Earlier this month, that reputation was confirmed when the
Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League, an organisation that
governs 32 senior clubs, named a team of the best VFL and AFL
recruits to hail from its region.
It is an awesome collection of talent, including the likes of
Bomber champion John Coleman and Hawthorn's Leigh Matthews as
captain-coach. The full team can be found in today's Pssst column
on page 28.
So strong is the line-up, the selection panel, which counted St
Kilda and Hawthorn premiership coach Allan Jeans among its ranks,
could not find spots for Brendan Fevola or No. 1 draft picks Jeff
White and Travis Johnstone.
Last night, those players were honoured at a gala celebration,
among the key events marking 100 years since the formation of the
Peninsula Football Association, the forerunner to today's
MPNFL.
But while the make-up of the VFL/AFL team impressed the
400-strong crowd at Frankston's Arts Centre, the evening's
highlight involved honouring 24 footballers for their efforts
closer to home.
When chairman of selectors Alan Wickes — a former
Collingwood player, VFA president and now head of the Frankston
junior competition — announced the MPNFL Team of the Century,
he gave the region's local footy fans fodder for countless
discussions.
Chosen from the more than 26,000 players to have pulled on the
boots in leagues now covered by the MPNFL, the team contains many
familiar names.
Among them is Simon Goosey, the legendary former Mornington and
now Dromana full-forward, who kicked a century of goals in 11
consecutive seasons between 1996 and 2005.
Still playing at 40, Goosey has already kicked more than 60
goals this season for Dromana, taking his career tally past 1700.
After four premierships and two club best-and-fairest awards, the
latest honour has topped a great career.
"It's an individual thing but it's a great honour," said Goosey,
who plans to keep running out each Saturday until he no longer
enjoys it. "I suppose when I have finished, it will really sink in
then."
There are also many representatives from times gone by, when
south-east growth centres like Pakenham, Beaconsfield and Berwick
were little towns in the bush.
Centre half-back Robert Stone played at Hastings alongside a
young John Coleman. While Coleman dominated up forward, Stone was
impassable in defence, winning four league best-and-fairest medals
and helping the Blues to three consecutive flags.
Coleman could not be considered for the local team of the
century as he played fewer than 100 MPNFL games. Instead, names
such as Stone and Goosey sat atop an initial list of almost 300
nominations, which Wickes, along with his fellow selectors Graham
Kendall, Wayne Spence and Darryl Nisbet, had to evaluate.
The quartet spent many hours consulting with historians and
analysing the merits of past champions, some of whom had not taken
to the field for six or seven decades.
"One of the toughest things is understanding the way the game
has changed," Wickes said. "The comparison of eras is always
difficult. People often say that Jack Dyer or Ted Whitten wouldn't
get a game the way it's played today. That's totally incorrect
because those blokes were terrific athletes and very skilled
footballers. They would've adjusted to the requirements. I think a
good player would be a good player at any time."
Eventually, the selectors arrived at a shortlist of 36.
"We looked at each position and discussed who were the
outstanding full-backs and who were the best centre half-backs,"
Wickes said. "We ended up with four or five names in each position.
Then we'd have a look at their history and the two historians did a
mighty job providing information and we were able to separate the
wheat from the chaff early on."
Best-and-fairest awards, premierships won and performances in
interleague matches were all looked upon favourably. But often, the
final two players in the running for each position would prove hard
to split.
"That's when it becomes very subjective," Wickes explained. "So
we would ask ourselves, 'Do we think this bloke is an elite
player?' A guy can play 300 games and represent his club well but
he might not be an elite player. Although it seems a fairly
subjective comment, we think it allowed us to objectively pick the
team."
Allowed the luxury of a six-strong interchange bench, only 12
players had to be cast aside in the final round of meetings. Among
the most unlucky to miss out was Robert Jackson, a former wingman
with Pines, Karingal, Carrum and Langwarrin. Jackson played 335
games and was a member of six premiership teams.
While admitting it was a tough job, Wickes said selecting the
team had still been enjoyable.
"For all of the guys involved, it's been a real labour of love.
Every now and then, we'd get lost on a tangent talking about what
happened in a grand final or something like that. But we never had
a blue. Given the difficulty of the task, I think we've done as
well as can be expected."
Looking at the final line-up, it certainly is a talent-laden
team, led by captain Kevin White, a five-time premiership centre
half-forward with Chelsea back in the 1960s.
In something of a quirk, two of the selectors, Kendall and
Nisbet, were named coach and assistant coach respectively.
They, along with Wickes, know people will annoy them for many
years about who they did and didn't choose.
"The only certainty is that we'll have got it wrong," Wickes
joked.
By Adam McNicol
Article first appeared The Sunday Age, July 2, 2008
Media Articles 
THE region south-east of Melbourne has long been regarded as
among Australia's most productive breeding grounds for champion
footballers.
