Jack Denning

Best remembered as a pioneering endurance athlete rather than a long-term footballer, Jack Denning arrived at Collingwood with a reputation as one of Australia's premier overland cyclists. Born in Melbourne but working as a tinsmith in Perth, he famously rode a bicycle across the continent from Fremantle to Brisbane in 1898 before returning to Victoria to try his hand at VFL football. Billed as "the overland cyclist" upon his debut in 1899, he utilised his supreme cardiovascular fitness to play as a forward and on-baller, despite having fractured his arm in a riding accident just months prior to his first game. Denning booted his only career goal against South Melbourne in his second match but was demoted to the juniors immediately after, eventually clearing to Brunswick in the VFA where he could balance football with his primary passion for competitive cycling.