Middle East Correspondent: Rick Quade deserves place among Swans’ greats

By Rod Gillett

Rick Quade stepped down from the Swans’ board of directors only last year, after almost 40 years of service for the South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Football Club. Since beginning as a player in 1970, he’s been captain, coach, chairman of selectors and a board member. Recently he heeded another call to serve the club when he became a selector on the committee to choose the club’s inaugural Hall of Fame members; the entrants to the Hall of Fame are to be announced at a dinner after the Swans play Carlton at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on 18 July.

It will be interesting to see if Quade is inducted into the Hall of Fame—because he certainly deserves to be! When he was chairman of selectors for the Swans’ team of the century, he chose not to pick himself. That is typical of the former Riverina boy who has made Sydney his home since moving from Melbourne to Sydney with the South Melbourne footy club in 1982 to be the first coach of the Sydney Swans.

Modest, unassuming, fiercely loyal to the red and white, and intensely competitive, Quadey has been a tower of strength for the football club, particularly in the hard times – and there have plenty of them for the Swans.

He played 164 games from 1970-1980 and kicked 111 goals. He won the best-and-fairest in 1976 and captained the team from 1977 to ’79. This included leading the Swans into a then rare finals appearance, in 1977 under Ian Stewart.

In 1970, when the great Norm Smith was South Melbourne coach, Quade missed the Swans’ first final for 25 years. Having come down from Ariah Park-Mirrool in the Riverina as a full-forward, he suffered the “curse of the Quades”, a knee injury that required an operation. Unlike his brothers Tom and Mike, who both played for North Melbourne in the late 1950s only to return home with crippling knee injuries, Rick was able to play again at the top level, but not as a full-forward; instead he became a ruck-rover who could win the hard ball.

Rick is from a good Catholic family of fifteen children. He went to school at St Pat’s College, Goulburn, where he played rugby union. (Neale Daniher also went to St Pat’s before his father Jim realised he was better suited to footy and sent him to Assumption College, Kilmore.)

After school, Rick went home to the family farm and played footy for Ariah Park-Mirrool. He was selected in the reserves for the first match of the 1969 season but got a late call-up to the seniors after a withdrawal. He started in the forward pocket on Turvey Park’s Barry “Rocky” Conway and kicked only one goal. Moved to full-forward for the next game, he kicked 130 goals for the season to set a new record for the powerful South West Football League.

In those days, players in southern NSW were zoned to South Melbourne, so Rick Quade began his association with the Swans. Others to join South Melbourne from the Riverina in those years include Reg Gleeson (Lockhart), Ross Elwin (Leeton), Doug Priest (Holbrook), John Pitura (Wagga Tigers), Terry O’Neill and Victor Hugo (Narrandera), Neville Miller (father of Brad, Wagga Tigers) and Quade’s teammate at Ariah Park, Jim Prentice. And the Danihers, who come from the Northern Riverina town of Ungarie, but that’s another story.

Rick went home to coach Ariah Park-Mirrool in 1975, and together with Prentice they lifted the Brown Bombers into a preliminary final. He was enticed back to South Melbourne the next year and won the club best-and-fairest. The next year he became captain. He’s never left the club in the intervening years.

I developed a close association with Rick when he was chairman of the match committee and I was involved in the Swans’ under-19s team. Rick took a strong interest in the club’s youngsters, and as the seniors and under-19s both trained on the SCG, one after the other, he often would get around the rooms and make the boys feel part of the club.

We were also both involved in the NSW State of Origin team that famously beat Victoria in 1990. As it turns out he never played for NSW at either junior or senior level. “Never good enough,” he would tell me whenever we reminisced over a beverage at a Swans function. But I reckon he is good enough for the Swans’ Hall of Fame! He is a Bloods legend!

About 1500 players have pulled on the South Melbourne/Sydney guernsey since the club was formed 135 years ago. Ninety of those players have been chosen as nominations for the inaugural Hall of Fame. The number to be inducted has not yet been announced.

