Tuesday night saw the commencement of Essendon's documentary series dedicated to charting the Bombers' strives for glory and fame prior to their 150th anniversary.

Made in partnership with the football club, Fox Sports, and Kayo, the brilliant opening episodes provided a rich tapestry of stills, stories, and snippets of the many names that made up the club's magnificent sides throughout the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s.

While the series has offered us all a way to scratch our off-season itches, the fact that tales from more than 80 living and deceased Dons have been collated has also allowed for our imaginations to run wild.

Over the course of watching the opening pair of half-hour-length instalments, a series of questions sprung into the forefront of my mind.

So, before parts three and four are released next week, I set about trying to answer queries that range from stalking, sobriety, tractors, and, of course, John Coleman.

 

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Who was the better player between Reynolds and Hutchison?

The act of posthumously splitting a pair of players that share five Brownlow Medals is one that probably isn't required, but given Dick Reynolds' humble statement that Bill Hutchison was more than his match, I felt somewhat obliged.

In terms of flags won and Crichtons claimed, the pair share hauls of four and seven respectively.

While Reynolds has his offsider covered in regards to games played and 'Charlies' obtained, Hutchison's ability to float forward of centre for a mean of 1.7 goals per game saw him earn 30 state guernseys across his 16 seasons under Reynolds' stewardship.

Though both are members of the club's Team of the 20th Century and were swiftly named legends in the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, if you're still keen to split hairs, only one has a statue, a grandstand, and the title of the club's greatest ever player to his name.

Still, given Essendon were able to call on one or both of these generational talents for nearly three-decades, there remains little point in trying to separate a pair of reds that any cellar would crawl over coals to contain.

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