It was the era of mullets and moustaches; a time when tight shorts and lace-up jumpers were the trends; and when footy expansion meant national, not international as it does today.
Remember the ‘80s?
If you can, you will recall it as one of the most volatile periods in Australian football history. It was a time of seismic change which dragged a near-broke Victorian Football League – with its 12 parochial clubs who played predominantly on suburban grounds each Saturday afternoon (often on muddy grounds) – towards the Australian Football League of today – when 18 clubs play in every state and territory at an assortment of times during the day and night (often under a roof).
If can’t recall them, you missed a remarkable decade for the game, and for Collingwood.
But don’t fret; Collingwood Forever plans to transport you back in time each week for a blast from the 1980s past, profiling a player who made an impact for one reason or another during that decade. They might not have all been stars, but each contributed to one of the club’s most tumultuous periods.
Colin Alexander
Collingwood looked to the 1988 national draft desperate to secure a classy rover.
Two of those chosen went on to premiership glory with the Magpies; another shone brightly in his debut season, winning the club's best first-year player award in 1989, before injuries and inconsistent form cut short his time in black and white.
Colin Alexander, from Clarence in Tasmania, was chosen by Collingwood as pick 25 in that draft.
On draft selection alone, he was chosen ahead of Scott Russell (pick 39) and Tony Francis (pick 95), and while those two South Australians would go on to become club greats, Alexander was afforded only three injury-interrupted seasons with the Magpies.
Russell and Francis chose not to move to Victoria Park until 1990. Alexander made the move in 1989, having a year’s head start, sensing an opportunity to fill a Magpies’ roving void.
That he played only 24 games - and kicked 28 goals - seemed cruel, given how well he played in that first season, with his career promising so much, but his body letting him down in the years after.
Alexander had been a member of Tasmania's Teal Cup team and was one of four members of that side drafted by the Magpies - the others were Michael Smith (Devonport), Peter Divenuto (Sandy Bay) and Nick Probert (Burnie Hawks).
He would almost certainly not have made it to Collingwood without the guidance of Magpies great Bill Picken, who showed him a series of videos of VFL players to convince him he was good enough.
Picken had coached Alexander - then an apprentice boilermaker-welder - in 1988 at Clarence.
Alexander would recall: "Bill Picken … pushed me in the right direction. He built my confidence right up."
"He said I could really play VFL football where I thought I couldn't. He pushed me towards it ... you always have your doubts."
Alexander resolved to make the most of his chance. His task was made easier when Russell and Francis opted to have another year in the SANFL, so he moved to Melbourne to chase his footy dream with seemingly a clear run at a roving position, mixed in with time in the forward line.
He was described in the Sun, in early 1989, as "being hailed by some as a possible answer to the Magpies' small-man woes."
The curly-haired rover, who was 178cm and on his way to 74kg, was hard at the ball, possessing better than average speed, and was at times pugnacious in the heat of battle.
"I knew I was a chance ... because Collingwood aren't very strong for small men," he said after being selected for Round 1, 1989. "That's one of the biggest reasons I came over this year."
"If I got drafted by a side like Footscray where they have a lot of small men, I probably would have stayed in Hobart for a while, but because it is Collingwood I thought I'd come over."
Coach Leigh Matthews said Alexander's elevation had as much to do with the club's need for rovers as his own good form leading into the first game against Hawthorn: “It's well-documented we've been looking for rovers and if we hadn't, he probably wouldn't have got a game. But for a first-up game in a spot we needed something, he looked OK.”
One newspaper said: "Alexander is in the Graeme Wright mould ... The Magpie hordes will have their appetites whetted at Waverley on Saturday when new chum Colin Alexander, a teenage rover from Tasmania, makes his senior debut among the established names like Daicos, Taylor, Starcevich, Morwood, Christian and Cloke, and the promising band of youngsters."
Alexander debuted just over a week short of his 19th birthday. He had 10 disposals and kicked a goal, after receiving a handball from David Robertson
Collingwood won by 10 points, and he held his spot for four consecutive weeks.
He was relegated to the reserves in Round 5, but on his return the following week produced one of his best performances for the club.
He was a late inclusion into the team to take on Melbourne, replacing Brian Taylor, costing Collingwood a $1000 fine, because Alexander had not been one of the emergencies.
It was said of him at the time that he was helping to fill a small-man issue for the club: “The only true one is Tassie recruit Colin Alexander, still finding his feet, but a definite starter in Collingwood's best 20 by finals time, according to one observer."
One act showed the fearless side to Alexander, one of the most notable features of his game. He "showed great courage" when standing his ground as Demon Jamie Duursma crashed into him.
Afterwards, he explained: “I had to go out there and do my job. That's the way I've always played. I believe you have to run straight at the ball and straight at the player.”
In a revealing interview in the Herald, Alexander spoke of his challenges in his debut season.
"I've found it more physically demanding," he said in 1989. "I played every practice match, and it's a long season - which I'm not used to. Then there is the mental toughness; you've got to come up every week and there are players breathing down your neck for a game."
