My last article, in which I predicted that Richmond would be the last club in 2018 to welcome a new member to the Top 100 Game players (Dylan Grimes), drew the expected responses.
Who will be the first club to welcome a new Top 100 game player and which are the seven clubs likely to only include one new Top 100 game player at year’s end?
By dint of the draw, and the fact that the club plays St Kilda on Saturday, 24th March 2018 (93 days away!) Brisbane will be the first club to welcome a new inductee if Ben Keays is picked to play.
He will join Ben Fixer, Tom Collier, Elliott Yeo, Josh Schache and possibly Michael Close and Josh Walker in equal 96th position although the last two no doubt will hope to be playing and move above their current ranking.
Just under four hours later, Gold Coast Suns will play North Melbourne and unveil at least three of the new recruits which will take the compliment of game players at the club to the 100 mark!
However, there is no doubt that the most impressive new entry to the Top 100 game players club will be Tom McDonald who – if picked to play for Melbourne in the game against Geelong on Sunday, 25 March at the MCG – will join Jack Collins, Gary Baker and Glen Lovett in equal 98th position on the Demon’s list.
He will be the only current day player apart from Top ten game player Nathan Jones (#9) due to the departure of Jack Watts to Port Adelaide. Neville Jetta could also make the list before the end of 2018.
Jack Collins – one of three of the same name (the other two are still Top 100 game players at Geelong and Western Bulldogs) – played for the Demons from 1923 to 1931. He played in Melbourne’s 1926 premiership side and represented Victoria in the B side in 1929.
Gary Baker, a hard hitting ruckman who earned the nickname “Bull” and won Melbourne’s Best and Fairest in 1978, also had short stints at Footscray (Western Bulldogs) and Sydney, playing a handful of games at both clubs. Originally from Meeniyan, he suffered a serious knee injury and went on to coach VFA clubs Mordialloc and Moorabbin.
Glen Lovett was a Melbourne High School student, originally recruited from Springvale and played his first game for the club in 1987. He could play in most positions and represented Victoria in two games in 1993.
He won the Demon’s Best and Fairest in 1992 and would have played many more games except for the fact that he suffered many soft tissue (and back) injuries during his career which ended in 1999. Glen Lovett also appears in the Demon’s Top 100 goal kickers in 96th position.
In answer to the second question: Carlton (Ed Curnow), Collingwood (Ben Reid), Geelong (Cameron Guthrie), North Melbourne (Robbie Tarrant), Richmond (Dylan Grimes), St Kilda (Jack Newnes) and Sydney (Dane Rampe) are the seven clubs with one sole aspirant to join the Top 100.
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