level, but didn't have the talent to play VFL footy. He ended up being a handy player roaming up and down the wing.

He was as far from being an AFL key forward as any of our failed recruits over the last 20 years.

[EasternWest]

Teddy Jnr was long before my time, but reading and learning from the older guys on here (thanks one and all) Teddy Jnr sounds like he could've been anything but injuries got him.

I still blame Mark West for 1997, but he seem's he might have been something.

I always liked Tim Walsh, I think my first posts on WOOF were denying his critics. I think he had something, I hope he's dream of become a fireman came true for him.

Currently, I'm hoping injuries are long behind Higgins.

I can assure you it did.

[bulldogtragic]

I can assure you it did.

He seemed like a god kid, so good for him. It's a really, really nice feeling when you want something so bad, you work so hard and you get it. Hopefully that feeling more than made up for and negative one's from not making it in the AFL.

[EasternWest]

I'm yet to meet him, but when I do I'll be sure to let him know he's well thought of!

[Twodogs]

His medical team said his injury usually only happened in car accidents.

[Pembleton]

Scotty Wynd. Bit of an odd one to throw up perhaps, given he is a Brownlow Medalist and long serving captain, but he was significantly hampered by his knees and other injuries from at least the end of '92 onwards.

Daniel Southern. Restricted by his dodgy knee. Only had 1 real season of full fitness, and that was as a 19 year old. Retired at 25.

[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Allen Jakovich could've been something but for his back condition and his crippling pie addiction.

[bulldogtragic]

Allen Jakovich could've been something but for his back condition and his crippling pie addiction.

Don't joke about that, my grand father and father have that. I'm now starting to think it's hereditary.

[BulldogBelle]

The Tragic Tale of Ronnie James

By Paul Amy

Inside Football

Wednesday 17th February, 2010









RON JAMES' footballing star twinkled all too briefly. It was destined to blaze and illuminate Footscray Football Club.

The rover had a fine career in front of him, but his life was cut short by a water skiing accident, the 20th anniversary of which passed on January 1. He was only 19.

``Shit, is it 20 years?’’ was a common remark by old Bulldogs contacted for this story.

Then the tributes tumbled out of them, about James’ talent and his standing as a likeable and respectful young man at the Western Oval.

Former Footscray coach Terry Wheeler said time had flown, but he remembered James every new year. ``You don’t go past it,’’ he said.

James’ death near Echuca came just two months after Footscray supporters showed there was still a snarl in the Dogs as they rallied to fend off a merger with Fitzroy.

The threat averted, they could envisage a more prosperous future, with James and 1989 draft selections Leon Cameron and Chris Grant at the heart of it.

After taking his senior bow at the age of 16, James earned 16 games in three seasons under Mick Malthouse.

The appointment of Wheeler to coach the club after the ``Biteback'' campaign was widely seen as a fillip to the little right-footer’s prospects for 1990 and beyond.

It was Wheeler who introduced him to senior football when he was only 14, famously picking him for Williamstown for the 1985 VFA grand final against Sandringham at the Junction Oval.

It was a stunning selection. Looking more 18 with his stocky, hairy legs, James played with panache, willing to take a bounce and run at the goals. An eight-minute clip of the match is on Youtube. His assurance is obvious. At one stage he marks and swings on to the left foot, as casually as if he was having a kick in the park with mates.

James and a few other Under 19s players had trained on with the Willy seniors through the finals and served as water boys.

Wheeler said Williamstown had needed an ``X-factor'' to defeat hot favourite Sandy and, on the Thursday before the grand final, Under 19s coach Bruce Davis suggested James could supply it.

``We were picking the side in the back room of the Hobsons Bay Hotel,'' he said.

``Bruce just said, `What about Ronnie?' That was how it was put. We rang his old man, Ian, and told him to come down with his boy. We discussed it and Ian said, `I reckon the kid can do it', so we went with him.

``We thought it was a risk worth taking because the side we had wasn't going to be good enough to win the grand final.''