The 90 players from which the South Melbourne/Sydney Swans inaugural Hall of Fame inductees will be selected:

Pre-1897

Billy Addison
Champion player 1880s / 1890s

Peter Burns
1885-1891
Champion Of The Colony 1888, 1891
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Sonny Elms
Captain of VFA Premiership teams of 1889, 1890, 1891
Coach 1918-1919

1897-1918

Vic Belcher
1907-1920
226 games
62 goals
Captain 1913, 1920
Captain-coach 1914-1917
1909 premiership
1918 premiership
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Jim Caldwell
1909-1919
155 games
34 goals
Captain 1918-1919
Captain of 1918 premiership team
South Melbourne coach 1929

Bill Dolphin
1905-1911
100 games
Captain 1907-1908

Albert Franks
1906-1913
99 games
63 goals
1909 premiership

Bill Fraser
1897-1904
88 games
18 goals
Captain 1897-1898

Jack Howell
1915; 1917-18
40 games
22 goals
1918 premiership
Champion Of The Colony 1918

Herb Howson
1897-1908
152 games
2 goals
Captain 1906
Coach 1918-1919
1918 premiership coach

Bill McGee
1903-1905
51 games
29 goals
Captain 1904-1905

Len Mortimer
1906-1915
153 games
289 goals
1909 premiership
7 times leading goalkicker

Charlie Ricketts
1906-1912
82 games
47 goals
Captain-coach 1909, 1912
1909 premiership

Bruce Sloss
1910-1914
81 games
44 goals
Champion Of The Colony 1911
1916 – killed in action at Armentieres, France, aged 28

Bill Thomas
1905-1913
135 games
2 goals
1909 premiership
Captain-coach 1910-11

Bill Windley
1897-1905
129 games
36 goals
Captain 1900, 1902

1919-1945

Jack Bisset
1932-1936
90 games
9 goals
Captain-coach 1933-1936 (Grand Finalists each year)
1933 premiership Captain-Coach
Swans Team Of The Century – Coach

Terry Brain senior
1928-1937
141 games
198 goals
1933 premiership
Best & Fairest 1934

Roy Cazaly
1921-1924; 1926-1927
99 games
128 goals
1922 captain-coach
Best & Fairest 1926
Coach 1937-38
AFL Hall of Fame Legend

Harry Clarke
1926-1935
147 games
34 goals
1933 premiership
Best & Fairest 1933
Swans Team Of The Century

Jim Cleary
1934-1948
222 games
6 goals
Best & Fairest 1942, 1944

Bill Faul
1932-1938
117 games
2 goals
1933 premiership
Best & Fairest 1932
Runner-up in 1932 Brownlow Medal
Swans Team Of The Century

Fred Fleiter
1919-1925
71 games
11 goals
Coach 1929

Ron Hillis
1929-1937
137 games
16 goals
Best & Fairest 1930, 1935

Arthur Hiskins
1908-1915; 1919-1923
185 games
56 goals
1909 premiership
Coach 1920

Ted Johnson
1923 – 1931
136 games
385 goals

J. Herbie Matthews
1932-1945
191 games
17 goals
1933 premiership
1940 Brownlow Medal
Runner-up in Brownlow Medal 1937, 1941
Best & Fairest 1936, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1943
Captain 1938-1945
Captain-Coach 1939
Coach 1954-1957
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Hec McKay
1926-1935
152 games
1 goal
1933 premiership
Best & Fairest 1927

Hugh McLaughlin senior
1929-1934
96 games
1933 premiership

Laurie Nash
1933-1937; 1945
99 games
246 goals
1933 premiership
Champion Of The Colony 1934, 1935
Captain 1937
Coach 1953
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Charlie Pannam
1926-1928
45 games
31 goals
Coach 1923-28
Captain-coach 1927-28

Bob Pratt senior
1930-39; 1946
158 games
681 goals
1933 premiership
Leading Goalkicker Medal 1934, 1935
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame Legend

