Dick Condon
Richard Patrick Condon (19 March 1876 – 27 December 1946) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL) across two decades in the 1890s and 1900s. Talent Condon was a highly skilled player, a wiry and tenacious man of greater than average height (5'11"; 180 cm), with great speed, brilliant evasive skills, and an outstanding capacity for reading a game. He played mainly as a follower. Condon is widely credited as the man who contributed the most to the development of the stab kick, which—once the specially designed "blunter" Sherrin Match II football was introduced into the VFL—became the central feature of Collingwood's pattern of play. An 18 August 1905 newspaper report, referring to Condon as "that fiery football genius", described his coaching style as a "combination of brimstone oratory and skilful tactics". Physical skills In physical terms, Condon was an extremely flexible and well-balanced player. He was able to pick the ball up from the ground with either hand, kick place kicks, punt kicks, drop kicks, and stab kicks with either foot, and handball with either hand. Abrasive nature Condon was far from well-balanced