Peter Blucher
31
APPEARANCES
1
PODCASTS
Sep 23, 2026
Gerard WhateleyHOST
Hey, give us old, old guys as premiership players and where Dane Zorko can create yet more history here.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, th- this is an interesting one 'cause Dane Zorko, if Brisbane win, will become the second oldest, um, uh, uh, premiership player ever.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, he's third from last year, and he's ninth from the year before, uh, from, from the year before, so he, he's gonna figure pretty prominently.
Peter BlucherGUEST
But i- if he will, if we win, he'll go past Jude Flynn from Carlton, who in 1908, uh, played, uh, in a premiership, um, with Carlton.
Peter BlucherGUEST
He's a, he's just a fascinating old story, uh, a great place in history, and I've just got to find me notes 'cause they're all over the place here.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
Hey, g- so give me the top 10 oldest premiership players as it stands right now.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, we talked, I mean, Dakos is just extraordinary, but there were a few things that were the records we, that we talked about.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
Hey, give us old, old guys as premiership players and where Dane Zorko can create yet more history here.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, he's, he's, in four years he's gone eleven, twenty-eight, thirty-eight, thirty-two, um, finished runner-up twice.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, sorry, there are a hundred and nineteen players in history who have polled over a hundred votes to the end of last year.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, he averages, uh, doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo, where did I put this? Averages one point two four votes per game.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, this is one that's g- It's gonna be quite significant, but it's gonna be s- you know...
Peter BlucherGUEST
I guess it might give us something else to wa- watch as, uh, Nick racks them up.
Peter BlucherGUEST
But, uh, Patrick Dangerfield is, uh, at the moment second on the all-time votes list to Gary Ablett.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Now, he hasn't had too many massive, massive big games, but he did poll six, five, and five votes with the coaches in rounds 13, 17, and 24.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, we mentioned, um, Murray and Skilton won five in a row each, and so too did Gary Dempsey, who of course has split his between the two clubs, um, uh, Footscray and North.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Four in a row were Hutchinson, Jack Dyer, Noel Teasdale at North Melbourne, uh, Pavlich, Pendlebury and Zorko.
Peter BlucherGUEST
It's, it's a really big ask because 32 players won three in a row without getting, um, to, to four.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
And finish us off with best and fairests in a premiership year, which, uh, uh, all of us would think is one of the great acclamations of a player.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, we mentioned, um, Murray and Skilton won five in a row each, and so too did Gary Dempsey, who of course has split his between the two clubs, um, uh, Footscray and North.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Four in a row were Hutchinson, Jack Dyer, Noel Teasdale at North Melbourne, uh, Pavlich, Pendlebury, and Zorko.
Peter BlucherGUEST
It's, it's a really big ask because 32 players won three in a row without getting, um, to, to four, so and that included, included Butters who, who of course has missed out.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And two players who split their hat tricks over two clubs, and that was Dangerfield, who, who won at Adelaide in '15 and Geelong in '16 and '17, and Neal at Fremantle in, uh, in '18 and then Brisbane in '19 and '20.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
And finish us off with best and fairests in a premiership year, which, uh, uh, all of us would think i- is one of the great acclamations of a player
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, we mentioned, um, Murray and Skilton won five in a row each, and so too did Gary Dempsey, who of course has split his between the two clubs, um, uh, Footscray and North.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Four in a row were Hutchinson, Jack Dyer, Noel Teasdale at North Melbourne, uh, Pavlich Pendlebury and Zorko, and chasing four in a row this year are Dawson, Merritt, and Caleb Serong.
Peter BlucherGUEST
But that's a really... it's, it's a really big ask because 32 players won three in a row without getting, um, to, to four.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And two players who split their hat-tricks over two clubs, and that was Dangerfield, who, who won at Adelaide in '15, and Geelong in '16 and '17.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
And finish us off with best and fairest in a premiership year, which, uh, uh, all of us would think is one of the great acclamations of a player.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, officially, All Australian started in nineteen ninety-one with the AFL, but I mean, I think from a national perspective, I, I went back to '87 when there were, and included what was then the VFL team of the year for those, for those first four years.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And we've got Gawn as the first knight, uh, as everyone has, has said many, many times.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Now, I, I'm counting the age and the games being at that final home and away game because they're basically essentially what it is.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
Uh, you, you've got little tinkerings to be done here, the most All-Australian selections.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, officially All Australian started in 1991 with the AFL, but I mean, I think from a national perspective, I, I went back to '87 when there were, and included what was then the VFL team of the year for those, for those first four years.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And we've got Gorn as the first knight, uh, as everyone has, has said many, many times.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Well, it's, it's, uh, because some of the stats don't go back a- anywhere as, as far as some of the really go- games.
Peter BlucherGUEST
But 40 possessions, 16 tackles and 17 clearances, plus he had a game high 30 defensive pressure acts, was best for the rounds.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Plus he had 881 meters game, uh, game, second best for the round and the best of his career.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And 10 inside 50 was one short of a career best and the fourth best for the round.
