IN DEFENCE OF A BACK-LINE
Picture this:
Player A, 5ft 10in tall, 12 stone; Player B, 6ft, 14 stone; Player C, 5ft 8½in, 12 stone.
Not exactly worldbeaters by their dimensions compared to today's footballers. Almost sounds like the legendary "Mosquito Fleet", doesn't it?
O.K. next scenario: the following is taken from a 50¢ publication, The Tigers - History Book, under the heading, Great Names of Tigerland:
"In the 1930s when mammoth scores, both by teams and by forwards, were commonplace, Richmond's 'Three Musketeers' struck fear into every team they met.
The trio, Martin Bolger, the late Maurie Sheahan, and Kevin O'Neill, comprised a full back line which played unchanged for about seven years.
At the same time, the half-back line usually consisted of Jack Baggott, Joe Murdoch and Basil McCormack.
But it was the full back line which attracted most attention because of their battles with the star full forwards, most of whom they kept to low tallies - including Bob Pratt.
They combined like clockwork, thought alike, and all played the same style of hard-bumping, dour, safe football."
And the connection between the above described "Musketeers" who struck fear into every team they met and the gentlemen whose dimensions I divulged at the beginning of this article? They were one and the same. Those feared defenders who played in the 1932 and 1934 Premiership teams, were only 5ft 10, 6ft and 5ft 8½. My father always spoke of them in awe, and it was some time before I realised he was actually talking about three men as he strung their names together so it always came out as "bolgersheahano'neill" like some incantation, and I guess, in a way it was - so idolised were they by Tiger fans.
They were always referred to in that order as far as I know: Bolger, Sheahan, O'Neill, and I'm guessing that the photo I have of them portrays them just so, it certainly fits their description and they look rather unassuming in their clean white shorts and shiny boots, but, I don't know, I think I would much prefer to join them in a game of kick-to-kick, with them all down the other end, than play them man for man!
As an afterthought, the only one of the six mentioned defenders to make the Richmond Team of the Century was Basil McCormack...dunno what my old dad would say about that.
