SA superstars in footy Hall of Fame

Last updated: June 04, 2014

ANDREW McLeod and Warren Tredrea have claimed the greatest accolade for their resilience against near-crippling knee injuries with induction to the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

AFL honours loyal Blues skipper

ERN Henfry played 84 games for Carlton. The measure of the footballer, and the character he exuded, was such he was captain in 82 of them.

No saving Grace. It's really that bad

GRACE Of Monaco: The bank balances of rich fat cats are at stake. Only Nicole Kidman's Grace can save the day. What will she do? Don't ask. What should you do? Don't watch.

SA superstars in footy Hall of Fame

ANDREW McLeod and Warren Tredrea have claimed the greatest accolade for their resilience against near-crippling knee injuries with induction to the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Five ways to fight a cold at home

THERE may not be a cure for the common cold, but that doesn't mean you can't come out fighting when the runny nose begins this winter.

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Mere numbers don’t do Kouta justice

Anthony Koutoufides has been inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame; a Carlton super star, Koutoufides was close to the ultimate footballer.

Carlton's Anthony Koutoufides has been inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame. Source: FoxSports

TO watch Anthony Koutoufides lope around the football field was an experience of beauty, one where he sometimes appeared to be playing to his own rules.

A laconic style belied a rare gift where he could change the course of games, and he could do so by playing in any position on the ground.

RICHARDSON: I WAS SELFISH, BUT ONLY ONCE

VERSATILE JOHNNON FLAGLESS YET RELENTLESS

He was assisted by a 191cm and 97kg build and a junior athletics career where he was Australian U17 champion in the 110m hurdles (14.18 sec, record) and U16 high jump champion (2.08cm). But those athletic gifts didn't ensure he could get the football.

In "Kouta's" case he could do so one-handed, a signature movement at stoppages that became his speciality. On his day, and there were many days, he was able to accumulate large numbers of significant possession in quick time.

When you watched him he ensured you left the game fully aware of his skill set, making it all the more remarkable he was only named All-Australia twice and was rewarded with just two Robert Reynolds trophies as Carlton's best and fairest.

Koutoufides with his family: wife Susie, Jamie 11, Monique 9, Lukas 3. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia

Or maybe he was one of those players who couldn't be measured by statistics. After all Gary Ablett Sr won just one best and fairest at Geelong and like Koutoufides never seriously challenged in a Brownlow Medal count.

If "Kouta" was going to win a Brownlow then it would have been in 2000 when he entered the award a hot favourite only to finish five votes behind shock winner Shane Woewodin. It was a season where he played regularly on the ball, 12 years after he first played junior football at Carlton.

PORT ADELAIDE A 'WAY OF LIFE' FOR TREDREA

"Our property steward, Wayne 'Bulldog' Gilbert, had seen me play at Lalor and got the club to send me a letter. The next year I played for Victoria in the U15s and WA had this man mountain called Glen Jakovich," recalls Koutoufides, 41, who was given 43, a number he liked because his mum Anna was born in 1943.

An emergency for the 1993 Grand Final after a promising season, he came of age in 1994 when coach David Parkin moved him to a wing. His size and athleticism meant he was thrown around the ground prior to that.

KOUTA IN PICTURES

"I couldn't get into the midfield because there were so many stars so I played the wing and liked it. Then I ended up playing as a midfielder which probably best suited my game," said the husband of Susie and father of son Jamie, 11, Monique, 9, and Lukas, 3.

It was on a wing where he helped destroy Geelong in the 1995 Grand Finals, casually picking up 31 possessions and being beaten by Greg Williams for the Norm Smith medal. The next year he took 18 marks in a home and way game against West Coast, at a time when you didn't pick up cheapies hanging across half-back as sides flooded forward.

MCLEOD'S PRIDE IS HAVING STAYED A TRUE CROW

Two seasons later he was the finest player in the land, averaging 30 possessions, nine marks and two goals per games between Rds 5-20. He regards the period between 1999-2001 as his best, when he was fit enough to meet his high standards.

