Tucky’s No. 17 10th greatest jumper

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HAWTHORN greats Michael Tuck, Leigh Matthews and Don Scott formed one of the game's most successful on-ball partnerships, even if they famously didn't mix socially off the ground.

Yet all three, who played in a collective 14 premierships with the Hawks, share a little known link with the number that Tuck would become synonymous with.

All of them had a football affinity with No. 17, even if Tuck was the only one to wear it in a senior VFL-AFL match.

THE HISTORY, MYTH AND MYSTIQUE OF FOOTY'S MAGIC NUMBERS

LIFE BEGINS AT 44 FOR AN ELITE CLUB OF FOOTY STARS

VOTE: WHAT IS THE GREATEST JUMPER NUMBER AT CARLTON AND ADELAIDE?

SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE JUMPER NUMBER USING #FANSNUMBER TO HAVE CHANCE TO FEATURE IN HERALD SUN

SHEDDING TEARS, CASTING FEAR IN 17

That number has today been revealed as the 10th best in VFL-AFL history, as judged by a panel of Herald Sun reporters and two other greats of the game.

Tuck wore it in a record 426 matches spread out across 20 seasons. Not only has no other footballer played as many games in any one jumper, no one in the history of the game has played as many matches as Tuck.

In terms of games played, think Brett Harvey, and then add another two-and-a-half seasons.

Michael Tuck was captured on a building site with his jumper from the 1991 Hawthorn premiership and the last jumper he wore playing AFL football. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

Tuck had worn the less flattering No. 45 jumper — complete with plastic number on the back — when he first went down to Glenferrie Oval after winning a best-and-fairest at Berwick at the age of 17 — yes, that's right, 17.

But he secured a number promotion late in the 1971 season, and donned the No. 17 in the seniors for his debut match, against Richmond at Waverley Park, in Round 8, 1972.

Matthews was wearing No. 3 that day, after initially starting in the seniors in 32. He never wore No. 17 at Hawthorn, even though he did have a childhood appreciation of the number.

He had, after all, worn that number on his back, albeit it in a North Melbourne guernsey that was his club of choice when he was growing up.

Matthews idolised Allen Aylett, one of the best footballers to wear No. 17, and he had the Kangaroos rover's number emblazoned on the back of his jumper as a kid.

"Allen Aylett was my hero, so I wore his number (17) on my back," Matthews said.

Aylett, who was a part of a Herald Sun panel of judges chosen to find the greatest number in football, admitted he was chuffed to find out Matthews had worn his No. 17 with such pride as a child.

"Leigh Matthews is one of the greatest players to play the game, so I was pretty happy with that," said Aylett, who wore No. 17 in 220 games with North Melbourne from 1952-64.

15/04/1952. North Melbourne's Allen Aylett. HWT ARCHIVAL NEGATIVE. Source: News Limited

Scott, too, had tentative link to No. 17, and if he had not accepted an offer to inherit John Peck's No. 23, Tuck might have been denied the chance to pull that jumper over his wiry shoulders and frame.

According to Hawthorn historian and the club's museum curator, Peter Haby, Scott wore No. 17 in his early days in the Hawthorn reserves before Peck retired at the end of the 1966 season.

Scott recalled hitchhiking from Box Hill to a Hawthorn jumper presentation night in 1967 to hear he had been given Peck's No. 23, which has become one of the club's most iconic jumpers.

And, five years later, Tuck set off on a journey in the No. 17 jumper that — so far — no one has been able to match in terms of games longevity.

"I wasn't too happy when I got the (No. 17) jumper in the first place," Tuck said this week. "It didn't have a plastic number, which was good, but it was a bit shabby."

Quirky seventeens. Source: HeraldSun

"You can tell it had originally been a long-sleeved jumper, which I would have liked, but the sleeves had been cut out of the arms. So it didn't look too great.

"I loved long sleeved jumpers, even back then. I had pretty skinny arms and used to feel the cold a bit. So I would always try to get long sleeves when I could.

"Numbers hadn't meant too much to me when I was a kid growing, you just wore what you got. I can't even remember what number I wore when I was playing at Berwick.

Who is the greatest player to have worn No.17?

"I lived on an old dairy farm as a kid and used to go out and kick the ball day and night. I pretended I was (Collingwood defender) Laurie Hill (who used to wear No. 13).

"But I suppose when you look at it now, I'm happy that I was able to get 17. I always keep an eye on whoever wears it at Hawthorn and was pretty happy to see 'Lakey' (Brian Lake) win a Norm Smith Medal in it last year."

