Robbo: Bunton unlucky to miss out

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THE glory of Haydn Bunton Sr could be judged yesterday by the response to the Herald Sun's rebooting of the AFL Team of the Century.

Carlton great John Nicholls and Richmond legend Jack Dyer were omitted from the original team, yet there was more angst over the culling of Bunton, the magical little rover from Fitzroy who brought joy to thousands of footy fans through the Depression years.

Bunton, just 179cm and 73kg, won three Brownlow Medals and three Sandover Medals, awarded to the best player in the Western Australian Football League. He only played 11 seasons of senior football.

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To some, he was the Bradman of football, a brilliant runner and ballgetter who frequently hovered around the 40-possession mark.

Clearly, he was a player with some appeal.

Originally from Albury, Bunton was chased by all 12 VFL clubs.

He signed with Fitzroy for £222, which was illegal under VFL rules and was banned for the 1930 VFL season.

It is said his initial, legal match payments were £2 a week.

Undated. Fitzroy Champion and triple Brownlow Medalist, Haydn Bunton. Source: News Limited

Bunton made his debut in 1931 at age 19 and won the Brownlow that year, and again the following season. He was second to Bombers great Dick Reynolds by a vote in 1934 but a third medal followed in 1935.

Reynolds, also a triple Brownlow medallist, once told fellow Team of the Century Rebooted selector Jon Anderson this story:

"He worked in a department store during the day, and practised baulking by weaving his way through crowds of shoppers.

''I spied on him during this activity in order to learn how to defeat his technique.''

The Encylopedia of AFL Footballers describes a football marvel also blessed with matinee idol good looks.

The AFL's recognition of Bunton came when he was named an inaugural legend of the AFL Hall of Fame in 1996.

Emails to the Herald Sun yesterday, and comments left on the Herald Sun website, overwhelmingly were angered by Bunton's omission more than that of either Nicholls or Dyer.

Not everyone, though, was enamoured with Bunton's football prowess.

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The great Collingwood full-forward Gordon Coventry was one of Bunton's critics, citing Bunton's poor disposal as the single reason why Bunton was not the best player in the competition.

Writing in the Sporting Globe in 1938, a year after his retirement, Coventry named the six best players he had seen.

"I couldn't give a ranking to a player who didn't know the first thing about drop-kicking or disposal of the ball," Coventry wrote of Bunton.

"He often disorganised his team through his individualism and he attempted to do too much.

"But coached in passing and taught the meaning of teamwork, Bunton could have been the greatest player the code has known."

For the record, Coventry named Ivor Warne-Smith (Melbourne), Colin Watson (St Kilda), brother Syd Coventry (Collingwood), Allan Hopkins (Footscray), Dick Reynolds (Essendon) and Laurie Nash (South Melbourne) as his best six.

He may have been wrong, Coventry, and so too the Herald Sun, but there's no denying Bunton's standing in the game.

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