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| PLAYER
PROFILE
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| Position: |
Ruck Rover |
| Number: |
44 |
| Games: |
258 |
| Goals: |
228 |
| Born: |
Mar 17 1963 |
| Height: |
170 |
| Weight: |
70 |
| From: |
Central District, SA |
| First Played: |
1986 |
| Nickname: |
Rat |
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The tenacious, brilliant Platten was a true champion of the game, achieving at the top level in his native South Australia before compiling 258 wonderful games and four premierships for Hawthorn.
But it all could have been so different. The mop-headed rover was a star and cult-hero at Central District, winning the Magarey Medal while playing for the Bulldogs in 1984. Hawthorn recognised his undeniable talent, and signed the Rat up to a pre-contract agreement. Platten stayed in Adelaide for 1985, but was set to join the big league in time for the 1986 season.
That’s when John Elliot and the Carlton chequebook came knocking. The Blues had already snapped up Stephen Kernahan, Craig Bradley, Peter Motley and Jon Dorotich in an unprecedented pre-season spending spree, and looked to add Platten to their shopping list. The Rat was tempted by the dollars on offer from Princes Park, but Hawthorn held fast that they had a prior interest in the star rover, and ended up having their point of view supported by a court decision.
Officially a Hawk, Platten wasted no time in showing Carlton what they had missed out on. Round 1 of 1986, a warm, sunny day at VFL Park, and the debuts for Platten, Kernahan, Bradley, Motley and Dorotich. The Carlton quartet played well, but it was the Rat who shone. Early in the third quarter, Platten found himself matched against two bigger, stronger opponents. He threw himself ahead of his pursuers, won possession by diving on the ball, then recovered his feet and dodged the tacklers before booting the ball into attack and setting up a goal that set the Hawks on a second-half charge and on the road to a six-goal win over the Blues. With that one act, Hawthorn fans were won over by their new number 44.
Platten carried his form through the premiership season of 1986, starring in the premiership triumph, finishing fifth in the Brownlow Medal (a mere three votes behind Greg Williams and teammate Robert DiPierdomenico) and rapidly establishing himself as one of the competition’s elite.
That billing was confirmed through 1987, as Platten’s stellar form resulted in a Brownlow win of his own, sharing the award with St Kilda’s Tony Lockett. The Rat also captured the first of his two Hawthorn Club Championships, won the Australian Football Media Association’s Most Valuable Player and played in the losing Grand Final side.
As the all-powerful 1988-89 side reached the height of its powers, so too did the Rat. He treated his taggers with disdain. Those who survived ‘Dermott-isation’ – the quaint practice that Dermott Brereton perfected of hurtling off the centre square line and wiping out Platten’s unfortunate opponent in a sickening bump – were merely run off their legs, as the tireless little marvel moved at the same lightning pace all day long.
Premierships followed in 1988 and 1989, although the Geelong victory is little more than a blank spot for Platten, felled behind play by Gary Hocking and severely concussed before the first quarter was out. The personal honours continued to roll in, with the Rat making the All Australian team for the fourth consecutive year in 1989, and a second placing to Paul Couch in the 1989 Brownlow.
Platten continued to star through the first half of the nineties, adding a premiership in 1991, another Club Championship in 1994 and a fifth All-Australian selection in Hawthorn colours in 1992.
As the years rolled on and his legs began to slow down, he still kept on racking up thirty plus possession tallies, and milked a remarkable number of free kicks from umpires who couldn’t help but be impressed by his tenacious manner and in-and-under style. He also played a role in the development of his replacement rover, Shane Crawford. The pair formed a brilliant centre square partnership through the latter stages of Platten’s career.
Worn down by his massive workload and more than 300 games in the SANFL, VFL and AFL, the Rat called it quits at the end of 1997. Long before he retired, he had garnered Life Membership of the Hawthorn Football Club – the same honour at the SANFL and the AFL soon followed, and Platten was also honoured in the Hawthorn Team Of The Century, selected ahead of Peter Crimmins in the second roving role.
One of the true greats of the Hawthorn Football Club, the fearless play and flowing locks of John Platten will live long in the memory of all Hawthorn fans. |
fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement Selected as Forward Pocket in the Hawthorn Team of the Century | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement Brownlow Medal - 1987 | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement Life Member - 1991 | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement AFL Life Member - 1999 | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement Club Champion - 1987, 1994 | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement Top 10 Brownlow - 1986 (5th, 14 votes), 1987 (equal 1st, 20 votes), 1989 (2nd, 20 votes), 1994 (10th, 14 votes) | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement All Australian - 1986 (SA), 1986 (Interchange), 1987 (Rover), 1988 (Rover), 1989 (Rover), 1992 (Rover) | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement Australian Football Media Association Most Valuable Player - 1987 | fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement Premierships - 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991 | fjrigjwwe9r2Achievements:Achievement fjrigjwwe9r1Achievements:Achievement Inducted into the AFL Hall Of Fame - 2003 |
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