1960's SANFL

[Adelaide Hawk]

Weisner[NW] listed as playing well in defence
Played 62 games from 1957-1964
What sort of a player was he ?

I never saw John Weisner play, but from what I hear he was pretty much a stopper. Was a regular player in 1959, but other seasons was a fringe player.

[baggy8]

I never saw John Weisner play, but from what I hear he was pretty much a stopper. Was a regular player in 1959, but other seasons was a fringe player.

I do know he went on to be a very successful pharmacist at Ardrossan(I think) and other places, but virtually worked himself to death in his mid-40s.

[redandblack]

He's one of the few players mentioned so far that I can't recall at all

[mal]

1959 FINISH
PA
WA
GL
ST
WT
NW
NA
SA

1960 FINISH
NA
NW
PA
WA
WT
ST
GL
SA

Theres been a lot said about Neil Kerleys remarkable effort in 1964 when he took SA from bottom [1963] to top [1964]
There probably has not been enough said about Jack Mccarthy's effort in lifting NA from a 2nd bottom 7th [1959] to top [1960]
This ended a PA run of 6 flags [1954-1959]
Ironically Mccarthy is a previous coach of PA , and came over to NA in 1960
NA only won 3 games in 1959, then had a 13-5 minor round record in 1960


1961 FINISH
WA
NW
PA
WT
NA
SA
GL
ST

The tale of 1961 was with Jack Oatey the coach
NW 1945-1956
WA 1957-1960
Jack had the 1961 season off after coaching for 16 seasons
And the 2 teams he coached played off in the 1961 Grand Final

Also interesting to see the team he started coaching in 1962 [ST] had finished bottom in 1961


1961 was also the year of the Australian Football Carnival in Brisbane
The winner of this carnival was Western Australia

[Psyber]

I never saw John Weisner play, but from what I hear he was pretty much a stopper. Was a regular player in 1959, but other seasons was a fringe player.

I did see him play, as I was at nearly all Norwood matches from late 1956 to the end of 1967.
From what I can remember he was not spectacular, but a solid, tight, and reliable stopper, as you say.

[robranisgod]

Theres been a lot said about Neil Kerleys remarkable effort in 1964 when he took SA from bottom [1963] to top [1964]
There probably has not been enough said about Jack Mccarthy's effort in lifting NA from a 2nd bottom 7th [1959] to top [1960]
This ended a PA run of 6 flags [1954-1959]
Ironically Mccarthy is a previous coach of PA , and came over to NA in 1960
NA only won 3 games in 1959, then had a 13-5 minor round record in 1960

North had finished minor premiers in 1958, so I think that 1959 was more the anomaly than 1960. In Kerley's case at South they had not only finished bottom the year before, but they had finished in the bottom three every year for the previous 18 years.

[Adelaide Hawk]

1961 was also the year of the Australian Football Carnival in Brisbane
The winner of this carnival was Western Australia

Eight All-Australians from SA in that carnival: Bill Wedding, Don Roach, Neil Kerley, John Halbert, Don Lindner, Bob Shearman, John Abley, Geoff Kingston.

Victoria & WA had only 5 representatives and Tasmania two.

[GWW]

I remember seeing footage on the ABC of a state game in the 1950's between SA and Vic, where SA got absolutely smashed. I was a little surprised, but asked my dad, and he mentioned SA wasn't overly competitive in the 50's, but in the 1960's our state game results were quite a lot better, as seen by the '63 game at the MCG.

[Adelaide Hawk]

I remember seeing footage on the ABC of a state game in the 1950's between SA and Vic, where SA got absolutely smashed. I was a little surprised, but asked my dad, and he mentioned SA wasn't overly competitive in the 50's, but in the 1960's our state game results were quite a lot better, as seen by the '63 game at the MCG.

That's true, the game you may have been thinking of is the 1958 Carnival in Melbourne where the Vics defeated us 25-17 to 7-7. We had three wins over Victoria in the 60s and a near miss in 1967, but by the end of the decade, Victoria well and truly had our measure ... helped by an influx of quality interstate recruits such as Peter Hudson, Royce Hart, etc.

[mal]

LONG KICK RECORDS
DROP KICK

83 YARDS 11 INCHES F HUGHSON , FITZROY [1943]
78 YARDS 1 FOOT 10 INCHES R SHEARMAN WT [1961]
78 YARDS M LOWE ST [1941]
76 YARDS E HENRYS PRESTON [1951]
74 YARDS 2 FEET 2 INCHES R GREEN ST [1938]

Bob Shearman
ES 1956-1960
WT 1961-1964
ST 1966-1972

First played in SA in the 1961 season
Played 64 games in the VFL , only kicked 8 goals, so presume he played a lot in defence ?
Played 70 games [WT] then 121 games [ST] and kicked 182 goals in total
Went to ST in 1966, that proved to be a great career move



QUESTIONS
Found this long kick in a publication, can anyone recall where and when this kick took place ?
What happened to Bob in 1965, did he miss the season ?
Why did he leave WT to ST ?

[Adelaide Hawk]

Found this long kick in a publication, can anyone recall where and when this kick took place ?
What happened to Bob in 1965, did he miss the season ?
Why did he leave WT to ST ?

Shearman's kick would have to have been in an official long kicking competition, otherwise it's unofficial, so it may have been at the Royal Show perhaps.

In those days, a club was entitled to make a player stand out of football for a season. Shearman moved into a pub in the Sturt area and applied for a clearance from West Torrens to Sturt, but West Torrens didn't clear him to play. Shearman also missed a lot of footy awaiting a clearance from Essendon to Torrens.

