Champions of Collingwood – By The Eras 1
Pre-First World War
With the forthcoming release of our 125th anniversary book Champions of Collingwood, we look at each era to see which stars might get a guernsey among our 125 greatest of all time.

The period between Collingwood's debut in 1892 and the First World War was a richly successful one for the fledgling club.

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Its first and only VFA Premiership came within five years of its first game, an extraordinarily swift return. Back-to-back flags followed just a handful of years after joining the newly formed Victorian Football League in 1897, and then there was the brutal 1910 Grand Final win over Carlton, a game described as one of the wildest of all time and which sparked our long-time rivalry with the Blues.

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The Pies played the first ever game outside of Victoria for Premiership points, when the VFL sent them to Sydney against Fitzroy in 1903. And it was another interstate jaunt – this one a leisure trip to Tasmania in 1902 – where a handful of the team's cleverest players invented the stab kick.

This is the era where it's hardest to judge the merits of different players. There were no Copeland Trophies or Brownlow Medals to act as a guide and no film highlights, so the authors have had to rely on newspaper reports of the time.



Dick Lee flies high to take one of the most famous screamers in VFL history.

Even with those limited research options, a few things are clear. There were several out and out stars for Collingwood in this period, including the legendary Dick Lee, one of the greatest forwards of his – or any – generation. He is certain to be included.

Dick Condon was a brilliant player but a controversial figure, while Charlie Pannam Snr (Lou Richards' grandfather) was a star first as a wingman and later as a forward. Bill Proudfoot was a giant in defence. Dan Minogue was an inspirational captain before he went to war, and then there's the great Jock McHale himself: an absolute legend as a coach, but could he make the cut solely as a player?

Besides that, the most interesting talking points are:
- How many players from our first Premiership team in 1896 will make it?
- How many players, if any, from our very first game in 1892 will make it?
- What about those who invented the stab kick – Messrs Condon, Pannam, Rowell and Leach? Will they all get in?
- Will any player who only played for us in our VFA years make the cut?

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