Flying under the radar
The Sunday Age
Sunday May 31, 2009
He has been a model of consistency with almost a decade of top-five best and fairest finishes, yet Tyson Edwards is still humble, writes Ashley Porter.DESPITE the remarkable achievements of Michael Collins during the world's greatest adventure, few people have heard of him, and yet those who sat next to him are better known than the Collingwood Football Club.Collins was the module pilot of Apollo 11, while Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first to walk on the moon - 40 years ago on July 20.We often don't know those in the background, no matter how important their job or achievement. Tyson Edwards is one of those guys. We know him and have applauded his on-field football mastery, but he's always been in the background at Adelaide behind such teammates as Andrew McLeod, Mark Ricciuto and Ben Hart.Next Sunday, against Essendon at Etihad Stadium, Edwards joins them as a 300-game player for the Crows and becomes one of only 40 players in 113 years of AFL/VFL football to have played 300 games for the one club.Edwards probably won't get the same fanfare as his teammates because he hasn't won a Brownlow Medal, a best-and-fairest award or All-Australian selection, but like Major General Collins, he has taken us on a great journey.Remarkably, Edwards, and Fremantle captain Matthew Pavlich are the only current AFL players to have finished in the top five in their club's best-and-fairest awards in each of the past nine years. Pavlich has five awards; Edwards has never won.Since 2000, Edwards has finished fourth, fifth, second (to Hart), second (to Ricciuto), third, fifth, second (to Simon Goodwin), fourth, and fourth, and based on his excellent form this season, another top-five spot beckons. It is stunning consistency.As these milestone occasions demand, Edwards will this week be "wheeled out" before the city's media and asked about his 300th. "Mr Humble" will probably barely manage a smile, for he never seeks the limelight. That's how they are in his home town of Wynarka, 120 kilometres south-east of Adelaide in the heart of the Mallee region. Wynarka has a population of 12 and the only business in the main street is a post office agency.Edwards, 33 in August, has been a champion for Adelaide - as well as being polite, genuine, respectful and immensely grateful to those who have supported him - but what does the "Michael Collins" of his world, a man who has also been in the background along the same journey, think of him?Barry Edwards is incredibly proud of his son. He has seen Tyson catch a ball and throw it back to him before he could walk. He's seen him play in a forward pocket for the Wynarka under-17s at the age of just six. "It wasn't that he was so good at that age; it was just that we were short of players," Barry said. "But the thing was, he tried his heart out."He was always good at sport - and I mean everything - but he never believed in himself, and I don't think he still does."We would drive him down town to train with the state under-15s squad and all the way home he'd talk about how the other guys were better than him. Of course, he made the team."And when he became only the second player in the history of the West Adelaide Football Club to play in the under-17s, under-19s, reserves and league all in the same year (Grantley Fielke, a former Collingwood and Adelaide player, was the first), he still doubted whether he had a future."I remember the day he got drafted. North Melbourne, Collingwood and Hawthorn all rang him that morning, but he never got excited, not even when he got picked, and I knew it was because he thought he wasn't good enough. Some months later, we were driving to town and he saw a newspaper poster with a photo of Tony Hall (former Hawthorn and Adelaide player) on it, and he said, 'Hell, I train with that bloke'. I think that was when it all hit him - that he was playing AFL football."Tyson has always been humble, a player who's been there for the team and not for his own glory. I admire him for a lot of things, especially for that."Edwards started his AFL career in 1995 and will become the fourth Adelaide player to play all 300 games at the club since it joined the AFL in 1991. Of the foundation clubs of the AFL/VFL, South Melbourne/Sydney has no 300-game players, Melbourne one, and Collingwood and Geelong two each.Even Crows coach Neil Craig marvels at the feats of his foursome, saying it tells you not only about the durability and ability of the players and their dedication to the game, but also about the culture of the club.Craig applauded the magnificent milestones of Hart, Ricciuto and McLeod last week - and will do the same with Edwards this week - saying they got there because of their form and fitness rather than as a reward for club loyalty."It says they were able to, or still can, perform at the highest level," Craig emphasises.Like the rocket man, Edwards will eventually come back to earth, but he will remain humbled by the experience.They gave Major General Collins a ticker-tape parade in his home town, but the main street - well, the street in Wynarka - is far too busy on a Saturday morning for that.300 GAMES AT ONE CLUB6 Hawthorn (entered 1925)Michael Tuck (426), Leigh Matthews (332), Shane Crawford (305), Chris Langford (303), Don Scott (302), Kelvin Moore (300)5 Essendon (1897)Simon Madden (378), Dick Reynolds (320), Tim Watson (307), Garry Foulds (300), Dustin Fletcher (300)5 Footscray/Western Bulldogs (1925)Chris Grant (341), Brad Johnson (334), Scott West (324)4 Adelaide (1991)Mark Ricciuto (312), Andrew McLeod (313), Ben Hart (311), *Tyson Edwards (299 today)4 Carlton (1897)Craig Bradley (375), Bruce Doull (356), John Nicholls (328), Stephen Silvagni (312)4 St Kilda (1897)Robert Harvey (383), Nathan Burke (323), Stewart Loewe (321), Barry Breen (300)3 Richmond (1908)Kevin Bartlett (403), Jack Dyer (312), Francis Bourke (300)2 Geelong (1897)Ian Nankervis (325), John "Sam" Newman (300)2 Collingwood (1897)Tony Shaw (313), Gordon Coventry (306)2 North Melbourne (1925)Glenn Archer (311), Wayne Schimmelbusch (306)1 Fitzroy (1897)Kevin Murray (333)1 Brisbane Lions (1987)Marcus Ashcroft (318)1 Melbourne (1897)David Neitz (306)0 Fremantle (1995)South Melbourne/Sydney (1897)West Coast (1987)*Port Adelaide (1997) has played only 290 games
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