The Western Bulldogs will next week announce playing numbers for 2016, with eight off-season recruits requiring a new guernsey number.
westernbulldogs.com.au recaps the history of our available numbers below (players who have played 50+ games).
Guernsey #1
Alan Hopkins (1925-1934) – 151 games, 205 goals
Hopkins was inducted into the Bulldogs Hall of Fame in 2010 after captaining the Club in 1929 and acting as coach/captain in 1930. He was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1930 and was named in the Club’s Team of the Century.
Jim Thoms (1937-1946) – 120 games, 101 goals
John Kerr (1953-1958) – 81 games, 94 goals
Kerr was part of Footscray’s premiership side in 1954. Kerr was judged one of the best afield on the day, collecting 32 disposals – the most of any Footscray player.
Murray Zeuschner (1962-1967) – 64 games, 4 goals
Ken Greenwood (1967-1972) – 73 games, 7 goals
Ian Hampshire (1973-1980) – 111 games, 73 goals
Andrew Purser (1983-1987) – 112 games, 16 goals
Ilija Grgic (1993-1996) – 62 games, 92 goals
Farren Ray (2004-2008) – 75 games, 32 goals
Jarrad Grant (2009-2015) – 81 games, 83 goals
Guernsey #20
Albert Outen (1925-1930) – 65 games
Jim Greenham (1937-1941, 1943-1945) – 79 games, 47 games
Les Bartlett (1968-1970, 1972-1975) – 60 games, 18 games
Jim Edmond (1977-1985) – 154 games, 226 goals
Glenn Coleman (1990-1993) – 69 games, 51 goals
Patrick Bowden (2001-2005) – 50 games, 55 goals
Josh Hill (2007-2011) – 66 games, 75 goals
Guernsey #32
Marty McDonnell (1939-1941, 1944, 1946-1950) – 92 games, 2 goals
Harvey Stevens (1953-1957) – 72 games, 71 goals
Stevens played 126 games for both the Collingwood and Footscray football clubs during the 50s. He was the ruckman in the 1954 premiership side, and won the Club’s best and fairest in 1953.
John Reilly (1966-1969) – 55 games, 1 goal
Ian Dunstan (1973-1982) – 172 games, 135 goals
Peter Foster (1983-1993) – 163 games, 56 goals
Craig Ellis (1994-2001) – 107 games, 6 goals
Guernsey #33
Dick Wearmouth (1944, 1946-1952) – 100 games, 27 goals
Ivan Marsh (1963-1969) – 77 games, 33 goals
John Reid (1975-1981) – 78 games, 2 goals
Brian Royal (1983-1993) – 199 games, 299 goals
Inducted into the Club’s Hall of Fame in 2012, Royal is a Bulldog great. He was All-Australian in 1983 and 1986, and is a member of the Club’s Team of the Century.
Guernsey #34
Brian Gilmore (1952-1958) – 105 games, 61 goals
Gilmore was also part of the Club’s premiership side in 1954 – and was the player left with the ball in his hands as the final siren sounded.
Michael McKenna (1979-1984) – 80 games, 45 goals
Guernsey #36
Jose Romero (1995-2001) – 122 games, 71 goals
Brian Lake (Harris) (2002-2012) – 197 games, 32 goals
Brian Lake played 197 games for the Bulldogs between 2002 and 2012, before moving on to Hawthorn where he became a triple-premiership player. Lake was named All-Australian in 2009 and 2010.
Guernsey #40
Shane Birss (2002-2006) – 51 games, 20 goals
Jarrod Harbrow (2007-2010) – 70 games, 21 goals
Guernsey #41
No players over 50 games
Guernsey #44
Richard Osborne (1994-1996) – 51 games, 98 goals
Guernsey #45
Michael Ford (1985-1989, 1991) – 96 games, 19 goals
