Alan Jakovich was so funny last night, the most i’ Laughed in ages. That Vic Park story was gold. Even Jobe was funny.
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- Thread starter Berwick boy
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mainlandy said:
I'd forgotten how talented he was. Those goal stats after 54 games were astounding.
Tigers of Old said:
I remember a few games I attended, exploded onto the scene & was unstoppable for a brief period. There were a few others who did the same around that time, Darren Cuthbertson & Adrian McAdam players who come to mind.
bullus_hit said:
To look atn him he is the antithesis of his brother Glen.
Glen dour strong, reliable, quiet in persona.
Alan well ............................. :hihi
Certainly have had a share of some of the most talented forwards the AFL/VFL has seen in recent decades the Deez.
Jako obviously, Russell Robertson, Flash Davey, The Wizard Farmer, Wonneamirri, Liam Jurrah, Jeremy Howe Shaun Smith, and even the Ox in his early days was an excitement machine spring heeled jack.
tigerman said:
Had talent in spades, prodigious, absolutely mercurial player when he was "on" He was a joy to watch even if you didn't like the "Dees". He was one of those blokes who had unbelievable natural talent but couldn't/wouldn't do the amount of work/training etc to make the most of it.
Us mere mortals who'd give our left "thingo" to have played VFL/AFL footy just look on & think "if only"
mainlandy said:
yeah liked the Vic park story. The script of the backyard stoushes with Glen was funny too, there was a lot of feeling there, he was pretty laid back until that point
TigerPort said:
Cuthbertson was a flash in the pan but McAdam had a stellar season, 68 goals in 17 games from a wingman/flanker is off the charts. He still holds the record for the most goals in his first 3 games, 23 majors won't be broken anytime soon. Finished playing cricket & representing NT, pretty handy fast bowler.
jb03 said:
Very lightly built so I get the drift, not helped by the domination of Carey & Longmire. I still think he was torn between cricket & footy, 10 years later he was playing under Michael Clarke in an exhibition match & knocking over Test cricketers from Bangladesh. Can hold his head high despite the brief career, 10 goals from a wing is insane, and this was after both Gilbert & Greg had pulled on the jumper for St Kilda. The genes strong in the McAdam family.
Managed to dig this article up about the rise & fall of Adrian McAdam, really interesting stuff.
NMFC Archives: Adrian McAdam
Ricky Mangidis & Rob Burton May 29, 2015 5:13 PM
It would be hard to find a player that captured the attention of the footballing world like Adrian McAdam ... in just 36 games.
In an era where two of North Melbourne’s greatest ever forwards, Wayne Carey and John Longmire roamed the front half, for a brief but brilliant period it was McAdam who stole the spotlight.
Pick 98 at the 1992 National Draft, McAdam left Alice Springs to join his brother Greg and Gilbert in AFL ranks. What happened next, nobody would have predicted … well, other than Carey.
The pair played together at North Adelaide in the under-17s and McAdam clearly made an impression.
"I remember kicking for goal from the boundary before training as a 16-year-old and watching Adrian kick seven out of 10 with left-foot torpedoes. I thought, 'Oh my god, he can't be that gifted'," Carey said in an interview with The Herald Sun.
It turns out that talent wasn’t just evident on the training track.
After 30 goals in the reserves in the first four rounds, an injury to Darren Crocker opened the door for McAdam’s debut – and what a debut it was.
While many first-gamers these days are eased in to the cut and thrust of AFL as a substitute, the 22-year-old was welcomed on the biggest stage of all, Friday night football.
From ten kicks, McAdam booted seven goals and two behinds; to that stage in his career it was a feat Carey had only achieved three times.
A week later against the Swans he booted a bag of ten goals and six behinds from 19 kicks. He played a part in history as the Roos registered their highest score of all time (35.19.229).
But he didn’t stop there. Against the Bulldogs he booted seven, and after just three games had 23 goals to his name.
"I knew I could kick goals and that I was a pretty skilled player," McAdam told The Age years later.
"That's what got me through those games - being skilled - because I didn't have much strength when I came down from Alice."
While the plaudits came thick and fast, perhaps his finest moment was still to come.
With almost 30,000 fans chocked into Victoria Park, North Melbourne claimed its first victory at the venue since 1986. Coincidentally it was the club’s last ever appearance at the Magpies’ home.
The star of the show? Well Wayne Schwass got the three votes from the umpires, but it was McAdam who tore the game apart with nine goals, despite a verbal hammering from the crowd.
PRESS PLAY above to watch McAdam's nine-goal haul | YouTube
After six games, North’s number 41 had 38 goals to his name.
He went on to boot bags of six against Essendon in Round 10, and five against the Saints in Round 12.
It was the dream debut year; 68 goals, a finals appearance, and combining with Carey and Longmire for over 200 goals. McAdam had a bright future.
But as quickly as he had burst on the scene, his exit from the game was just as swift.
McAdam started 1994 as he finished the previous season, with five goals against the Hawks in round four. Then the goals dried up. He kicked just 15 in the final 16 games.
In a recent newspaper interview, he admitted the opposition started to work him out, playing bigger-bodied players on him.
After one more game in 1995, McAdam’s career was over … just like that.
"There's nothing I'd changed apart from my fitness,” he said.
"I bludged here and there, maybe because of the success I'd had I was a bit lazy.
“I wasn't dedicated enough. I just didn't do that extra hard training which the other blokes did. They pushed themselves to the limit, whereas I didn't really do that."
Carey said McAdam could have been anything.
"His problem was always going to be sustaining his performance. Once clubs started to pay more attention to him, he needed to work harder.
"That's happened to a few unknowns who have burst on the scene and then not lasted, although none of them would have been more talented than Adrian.”
