Winmar and AFL park info

[Freebird]

Can someone with enough age help me with the following questions

Winmar - what position did he mostly play...half forward/onball/Wing/Halfback

AFL park - when we left Moorabbin the ground had just had its blocked drainage cleared and the gound was like a bowling green..what state was AFL park in when we switched??

[plugger66]

Can someone with enough age help me with the following questions

Winmar - what position did he mostly pay...half forward/onball/Wing/Halfback

AFL park - when we left Moorabbin the ground had just had its blocked drainage cleared and the gound was like a bowling green..what state was AFL park in when we switched??

I reckon Winmar played more as a HFF than any other position. Others may disagree. AFL was perfect when we went there. Was shocking in the late 70's and 80's but was fixed up when we went there.

[saintspremiers]

It started as VFL Park, then AFL Park, then I think Waverely Park.

To me, it was always VFL Park.

[Little Dozer]

Waverley was nicknamed the Sahara Desert one season in the early 90's. It was covered in sand. It was pretty good most of the time though.

Winmar was mainly a half-forward/winger with occasional stints at full-forward. He bagged 9 against Melbourne at the G and 9 against Carlton at Princes Park one day. Absolutely brilliant player, probably the best skilled player we've ever had.

[Austinnn]

He bagged 9 against Melbourne at the G and 9 against Carlton at Princes Park one day. Absolutely brilliant player, probably the best skilled player we've ever had.

All of that in ONE DAY?! He really was brilliant, eh!

[kosifantutti]

He bagged 9 against Melbourne at the G and 9 against Carlton at Princes Park one day. Absolutely brilliant player, probably the best skilled player we've ever had.

All of that in ONE DAY?! He really was brilliant, eh!

Bring back double headers!

[Devilhead]

Winmar's position was slamming the ball down Plugger's throat

I reckon half the goals Lockett kicked was via a Winmar pass

[CURLY]

Winmar was a wingman in the 2000 Premiership side.

[villasaint]

Wing mainly and HF. Couple of games At FF when plugger was missing also played on the HB flank as well but mainly wing.

[satchmo]

Winmar was a wingman in the 2000 Premiership side.

luv ur work curls!

[WellardSaint]

I will never forget a final at Waverley against the Dogs.
In the first quarter we were kicking against the (strong) wind. I was sitting about 6 rows from the fence, and could feel it was strong.
Guess what happened at the start of the 2nd quarter ? The wind changed- did a 180 ! unbelievable.
I remember seeing the ball being kicked, and actually holding up and just dropping, the wind was that strong.
Winmar got up high for a mark, crashed, busted his collarbone.
Rumour has it that his wife (or another relly) had to take him to hospital- as none of our officials seemed to care about him
(maybe distracted because we were getting beaten) and the next year, his disappointment with the club came to a head, he stopped going to training for 2 weeks.
Anyway AFL Park was called Arctic Park by some.
It was usually very very cold. Freezing when it rained...guys were selling clear plastic raincoats for $15 (this is early 90s)

[bergholt]

On his footy cards it always said Utility.

[saintspremiers]

IMO Plugger had better skills than Winmar. Incredible mark and the best kick for goal in AFL history.

[Dr Spaceman]

On his footy cards it always said Utility.

That's like a Pick Up Truck for all our new American members

[gringo]

Winmar was an elite player and just had that little bit of freak about him. Waverley was my era and have more memories of that than Moorabin. Waverley was amazing in that you could drive from bayside into the car park and the weather was guaranteed to be wet and miserable when the rest of Melbourne was fine. It did help to have one of the best turfs going around though. Best moments were the lights going down and the ferals burning everything and the scoreboard catching fire and no one gave a s***, just kept watching.

[spert]

From my vague memory, I think the Moorabbin ground surface was reasonably good at the time we went to Waverley. The Waverley surface was a bit patchy, it was easy to get to by car, but I remember it was always bloody cold out there! Winmar was really a utility player, sometimes HFF, FF or wing or on the ball. He had great skills, was tough for his size and along with Plugger were two of the most skilfull and smart players you would want to see- we would have had another premiership if they had been playing with us in the 2000s with our teams of this era.