Thinking James would be a bag of nerves, Wheeler decided to start him on the ground rather than sit him on the bench and stew about the task ahead.

The coach sent him to a forward pocket, anticipating he would be out of harm's way from the initial exchanges.

``Well bugger me Kim Kershaw gets the first knock, straight to Stan Davidson,'' Wheeler said. ``Stan kicks it to the forward pocket and who's on the end of it, Ronnie. He swings around, has one bounce, has a shot, misses. But he's running hot within the first 10 seconds of the game. It was one of those moments where you say, `This kid's got something'.

``He did everything we thought he would do. There was no inhibition, no hesitation, no lack of confidence in his own ability.''

Sandy won narrowly, but James helped Willy win the grand final the following season.

Brownlow Medal champion Barry Round also played in the 1986 premiership and he said it was a joy to watch James.

He recalled occasions when the opposition sought to rough up the tyke.

``But they couldn't catch him. Ronnie was too clever,’’ Round said.

``He was really smart and hard and quick and skilful. He was a great prospect. He was going to be a champion.''

James headed to Footscray in 1987 and in his three years had some good moments without ever taking a game and tearing it to ribbons. Performance had yet to shade potential. Of course, he was still a pup.

Wheeler suspects his arrival at the Western Oval gave James a confidence he lacked under Malthouse. He remembers his young charge steaming through pre-Christmas training, his desire serving to inspire other small men like Steve Kolyniuk and Mark Cullen.

``I liked the kid and thought he could really play. It's amazing what a difference it can make when a coach has belief in a player,'' Wheeler said.

``Ronnie was really motivated, was training the house down.''

But tragedy was around the corner. James and two friends were skiing on the Murray River on the first day of 1990 and he was flung into a tree. The Sun newspaper reported he died in an ambulance on the way to Echuca Hospital.

``Ron was a sensational young kid, he had the world at his feet,'' Footscray captain Doug Hawkins told reporter Tony De Bolfo. ``I'm just shattered.''

Last week, Hawkins said it took him, the club and the western suburbs a long time to get over the death of a ``happy, fun, rippin’ little bloke’’.

A few days before the accident Hawkins was involved in a car crash in Altona, outside the front of James’ house. Later that day the young Bulldog posed for a photograph with Hawkins’ daughter Leah-Maree.

James wore jumper number 5 and Hawkins number 7. Their lockers were close and they immediately hit it off, the youngster worshipping the great wingman.

``I remember Ronnie walking in and taking his shirt off to put his jumper on. Well, he had a hairy chest!’’ Hawkins chuckled. ``I’ve gone, geez, what’s going on here?

``We got on very well. He was a rippin’ kid. Just so tragic what happened. When someone dies you hear people say, `Oh, he was a good bloke’. They say it almost flippantly. But with Ronnie it was 100 percent true.’’

Former Bulldogs centreman Simon Atkins recalled the shock of learning of James' death. Atkins had returned to Tasmania and he took a phone call from teammate Stuart Wigney.

``Just terrible, really tragic,'' Atkins said. ``I think training started three or four days later and all the boys were walking around saying, `I can't believe it'.''

Round received the news while on a holiday at Yarrawonga. ``Didn't want to believe it,'' he said.

Wheeler and his family were staying at a caravan park at Lorne. The office gave him a message to phone Peter Welsh, a former player and director.

``I called him back and he told me of the accident up there on the river,'' Wheeler said. ``Straight away I imagined Ronnie would have been taking on the river. That was him.''

Wheeler is adamant James would have developed into an top-shelf midfielder, taking cues from teammates like Hawkins, Tony McGuinness and Steve Wallis.

``I would have thought he would have been a 150, 200-game player,'' he said.

``If I could do 157, Ronnie could do 257. Put it this way, the kid I saw when we broke up for Christmas was ready to go, ready to give it everything. He had so much in front of him.''

Hawkins agreed. ``Ronnie? He would have played a stack of good senior footy. No doubt about it.’’

[Twodogs]

We certainly got the paunchy version of Alan.