Number 16
There are a two or three Saints players who have worn the number 16 jumper during their career who are champions. This number 16 side is one of the few combines that lacks that little bit of depth. Below, I have selected a Saints team purely of players who have worn the number 16 at any point of their career. I have also provided my personal assessment of the top 3 players who have carried the number 16 for the Red, White and Black. This remarkably was a difficult task. The first two are clearly Saint champions but the surprising dearth of real stars made it very difficult to choose the number 3.
For the Love of the Jumper - Saints “The Jumper Number 16” team of the Decades.
Backs: Jon Lilley, Verdun Howell, Harrie Hattam.
Half Backs: Raphael Clarke, Harry Lever, Robert Neill.
Centres: Arthur Hurst, Alan Dale, Alan Olle.
Half Forwards: Danny Warr, Phillip Lynch, Matthew Carr.
Forwards: John (Jack) Solomon, Gary Lofts, Matthew Capuano.
Rucks: Jack Perkins,
Adrian Fletcher.
Rover: Brad Gotch.
Interchange Ryan Gamble, Joseph (Tom) Sutherland, David Ellis, Brian Milnes.
Others. Harry Kerley. Jim Wandin, John Durnan, C.M. Jim Forbes, Dick Wicks, Jack O’Rourke, Jack Howe, Len Millar, Mark Arceri, Robert Aubrey, Len Boyd-Gerny, Ken Bryant, Thomas Carswell, Jim Deagan, Fred Dore, Jack Booth, Alan Bryce, Clive Coles, Ed Cranage, Anthony Harvey, Percy Martyn, A.Jim Matthews, Don McGrath, Bob Myers, John Nelson, John Riggs, Vin Sabatucci, Lindsay Thomas, Harry Horsenail, Les Lewis, Brian Mee, Paul White.
The best three Saints players to have worn the Number 16 jumper.
1. Verdun Howell 1958-68, 159 games
Verdun was a great full-back whose dashing, attacking style was ahead of its time. St Kilda signed him at 17, but he refused to leave Tasmania for two years then a clearance wrangle delayed his start in 1958. He had been mainly a half-forward in Tasmania, but had shown promise as a half-back in 1957 and coach Allan Killigrew decided to use him in the problem spot at full-back when he finally won a clearance late in 1958. He played only six games that year, but in 1959 he was an instant star and made the state side for the first of many times. He was a glorious kick, but it was his marking that provided many highlights for the Saint’s faithful. At the end of the 1959 Brownlow Medal count he was tied with Bob Skilton on 20 votes, and the Swan star won on a countback. It was part of St Kilda folklore that he may have won outright if he had not been played in the centre in the final game. Thirty years later the VFL awarded him a retrospective medal. He reigned supreme as the state's number one full-back until 1965 when selectors swapped him with full-forward Bob Murray. His natural skill meant that he made a good fist of the new job and he kicked nine goals in a game against Hawthorn in 1965. Vice-captain to Darrel Baldock for six seasons, he almost missed his dream of a St Kilda flag when his jaw was broken before the finals, but when the club won the flag he was there on a half-back flank. He won the club best and fairest in 1959. He later coached Richmond reserves and in WA.
2. Harry Lever. 1905-1915, 1918-1919, 217 Games
The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers describes Lever as a totally reliable Full Back who was a magnificent drop kick and in 1909, one of his place kicks was measured at 72 yds. He held the games record at the club for several years. He skippered the Saints to the Grand Final in 1913 only to lose to the Roy’s. He represented the Big V on one occasion in 1913.
3. Gary Lofts 1976-1980 60 Games
Gary was a tough utility player recruited from Beaufort. St Kilda tried to convert into a full-back when he first came from Beaufort. He twice kicked seven goals in a game for the Saints and was a noted wet- weather player. A knee injury in 1979 upset his career and when he came back at the age of 29 he could not regain his previous form. He was a very good player and would have been remembered as a great player if injury had not curtailed his career.
The Team of the Decades Number 16
Assessment
This is a very interesting side when you look at the extraordinary number of players who have worn 16, but played less than 50 games, indeed many have played less than 10 games.
There are only two players you could class as genuine Saint’s champions, Howell and Lever. Raphael Clarke may get to that point, but it will take a great effort from him to cement his place in the annals of Saint’s greats and he has now moved to the number 8. Perhaps this shift of number will turn his luck around because from an historical point of view the Number 16 has not seen an abundance of great players. Perhaps Gary Lofts is the best of the rest while Arthur Hurst may have achieved greatness if his knees didn’t fail, he certainly showed something before injury took its toll. Of the others there are several good players but no real stand outs. I cannot see this side matching it with some of the great Saint’s teams of the decades. Interestingly Ryan Gamble now takes his chance to reverse the fortunes of the number 16. This is his chance to make a name for himself wearing the number 16. Hopefully he can become a 100 game player. I have named him on the bench in the number 16 side in anticipation of what he will bring to the Saints in 2011.
References
The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers Russell Holmesby and Jim Main Crown.
Content. Excerpts about the players are sometimes directly transcribed from this great resource. It is available on saints.com.au.
Every Game ever played. Compiled by Stephen Rodgers. Viking O’Neill
saints.com.au.
The Courage Book of VFL Finals. Compiled by Graham Atkinson.
