Playing 100 games of football at the higest level is no small task and Essendon’s first 100-game player was Ted Kinnear who reached the milestone in Round 1, 1903. Unfortunately it was in a huge loss to eventual grand finalists Fitzroy.
Kinnear retired in 1904 after adding another eight games to his 100.
Fred Baring is ranked 24 in the Champions of Essendon. He played 155 games over 13 seasons, his 150th coming in the 1923 Grand Final win. The following year - in which Essendon won the premiership - he played five games for the club, his last was in the final game of the season.
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Barring's team mate Charlie May clocked up his 50th game in that final game but it was not a Grand Final and it was not even a win. So how can that be?
That year the VFL reverted to a round robin competition with the four finalists playing each other once. Essendon lost its last game to Richmond, but still won the flag. There is a belief that some Essendon players played ‘dead’ after putting money on Richmond, assured in the knowledge the premiership was already theirs. So poor old Charlie May ‘celebrated’ his 50th game with a flag, a loss and a betting scandal.
Dick Reynolds had so many milestones it’s difficult to know where to start. He is the first Essendon player to reach 200 games and then 300 games. Perhaps his 200th game would have brought the fans some extra satisfaction. It was at home to Collingwood in 1945 and the lead changed many times throughout the day. When the siren went, Essendon were ahead by one point.
Reynolds' 320 games, set in 1951, was a League record until 1970.
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Garry Foulds 200th game was in the 1984 Grand Final. While this fact may have been lost owing to the significance of the occasion, no doubt he remembers it with extra pride.
Don McKenzie would also recall his 100th game, coming as it did in the 1965 Grand Final win over St Kilda. There are plenty more great Essendon stories and amazing milestones.
Membership news update – over 15,000 membership packs have now been sent out to supporters and thousands more will be sent out over the next few weeks.
The small, unexpected delay in the mailing of 2010 membership packs (which were originally planned to be sent mid December) is due to a number of factors including an upgrade of Essendon’s IT systems which will ultimately improve the accuracy of club information.