"After that I got some injuries and the coach and game plan changed. 'Parko' (David Parkin) is a great mate of mine who taught me a lot about life but Wayne Brittain and Barry Mitchell were my two greatest mentors at Carlton. They understood me best.

Koutoufides with son Lukas 3. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Corp Australia

"I didn't flourish under Denis Pagan. I loved him when he coached me at Teal Cup but his game style stayed the same despite the game moving ahead. He had a wonderful career but his game plan was never going to work at that time."

The 1999 preliminary final will forever be etched in his mind, a match which he believes club President John Elliott produced the motivation.

AFL HONOURS LOYAL BLUES SKIPPER

"Essendon had thrashed us twice during the year but before that game John Elliott was walking around the rooms, and just kept saying he had this really good feeling," Koutoufides recalled.

"It started to spread around us. I played most of the game in the back pocket then got a few kicks in the last quarter when moved on the ball."

Stephen Kernahan still regards Koutoufides' final quarter as one of the best he's witnessed.

THE BEST

Seen: "Definitely Gary Ablett Sr. His marking, his aura, his ability to change a game so quickly. He mastered more facets of the game better than anyone."

Played with: "Greg Williams. A non-athlete with a huge heart and an advanced football brain. His handball was like a kick and you couldn't tell the difference between his left and right foot.

Played against: "Matthew Richardson was more gifted athletically and I couldn't keep up with him. His endurance was far advanced on mine."

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Versatile Johnson flagless yet relentless

Last updated: June 04, 2014

AFL honours loyal Blues skipper

ERN Henfry played 84 games for Carlton. The measure of the footballer, and the character he exuded, was such he was captain in 82 of them.

No saving Grace. It's really that bad

GRACE Of Monaco: The bank balances of rich fat cats are at stake. Only Nicole Kidman's Grace can save the day. What will she do? Don't ask. What should you do? Don't watch.

SA superstars in footy Hall of Fame

ANDREW McLeod and Warren Tredrea have claimed the greatest accolade for their resilience against near-crippling knee injuries with induction to the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Five ways to fight a cold at home

THERE may not be a cure for the common cold, but that doesn't mean you can't come out fighting when the runny nose begins this winter.

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McLeod’s pride is having stayed a true Crow

Last updated: June 04, 2014

FREMANTLE'S greatest gaffe — trading Andrew McLeod from its inaugural AFL squad in 1994 — is now of Hall of Fame proportions.

AFL honours loyal Blues skipper

ERN Henfry played 84 games for Carlton. The measure of the footballer, and the character he exuded, was such he was captain in 82 of them.

No saving Grace. It's really that bad

GRACE Of Monaco: The bank balances of rich fat cats are at stake. Only Nicole Kidman's Grace can save the day. What will she do? Don't ask. What should you do? Don't watch.

SA superstars in footy Hall of Fame

ANDREW McLeod and Warren Tredrea have claimed the greatest accolade for their resilience against near-crippling knee injuries with induction to the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Five ways to fight a cold at home

THERE may not be a cure for the common cold, but that doesn't mean you can't come out fighting when the runny nose begins this winter.

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Port Adelaide a ‘way of life’ for Tredrea

Warren Tredrea has been inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame; a four-time All-Australian Tredrea booted 549 goals for Port Adelaide.

Warren Tredrea celebrates a match-winning goal right on the siren against Richmond at AAMI Stadium in 2009. Source: News Limited

WARREN Tredrea's place in Port Adelaide football history is like the club's ambitious story to reach the AFL from suburbia.

The local kid followed his father — former Collingwood half-forward Gary Tredrea — to Alberton, collected the autographs of his Port Adelaide heroes, became a Magpies' SANFL league premiership player and held off lodging his AFL draft form to ensure he was on the Power inaugural list.