Arthur Rademacher
1913-1920
101 games
1918 premiership

Peter Reville
1925-1934
156 games
207 goals
1933 premiership

Rex Ritchie
1936-1942; 1946-1947
89 games
1 goal
Best & Fairest 1941

Austin Robertson senior
1927-37
154 games
250 goals

Joe Scanlan
1923-31
148 games
12 goals
Captain 1928, 1930-31

Paddy Scanlan
1920-1926
100 games
49 goals
Captain 1923-26
Coach 1930-31

Charlie Stanbridge
1925-29
69 games
12 goals
Best & Fairest 1928
1929 captain

Mark Tandy
1911-15; 1917-26
207 games
47 goals
1918 premiership
Captain 1922
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Len Thomas
1927-38
187 games
56 goals
Best & Fairest 1931, 1938
1933 Premiership
1938 Captain
Killed in action, New Guinea 1943

Danny Wheelahan
1926-30
51 games
4 goals
Best & Fairest 1929

Artie Wood
1917-23
97 games
14 goals
1918 premiership
1921 Coach

1946-1981

Peter Bedford
1968-76
178 games
325 goals
1970 Brownlow Medal
Captain 1973-76
Best & Fairest 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975
Leading goalkicker three times
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall Of Fame inductee

Gary Brice
1970-79
171 games
101 goals

Ron Clegg
1945-54; 1956-60
231 games
156 goals
1949 Brownlow Medal
Runner-up in Brownlow Medal 1951
Captain 1953-54, 1957, 1960
Captain-coach 1958-59
Best & Fairest 1948, 1949, 1951
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Russell Cook
1966-75
164 games
54 goals
Best & Fairest 1972

Jim Dorgan
1951-58
102 games
2 goals
Best & Fairest 1956

Ian Gillett
1951-58
135 games
112 goals
1955 Best & Fairest

Fred Goldsmith
1951-59
119 games
107 goals
1955 Brownlow Medal
Swans Team Of The Century

Jack Graham
1935-49
227 games
233 goals
Captain 1946-48
Best & Fairest 1945
Champion Of The Colony 1945

Bill Gunn
1952-59
104 games
101 goals
Captain 1955

John Heriot
1958-68
153 games
39 goals
Swans Team Of The Century

Graeme John
1964-69
77 games
97 goals
All-Australian 1966
Coach 1973-75

Frank Johnson
1960-64
64 games
38 goals
Best & Fairest 1960
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Greg Lambert
1966-79
167 games
22 goals

Eddie Lane
1951-56
86 games
130 goals
Best & Fairest 1954

David McLeish
1969-80
213 games
22 goals

Max Papley
1964-67
59 games
66 goals
Best & Fairest 1966

John Rantall
1963-72; 1976-79
260 games
8 goals
Captain 1969, 1972
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Keith Schaefer
1947-53
102 games
22 goals
Best & Fairest 1952

Bob Skilton
1956-71
237 games
412 goals
Best & Fairest 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968
Brownlow Medal 1959, 1963, 1968
Captain 1961-68; 1969-71
Captain-coach 1956-66
Swans Team Of The Century (captain)
AFL Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame Legend

Jim Taylor
1949-54; 1956-61
153 games
35 goals
Best & Fairest 1953, 1957

Graham Teasdale
1975-81
125 games
138 goals
1977 Brownlow Medal
Best & Fairest 1977
Leading goalkicker 1975, 1977

Billy Williams
1945-51
124 games
180 goals
Best & Fairest 1946, 1947, 1950
Swans Team Of The Century

1982 –

David Ackerly
1979-85
138 games
12 goals
Best & Fairest 1980, 1982
All Australian 1982, 1984

Jason Ball
2000-2005
90 games
45 goals
2005 premiership

Mark Bayes
1985-98
246 games
174 goals
Best & Fairest 1989
All Australian 1989
Swans Team Of The Century

Mark Browning
1975-87
251 games
138 goals
All Australian 1983
Captain 1984-85
Best & Fairest 1983

Warwick Capper
1983-87; 1991
90 games
317 goals
Leading goalkicker 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987

