Jim Main (1)

Jim Main does Australian rules football fans a great service with "When it matters most". The Norm Smith Medal, established in 1979, is the the authorative guide to who is considered the best player on ground in a VFL/AFL Grand Final, but leaving out the years of 1897-1978.

Main returns to those grand finals past and nominates his choice of Best On Ground in the game that matters most. Whether he has made the right choices for BOGs I will leave to the philosphers but it good to see some of show more these past champions get their due for their match-winning efforts in grand final pasts. show less

Despite the title, this is not a full biography of Tony 'Plugger' Lockett and his career at the Sydney Swans. Instead it is a book by prolific football author and passionate Swans supporter, Jim Main, about the rise of the Sydney Swans as a footy power in the 1990s. One third of the book is an overview of the Swans history from 1860 to 1994. The impact of Lockett's arrival at Sydney is described in some detail. The 1996 season is described match by match, culminating in the Grand Final loss show more to North Melbourne and there is some reflection on the Swans glorious near miss of 1996. Main also provides an A-Z listing of every South Melbourne and Sydney Swans player from 1897-1996, sourced from his well-known volume The Encyclopedia of League Footballers co-written with Russell Holmesby. show less

Intriguing compilation of interviews in a Q and A format of the post football activities of 200 former VFL and AFL players.

A compendium of football events and anecdotes. Almost all are related to the AFL/VFL or VFA competitions covering the years 1858-2008. Many are retellings of famous incidents, matches or amusing items of footy folklore which will be familiar to avid footy fans. Contains 324 stories. The stories covering the early years of football are less well known and consequently of particular interest.