RICHARDSON: I WAS SELFISH, BUT ONLY ONCE

MCLEOD'S PRIDE IS HAVING STAYED A TRUE CROW

And then Tredrea almost walked out to any of Collingwood, Carlton and Sydney simply because he was growing beyond suburban dreams to be a true professional in the AFL ... and Port Adelaide was not.

Tredrea fact file. Source: FoxSports

Mark Williams' appointment as Power coach at the end of 1998 ensured Tredea's boyhood dream continued ... all the way to being Port Adelaide's first AFL premiership captain and first all-Power member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

"History says I tried to leave when I did not think I was going to get the opportunities at Port Adelaide," Tredrea said.

MERE NUMBERS DON'T DO KOUTA JUSTICE

VERSATILE JOHNSON FLAGLESS YET RELENTLESS

"That would have been tough, particularly when I wanted my name on a locker for playing 100 games. No-one can take that from you," added Tredrea who almost forfeited the honour.

"You don't understand how hard that would have been unless you are one of the tribe of Port Adelaide people. For me it has been Port Adelaide all my life — and I am Port, my whole family is Port.

"It is a way of life. It is tribal. It means you go to the club — and you belong. That is the one thing that I always cherish — I held up the cup in the SANFL and AFL for the club I love. I fulfilled my dream.

Tredrea gets his boot on the ball for a snap at goal despite pressure from Michael Rischitelli. Source: News Limited

"On the Thursday night before the 1990 grand final, when I was 11, I would not leave the changerooms — and threw a tantrum — because I did not have every players' signature on my poster. Dad had to get Roger Delaney out of the bath to sign the poster so we could go home and Dad could pick the team with the rest of the selectors."

Less than a decade later when Tredrea was one of the new-age heroes at Alberton as a Power player, he was prepared to throw away all that emotional investment in Port Adelaide to follow another dream of being a professional AFL player with a manic approach to his preparation and game.

With Scott Cummings and Darryl Poole commanding the key forward roles at Alberton, Tredrea looked elsewhere.

Tredrea takes a strong mark. Source: News Limited

"I entertained offers; I met with Carlton heavyweights at Princes Park; I asked to me traded in my own home," Tredrea recalled.

"Then Mark Williams came in (as coach) and we were made professional instantly. The game was changing — and I was not the only player in that boat looking elsewhere before his appointment. Peter Burgoyne was thinking of leaving. And Chad Cornes.

AFL HONOURS LOYAL BLUES SKIPPER

"The following year I was out of contract and I met (Collingwood president) Eddie McGuire, Sydney flew to town and Carlton were still interested in getting a trade done. Geof Motley, my manager, had three offers and the Port Adelaide offer. He said, go away and sleep on it.

"I felt it was not happening at Port. But a new coach comes in and says, 'Centre half-forward is yours to lose'. For a kid who is 18 years of age, has had a break-out game (with eight goals against Carlton at Princes Park in 1998) and played well, I suddenly felt I belonged.

Tredrea launches himself at the ball to take a cracking mark. Source: News Limited

"Port Adelaide's offer was more than I was worth — I was being paid on potential. It was not the telephone numbers of the other clubs' offers. I wanted to be that player who played a position — and my coach was going, 'Here it is'. It was a no brainer to stay.

"It took six months to come to a head — and then it took two minutes to decide."

By the time Tredrea's AFL career ended — in pain from each of his knees being damaged twice — the boyhood dream closed with Tredrea holding the Power's games (255) and goals (549) record and having led the club to its first AFL premiership.

And along the way Tredrea established a reputation as a demanding professional.

"I was scared of failing," Tredrea said. "I worked that hard. I look back now and think I was so inflexible. I can see why some people thought I was too professional and needed to relax more.
"I learned my greatest lessons when I was injured. You can do whatever you want — and sometimes things are out of your control. But you can work hard to get the best possible scenario for yourself.

"It was the way I got the best out of myself. In hindsight, would have I done anything different? I got the results. In my mindset, that is what I needed to do to perform."

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