His estate was sworn for probate at $280,270 (~$1.45 million in 2022 terms). Legacy 1981: Introduction of the Coleman Medal, awarded to the highest goalkicker in the VFL/AFL. 1996, Coleman was selected at full-forward in the AFL's Team of the Century, ahead of famous names such as Gordon Coventry, Bob Pratt, Jack Titus, Ron Todd, Bill Mohr, Peter McKenna, Peter Hudson, Tony Lockett and Jason Dunstall. 1998: one of the twelve inaugural inductees into the Australian Football Hall of Fame; he was inducted as a "Legend of the Game". 2002: Recognized as the second greatest player to play for Essendon in the "Champions of Essendon" list, second only to Dick Reynolds. 2005: Statue of Coleman erected outside the library in Coleman's hometown of Hastings. 2013: Statue of Coleman erected outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 2014: the National Film and Sound Archive discovered an unmarked can of 16 mm film of Coleman playing on Footscray fullback Herb Henderson in the 1953 semi-final, raising the known footage of Coleman in action from two minutes to six. References & Footnotes Bibliography "Coleman in Action Again", The Age, Monday 27 April 1959), p.18. Ackerly, D. "Bomber grounded too soon", The Age, (11 May 2007). Maplestone, M., Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996, Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. Miller, W., Petraitis, V. & Jeremiah, V., The Great John Coleman, Nivar Press, (Cheltenham), 1997. Ross, J. (ed), 100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported, Viking, (Ringwood), 1996. (Especially p. 206: "The incredible lightness of being Coleman") Whitington, R.S., The Champions, Macmillan, (Melbourne), 1976. External links Real Footy: "Bomber grounded too soon" (Doug Ackerly, 11 May 2007) 1928 births 1973 deaths Essendon Football Club players Essendon Football Club Premiership players Essendon Football Club coaches Essendon Football Club Premiership coaches Champions of Essendon Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australians (1953–1988) Crichton Medal winners VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal winners People from Port Fairy Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership coaches People educated at University High School, Melbourne