Dennis Carroll
1981-93
219 games
117 goals
Captain 1986-92
All Australian 1986
Swans Team Of The Century

Rod Carter
1980-1990
217 games
1 goal

Daryn Cresswell
1992 – 2003
244 games
208 goals
Best & Fairest 1994
All Australian 1997
Swans Team Of The Century

Andrew Dunkley
1992-2002
217 games
11 goals

Rodney Eade
Coach 1996-2002
All Australian Coach 1996

Bernie Evans
1978-85
148 games
212 goals
Best & Fairest 1984
All Australian 1984

Gerard Healy
1986-1990
81 games
87 goals
Best & Fairest 1986, 1987, 1988
1988 Brownlow Medal
1988 AFL Players’ Association Most Valuable Player Award
All Australian 1986, 1987, 1988
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Paul Kelly
1990-2002
234 games
200 goals
Captain 1993-2002
Best & Fairest 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997
Brownlow Medal 1995
All Australian 1995, 1996, 1997
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Tony Lockett
1995-1999; 2002
98 games
462 goals
Best & Fairest 1995
Coleman Medal 1996, 1998
All Australian 1995, 1996, 1998
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Stuart Maxfield
1996-2005
200 games
87 goals
Captain 2003-2005

Barry Mitchell
1984-1992
170 games
214 goals
Best & Fairest 1991
All Australian 1988, 1991

Tony Morwood
1978-1989
229 games
397 goals
Swans Team Of The Century

David Murphy
1984-1993
156 games
92 goals
All Australian 1988
Swans Team Of The Century

Rick Quade
1970-1980
164 games
111 goals
Best & Fairest 1976
Captain 1977-1979
Coach 1982-1984

Paul Roos (as player)
1995-1998
87 games
19 goals
All Australian 1996, 1997
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Barry Round
1976-1985
193 games
157 goals
Best & Fairest 1979, 1981
1981 Brownlow Medal
Captain 1980-1984
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Andrew Schauble
2000-2005
88 games
23 goals
Best & Fairest 2000

Wayne Schwass
1998-2002
98 games
57 goals
Best & Fairest 1999
All Australian 1999

Greg Williams
1986-1991
107 games
118 goals
1986 Brownlow Medal
All Australian 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
Swans Team Of The Century
AFL Team Of The Century
AFL Hall of Fame inductee

Stephen Wright
1979-1992
246 games
247 goals
Best & Fairest 1985, 1990
Swans Team Of The Century

Comments

  1. Rod Gillett says

    I forgot to mention that a young Terry Daniher played centre half-forward in the Ariah Park-Mirrool team under Rick Quade in 1975. TD went off to South Melbourne with Rick the next year.
    Its a myth that all the Danihers were recruited directly from Ungarie – on the contrary all of them went to the VFL via another club or in Neale’s case, a school team. Anthony (only the media called him ‘Tony’) went to South from Wagga club Turvey Park – he had come into Wagga to study animal husbandry at the TAFE, but I think the real reason was to prepare himself for the VFL by playing in the stronger South West League. Chris went to Essendon after a season with his cousins, Pat and Rod at Coolamon – also in the South West. While, Neale went directly to Essendon from Assumption College to join Terry under that great swap deal for Neville Fields.
    All the boys of course played junior and early senior footy at Ungarie – where Chris is still running around.

  2. Rocket, one of the Almanackers, Adam McNicol, is speaking at The Footy Almanac lunch on 31 July about his soon-to-be published book on the Danihers. Adam’s written a much anticipated family biography (Allen Unwin). He’s speaking at the lunch at the All Nations Hotel in Richmond on that last Friday in July and he’s hoping to get one of the Daniher boys (none of whom are younger than 42) at the lunch.
    PS. You’re right about the Danihers all playing beyond Ungarie before heading to Melbourne, but they certainly claim their Ungarie roots. The swing is still there on which Chris damaged his knee during an end-of-harvest drink before his Essendon career had even started.

Leave a Comment

*