Zane Taylor (born 28 February 1957) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) during the early 1980s. He spent time as a forward and midfielder during his career but it was as a half back flanker that he made the official "Queensland Team of the Century" in 2003. Although he had only just turned 23 when he started out at Geelong during the

1980 VFL season The 1980 VFL season was the 84th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 29 March until 27 September, and comprised a ...

, Taylor was already a multiple "Best and Fairest" winner for

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

. He was suspended after his debut, for two games, having been found guilty of striking South Melbourne's

Michael Wright Michael Wright may refer to: Sportspeople *Michael Wright (Australian footballer) (born 1959), former VFL footballer for South Melbourne *Michael Wright (basketball) (1980–2015), murdered American–Turkish basketball player * Michael Wright (cyc ...

with a clenched first. The suspension was costly as he was out of the seniors for seven weeks but when he returned he became a regular member of the team for the rest of the season. He played just six games in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

but appeared in a preliminary final, his second in two years. Taylor returned to Southport during the

1983 VFL season The 1983 VFL season was the 87th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 26 March until 24 September, and comprised a ...

and finished equal first in voting for the

Grogan Medal The Grogan Medal is an Australian rules football award given to the best and fairest player in home and away rounds of each season's Queensland State League (Australian rules football), QAFL/Queensland State League competition. From 2011 to presen ...

, but was ineligible due to suspension. He however won the award in 1985 and would go on to captain Southport to three premierships. His 26 interstate appearance for Queensland is a record and the medal given to the best player for the state in interstate matches is now named after him. He enjoyed considerable team success over the course of his career, playing in 16

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

s in a 16-year period from 1975 to 1990. The sequence started with four premierships at Southport, while they were in the Gold Coast league. He then played in three successive premierships with the Geelong reserves team from 1980 to

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, contributing six goals to their 1981 grand final win. In the 1984 season, Southport didn't make the grand final, but Taylor had played in two grand finals in 1978, after getting a permit to appear for Windsor-Zillmere in the

QAFL The Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland. Previously known as the Queensland Football League (QFL), Queensland ...

premiership decider. A grand final every year from 1985 to 1990, of which Southport lost twice, meant that he averaged a grand final a year during that period.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Zane 1957 births Australian rules footballers from Queensland Geelong Football Club players Southport Australian Football Club players Zillmere Eagles Australian Football Club players Living people