Peter BlucherGUEST
So, um, i- it's one of a kind since I started keeping tackle stats in, in '87 and clearance stats in '98.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Now, is it better than Lee Matthew's 41 disposals in 11 games in, 11 goals in '73? Probably not, but we don't know that 'cause he only, he had 38 kicks, nine marks, three handles, kick 11, three.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Because some of the stats don't go back a-anyways as far as some of the really great games.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Plus he had 881 meters game, uh, game, second best for the round and the best of his career.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And 10 inside 50 was one short of a career best and the fourth best of the round.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
And some of our other current coaches, how old were they when they started?
Peter BlucherGUEST
Um, um, at the top of the list of the others, Craig McRae was forty-eight, Adam Kingsley forty-seven, Josh Carr forty-five, Nick's forty-four.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Stephen King was forty-four when he was a caretaker coach at the Coast, but forty-seven this year.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uzze was forty-four when he was a caretaker coach at Melbourne, forty-six when he started.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
And some of our other current coaches, w- how old were they when they started?
Peter BlucherGUEST
Um, um, at the top of the list of the others, Craig McRae was forty-eight, Adam Kingsley forty-seven, Josh Carr forty-five, Nick's forty-four.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Stephen King was forty-four when he was a caretaker coach at the Coast, but forty-seven this year.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Urza was forty-four when he was a caretaker coach at Melbourne, forty-six when he started.
Peter BlucherGUEST
At 36, uh, plus, um, he's the oldest, uh, to this mark by quite some time, a year ahead of Kevin Bartlett, and in his 314th game, he was 23rd quickest behind Bartlett, Pavlich, Quinlan, Nick Riewoldt, and Hawkins.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Lockett, uh, Lockett, Peter McKinnon, Dunstall, Franklin, Coventry, Lloyd, and Wade, and there were nine inside 200 games.
Peter BlucherGUEST
He kicked, uh, in, in his 58th game, and he kicked 1-10, uh, for Collingwood, um, in 1969.
Peter BlucherGUEST
He played 253 games for Collingwood from 26 to 46, flags to his captain, two grand final losses, member of the Collingwood team of the century, an AFL Hall of Famer, and a TV personally in the first-- personality in the first year of broadcasting in Australia in 1956.
Peter BlucherGUEST
He played his first game in, in nine-- in round 326 at Collingwood against Hawthorn at Glenferrie Oval under Jock McHale, and played 99 straight under Jock McHale.
Peter BlucherGUEST
But in his 100th, which by chance was the grand final of 1930 when J- um, when, uh, when, uh, they beat Geelong at the MCG, it was under a fill-in coach because Jock McHale was sick on grand final day and couldn't coach.
Peter BlucherGUEST
So Bob Rush, who had played for Collingwood 143 games in, in, from 1899, won a couple of flags, served as a committee man and treasurer.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And a TV personally in the first... personality in the first year of broadcasting in Australia in 1956.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Um, he, he was a hundred and ninety-- a one hundred and eighty-two centimeter running sort of ruckman, good mark, long place kick specialist, known for his ability to take the ball of the ruck with a hand pass.
Peter BlucherGUEST
First one at Melbourne, he played fifty games and won a flag in nineteen, nineteen hundred.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, in early nineteen oh-two, he was cleared to WA, but there's no record of him playing there.
Peter BlucherGUEST
He did play in the Metro- Jun- Metropolitan Junior League of Melbourne, uh, in winning a ni- winning the flag against Brighton, um, with the Old Collegians.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Um, he, he was 190, uh, a 182 centimeter running sort of ruckman, good mark, long place kick specialist, known for his ability to take the ball out of the ruck with a hand pass.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, in early 1902, he was cleared to WA, but there's no record of him playing there.
Peter BlucherGUEST
He did play in the Metro- Metropolitan Junior League of Melbourne, uh, in winning a ni- winning the flag against Brighton, um, with the Old Collegians.
Gerard WhateleyHOST
So Josh Fraser is the first interim coach to go 4 and 0, and the only precedent is back in the captain coach era.
Peter BlucherGUEST
In 1940, uh, Reg Hickey started the season, and he of course a, a, a great man at Geelong of all times.
Peter BlucherGUEST
And for some extraordinary reason, and n- no one seems to say, be able to say why, he, he stood down after seven games.
Peter BlucherGUEST
So Alan Everett, uh, a sort of a, uh, a boring old back pocket player, big, big bloke, had been a member of the, of the '37 premiership side.
Peter BlucherGUEST
By a long, long way, if we're picking an all-hyphen team, your captain, coach, and everything else that goes with it.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Moved to Melbourne as a child, was educated at Wesley College, honored in three sports, including football at the school.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Enlisted in World War I, uh, despite being only 16, so two years below the, the age.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Served at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, where two of his three brothers were killed in action.
Peter BlucherGUEST
66 of the 74 who have played their 100 games plus beyond 30 at one club, eight of them were split over two or more clubs.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Paul Roos, John Lewis, David Cloke, Drew Petrie, Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge, and Alex Jesaulenko over two clubs.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, and, uh, the club leaderboard, once again, uh, we, we do find Geelong at the top of a lot of these silly lists, but Geelong have had 10 players play 100 games past 30.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Paul Roos, John Lewis, David Cloke, Drew Petrie, Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge, and Alex Jesaulenko over two clubs.
Peter BlucherGUEST
Uh, and, uh, the club leaderboard, once again, uh, we, we do find Geelong at the top of a lot of these silly lists, but Geelong have had 10 players play 100 games past 30.
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