Collingwood Six Footer: Definition Question

[Raw Hammer]

Anyone know the origin or exact meaning of this term?

[Raw Hammer]

A friend of mine asked:

"Is it because they used to say in the old days that when you pulled on the Collingwood jumper the smaller guys grew an extra couple of inches, or was it because they used to overstate their height and say they were 6-foot when they were smaller, or something else?"

[jack_spain]

The former I think mate. Should always be that way. That's why I get annoyed when some players who are closer to 200cms play like they were 180cms and weigh 20 kilos lighter.

[raymond35]

well hammer, or may i call you m c?, as greg stated Collingwood had a lot of good players who weren't really tall enough to be playing key positions, so in the footy record and media they would claim they were 6 foot when they were really 5 foot 10 or 11.

cant touch this.

[Cuthbert Collingwood]

or 5' 9"

[jack]

I think in the old days the club would describe a shorter player as being 6 foot (which was considered "tall" then) to intimidate the opposition. Of course, on the ground it was obvious the player was not that tall, so opposition supporters would describe shorter players as being "a Collingwood 6-footer" as a joke.
As an aside, Nick Maxwell described himself in The Age as a "6 foot 4 back pocket player". Is he that tall?

[AN_Inkling]

Nick's listed at 193cm, which is exactly 6'4".

[rand corp]

I thought it started after a quip from the late Jack Dyer who claimed that the vertical stripes made a lot of our blokes look like '6 footers' when they weren't.

[David]

[stui magpie]

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

I wonder if the same applies for the Collingwood six incher?

[David]