Few Collingwood footballers have extracted as much out of their natural abilities as Mick Gayfer, the club’s ever-reliable, close-checking defender of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
That shouldn’t been taken as a slight. Quite the contrary, it is a compliment of the highest order.
By his own admission, Gayfer wasn’t blessed with the sharpest of skills, or the pure aesthetic talent others may have possessed. But he was a competitor, first and foremost, and he was a fitness fanatic who prepared himself – and his body – like few others in a time before full-time professionalism.
Read Glenn McFarlane's full story on the close-checking career of Mick Gayfer on Collingwood Forever.
Mick Gayfer
Games: 142
Goals: 1
Born: 17 August 1965
Recruited From: Corowa - Rutherglen
Debut: Round 1 1986 v Essendon
Our Collingwood Cult Figures
There are some footballers who, for whatever reason, form a special connection with their club's fans.
They might not always be the best players in the team, but there is something about them that makes them a favourite of those who cheer from the stands each week.
It might be their hair, or their physique, or their temperament, or something about the way they play – the reasons are many and varied. And you can't force it: it has to happen naturally.
These are a football club's cult heroes. And Collingwood has had plenty of them over the years, especially in the decades since TV and media coverage has boomed.
Each week during the 2016 season, collingwoodfc.com.au and the club's history website, Collingwood Forever, will highlight the career of a different Magpie cult hero. Some have been great players, some have been battlers, some have flattered to deceive. But all have enjoyed a special place in the affections of the black-and-white army.
The story so far...
Round One - Rene Kink
The Incredible Hulk.
Round Two - Rupert Betheras
The king of the Rupe Group.
Round Three - Ian Cooper
Collingwood fans have always loved their tough, battling, no-nonsense defenders.
Round Four - Leigh Brown
A journey from the scrapheap to the 'Leigh Brown role'.
Round Five - Graeme Jenkin
Not just Jezza's stepladder.
Round Six - Dannie Seow
A Magpie from Montmerency.
Round Seven - Micky Bone
Unheralded but loved by all.
Round Eight - Ron Wearmouth
Flowing blond locks, energetic bursts from contests, a cheeky on-field manner and a knockabout nature that endeared him to all.
Round Nine - Kevin Grose
Before there was Swanny, there was a man known as Disney.
Round 10 - James Manson
Sometimes the thing that makes a footballer vulnerable becomes the very trait that endears him to the fans.
Round 11 - Stan Magro
Collingwood fans have always loved their hard-as-nails defenders. And in Stan Magro they had one of the best to take to their hearts.
Round 12 - Mick Gayfer
No one was safer than Micky Gayfer.
Click on each player's name to view their profile on Collingwood Forever.