"There is always something special about Collingwood, that bit more pressure. Everyone you talk to ... they have more followers and there are more people who know who you are."
Alexander ended up playing 18 games that season, finished second in Collingwood's goalkicking list with 25 goals to Brian Taylor's 49 for the season.
For a time, he was even spoken about as one of the VFL's recruits of the year.
Peter Keenan said in the Sun: "Little Colin Alexander from Collingwood . . . he's been dropped once and he's come back and started to go pretty well." Bob Skilton added: "Alexander's played consistently and he's played well”
Injuries cost him in the back end of 1989, with his last match for the season coming in Round 19, and he had to watch the Pies lose to Melbourne in the elimination final that season.
But Alexander made secret of what he aspired to, telling the Herald his ambition was "to play in a winning Collingwood grand final and to do well myself."
That would happen for Collingwood in 1990, but frustratingly, he wouldn't get the chance to be out there.
He had post-season groin surgery, then suffered a preseason scare when on the wrong end of a "perfect hip and shoulder" from Fitzroy's Gary Pert in Benalla, but was cleared of a fractured sternum.
With Russell and Francis (then considered the best rover outside the AFL) finally joining Collingwood in 1990, it was always going to put a squeeze on which of the rovers would make their mark.
The Sunday Herald said of the three rovers: "Not since the late '70s when Ron Wearmouth and Ray Shaw roamed the packs at Victoria Park has Collingwood had a pair of rovers equal to any in the league. The Magpies may be well on the way to rectifying this if South Australian recruit Tony Francis and second year clubman Colin Alexander can hold form."
"Rover-forward pocket Alexander appears to have thrown off the niggling injuries which marred a promising debut season and looks set for a big year.
"Blessed with an acute goal sense and the ability to create space, he proved particularly damaging around goals."
All three - Alexander, Francis and Russell - played in the opening match of 1990, against West Coast at Subiaco, though Francis would be suspended for six weeks for kicking Murray Rance.
Ironically, Alexander was also suspended for kicking later that season. Having been injured early in the season, he spent time in the reserves, before he was found guilty of kicking Sydney defender Ian Roberts, copping a five-week ban.
It was left to Magpies president Allan McAlister to make a passionate plea to the tribunal, saying Alexander was desperately trying to win his way back into the seniors. Football manager Graeme Allan said: "He has a big opportunity to play in Collingwood's senior team with the finals coming up."
Sadly, he couldn't win his way back into the seniors, as Russell and Francis not only consolidated their positions, but also played a role in leading Collingwood to a drought-breaking premiership.
The closest Alexander came to success that season was when he kicked four goals and was one of the best players in Tasmania's shock win over Victoria.
Having missed the 1990 flag, Alexander harboured hopes of reclaiming his senior spot in 1991. Premiership Magpie Peter Daicos tipped he would be back, writing in the Sunday Herald: "My own spot as a forward pocket player also will be under threat next year with the likes of Colin Alexander back fully fit."
"The Tasmanian rover-forward ... looked an exciting prospect before being restricted to just four because of injury this season. He is a top player who is sure to press heavily for selection in 1991."
Sadly, that prediction didn't come to fruition.
Alexander played only two more games in 1991, kicking a goal in each, but he starred when playing in the VFL side. He was third in the 1991 Gardiner Medal, behind teammate Stephen Anderson.
Just three seasons after joining Collingwood, Alexander was on the move. He ended up with Brisbane and looked to making some ground in the early rounds of 1992 before suffering a season-ending knee injury in Round 3 against Fitzroy.
He would manage two more matches in 1993, but at 23, his AFL career was over.
Alexander moved back to where it all started – Clarence – and despite the fact that further knee issues dulled his pace, it couldn’t quell his competitiveness.
He kept playing for as long as he could, despite the need for "pain-killing injections to get through a game" and against the advice of his doctors.
While the frustration of missing that 1990 Collingwood flag no doubt lingered, he was able to finish his career with a few flags with Clarence, with the Hobart Mercury saying: "As volatile as he is brilliant, (he is) the man with the Midas touch."
If luck had deserted him at Collingwood, it seemed only fitting that he tasted some success when he went back home to Tassie.
The Electrifying Eighties
Written by Glenn McFarlane and Michael Roberts
A lasting impact: Greg Phillips
A loved rover's big year: Matthew Ryan
A comet in the Magpie sky: Phil Walsh
Sweet sixteen and a senior debut: Terry Keays
Quiet, no fuss and got the job done: Ron McKeown
A man for all seasons: Jamie Turner
Almost ahead of his time: Bruce Abernethy
Hawke's rise and fall: Paul Hawke
Our first Indigenous Magpie: Wally Lovett
Mr Reliable: Michael Taylor
An impact beyond Collingwood: Tony Burgess
Another Shaw thing: Neville Shaw
What could have been: Russell Dickson
A flash in the pan: Darren Collins
It's not just about the name: Paul Tuddenham
