Fans reminisce about our Maskell Medal marvels

The former Geelong footballer had a presence and aura which captured the attention of the competition.

His feats, such as kicking in at full-back before running to collect the ball and kicking a goal, ensured he was etched in country football folklore.

Woodman's impact was recalled on The Standard's Facebook page this week under a story asking readers to pick their best league best and fairest winner of the past 50 years.

The powerful six-foot-three 92-kilogram game-changer's name kept popping up with past players and fans sharing memories of his dominant 1982 and 1983 seasons.

Long-time Camperdown follower Peter Conheady said Woodman was "an absolute superstar".

"He was an absolute fitness freak," he said.

"He worked at the local Mobil depot but he lived out at Chocolyn which is five kilometres down the road so he'd run into work of a morning, he'd run home for lunch, he'd then run back into work and then run home after work.

"Anyone who played footy in Camperdown at the time still talks about the fitness regime of Alan Woodman.

"Even when (now Port Adelaide coach) Kenny Hinkley coached us in 1999 and 2000 and was very, very big on the pre-season, they all say it wasn't a match on Alan Woodman."

Woodman however did not top The Standard's poll. That honour went to joint 2012 winner Tim Hunt, the classy Warrnambool midfielder whose career was cut short by injuries.

Hunt, who collected 108 of the 768 votes at the time this article was written, proved popular among his mates and peers.

Others to poll favourably were Cobden's Levi Dare, a three-time winner, with 71 votes, South Warrnambool's Tom Smith (1981) with 61 and Koroit's Isaac Templeton (2014-15) with 48.

Some suggested the poll voting was generational with the answers contrasting with the picks on Facebook.

Woodman and three-time winner Hugh Worrall (1970, '72 and '79) were the popular choices in the comments section.

Conheady, who was in high school when Woodman played for the Magpies, said he was known to do uncanny things on the field.

His ability to cover the ground was legendary. One opponent, Cobden's Peter Finch, said Woodman would "kick in one end, goal at the other and do everything else in between".

Greg Teal, another reader who holds Woodman in high regard, recalled the same thing, saying he was "a machine".

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Steve Lucas said Woodman was his pick "by a country mile".

"Won two in a row by big margins when the league was stronger," he wrote.

Rob Absalom rated Woodman, who passed away in 2014 aged 58, "the best country footballer I've ever seen" and former umpire Duncan Potts said he "dominated in his time in the comp".

Neil Stewart also had high praise for Woodman declaring him "the best in my time but gee Kevin Leske was as good a small man in his time".

Conheady said the 58-game VFL player cast a dominant figure at the club.

"He still gets talked about. He had an aura in size, physically he was a big set, solid person," he said.

"But he had aura about him with the way he played. His actions did the talking.

"He was just a presence. Any young kids that played felt safe with Alan Woodman as their coach."

Worrall, who clocked up 13 VFL games for Fitzroy and still umpires in his 70s, played against Woodman in the latter stages of his career.

"He was very, very strong. A very good footballer, he could run all day," he said.

"He was a very powerful man. I remember one day he kicked out from full-back and ran right through the centre and got a handball from the guy he kicked it to and kicked it forward."

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Worrall said Port Fairy legend Leske, the 1975 Maskell winner, was another opponent he admired.

"He was one of the best players I ever played against," he said.

"Kevin was a very good onballer, very, very fair. Multi-skilled and a very nice gentleman to boot."

Worrall rated Dare, the former Cobden coach now at Hamilton Kangaroos, as the best Maskell winner of the modern era.

"He was the epitome, played footy really hard and gave 100 per cent every time he hit the field," he said.

"Being a ruckman too, he's obviously in the play all the time."

Worrall himself is considered one of the league's finest. Former teammate Jim Dalziel said Worrall was the best Maskell winner "by a mile".

Another reader Shane Watts said it was hard to split two players - Worrall and Phil Bradmore, who won the medal playing for South Warrnambool in 1989.

"Phil Bradmore is one of the best players I have seen go through the Hampden league and it's unfortunate he was not here longer," he wrote.

"Just ahead of Hugh Worrall as I was fairly young when he played but still a brilliant player at age 30 in 1979 when he won his last."

Des O'Connor echoed those thoughts, saying Worrall "could have played 250-plus (games) at Fitzroy if he chose to stay".

Paul Quinlan was just as emphatic.

"Too easy, Hugh Worrall. Question should be, who's the second best?" he wrote.

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Conheady knows the debate gives people a sense of nostalgia. And that there is no right or wrong answer, just the ideal grounding for a discussion.

"Only three players in our league's history have won three Maskells," he said.

"Two of them, Hugh Worrall and Levi Dare, fall into the time-frame being discussed.

"Ron Hoy won his three earlier. So surely weight of numbers gives Hugh and Levi a pretty good standing in the argument."

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