The year 1980 was a year in football that has reverberated massively right through to this day.
In particular, the Richmond football club that won the premiership that year has turned out to be arguably the most influential in VFL-AFL history, boasting names that wield enormous influence in footy even 34 years later.
Moreover, Jan 1980 began a four year and eight month period that gave us most of our Brownlow medalists and Norm Smith medalists of recent years.
Let’s start with the Richmond football club of 1980. The team that took the field included Mick Malthouse, Robert Wiley, Emmett Dunne, Geoff Raines, David Cloke, and Kevin Bartlett. Malthouse’s influence, as one of the longest serving coaches in AFL-VFL history, needs no elaboration here.
Alongside him, Robert Wiley is currently Director of Development and Coaching at Carlton. Emmett Dunne still serves on the AFL tribunal going forward in 2014. Geoff Raines and David Cloke both have sons who have played AFL footy in 2014, for Brisbane and Collingwood respectively.
Bartlett has wielded ongoing influence as a member of the AFL Rules Committee until 4 March 2014 and he remains a well-known radio commentator.
But the influence of the 1980 Richmond club does not end there – 1980 saw the arrival at Richmond of Brian Taylor.
He played just one senior game that year, and didn’t make the premiership team. He has, however, gone on to become arguably the most controversial television commentator of the modern period.
And let’s not forget Sheeds.
Everybody knows about his coaching career with Essendon and GWS, fewer realise that Sheeds, in his first year of retirement, was an assistant coach to Tony Jewell in Richmond’s 1980 premiership year.
Now reach for your record books. In recent years, the Brownlow medal and Norm Smith medal have been awarded predominantly to veterans. Consequently, a relatively short period of four and three quarter year period has given us nine out of the past ten Norm Smith medallists and ten out of the last eleven Brownlow medalists.
The period starts on 8 Jan 1980, when Adam Goodes was born, and finishes on 30 Sept 1985, when Adam Cooney was born. In between these dates, the following other Norm Smith medallists or Brownlow medallists were born:
Lenny Hayes , 14 January 1980
Ryan O’Keefe , 24 January 1981
Andrew Embley, 27 June 1981
Paul Chapman, 5 November 1981
Brian Lake, 27 February 1982
Steve Johnson, 4 July 1983
Chris Judd, 8 Sept 1983
James Bartel, 4 December 1983
Dane Swan, 25 Feb 1984
Gary Ablett, 14 May 1984
Luke Hodge, 15 June 1984
Jobe Watson, 8 Feb 1985
Only the 2010 Norm Smith medallist, Scott Pendlebur,y and 2005 Brownlow medallist, Ben Cousins fall, outside the age bracket.
So are there any other AFL stars from the same age bracket who haven’t won a Norm Smith or Brownlow medal?
Current trends suggest you could tip a veteran like Matthew Pavlich (born 31 December 1981) or Sam Mitchell (born 12 October 1982) for the 2014 Norm Smith medal, and Aaron Sandilands (born 6 December 1982) or Nick Riewoldt (born 17 October 1982) for the Brownlow.
And let’s see what influential people the year 2014 brings forth for footy for the next 34 years.
Darren
Guest
Lol,can't put a positive article out about Richmond,everyone chucks a sav. #weareeveryonesgrandfinal
andyl12
Guest
OK then, how significant is it that Sam Newman retired in 1980 and went on to become a far more controversial media man than BT. He may never have done TV commentary but he's done plenty of radio commentary and is a key co-host of a show that revolutionized how football was covered in the media. He also played far more games than BT and had his fair share of injuries. And if you want a full forward, how about Dunstall? He is more of a respected commentator than a controversial one but his playing record speaks for itself- he would've broken the Lockett/Coventry records had he been a more selfish player.
Darren
Guest
No
Gecko
Roar Pro
And whether you like him or not, he has influence because he's a commentator on mainstream tv. That's more influential than radio commentating and paid tv commentating, and maybe more influential than the written media, because so many people hear his voice. His values and interpretations do influence some viewers. That's why the tv network cops flak when he makes politically incorrect comments. Incidentally, I considered taking year zero back to 1979 so I could squeeze in Neil Balme, who still plays a prominent role at Geelong. But if I did that, I would have had to leave out BT!
Axle an the guru
Guest
Richmonds power ended in 1981. They have been one of the most dissapointing clubs ever since.
Axle an the guru
Guest
Taylor is a Coleman Medalist,a 100 goal a year full forward. Taylor was no mug of a footballer.
andyl12
Guest
I was born in 1980 so I certainly don't mind when people label that year as the start of something. To me the most significant aspects of the season came at the end of it- Barassi left North while Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn all appointed coaches who would set them up as the dominating teams of the coming decade. But I don't think Brian Taylor is that significant, he was never in the top echelon of VFL players and whatever his controversies as a commentator, there are at least a dozen more talked-about people in various media roles right now.
Gecko
Roar Pro
Hi Andy and Hutcho. Yeah, this is a highly debatable one. The year 1965 probably had an enormous influence on 1980s and 1990s footy, producing many of the stars of that era and setting in motion the poaching that has become common ever since. And 1987 or, as Hutcho suggests - 1992, could be the 'year zero' for the nationalisation of our game. My article was probably more about how so many key footy people of 2014 could be traced back to the early 1980s, rather than broader aspects like the strategies and administration circa 2014. Finding the 'year zero' for today's strategies and administration would be even more controversial, but probably a lot of fun if anyone wanted to try.
Hutchoman
Roar Pro
What about 1992? The first year since 1967 that one of Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn and Richmond didn't make the grand final and the first win for an expansion club. Quite obviously also the "beginning of the end" for the Victorian stranglehold on the game.
andyl12
Guest
I've often felt 1965 was the biggest watershed year in the game. This was the year Ron Barassi went to Carlton and signalled a new era of professionalism. Subsequently, the Norm Smith at Melbourne (6 flags in the previous 10 years) collapsed and Melbourne have not been a league power since then. At the same time, Barassi's move to Carlton brought on a new golden era for them after they'd finished second last the year before- within a few years they had won a flag and would go on to win many more. Additionally, 1965 was the year Richmond moved to the MCG, appointed Tom Hafey as coach and were also on the way to an era of dominance that lasted until the mid-80's. The habit of Richmond and Carlton in going out and poaching every good youngster around the country was what gave rise to the zoning system which in turn gave rise to the national competition. Can't say for sure how many great players were born in 1965 but I'm sure many of the game's 1990's stars would fit the category. Any thoughts?