Some great footballers here, and also some questions arising about who should qualify for the Greatest-ever wool team.
To Ponder:
Does inventing the game (with a little help from his friends) make you a certainty (and skipper?) – Tom Wills
Does being Secretary of the National Wool Committee who coordinated the sale of wool to England during WWII get you a guernsey?
Does being able to class 4500 ewes in a day get you in?
Does winning the first Brownlow get you in?
Here are some Victorians who have a connection with wool:
Eric Brown Inverleigh
Alister Carr wool classer
Geoff Case wool buyer
Michael Close Brisbane Pigeon Ponds
Graeme Cook Footscray Hopetoun wheat/sheep farmer
Russell Crow Fitzroy Warracknabeal, shearer
Delahuntys Essenson/Collingwood Murtoa
Frank Drum Richmond
Alan Eade Collingwood wool classing teacher
Fred Flanagan Geelong wool classer
Josh Fraser Collingwood/GC
John Goold rag trade Mortlake
Maxie Graham Footscray/Williamstown – worked for a wool company
Carji Greeves Geelong Cressy
David Grenvold Essendon wool classer
Daryl Griffith St Kilda Elders stock sales
Stewart Gull South owner of a sheep property
Shane Heard Essendon sheep farmer
John Polly Haygarth Geelong Winchelsea
Reg Hickey Geelong Cressy
Ernie Hug Collingwood/South Rolls Royce story
John Hyde Geelong
Rupe McDonald Geelong Winchelsea
Billy McGrath South Melbourne Minyip (Member of Parliament)
Shane McGrath (son of Billy) Essendon Under 19s and Norwood
Bill McMaster Geelong Lake Bolac
Adam McNicol Manangatang seconds
Roger Merrett Essendon/Brisbane Kaniva
Russell Middlemiss Geelong
Ian Morgan Rupanyup
Brian Barney Morrison Richmond shearer
Doug Nicholls Fitzroy – worked on sheep stations as a 13 year old
Bruce Petering Essendon seconds/Prahran
Bill Ryan Geelong wool classer, Gordon Institute
Bluey Shelton
John Jack Stevens South/Geelong once classed 4500 ewes near Heatherlea
John Sudholz South Melbourne Minyip
John Thomas Winchelsea
Clyde Vearing Avanel
Peter Walker Geelong wool scourer
Tom Wills Geelong
Murray Witcombe Geelong wool classer
Don Worland Geelong Winchelsea
Norman Wyatt Yeo Essendon 1906 / University Secretary of the National Wool Committee who coordinated the sale of wool to England during WWII
Thanks for all these nominations. Please add new names via the comments section that follows.
The nominations for SA, WA and the Riverina can be found HERE
More stories at www.footyalmanac.com.au
Look out for our new magazine Long Bombs to Snake: Stories from Australian Sport.
About John Harms
JTH is a writer, publisher, speaker, historian. He is publisher and contributing editor of The Footy Almanac and footyalmanac.com.au. He has written columns and features for numerous publications. His books include Confessions of a Thirteenth Man, Memoirs of a Mug Punter, Loose Men Everywhere, Play On, The Pearl: Steve Renouf's Story and Life As I Know It (with Michelle Payne). He appears (appeared?) on ABCTV's Offsiders. He can be contacted [email protected] He is married to The Handicapper and has three school-age kids - Theo, Anna, Evie. He might not be the worst putter in the world but he's in the worst four. His ambition was to lunch for Australia but it clashed with his other ambition - to shoot his age.
Seem to remember in 1989-90 Jimmy Jess playing and coaching back to back premierships at Balranald. Story at the time was that he was being paid in kind with a big mob of merion sheep. Balranald has a few other former VFL players at that stage in Jeff Fehring, Mark Lee, Ron Andrews, David Simpson and Peter Laughlin but I dont know if they were on the same deal. Not sure if Jimmy was involved in the wool industry back at Avoca where his family farm was but others may know?
Some Geelong greats in that photo. All associated with the wool industry and the 1951-52 premierships.
From the left Bill McMaster, Russell Middlemiss, Reg Hickey, Fred Flanagan, John Hyde and Russell Renfrey. Go Cats!
