Number 12
There are many Saints players who have worn the number 12 jumper during their career who are champions. Below, I have selected a Saints team purely of players who have worn the number 12 at any point of their career. I have also provided my personal assessment of the top 3 players who have carried the number 12 for the Red, White and Black.
“The Jumper Number 12” Saints Team over the Decades
Backs: Peter McConville / Shane Wakelin / Arthur Rose
Half Backs: Harold Davies / Russell Morris / Gary Colling
Centres: Robert Bowden / Harold Bray / Doug Rayment
Half Forwards: Norm Turnbull / Nick Riewoldt / Algy Millhouse
Forwards: Mark Jackson / Bob Flegg / Ian Dyer
Rucks: Jim Jenkins / Ross Oakley
Rover: Roy Bence
Interchange: Ray Harper, Barry McIntyre, Jack Brenchley, Bill Lloyd.
Other players who have worn the number 12 include: Bill Osborne, Trevor Rawson, Eric Richardson, Billy Sarll
The Team of the Decades Number 12 - Assessment
This is a very good team. Half backs Davies and Colling were both great players. Shane Wakelin proved himself to be a solid defender over several seasons and Peter McConville was a better than average defender. The onballers with the great Harold Bray in the pivot, supported by Ross Oakley , Doug Rayment and Roy Bence is an excellent on ball group. The forward line with Nick Riewoldt as the key player is very good. He would be well supported by Norm Turnbull who was a very good player and Mark Jackson although unpredictable led by Riewoldt could be outstanding.
At full forward we have Bob Flegg who in his only season was outstanding at Full Forward. Unfortunately the 2nd World War intervened ending his career before it started.
Robert Barnes Flegg- Warrant Officer Royal Australian Air Force, 70 Squadron. 18 Games for the Saints 1941. Killed in an air battle on 7th July 1944 aged 25. Bob and his crew were on a mission over the German Air Base at Feuersbrunn when his Wellington Bomber was shot down. “Lest we Forget”
The best three Saints players to have worn the Number 12 jumper.
1) Nick Riewoldt . 197 Games 2001-2010. From Queensland club Southport he was the No.1 choice at the 2000 National Draft and St Kilda's hopes of grooming him as a ruckman and centre half-forward were halted when he injured a knee prior to the 2001 season. In his second season of AFL football he showed the sort of form that justified the huge wraps placed on him. It wasn't just the fact that he took more marks than any other AFL player or his hard-running for a tall player that impressed pundits throughout the land. It was the way he showed a maturity and leadership in his football that ensured he was a runaway Rising Star winner and then took the Club's Best and Fairest. He was generally regarded as a superstar in the making. He was left in no doubt on how he would be treated in 2003 when he was twice hit in the first minutes of the opening round. He survived nagging hip and groin injuries during the year. In his own words he thought he contributed during 2003 without imposing himself on the game.
In 2004 he had a superb season, averaging 10 marks per game. In a year where the star-studded St Kilda side finished third he bolted away in the Best and Fairest.
He was made skipper in 2005, but in his first game he broke his collarbone and was controversially surrounded by Brisbane defenders. Upon his return he injured the shoulder again. He came back in the strongest possible manner in 2006. He also won the Saints' Best and Fairest and followed up with his fourth win in 2007 to equal the Club record. In 2007 he was co-captain with Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball and was made Captain in his own right in 2008. He started the season slowly as he recovered from a knee injury where he had gone close to tearing an anterior cruciate ligament. He was stung by criticism which questioned his standing as an elite player. Riewoldt responded with a purple patch of brilliance and he grew as a leader. He eventually ran second in the Best and Fairest. He set a new record of five Best and Fairest awards with his 2009 win, but early in 2010 he almost ripped the hamstring from the bone. Amazingly he returned late in the year and led the Saints to another Grand Final in 2010. He was selected as an All-Australian in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009 (captain).
2) Harold Bray 156 Games 1941-1942. Harold was a magnificent footballer. He came from Prahran and before that Oakleigh district teams. He was close to winning three Brownlow Medals. He was runner up in 1947 (by two votes), third in 1949 by three votes and third again in 1952. Pasty faced and lightly built, his nervousness before a game was legendary, but once the game got under way there were few centremen who could match him for courage, tenacity and skill. Early on in his career he was used as a half back flanker and winger before he made his name in the middle. He was known as footballs quiet man as he never spoke other than in a soft drawl. There was a famous story of the day Charlie Sutton hammered him three times in a row and each time he bounced up to take his kick. In the end Sutton gave up. Bray had perfect disposal and was a precision ball handler. Like most top footballers he was lightning fast over the first five metres. Bray won the club's best and fairest in 1945 and 1947. After one year as captain in 1948 he stood down from the position saying he would be more advantage to the team as "an ordinary player". He retired after finishing third in the Brownlow at the age of 31. At one stage his career came to a halt when he was out for a season because of a knee injury, but he went on to play for Victoria six times.
3) Gary Colling 265 Games 1968-1981. In my opinion Gary Colling is the third best Saint to wear the number 12. He was a solid footballer who gave his club loyal service over 14 seasons. As a defender he always stuck close to his opponent and did so to perfection for three quarters in the 1971 Grand Final when he blotted Hawthorn's Bob Keddie out of the game. To his eternal regret, Keddie cut loose in the last term and Colling's tremendous efforts for most of the game were forgotten. Ironically Colling, from Frankston, had been signed by St Kilda the night before zoning gave the area to Hawthorn. He was a prolific handballer and as the years passed his determination and strength were used on the ball. He was a surprise choice as captain in 1978, but he proved to be a uniting force. He lost the job when he attempted to take up a coaching job at Dandenong. He changed his mind at the last minute, but by then the job had gone to Barry Breen. An honest and trusted servant of the club he later coached the under 19s and reserves and took on a football administration job at the club. I have rated him marginally ahead of Harold Davies (85 Games 1953-199). Harold was a great player who started as a half-forward and lacked confidence to such an extent that he once asked to be dropped. As a half back flanker he blossomed with his judgement, clean ball-handling and accurate disposal. A left footer who was one of the longest kicks in the game, he represented Victoria in 1957 and polled 14 votes in the Brownlow Medal. A knee injury ended his career.
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