That No. 17 has always played a big role in the game. After all, it was one of the five known jumper numbers that Collingwood footballer and legendary coach Jock McHale wore in his time in black and white.

Famous 17 Jack Dyer leads the Tigers out for last time. Source: News Limited

McHale wore it in the 1917 Grand Final when, as captain-coach of the Magpies, he helped to lift his team to what was the first of his record eight premierships as a coach.

But it was Jack Dyer, who had once asked for a transfer to join McHale's Magpies only to have it rejected, who gave the No. 17 more currency than it had before leading up to the Second World War.

The ferocious Richmond ruckman created a tradition in the jumper that last to this day. No other number is more sacred to the Tigers' faithful, even though it has been "on ice" for the past two seasons.

GALLERY: GREATEST NUMBER SEVENTEENS

And no other footballer wearing No. 17 has kicked as many goals as Dyer (443).

Melbourne's Alan La Fontaine might not be as well-known as Dyer, but his achievements in the No. 17 red and blue jumper were remarkable.

He debuted three years after Dyer, in 1934, and went on to a career that stamped him as one of the top five players overall to have worn the No. 17 guernsey.

The footballer with the flashy surname had been born in France, but came to Australia at a young age, and carved out an imposing record that would have likely been even more impressive had it not been for the intervention of war.

Melbourne's Allan La Fontaine. Source: News Corp Australia

A four-time best and fairest winner, La Fontaine was also Melbourne's captain in their three successive premierships from 1939-41.

Carlton's Gordon Collis was the first Brownlow Medal winner to win No. 17 in his winning season of 1964, while 44 years later, Western Bulldogs midfielder Adam Cooney made it a second No. 17 to win the medal.

Richmond's Maurice Rioli was the first man to win a Norm Smith Medal in a losing side when the Tiger No. 17 dominated in the 1982 Grand Final clash with Carlton.

The No. 17 jumper has had a proud tradition in terms of big performances in Grand Finals. Thorold Merrett was one of Collingwood's best players — some rated him as the best — in the 1958 Grand Final, which was just over two decades before the league brought in the concept of a Norm Smith Medal.

Brent Crosswell, wearing No. 17, was a crucial player in Carlton's 1970 flag; Guy McKenna was a key member of West Coast's 1992 and 1994 Grand Final winning sides; while who could ever forget the Irish jig Tadhg Kennelly performed in the moments after Sydney's drought-breaking premiership win in 2005.

Michael Tuck was captured on a building site with his No. 17 jumper from the 1991 premiership, the last jumper he wore in an AFL match. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

But as far as Grand Finals go, Tuck is ahead of the rest, something that still sits proudly with the modest Hawthorn great.

Tuck played in 11 Grand Finals — a record — and won seven premierships as a player — again, a record — all of them wearing the No. 17 jumper.

The only time he did anything different was when he wore a short-sleeved No. 17 in the 1987 losing Grand Final, which was one of the hottest premiership play-offs on record.

His last game came in the 1991 Grand Final, which turned out to be a fitting farewell, even though Tuck didn't know it at the time.

"Some blokes are paranoid about the numbers they wear," Tuck said this week as he proudly displayed one of his former No. 17 jumpers. "I was just happy to be playing in whatever number they gave me."

"So when I got 17, I was pretty happy to keep it and never looked to change it."

In Hawthorn's first game after Tuck's retirement, in Round 1, 1992, one of his sons, Shane, played in the little league match at Waverley, and proudly wore his dad's No. 17.

Yet when Shane, and his brother, Travis, both played AFL football years later, with Richmond and Hawthorn respectively, neither of them sought to wear that number.

"I'm a big believer that you have to make your own way, and that's what they did," Tuck said.

Michael Tuck marks strongly over Alex Jesaulenko at Princes Park in 1978. Source: News Corp Australia

THE TOP FIVE NUMBER SEVENTEENS

Jack Dyer

Michael Tuck

Allan La Fontaine

Allen Aylett

Guy McKenna

WELL KNOWN SEVENTEENS

Jock McHale (40, Collingwood): Better known as a master coach but was also some player.

Tommy Lahiff (13, Hawthorn): Became known for his radio commentary in tandem with Harry Beitzel.

Graeme Watson (18, Melbourne): Good enough all-round sportsman to play cricket for Australia.

Ernie Hugg (16, Collingwood): Killed in a tractor accident on his farm near Sale.

Mordecai Bromberg (19, St Kilda): One of the few Jewish footballers to play in the AFL.

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