Last year we will celebrated the 20th occasion of the Premiership Players Club most prestigious and exciting event Australia post stamp Launch.
Over the years some of the greatest players from the VFL & AFL who played in a winning Grand Final have been honoured on a postage stamp sponsored by Australian Post. Many famous names have been honoured so far and this will be another outstanding line up of inductees.
The year 2000 our first event was conducted and grows in stature every year. To date 400 greats of the game have been honoured by featuring on an Australia Post Stamp.
The Annual Stamp Launch is an event where Premiership Players, Presidents and Umpires come together to honour their great feat of a premiership and echo the essence of football that being connection and belonging.
This year on the 21st edition we will be adding more famous names. On some edition of the stamps we celebrate a deceased premiership personality whether he be a player, coach, umpire of administrator.
Our 2019 Function was another great successful night and the AFL Premiership Players Club sincerely thank our sponsors, Australia Post and Select Cards Australia, for their exceptional support of our premier yearly event.
These Official Australia Post Stamps along with previous years are available to purchase.
The AFL Premiership Players thanks all members for their participation support.
These greats of the game provided our audience with outstanding entertaining stories.
AFL Premiership Players Club breaks with Tradition
It was one of the league’s absolute legends that took for the club to change its rules, with triple Brownlow Medallist and AFL legend Bob Skilton featured on the 2018 stamp set.
Skilton said it was an honour to be included on the stamps and be part of the club alongside premiership players.
“Thank you so much for making an exception tonight, for a bloke whose claim to fame from a finals point of view is one losing final,” Skilton said.
Fellow AFL Legend, Kevin Murray, was similarly inducted at the 2019 Annual Stamp Launch.
SKILTON’S BIG YEAR GETS BIGGER
NOT MANY football accolades have eluded Bob Skilton, but another one came his way this week that capped off a huge year for the former South Melbourne champion. The triple Brownlow Medallist – as he is referred to so often that it has almost become an official part of his name – and Hall of Famer has always lamented that he never got anywhere near achieving one ambition common to every footballer who has ever pulled on a boot, to play in a premiership team. Of his 237 games for the Swans, only one was in a final, the 1970 first semi against St Kilda, and it resulted in a 53-point defeat.
“The Chimp” has never been afraid to admit that he is envious of the players who have experienced the thrill of victory on the biggest stage of all, Grand Final day. And there are a lot of them. To be precise, 1529 which amounts to 12.05 per cent of the 12,684 men who have played VFL or AFL footy. But there are a great many more who never even got to a Grand Final, successfully or otherwise. Skilton is one of 10,316 of those, or 81.33 per cent.
Now, however, he is officially a part of the brotherhood of flag-winners.
The AFL Premiership Players Club, which was founded by Footscray legend Jack Collins in 2000, inducted Skilton as a Legend at its meeting at Windy Hill, the old Essendon stamping ground, on Thursday night. How come, given that he clearly is not eligible for membership by definition? Simply because, in the view of the membership, he deserves it – and anyway, you have to suspect, they just want him on board regardless.
It was explained that it had been decided to break new ground in order to make the organisation – which gets limited help from the AFL itself – more relevant. This had been discussed a couple of years ago with Richmond hero Francis Bourke, who had suggested it would be “unnerving” to promote a club that restricted someone like Bob Skilton from being involved. “So we are putting that to rest,” guests were told.
For the third time this year, Skilton could not have been more chuffed. In June, he was awarded an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. And a couple of months ago, a statue of him was unveiled outside the Lake Oval, where he played most of his footy. Also, on November 8, after a long period of ill-health, he turned 80. Now walking with a cane but otherwise in fine nick and very good cheer, he revelled in the company of other luminaries from his own era including Ron Barassi, Barry Davis, Ken Fraser, Ken Timms, Ken Beck, John Birt, Brian Beers and Brian Dixon (the club president), as well as more modern stars in Simon Madden, Greg Williams, David Dench, Paul Salmon and Paul Dear, among others.
“I’m quite humbled,” Skilton said. “Thanks so much for making an exception for a little bloke whose claim to fame was one losing final. I’m so envious of these blokes. Everyone wants success but sometimes it just doesn’t come.” He made a point of acknowledging master coach Norm Smith, who oversaw six premierships with Melbourne before joining the Swans. “We would never have made that one final under anyone but Norm Smith,” Skilton said.
At least Skilton managed to win one of the old night premierships which used to be contested by the teams that did not make the finals. That was in 1960 and a framed newspaper poster in honour of that, and bearing a caricature of him, was auctioned as part of his induction and fetched $1100. As well, he and other inductees were featured on stamps issued by Australia Post, with the proceeds going to the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation.
Also present at the 2018 event was the AFL’s official statistician Col Hutchison, who provided the previously quoted figures on premiership players. Here are some more:
There have been 934 players selected in one premiership team, 402 in two, 128 in three, 45 in four, 16 in five, four in six and one in seven. That one is Hall of Fame Hawk Michael Tuck and his record would seem unlikely ever to be beaten. Eighty-six have played in grand finals for two clubs, 30 of them winning for both.
Pic: Old Bombers opponent John Birt welcomes Bob Skilton to the Premiership Players Club.
And the entertainment continued.
Two-time Brownlow Medallist Greg Williams, along with Paul Salmon and Paul Dear were among others on this year’s stamp set who were present to receive their stamps.
Salmon also received the Jack Collins Medal for being the leading goal kicker in the 1984 and 1985 final series.
Ray Ball received his son’s Luke Ball’s stamps, while Brisbane Lions premiership player Luke Power received the stamps of Lions teammates Simon Black and Jason Akermanis.
Former St Kilda recruiter John Beveridge spoke about both his father, four-time Collingwood premiership player Jack Beveridge and his son, Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge, who are both on this year’s stamp set.
David Dench was recognised with the Ron Barassi Medal as the premiership winning captain of the 1977 winning team. Barassi was coach of that side.
To lighten the evening two of our great friends and supporters of the club, Des Tuddenham and Alec Epis relived some hard fought competition they encountered on the field many years ago. Alec relived a practical joke played on Des many years ago. To try a put Des (one of the toughest players to play the game) off his game and make him angry Alec when shaking hands at the start of the game handed Des a dummy and told Des this would help him during the game.
Quick thinking Des, ran straight over to the central umpire Ron Brophy and said to Ron, Alec asked Des to give this dummy to him as the umpires always complained and this would help him. Naturally Alec did not receive any free kicks for the game and Alec’s joke back fired on him. The replica dummy on the night was signed by both Alec and Des and auctioned off. The proceeds were appreciated and we thank Des and Alec for this.
Relive some of the excitement of the night with these photos, another great evening’s entertainment.
The two all-time greats and characters of our game Alec Epis and Des Tuddenham
North Melbourne’s history making trio, Barry Davis, first Club Premiership Captain, Ron Barassi, first club Premiership Coach and David Dench, second club Premiership Captain
Paul Dear and Peter Murnane
The two Bomber greats, Simon Madden and Paul Salmon