Roy Cazaly is known throughout football circles as one of 12 inaugural Legends in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. A 180cm ruckman, he inspired the time-honoured phrase ‘Up There, Cazaly,’ which is synonymous with AFL.
Not so well-known is the fact that in 1926, Cazaly was the Swans’ first club champion.
Born in suburban Albert Park in inner Melbourne on January 3, 1893, the 10th child of English-born rower James Cazaly and Scottish-born wife and herbalist Elizabeth (nee McNee), he prevailed in the first year of the award introduced in a season in which South Melbourne posted a 12-6 win/loss record under coach Charlie Pannam and missed the finals on percentage.
Having learned his football at the local state school and trialled unsuccessfully with Carlton in 1910. Cazaly had quit the club when, after a shoulder injury in the Reserves, he could not get the Carlton medical staff to treat it.
Cazaly switched to St Kilda, making his debut during a players’ strike in 1910 prompted by a dispute with the club committee over the dressing rooms, and played 99 games with the Saints from 1911-20, including the club’s 1913 grand final loss. And from 1921-27 he played 99 games with South Melbourne.
As legend has it, although only 180cm, Cazaly was famous for his high marking. He’d developed a spectacular leap while jumping at a ball strung up in a shed at his home, learning to hold his breath as he jumped in the belief that it lifted him higher.
He became so prolific that South teammates Fred ‘Skeeter’ Fleiter and Mark ‘Nappy’ Tandy would simultaneously yell "Up there Cazzer".
Having also coached South in 1922, Cazaly later played with Launceston in Tasmania from 1928-30, coached Preston in the VFA in 1931 while working on the waterfront during the depression, and coached South again in 1937-38. He coached Camberwell in the VFA in 1941 aged 48, when, while he was officially a non-playing coach, he pulled on the boots several times.
He also coached Hawthorn in 1942-43, during which time he changed the club nickname from ‘Mayblooms’ to ‘Hawks’ because he said it provided a tougher image, and in 1947 had another stint as assistant-coach at South.
He became a proficient businessman, and in his later years ran a successful physiotherapy business in Hobart which, in the years before his death, was managed by his son Roy Jnr.
Cazaly died in Hobart in 1963 aged 70, and was later honoured when Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns was named after him.
Cazaly was the first of 55 players to have won the Swans Club Champion, which was named the Bob Skilton Medal in 1995 in honour of the man who won it nine times.
How well do you know the history of the Swans Club Champion, which will be presented for the 100th time on October 2?
Who won the award in the only two years from 1958-68 when Skilton did not?
In 1960, Bob Skilton played 16 of 18 games and polled 11 votes in the Brownlow to top the club count but was beaten in club’s best and fairest by Frank Johnson, who polled 10 medal votes in his first season in the VFL. A 185cm ruckman who had twice won All-Australian selection playing with Port Melbourne in the VFA in 1953 and ’56, Johnson played 64 games with South Melbourne from 1960-64, was captain of the Port Melbourne Team of the Century and in 2007 was the first predominantly VFA player inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
And in 1966, when Skilton played 13 of a possible 18 games yet still topped the club Brownlow count with seven votes, Max Papley, grandfather of Tom Papley, was named Club Champion. He polled three votes in the Brownlow that year. A prolific full forward playing with Moorabbin in the VFA, he kicked six goals in the VFA grand final as he captained his side to the ’63 premiership. Only 179cm, he was told he was ‘too small’ to play at the top level, but played 59 games with South from 1964-67 and later captained the VFA representative side.
Who are the three Swans players who won the Brownlow Medal in a year which they did not win the club championship?
In 1955 Fred Goldsmith, a member of the Swans Team of the Century and the only fullback to win the Brownlow Medal, polled 21 votes to beat Essendon’s Bill Hutchison by one. But Ian Gillett, a ruckman/key forward who played 135 games for the Swans from 1951-58 without ever polling a Brownlow Medal vote, won the best and fairest from rover Eddie Lane, who played 96 games from 1951-56 and topped the goal-kicking in 1954-55.
In 1986, Greg Williams shared the Brownlow Medal with Hawthorn’s Robert Dipierdomenico on 17 votes. But Gerard Healy, the third-ranked Swan in the Brownlow with seven votes behind Williams and Dennis Carroll (10), was Club Champion.
And in 1995, Paul Kelly polled 21 Brownlow Medal votes to win by three. He polled three times as many Brownlow votes as teammates Tony Lockett, Mark Bayes and Darren Kappler, who each picked up seven votes. Kelly also won the Players Association MVP but was runner-up in the Club Champion award to Lockett, who kicked 110 goals in 19 games to finish second to Gary Ablett Snr in the Coleman Medal.
Who is the youngest Swans Club Champion?
In 1980, in his second season at senior level, unheralded back pocket specialist David Ackerley won the club’s #1 award in a side captained by Barry Round in which Round, Graham Teasdale, Mark Browning, John Roberts, Stephen Wright, Tony and Paul Morwood, and Francis Jackson all played 20 games or more. Ackerley, later to win again in 1982, was 19 years 308 days old on September 30, in 1980 – 18 days younger than Bob Skilton on the same date in his first win in 1958. Skilton was 20 years 308 days when he won his second in 1960, while Ron Clegg was 20 years 318 days when he won in 1940.
Who is the oldest Swans Club Champion?
We’re back where we started as it was Roy Cazaly, who was 33 years 261 days on September 30, 1926. Barry Round was second-oldest at 31 years 328 days when he won for the second time in 1981, while Adam Goodes was 31 years 266 days when he won his third in 2011.
Who had played most games for the club when he won his first Club Champion award?
This is one that slipped under the radar last year when Isaac Heeney won the Bob Skilton Medal. He had played 201 games to go ahead of 1945 winner Jack Graham (171) and 1983 winner Mark Browning (166).
Who had played fewest games for the club when he won his first Club Champion award?
This is a split between 1960 winner Frank Johnson, and 1932 winner Bill Faul, a defender from WAFL club Subiaco who in his first season at South not only won the Club Champion award but also was runner-up in the Brownlow Medal. Both had played just 17 games in red and white. Tony Lockett won in 1995 after 19 games, while fellow imports Gerard Healy in 1986 and Andrew Schauble in 2000 triumphed after 22 games.
Who, according to votes in the Bob Skilton Medal, is the best Swans player of the 21st century?
Allocating 15-13-11-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 points to the top 10 place-getters each year from 2000-2024 reveals it is Luke Parker (118 points) by a whisker from Josh Kennedy (112). Making up the top 10 are Brett Kirk (95), Adam Goodes (81), Ryan O’Keefe (79), Jake Lloyd (72), Jarrad McVeigh (69.5), Kieren Jack (62), Barry Hall (51) and Dane Rampe (45).
Who were the top 10 vote-getters in the 2024 Bob Skilton Medal?
Isaac Heeney (956) won from Errol Gulden (888), Chad Warner (813), Brodie Grundy (750), Nick Blakey (648), James Rowbottom (639), Ollie Florent (628), James Jordan (622), Jake Lloyd (605) and Tom Papley (576).