But it was ultimately a knock that ended his career, or at least took away his passion to play.
"We were playing Brisbane in a pre-season cup game and their ruckman Damian Bourke was arguing with my teammate Alastair Clarkson. I ran past and told Bourke to pick on someone his own size and he just went whack,” McAdam told The Herald Sun in 2007.
"It broke my jaw on both sides and after that I lost a fair bit of interest. My brother Gilbert had left St Kilda to play with Brisbane and I didn't feel very good, so I came home."
Traded to Collingwood at the end of the 1995 season, McAdam did not play another game.
"Collingwood was a very different environment and I wasn't too happy there. Put it this way, Denis Pagan was better for me than Tony Shaw.
"It could have been different. Had I grown up in Melbourne I would have been all right, would have known how to be more professional and more dedicated. I didn't work hard enough when things went bad.
"I'd loved to have played more. I still think about North Melbourne winning a premiership in 1996 and how I could have been part of it.
"I needed a mentor, someone to guide me and show me the right way to do things. I think that happens a lot more now."
Many, many players have been able to get to 36 games, but perhaps none had more of an impact in such limited time as Adrian McAdam.
NMFC Archives: Adrian McAdam
Ricky Mangidis & Rob Burton May 29, 2015 5:13 PM
It would be hard to find a player that captured the attention of the footballing world like Adrian McAdam ... in just 36 games.
In an era where two of North Melbourne’s greatest ever forwards, Wayne Carey and John Longmire roamed the front half, for a brief but brilliant period it was McAdam who stole the spotlight.
Pick 98 at the 1992 National Draft, McAdam left Alice Springs to join his brother Greg and Gilbert in AFL ranks. What happened next, nobody would have predicted … well, other than Carey.
The pair played together at North Adelaide in the under-17s and McAdam clearly made an impression.
"I remember kicking for goal from the boundary before training as a 16-year-old and watching Adrian kick seven out of 10 with left-foot torpedoes. I thought, 'Oh my god, he can't be that gifted'," Carey said in an interview with The Herald Sun.
It turns out that talent wasn’t just evident on the training track.
After 30 goals in the reserves in the first four rounds, an injury to Darren Crocker opened the door for McAdam’s debut – and what a debut it was.
While many first-gamers these days are eased in to the cut and thrust of AFL as a substitute, the 22-year-old was welcomed on the biggest stage of all, Friday night football.
From ten kicks, McAdam booted seven goals and two behinds; to that stage in his career it was a feat Carey had only achieved three times.
A week later against the Swans he booted a bag of ten goals and six behinds from 19 kicks. He played a part in history as the Roos registered their highest score of all time (35.19.229).
But he didn’t stop there. Against the Bulldogs he booted seven, and after just three games had 23 goals to his name.
"I knew I could kick goals and that I was a pretty skilled player," McAdam told The Age years later.
"That's what got me through those games - being skilled - because I didn't have much strength when I came down from Alice."
While the plaudits came thick and fast, perhaps his finest moment was still to come.
With almost 30,000 fans chocked into Victoria Park, North Melbourne claimed its first victory at the venue since 1986. Coincidentally it was the club’s last ever appearance at the Magpies’ home.
The star of the show? Well Wayne Schwass got the three votes from the umpires, but it was McAdam who tore the game apart with nine goals, despite a verbal hammering from the crowd.
PRESS PLAY above to watch McAdam's nine-goal haul | YouTube
After six games, North’s number 41 had 38 goals to his name.
He went on to boot bags of six against Essendon in Round 10, and five against the Saints in Round 12.
It was the dream debut year; 68 goals, a finals appearance, and combining with Carey and Longmire for over 200 goals. McAdam had a bright future.
But as quickly as he had burst on the scene, his exit from the game was just as swift.
McAdam started 1994 as he finished the previous season, with five goals against the Hawks in round four. Then the goals dried up. He kicked just 15 in the final 16 games.
In a recent newspaper interview, he admitted the opposition started to work him out, playing bigger-bodied players on him.
After one more game in 1995, McAdam’s career was over … just like that.
"There's nothing I'd changed apart from my fitness,” he said.
"I bludged here and there, maybe because of the success I'd had I was a bit lazy.
“I wasn't dedicated enough. I just didn't do that extra hard training which the other blokes did. They pushed themselves to the limit, whereas I didn't really do that."
Carey said McAdam could have been anything.
"His problem was always going to be sustaining his performance. Once clubs started to pay more attention to him, he needed to work harder.
"That's happened to a few unknowns who have burst on the scene and then not lasted, although none of them would have been more talented than Adrian.”
But it was ultimately a knock that ended his career, or at least took away his passion to play.
"We were playing Brisbane in a pre-season cup game and their ruckman Damian Bourke was arguing with my teammate Alastair Clarkson. I ran past and told Bourke to pick on someone his own size and he just went whack,” McAdam told The Herald Sun in 2007.
"It broke my jaw on both sides and after that I lost a fair bit of interest. My brother Gilbert had left St Kilda to play with Brisbane and I didn't feel very good, so I came home."
Traded to Collingwood at the end of the 1995 season, McAdam did not play another game.
"Collingwood was a very different environment and I wasn't too happy there. Put it this way, Denis Pagan was better for me than Tony Shaw.
"It could have been different. Had I grown up in Melbourne I would have been all right, would have known how to be more professional and more dedicated. I didn't work hard enough when things went bad.
"I'd loved to have played more. I still think about North Melbourne winning a premiership in 1996 and how I could have been part of it.
"I needed a mentor, someone to guide me and show me the right way to do things. I think that happens a lot more now."
Many, many players have been able to get to 36 games, but perhaps none had more of an impact in such limited time as Adrian McAdam.
