GAVIN Wanganeen is not the boastful type. If anything he comes across completely the opposite - shy and unassuming come to mind when describing the 1993 Brownlow medalist.
But if he were the type Wanganeen could brag about an achievement in footy that not too many others share - adored status at two clubs.
Essendon fans still go weak at the knees when they think about the short defender with the pint-sized legs who would throw himself into the fray with reckless abandon and somehow emerge with the ball then tear off down the ground, taking a couple of bounces to launch yet another scoring thrust.
At Port Adelaide he is revered for another reason. He was the favourite son of Alberton who returned home as soon as the famous old club was granted a license to play in the AFL in 1997.
It stuck in the craw of Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy for a considerable period of time. But because Wangeneen gave such distinguished service to the Bombers between 1991 and 1996, Essendon supporters found it difficult to offer more than just a half-hearted boo whenever the two clubs played thereafter.
After all, Wanganeen describes the decision to leave Essendon as easily the toughest he had to make in football. He left the Bombers after the heartbreaking 1996 preliminary final when Tony Lockett's kick after the siren sent the Swans to the grand final and left Essendon pondering how it could lose a match it pretty much led all night.
When asked to compare the Bombers’ 1993 flag with Port Adelaide's in 2004, he describes them both with equal affection.
The Essendon triumph was special, he says, because they were the 'Baby Bombers' - a young group of players who came together and pulled off the unthinkable. Port's flag came towards the end of his career when he wasn't sure he would taste premiership success ever again.
Wanganeen emerged as a star at Essendon in 1993 in a fabulous year for him from both an individual and team perspective.
At age 20 he won the Brownlow Medal (just the third back-pocket to do so) and played in a premiership team.
It was also the year that St Kilda star Nicky Winmar lifted his jumper and pointed out his skin colour after a noxious afternoon at Victoria Park.
It was the first step on the AFL's journey to understand and celebrate its indigenous heritage, and the fact that both the Brownlow and Norm Smith medalists, Wanganeen and Michael Long, were Aboriginal, was not lost on anyone in the game.
To this day, Wanganeen remains an idol of all indigenous players in the AFL and fittingly, he was named on a half-back flank when the AFL named its Indigenous Team of the Century at an unforgettable function in Melbourne in 2005.
Surrounded by stars at Essendon, Wanganeen generally played the role of attacking defender with aplomb. But it was different at Port Adeloaide, where he was the inaugural captain and his coaches, John Cahill and then Mark Williams, wanted his leadership and experience to come to the fore further up the ground.
So he played as a midfielder and small forward with the Power and gave that club wonderful service as well. He played a superb second half in the 2004 preliminary final that helped get Port Adelaide home against St Kilda and planted the seeds for the premiership win the following week.
Wanganeen's Hall of Fame induction was as near certain a thing as you can get in football.
So now we wait to see whether his son Tex will follow in his footsteps. Wanganeen says he merely hopes his son wants to play the game. Bomber and Power fans no doubt will hope he plays it very well, and then chooses to play for their particular club.
Gavin Wanganeen - By The Numbers
300 - games for Essendon and Port Adelaide
24 - finals played
109 - career Brownlow votes
2 - premierships
1 - Brownlow Medal wins
5 - All-Australian jumpers
4 - pre-season premierships
