Our Facebook fans are asked to choose between Gordon Coventry’s club record 17 goals against Fitzroy in 1930, Peter McKenna’s 143 goals in the 1970 season or Dick Lee’s famous specky against Carlton in 1914.
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Last week, the beginning of Nathan Buckley’s time at Collingwood, round one, 1994 v Fitzroy, was voted into our timeline by our fans.
Coventry goes nuts
There are legends, and there are legends. And then there’s Gordon Coventry. ‘Nuts’ has held several records at Collingwood and in the entire VFL/AFL for decades. Tony Shaw may have broken his club games record of 306 in 1994, and Sydney’s Tony Lockett eventually crashed through his imposing league record of 1299 career goals in 1999, but Coventry’s 17 goals in a match against Fitzroy in 1930 will remain a Collingwood record for many years to come. Coventry booted 99 goals in the other 20 matches he played for the season, but no outing was as memorable as his drubbing of the Roys in round 12. The Magpies went on to win by 73 points. Had he retired that afternoon, his 671 goals would have ensured that he would be sitting in third on the club’s goal kicking record in 2012.
McKenna’s run starts
A favourite of Collingwood supporters since Tony Shaw was still in nappies, Peter McKenna made his big break through in 1970 when he kicked a club record 143 goals for the season. He went on to kick 100 in a season in 1971 and 1972, and came ever so close in 1969 (95 goals for the year), but his 143.78 in 1970 appears set to stand the test of time. At the age of 23, McKenna bagged nine big ones against arch rival Carlton at Victoria Park in round 19 to reach the ton for the first time and propel the Pies to a 77-point win. McKenna described the sensation of being mobbed by the 39,959 strong crowd to Michael Roberts in the April 1998 edition of In Black and White:
“It seemed like the whole ground was covered with fans. It was a wonderful feeling. It was such a big crowd, such a big match, it was all really exciting”.
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Peter McKenna and Gordon Coventry. The alpha and omega of Collingwood goal kickers.
Dick Lee’s mark
All the great marks stand the test of time, but a mark must be truly great if it still resonates throughout the national competition 98 years since it was held. That’s the story of Dick Lee, Collingwood’s first noted star forward. Lee played 230 games for the Magpies in a 17-year career that began in 1906 and booted 707 goals to remain third on the club’s all time tally. His mark in round one, 1914, was taken against Carlton at Victoria Park in a drawn match between the two old foes. Lee flew high over a pack of four players to hold one of the most famous marks in the history of the game.
So famous was Lee's mark was that parallels were drawn between it and Dale Thomas’ screamer on ANZAC Day 2006 in only his fourth game.
