Three champions of Collingwood were inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame at the season launch on Monday night.
Ron Todd, John Greening and Paul Licuria were honoured in front of around 1200 people at Crown and joined an illustrious list of club greats already part of the Collingwood Hall of Fame.
Greening and Licuria were present to accept their awards, while Todd, who passed away in 1991, was represented by his niece, Jan Roberts.
Senior coach Mick Malthouse also presented the 2011 playing list with their guernseys.
Ron Todd
Ron Todd was one of the truly great players of his generation, and was one of the most exciting forwards to have ever played for Collingwood. He topped the VFL goal kicking in 1938 with 120 goals and again in 1939 with 121 goals, and formed a lethal combination up forward with the great Gordon Coventry. Todd was a star of Collingwood’s famous 1936 premiership victory.
In 1936 Coventry was controversially suspended for eight weeks and missed the finals. It was left to a young Ron Todd to fill the void and he did so with aplomb, starring in the finals and kicking four goals in a historic premiership victory.
1n 1937, playing at centre-half forward, he formed a lethal combination with Coventry. He was tall, quick, agile, beautifully balanced, a prodigious kick and a spectacular mark. Collingwood lost the Grand Final that year but The Argus described Todd’s performance saying, “Collingwood’s acrobatic aerialist led his opponents a merry dance, kicking four majors and electrifying the crowd with soaring high marks and blistering pace.”
In 1938 Todd was unstoppable kicking 18 goals in the finals and 120 for the season to lead the VFL goal kicking. He was best player for Victoria in the carnival and the next year he did it again kicking 121 for the season, 11 of them in the preliminary final.
In 1940 at the height of his powers, Todd was lost to Collingwood accepting an offer that was more than ten times what he could earn at the Magpies and simply too good to refuse. Despite his love for the club he moved to Williamstown, winning two premierships, and famously kicking 188 goals in one season.
Todd passed away in 1991 at 74 years of age.
Honours
First Played: 1935 (at 18 years of age)
Last Played: 1939
Games: 76 Games
Goals: 327
Honours:
Premiership Player 1936; Represented Victoria 1938, 1939 (Best Player of the Carnival 1938); VFL Leading goal kicker - 1938 (120 goals) & 1939 (121)
John Greening
John Greening is regarded as one of the most exciting talents and naturally gifted footballers ever to play for Collingwood. He arrived at Victoria Park from Burnie in Tasmania in 1967 and debuted at just 17 years of age. He played 108 games and wore the famous number 22 guernsey.
In Round 13 of the 1972 season, as Greening led all the awards and was runaway favourite for the Brownlow, he was cruelly felled behind play. So serious was it that doctors feared for his life. The football world was outraged. The game lost a champion and Collingwood was robbed of one of its brightest stars.
John Greening made a brave recovery and his comeback match in 1974 was one of the most stirring and emotional events in the history of the club. In front of more than 70,000 he led Collingwood on to the MCG, booted a goal with his first kick, and was one of the best on the ground as the Magpies recorded a famous victory. No Collingwood fan who witnessed it would ever forget it.
Honours
Recruited from: Burnie, Tasmania
First Played: v Hawthorn Round 5 1968
Last Played: v Fitzroy Round 8 1976
Total Games: 108 Day
Total Goals: 70
Club Honours: Third in Copeland Trophy 1970, 1972
Guernsey Number: 22
Paul Licuria
Paul Licuria is part of an illustrious group of players to have won two Copeland Trophies (2001, 2002) in a stellar 182-game career at Collingwood.
Licuria was originally drafted by Sydney after courageously overcoming two knee reconstructions as a teenager, and after two seasons and 10 games with the Swans he came to Collingwood at the end of 1998.
The Magpies were at rock bottom but Licuria was one of the driving forces behind the club's resurgence, and played a key role in the Magpies reaching the 2002 and 2003 grand finals. In the qualifying final of 2002 we witnessed the very best of Paul Licuria as he was instrumental in one of Collingwood's most famous finals victories.
During his playing days his contribution off the field in leading the club’s community initiatives was immense.
Honours
Recruited: Keon Park Stars/Northern U18
Games: 192 (182 for Collingwood)
Goals: 72 (70 for Collingwood)
Awards: Copeland Trophy 2001 & 2002, runner-up 2004; Bob Rose Trophy Best Player in Finals 2002
Number: 18