[mbogo]

Yeah he played HFF most of the time, with occasional flashes on the ball when we were being beaten for clearances. His tackling was like dynamite - as he could match it with the strongest players. He would often play closer to goal if plugger was not around. I remember he kicked four on a HFF before half-time on the legendary Gary Ablett Senior - Ablett was then dragged, to a standing ovation (for Winmar) by the St Kilda faithful. Some of his marks defy description - he looked like he was standing on the opponents head a couple of times he got up that high. Was absolutely impossible to stop on his day and he could pinpoint 65m passes eg: to Lockett, at will. He could play HBF and still feed Lockett directly his clearance work from the backline was that good. Hence his natural position was "wing" because he would appear everywhere. However, it has to be said that he could go "missing" occasionally as well - and he was poorly managed and cared for by our admin, especially on the eve of our 97 GF - after his dad died - not to mention when he went off the rails to Sale dogs for awhile one year. He also would sometimes lose the plot completely - like his attack on Brereton one day after an apparently racist comment came his way. The opposition would always try to upset him because he was so dangerous. He and Gilbert McAdam killed Collingwood at Vic Park during the "jumper" game. An absolute legend of the game! Should have finished his career at St Kilda.

[8856brother]

The most skilled and most exciting player I have ever seen in the Red Black and White. He could do anything. Name a skill and he was as good as anyone, if not better. Could he take a mark. Would have been seen as one of the greatest players of all time if he played for Carlton, Essendon or Collingwood.

I still laugh at Essendon people who rate Long a better player. Couldn't mark, couldn't kick over a jam tin let alone kick on his right foot.

Copped racial abuse from crowds and arseholes like Dermie week in, week out and stood proud.

Winmar = absolute star.

My favourite Saint ever.

[slider]

Cuz had a problem with the grog but wasnt the only one, recovery was drinking VB and playing pool, how much more brilliant he could of been? well who knowes. Moorabbin surface was in top nick when we made the move to VFL Park, they had just spent a fortune on a resurface.

[PADDLEPOP1001]

Winmar was a beautiful footballer,his skills were as good as any player I have seen in 45 years of football,great mark,beautiful kick, extraordinary talent!

[plugger66]

May not be popular but as good as Cuz was Lenny has him covered IMO.

[Dave McNamara]

May not be popular but as good as Cuz was Lenny has him covered IMO.

Not popular...???

Surely not you Pluggs???

IMHO, consistency-wise Lenny has him covered..., skill-wise Cuz had pretty much anyone covered..., I still rate him as the second best indigenous player that I've seen (behind only the late, great Uncle Maurice). That said, there are a coupla blokes currently playing who bear consideration...

[suss]

He took one of the biggest hangers I've ever seen on the wing at Moorabbin one day. And not only was he skilled but one of the toughest players going around too...

Tough pick between him and Lenny...probably Cuz for mine...no pressure on the next bloke who wears the number 7.

[ace]

Wing mainly and HF. Couple of games At FF when plugger was missing also played on the HB flank as well but mainly wing.

Definitely played mostly on the wing.

Oppositions would attack via the opposite wing because Winmar was so dangerous.

I used to love the way he would track the play back into defence as the ball moved down the opposite wing so that when the ball arrived at full back Winmar was already there ready to help run the ball out.

[TJMcCarthy]

Loved him and miss him. His skills were sublime. Winmar to Locket was absolutely unstoppable.

Geelong had Gary Ablett, who they called god and could do it all.
But we had Nicky Winmar who was a wizard and could equally do it all.
Both were flawed genius footballers with troubled off field life issues, and both became born again Christians seeking solace.
Given a choice between the the two stars i'd pick Cuz without hesitation. Winmar's link run and carry game was better than Ablett's making him the better team player. G. Ablett was a brilliant forward but imo a lazy show pony compared to the honest gut running deadly tackling 20m hand balling number 7.

Nicky could run at full tilt collect the ball off the deck then in three strides slot a perfect pass without slowing down.
He could leap on his opponents shoulders take an absolute screamer and then boot a sixty metre torp for goal.
But it was his long low flat stab passes to Plugger which were precision perfect and what i rate best of all. I wonder how many others remember Tony Lockett's super quick leads the very instant Winmar took possession of the ball up field. And a moment later of course Plugger was lining up for goal.