What's in a number and which one's your favourite?

Every season, when the new recruits take to the ground for their first game, everyone checks the footy record to see who they are.

However, they also indulge in a bit of nostalgia as a lot of footy supporters remember their favourite player who wore that number previously.

The length of the memory depends on which generation they belong to, and for me it goes all the way back to Bulldogs legend, E.J. (Ted) Whitten who wore the famous number 3.

As a little ‘tacker’ I wore this number on my back and – despite being a Collingwood supporter – planned to emulate the number of games that “EJ” played, a target I only fell 321 games short of!

After that, it became the famous #6 that Peter McKenna kicked 817 goals in, the #2 that John Nicholls wore for 328 games.

In Ballarat on Friday, a primary teacher at the Alfredton Primary School, explained to us why his favourite number was #14.

Ricky Ponting wore that number as captain of the Australian cricket team, but it was mainly the fact that his favourite footballer of all time (Paul Kelly – ex Sydney Captain) and his favourite current day footballer (Joel Selwood) both wore it.

In fact, Joel Selwood has worn the #14 number more times than any other player in the VFL/AFL competition. I am pleased to say, however, that one of my all time favourite wearers of the #14 jumper was triple Brownlow medallist Bob Skilton who still holds the record for the most goals kicked in the jumper (412).

My first VFL grand final was between Hawthorn and Footscray (Western Bulldogs) and the blonde headed Bulldogs back pocket caught my attention with his attacking play, so #28 became a favourite for a while, as did #29 when worn by little known Collingwood back man Denis O’Callaghan.

That was well before it became famous as the number worn by North Melbourne super star Brent Harvey to a record 432 games.

A number of current day players have already worn their number for a record number of games: Daniel Wells (NM and Coll) #8, Joel Selwood (Geelong) #14, Luke Hodge (Hawthorn – but not at Brisbane this year) #15, David Mundy (Freo) #16 and Mark Bilcavs (Geelong) #46.

In addition, six current day goal kickers lead the pack in the number of goals scored in their jumper number: Jarryd Roughead (Hawthorn)(#2), Josh Kennedy (West Coast Eagles and Carlton) #17, Lance Franklin (Sydney and Hawthorn) #23, Jarrad Waite (North Melbourne and Carlton) #30 Jeff Garlett (Melbourne and Carlton) #38 and Ben Brown (North Melbourne) #50.

The remarkable thing about this (and also the Top 100 AFL games played and goals scored lists) is the number of players who started their careers at Carlton, but went on to achieve significant milestones at other clubs!