Gordon Towan
Collingwood
AFL career
2 games0 goals
- Debut
- R9 1982 v HAW22 May 1982
- Most recent
- R10 1982 v MEL29 May 1982
Stats
Bio
A mature-age recruit plucked from the VFA during a crisis at Victoria Park, Gordon Towan’s brief VFL career is inextricably linked to the final days of Tom Hafey’s coaching tenure. Towan had progressed from amateur side ANZ Bank to become a reliable full-back for Preston, and at 28 years old, was unexpectedly parachuted into the Collingwood side early in the 1982 season as the Magpies scrambled to arrest a poor run of form. Standing 188cm, he played as a tall back pocket on debut against Hawthorn, where he was thrown into the deep end against Gary Buckenara and a young Gary Ablett. Towan managed just one more senior appearance—a loss to Melbourne at the MCG—before Hafey was sacked two days later. He became an immediate casualty of the coaching upheaval, dropped by caretaker Mick Erwin and returning to Preston to play in their 1983 premiership side.
Profile
- Born
- 24 Mar 1954 (age 72y 203d)
- Height
- 188 cm
- Weight
- 83 kg
Teams
Bio
1 revisionA mature-age recruit plucked from the VFA during a crisis at Victoria Park, Gordon Towan’s brief VFL career is inextricably linked to the final days of Tom Hafey’s coaching tenure. Towan had progressed from amateur side ANZ Bank to become a reliable full-back for Preston, and at 28 years old, was unexpectedly parachuted into the Collingwood side early in the 1982 season as the Magpies scrambled to arrest a poor run of form. Standing 188cm, he played as a tall back pocket on debut against Hawthorn, where he was thrown into the deep end against Gary Buckenara and a young Gary Ablett. Towan managed just one more senior appearance—a loss to Melbourne at the MCG—before Hafey was sacked two days later. He became an immediate casualty of the coaching upheaval, dropped by caretaker Mick Erwin and returning to Preston to play in their 1983 premiership side.