Number 11
There are many Saints players who have worn the number 11 jumper during their career who are champions. Below, I have selected a Saints team purely of players who have worn the number 11 at any point of their career. I have also provided my personal assessment of the top 3 players who have carried the number 11 for the Red, White and Black.
“The Jumper Number 11” Saints Team over the Decades
Backs: Hugh M. Plowman / Bill Cubbins / Bill Cameron
Half Backs: Neil Besanko / Harold Matthews / Clarrie Curyer
Centres: Graham Minihan / Greg Burns / Leigh Montagna
Half Forwards: Dean Anderson / Jim Wallis / Craig Callaghan
Forwards: Gavin Mitchell / Bill Stephenson / Wells Eicke
Rucks: Ron Fountain / Des Kennedy
Rover: Tony Antrobus
Interchange: Ken Mackie, Tom Lowrie, Ray Houston, Gary Mc Donald,
Other players who have worn the number 11 include: Max Stephenson, Les Reynolds, Jim Morden, Joe Ashdown, Dermott O’Brian, Dudley Probyn, Chester Read, Les Gray, Pat Maloney, Ron Mc Leod, Jeff Hilton, Bill Cole.
The Team of the Decades Number 11
This is a very even team. Bill Cubbins and Harold Matthews were stars of the game and would be brilliant in the key defensive positions. The centreline of Minihan, Burns and Montagna is outstanding. The Half forward line is adequate at best and although Jim Wallis was a strong forward pocket ruckman he would lack some mobility in the key position but Bill Stephenson and Wells Eicke were great players and could swing a game. Bill was the standout full forward in the early sixties until injuries to his ankle and then knee ended his career. In the ruck Ron (Man Mountain) Fountain was a great player and Des Kennedy was a solid on baller in the Saints great sides in the sixties.
This team may not challenge other great Saints teams but it’s all over evenness could cause an upset or two. There is no lack of grunt with Greg Burns and Craig Callaghan very capable of getting down and dirty. I would like to see this team on the park, I suspect they would give their all for the Red, White and Black.
One player in the back line in this number 11 team is Hugh Plowman. He deserves some special mention and as we have recently remembered the sacrifice of Australian diggers at Fromelles. Western Front, France . Hugh McDonald Plowman. Captain, 60th Battalion AIF- 26 Games for the Saints 1910 - 1912. Hugh was killed in action on 19/20 July 1916 in France aged 27. Lest we Forget.
The best three Saints players to have worn the Number 11 jumper.
1) Bill Cubbins. 149 games from 1915 to 1930. He was arguably the finest Full Back of the era. He joined the Saints in 1915 but then enlisted in the Army, returning to the club in 1919 after war service. Bill was appointed Club Captain in 1922, 1925-1926, 1928-1930. He was Captain-Coach of the Saints in 1930. In 1931 Bill crossed to Footscray as Captain Coach. Bill Cubbins was awarded the Taylor Shield as Club Best and Fairest in 1921, 1923, 1928 and 1929
2) Wells Eicke. 197 Games 1909-1924, 1926
Wells debuted for the Saints age 15. At first he was a rover but then established himself as an outstanding defender. He pulled on the Big V on 8 occasions and was the Saints Captain in 1919 and 1924. I remember him when I was about 14 in 1964 when as a member of the football club committee he opposed the Saints move to Moorabbin. He would often stand with the kids behind the goals at the Cricket club end. Although at odds with the committee over the proposed move he was still a passionate Saint at 72 yrs of age.
3) Greg Burns. 169 games from 1978-1989. Greg was a great Centreman at the Saints for 12 yrs. He won the Best and fairest twice in 1984 and 1986.
Assessment
Bill Cubbins is a stand out. Cubbins won the Saints Best and fairest on 4 occasions and he was certainly a giant of his era. In this number 11 team he can take his place at the top of the tree. Wells Eicke was a top player at the Saints for 17 seasons. He was Captain in 1919 and 1924. I have rated him only marginally ahead of Greg Burns. Both were loyal Saints in lean times although Eicke came close to a Premiership in 1913. Both were great players, Eicke was all class and Burns was a no frills footballer who was at home in the Moorabbin mud. I could have gone either way with these two but in the end went with Wells Eicke. My brother Kevin another passionate Saint would go the other way. He like me has followed the Saints through thick and thin and in those dark times in the seventies when there seemed to be no hope Burns shone through like a beacon. He probably was single handedly responsible for getting many of us to Moorabbin just to see him give it to the opposition in the Moorabbin glue pot. Nevertheless I have great memories of an old man standing on the terraces at the junction and telling the kids how footy was in the twenties. Both are great Sainters and deserve their place in a Saints Hall of Fame. Wells has been inducted in previous years and undoubtedly Greg Burns will take his place in years to come. I have left Joey Montagna out of the top three. His time will come but at this stage I cannot rate him above the top three.
Bill Stephenson 14 Feb 1937- 10 August 2010
The Saints number 11 team is dedicated to the memory of Bill Stephenson. I don’t think I will ever forget the impact he had on the Saints in his short career.
By 1962 the Saints had established themselves as a force in the VFL. By round 3 in 1962 Bill Stephenson had kicked a bagful of goals. We had beaten Collingwood, the Swans and Fitzroy and we were heading for finals again with big Bill in front of goals and then in round 4 against the Dons at the junction he went down with a shattering knee injury. Russell Holmesby asserts that; “If Bill had kept going at that rate of goals he would have kicked 102 for the year. This, in a time when the leading goalkicker of the previous season had tallied just 54 for the season, made Stephenson a headline act in a low-scoring era.” He went on to write that; “He tried to play again in 1962 but broke down, then had an extensive rehab program before a much-vaunted return against Collingwood early in 1963. He booted seven goals in a storybook return and joked later; ‘It was probably the best day of my football life. I won an overcoat and two electric shavers!’ But he added with a sombre tone; “I was never the same after that match”.
Rest in peace Bill you were and always will be a Saint’s great, a “Saint for life”
References
"The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers" - Russell Holmesby and Jim Main, Crown Content
"Every Game Ever Played" - compiled by Stephen Rodgers, Viking O’Neill
Saints.com.au
"The Courage Book of VFL Finals" - compiled by Graham Atkinson, Wren
"Fallen the Ultimate Heroes- Footballers who never returned from war" - Jim Main and David Allen, Crown Content.
If you would like to contact Allan please send him an email to takeitforgranted@hotmail.com
