Bob Skilton is football’s original Mr Nice Guy. Everyone loves him. Even staunch opposition fans have nothing but good to say about the Swans Team of the Century captain and triple Brownlow Medallist.

But there was one day, 61 years ago today, when Skilton did incur the wrath of Collingwood fans.

It was 18 April 1959 after the Swans had opened the ‘59 season with one of the club’s great wins over ’58 premiers Collingwood at Victoria Park.

It was a young and inexperienced Swans side under second-year captain-coach and 1949 Brownlow Medallist Ron Clegg, who had piloted them to a 7-11 win/loss record and ninth position on the ladder in his first season at the helm in 1958.

They had not played in the finals during the 1950s and had beaten Collingwood only once.

Only Clegg (203 games), 1955 Brownlow Medallist Fred Goldsmith (107) and ex-Geelong player Noel Rayson (102) had played 100 AFL games in a South Melbourne side that included five debutants: Paul Briglia, Cliff Deacon, Ray Landorf, Bill McGrath and Norm McKenzie.

South Melbourne had watched on before the first bounce as the Pies unfurled the premiership flag to a thumping rendition of the club song ‘Good Old Collingwood Forever’ in front of a crowd of 40,125.

It was billed as a certain win for a Collingwood side coached by Phonse Kyne and captained by Frank Tuck, which included 16 members of their ’58 premiership side.

But it turned out to be anything but a Collingwood cakewalk. And while the Swans’ debut quintet only played 122 games between them, they could all boast that they played in the very special game in which the Swans got the better of the Pies during and after the match.

The visitors dominated from the first bounce, kicking 5.4 to 1.4 in the first quarter and leading by 31 points at halftime and 34 points at three-quarter time on route to a 14.17 (101) to 7.18 (50) win.

Goldsmith and Brian McGowan kicked four goals and a 20-year-old Skilton, in his 48^th game, kicked three, as they were named with Clegg, Bill Gunn and John Heriot in the best players published in The Sporting Globe under a heading ‘MIGHTY MAGPIES CANED’.

Clegg was so proud of his team’s efforts that, before they left the ground, he sent Skilton to pull down the newly unfurled premiership flag. And much to the chagrin of the home fans, he did just that.

South Melbourne found themselves on top of the ladder after Round 1 and at Round 12 they were still fourth with a 7-5 record. But after looking set to play in the finals for the first time since 1945 they won only one of their last five and finished ninth. Collingwood were beaten in week one of the finals.

Still, there was big reward for Skilton for his cheeky prank at the end of the season. He won the second of his seven Club Champion awards and, in the first Brownlow Medal vote-count broadcast on radio, he polled 20 votes to head the count with St Kilda’s Verdun Howell and claim the first of his three Brownlows.

Oddly, too, exactly 11 years later, on 18 April 1970, Skilton would play his 200^th game.

He was the club’s sixth 200-gamer behind Vic Belcher (1918), Mark Tandy (1925), Jim Cleary (1947), Jack Graham (1947) and Ron Clegg (1958) and has since seen a further 26 players reach this milestone.

It was Round 3 of Skilton’s second-last season, the season in which the little champion would play his one and only final and earn the last of his club record 180 Brownlow Medal votes. And, oddly, the only season of his career in which he played 20 games.

South hosted Essendon at Lake Oval. After being 17 points down at quarter-time they led by three points at halftime but were out-gunned in the second half and lost 12.17 (89) to 15.10 (100).

Skilton had 30 possessions and kicked two goals and was on the good end of a 6-0 personal free kick count as the overall free kick tally favoured South 42-33.

South would bounce back to win their next two games and claim a place in the top four. They stayed there for the remainder of the season, finishing fourth on the home-and-away ladder with an 14-8 win/loss record.

They played third-placed St Kilda in a knockout semi-final at the MCG the following week, losing by 54 points in what was the only finals appearance not only for Skilton but also for 11 teammates – Keith Baskin, Peter Bedford, Stuart Bennett, Russell Cook, Reg Gleeson, Tony Haenen, Richard Luke, Haydn McAuliffe, South Australian recruit John P Murphy, John Sudholz and Fred Way.

It was the only South Melbourne final for Graeme Jacobs, who had played two finals for Melbourne before joining the club, and John Rantall, Wayne Walsh and John Pitura, who tasted September action elsewhere.

Gary Brice, Steve Hoffman, Greg Lambert and David McLeish would go on to play a second final for South in 1977.