John Bradley

Hailing from the rich football nursery of the Riverina, John Bradley was recruited from the Wagga Tigers and arrived at Footscray as a solidly built utility in 1963. Standing 184cm and weighing nearly 90kg, he possessed the physical frame to hold down key posts at either end of the ground, though he was most often utilised to plug structural gaps for captain-coach Ted Whitten. Bradley displayed early potential as a marking target, booting a career-high three goals in just his third senior match against St Kilda, a feat he replicated against North Melbourne and South Melbourne in subsequent seasons. Despite these glimpses of forward craft, he struggled to cement a permanent position in the starting 18, often oscillating between the seniors and the reserves during a middling era for the Bulldogs. A reliable servant during his five seasons at the Western Oval, he managed 43 games before finishing his VFL career at the end of the 1967 season.