Remember those drop kicks Danny that seemed like they went half the length of the feild

I don't recall Southby ever using the drop kick...I saw every game he played for Carlton and as far as i can recall it was'nt in his repertoire.

By about 1971 (when he started at the Blues) the drop was largely extinct in the AFL.Whilst there is a lot of romanticism of the kick there was a very good reason it was eliminated and that was the eror rate.


Have a look at the old tapes, for every solid exponent of the kick there were another dozen or so in every team that struggled.

Robertson and Jackson were probably the only reliable exponents of the drop in our team prior to its demise.

I'm only going by blokes I saw but yes there are plenty my dad and pop talked about, blokes like Frank Anderson, Clover, Ken Hands.

He used it not often but he did. He would have been one of the last fullbacks to use it. .

With the drop kick it was like the torpe you either hit it or you missed it - you could go from champ to chump pretty quickly

1: Nick - not just what he did, but what he allowed his team to do. Nick made every player better amd hurt any opposition player, he was called Big Nick not for his size, but for his impact.

2: Jezza - Only Nick ahead of him because of the way Nick could influence a team.

3: Diesal - probably should be higher hell I can't displace those first two. 2 Brownlows, should have been 3.

4: Crosswell - for sheer brilliance this bloke is oft forgotten but jesus he could play.

5: Sticks - Great player, great captain.

6: Dominator - pound for pound, the best finals player I have seen in Navy Blue.

7: Doull - For him to be rated 7 shows just how great the champions of this club are.

8: Southby - until that fateful whack, Geoff Southby redefined this game. His anticipation, his run, his ability to shut down the best and then almost taunt them was amazing. he was whacked because that was how to win that final, by taking him out!

9: Walls - often overlooked when discussion about great CHF's take place, but he was easily one of the best.

10: Bradley - never beaten, always ran, as good a competitor as anyone who has played.

And there are probably ten more who could fit in and it would still be an amazing list.

Besides you cannot tell me a drop kick was not a glorious thing to see, the sun catching the spinning leather so it shone like hope in a young kid's dream.

One guy not mentioned is Harmes, who I also considered because during the clubs 79 to 82 phase when the Blues amassed 3 flags he was the biggest impact player in the team. If the team was ever in trouble, Harmes would go into the centre and turn the game.For a guy around 5foot 8 in the old scale, he was the best mark and was a penetrating kick.
His career peaked too early in my view, but I regard him equal with Croswell who others have put into their top 10

And his invovlement in the best footy add almost gets him over the line.