You may have noticed that, with the addition of Aaron Mullett’s photo, the photos of Mooroolbark’s home grown VFL/AFL players have been re-located to the wall beside the bar.
I feel that it is important to display these photos in a prominent position as they are a very important part of our club’s short history. You’d be amazed at the reaction of young kids, either from Auskick or our Junior teams, who come into the clubrooms for the first time and see the photo of Sam Mitchell and say “Wow, did Sam Mitchell play at Mooroolbark?” It gives them a sense of pride in their footy club, even at a very young age.
As it is now some time since some of our home grown heroes played at the top level I thought I would do a brief history on each of them:
Geoff Hocking
Recruited by Carlton in 1978 but didn’t make his senior debut until 1981. A big man at 193 cm (6 ft 4 in) and 92 kgs (14st 7lbs), Geoff played his first senior game against Melbourne and lined up on Mark “Jacko” Jackson, who worked him over both physically and verbally! Carlton were very strong in this era and unfortunately Geoff only managed another 5 games before being cleared to Claremont in WA in 1982. Total Games – 6
Warren McKenzie
Also recruited by Carlton (Mooroolbark was in their recruiting zone) Warren was 190 cm and 86 kg and made his senior debut with the Blues in 1985. He played in the 1987 Premiership side, the Reserves 1984 & 1985 losing Grand Final side and Senior 1986 losing Grand Final side.
After 67 games with Carlton, Warren was transferred to Sydney Swans in 1990 where he played a further 21 games over 2 seasons. In 1993 he returned to Victoria and lined up with Sandringham in the VFA. Total Games – 88
Danny Noonan
Cousin of Steve and brother of Lorelle Wells, Danny also started with Carlton but failed to make a senior appearance. He then joined Clarence in the TFL where he won the B & F in 1990. Danny was then drafted to Brisbane where he had 31 possessions on debut in 1991. After 3 seasons and 55 games he returned to Clarence where he won 2 more B & Fs, with his last game being a Best on Ground performance in the 1997 Grand Final win against Burnie. Total Games – 55
Keep a look out for the next few players . . . can you guess?
Last Modified on 26/06/2013 23:07