Former Essendon captain, two-time Premiership player and two-time All Australian, Michael Long was last night inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame at the annual Australian Football Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, held at the Palladium Room in
Michael Long brought to Essendon a genius rarely seen – a genius that played a major role in two Premierships.
Long was a magician on the football field. His brilliant evasive skills and speed would have opposition players thinking he had vanished into thin air, only to turn around and see him racing towards the Essendon goal or drilling a low pass onto the chest of a team-mate.
Sublimely skilled, Long gave Essendon supporters some great memories during his 13 years as a player at Windy Hill.
But he was also much more than a brilliant footballer. For over a decade he inspired not just the Essendon Football Club and its fans, but also his own people.
He blazed a trail which has led some supreme Aboriginal talent into Australian Rules Football, and he drew football into leading the community fight against racism.
His career honours included: Co-Captain 1999, Vice Captain 1996, 1998-2001, Best First Year Player 1989, Best Finals Player 1993, Most Courageous Player 1998, Grand Final appearances 1990, 1993, 2000, Team of the Century 1997, Champion of Essendon 2002, Norm Smith Medal 1993, All Australian 1995, St Mary’s Premiership side 1988, West Torrens Best and Fairest 1988, NT Representative 1988, Essendon Team of the Century, Indigenous Team of the Century.
Michael Long – The facts
Born: 01.10.1969,
Recruited from: St Mary’s (NT)
First EFC Game: vs West Coast, Rd 1, 1989
Last EFC Game: vs Hawthorn, Preliminary Final, 2001
EFC Games: 190
EFC Goals: 143
Premiership player: 1993, 2000
EFC Captain: 1999
EFC Vice Captain: 1996, 1998-2001
Career Brownlow votes: 58
The AFL also announced that six-time Melbourne premiership coach Norm Smith had been made the 21st Legend in the game's history.
Smith, for whom the medal for best player on Grand Final Day is named in his honour, coached Melbourne to premierships in 1955, '56, '57, '59, '60 and '64, after a stellar playing career in which he played in a further four flags and was also selected in Melbourne's team of the century.
A further seven people were inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame at the function -- five-time Hawthorn premiership player and 1986 Brownlow Medallist Robert DiPierdomenico; North Adelaide, Adelaide and Hawthorn premiership star Darren Jarman; Port Melbourne star and first-ever official All-Australian captain Frank Johnson; four-time Sydney best and fairest and 1995 Brownlow Medallist Paul Kelly; dual West Coast premiership centreman Dean Kemp; former Collingwood captain Murry Weideman and long-time Port Adelaide (SANFL) administrator Bob McLean.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996 and serves to recognise players, coaches, umpires, administrators, and media representatives who have made an outstanding contribution to Australian football.