Cheers, Burkie
Important classification question – is state attributed based upon where their wool association is, where they played football or where they were born?
Jim Jess Richmond Shearer
John Lewis – Melbourne (’36-’38)- Shearer
Graham Cook, i ‘d totally forgotten him. A H/B flanker with Footscray in the early 70’s. No sign of any slaughtermen, or those working the mutton chain? Will any of them get a guernsey for their use of sheep for its other purpose; tucker
Glen!
Nat Fyfe drives sheep trucks
Tom McCluskey Carlton 1910 Wool-classer
Had a pen last year next to Rod ‘rocket’ Waddell who played with Collingwood, Carlton and Geelong.
Fenley (“Fen”) McDonald (Carlton) – grew up on cattle/sheep property at Nagambie and was then a stock and station agent at Pearson, Rowe, Smith, and Co. Played at Carlton 1911 – 1912 – 10 games, 4 goals and Melbourne 1913 – 1 game. He was killed at Gallipol during the landing on April 25 in 1915.
Two of Fen’s brothers played a single VFL match with Essendon, on the same day (Saturday, 9 September 1905): Edwin Patrick McDonald and Archibald William Campbell “Arch” McDonald.
William Lilley (Geelong) 1896 was thought to have been killed by a wool bale that fell on him.
William Harry (Carlton) 1906 worked at Port Melbourne woollen mills played one game for Carlton.
Andy Collins (Richmond-Carlton) sheep/crop farm at Bridgewater.
Ben McEvoy is from a farm with cross breds (the fine wool snobs might veto this nomination but cross breds produce wool too!).
And I am nominating Jack Curran (the only Stawell Gift winner from Stawell) who was a sheep farmer and drover (nominating him as team runner).
Brian Barney Morrison (mentioned in JTH’s list above) played 8 senior games for the Tigers in 1960 before choosing the more lucrative career of shearing, at which he excelled being named Australian sheep shearing champion in 1967 and 1968 and in 1972 breaking the world record by shearing 410 Merino sheep in one day.
George Cuttle Carlton (pre VFL) founder of Maryborough Knitting Mills http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php?page=George+Cuttle&_sm_au_=i7V4sZDH8QpPjPtH
Matthew Carland – 6 games Essendon, 1 Footscray – shearer – Matthew Carland was a pacy half-back and utility player who came from Nathalia and played six games in late 1932 for Essendon. He returned home to Nathalia in 1933 because he couldn’t find work in Melbourne and then joined Castlemaine from 1933 to 1937.In 1938, he played one game with Footscray and then went to South Warrnambool in 1939 and 1940.During World War II, he captained the Army signals team in Palestine and then returned to captain-coach South Warrnambool in 1946. He was later captain-coach of Lake Boga in 1952 and 1953 and played with Wycheproof in 1955.He was also a fine professional athlete winning 23 races. Carland retired as a transport driver and shearer in 1976 and died on 5th February, 1998.
Reg Burgess Essendon Wool grower
I met Des Tuddenham on Saturday at the Fitzroy FC luncheon. Des tells me he has shorn sheep – his PB was 80 in a day.
I’ll have to follow up on this and get the full story from him.
He’s in great nick for a 70+ year old. A disciple of Tom Hafey and his fitness regime.
Russ Middlemiss (Geelong) was a real shearer and premiership player.
Peter Walker (Geelong) was a real woolclasser and premiership player.
Reg Hickey and Glen Bow ( all Geelong) worked in the wool store.
John Haygarth (Geelong) worked at the “POPLARS” Merino Stud at Murgheboluc.
Brian Morrison was a Champion shearer who played for Richmond in 1960.
Jack, Rob and Michael Hawkins (all Geelong) all worked on the family Riverina sheep property.
Des Tuddenham told me recently that he was from a sheep and cattle farm near Ballarat – and that he could shear 80 a day back then. One of his brothers was a gun shearer.
Wool (or is this the connection?)worths reckon Tom Hawkins “grew up or around a dairy farm”. What’s with the random place names e.g. “Cressy”? wool by association?
Onya