West Torrens wanted Rick Schoff as a trade, but I'm not sure Schoff was interested.

[mal]

NEIL HAWKE
The great allrounder
And a very interesting sporting career in Football and Cricket
Like Bob Shearman, he played interstate and for 2 different SANFL clubs, and had some fame with a kick

DROP PUNT
Started at PA
Went to Western Australia
Whilst in Western Australia it has been mentioned that Hawke was famous for his drop punts
It has been said Hawke was the first player in the West to perfect the long drop punt, covering longer distances then previously seen with this kick

QUESTIONS
Hawke left PA and went and played for East Perth, why did he leave PA ?
When he returned back to South Australia he played for WT, why not PA ?
Did Hawke need a clearance from PA to WT on his return ?

[heater31]

QUESTIONS
Hawke left PA and went and played for East Perth, why did he leave PA ?
When he returned back to South Australia he played for WT, why not PA ?
Did Hawke need a clearance from PA to WT on his return ?

Don't think clearance from Port would be required. East Perth yes. Collingwood made Len Fitzgerald miss a season when he wanted to transfer to Sturt.

[mal]

NEIL HAWKE
Started at PA in 1957

1957
GAME 1 ?
GAME 2 ?
GAME 3 : 15 goals v SA
GAME 4 : 9 goals v NW
GAME 5: 1 goal v WA
1 goal v WA at 3/4 time and was dragged after he stood a surprise full back in Neil Kerley
Rex Johns went forward and kicked 3 goals in the last quarter
I have not found out what made Hawke leave PA to play for East Perth, but the game against WA was his last for PA

1959
Hawke kicked 114 goals for East Perth
He also played in premiership teams at EP in his stay there [1958-1959]
Played state cricket for WA from 1959-60

1960
He played a year at Brighton ???
Perhaps he had to stand out of SANFL footy for a year ??

1961
He played for WT , and I think he played late in the season ?
I think he would have played cricket for SA this season of 1961-1962

Great footy and cricket career
Wonder if he was a better cricketer or footballer

[baggy8]

Shearman moved into a pub in the Sturt area and applied for a clearance from West Torrens to Sturt, but West Torrens didn't clear him to play.

Shearman became the licensee of the Waverley Hotel on Unley Rd (roughly where Boho is now) while in his prime at Torrens and rather provocatively (and I imagine good-humouredly) had the exterior neon signage done in blue and yellow.

[mal]

1960s participants Ive met at the racecourses 3

MAX HEWITT
The Hewitt name is well know in South Australia
Max Hewitt played for WA from 1949-1960
It appears he played about 129 games
In his last season it is listed that Max played 5 games in 1960
Max has been described as a good half back flanker
Cant find any records , but I reckon he played state footy

BREEDING
He has bred exceedingly well
Daryl and Glynn Hewitt are his footballing sons, who have played in the SANFL + VFL
Both different sorts of players , both very good footballers
Glynn bred Lleyton Hewitt the youngest ever ranked number 1 tennis player when Llyeton was 20 years old
Max had a much younger brother Peter Hewitt who played mainly as a defender in the late 60s for WA

RACECOURSE
Max is a punter
Ive caught up with him on numerous occasions over the years
One of our favorite haunts was the Morphetville auditoruim in the 1990s
Son Daryl , is involved in the racing industry
As for Max, he is one of the most pleasant racecourse personalities you could meet


QUESTIONS
I noticed he played as a regular 1950-52 and as a regular in 1956-58
In 1953 -1955 he only played 6 games, and listed as playing no games in 1955
I have heard he played state footy, so why would Max have had 6 games in 3 years , was he injured, was WA a strong club ?[surely a state player would have been more of a regular]
MORE HEWITTS
There was a J Hewitt who played at WA in 1963, any relation ?
Also a G Hewitt who played 18 games in 1953-1954, any relation ?

[mal]

NEIL HAWKE
The great allrounder
And a very interesting sporting career in Football and Cricket
Like Bob Shearman, he played interstate and for 2 different SANFL clubs, and had some fame with a kick

DROP PUNT
Started at PA
Went to Western Australia
Whilst in Western Australia it has been mentioned that Hawke was famous for his drop punts
It has been said Hawke was the first player in the West to perfect the long drop punt, covering longer distances then previously seen with this kick

QUESTIONS
Hawke left PA and went and played for East Perth, why did he leave PA ?
When he returned back to South Australia he played for WT, why not PA ?
Did Hawke need a clearance from PA to WT on his return ?

Im going to answer my own question !
Hawke left EP and came back to Adelaide in 1960[perhaps he played for Brighton in 1960]
He refused to re-join PA
PA cleared Hawke to EP, they demanded and received a transfer fee of a amount reported as 750 pounds
He considered he was $old out and for this reason he did not want to play for PA, Hawke wanted a clearance to WT
After standing out of football for a year he appealed to a special tribunal of the SANFL
The tribunal upheld his appeal and he ended up playing for WT the next day

Geoff Kingston and Neil Hawke as key forward targets in 1961 should have given WT an imposing forward line

FOOTNOTE
Hawke made history as well, being the only person at the time to have played State Football and State Cricket for both SA + WA

[robranisgod]

Shearman moved into a pub in the Sturt area and applied for a clearance from West Torrens to Sturt, but West Torrens didn't clear him to play.

Shearman became the licensee of the Waverley Hotel on Unley Rd (roughly where Boho is now) while in his prime at Torrens and rather provocatively (and I imagine good-humouredly) had the exterior neon signage done in blue and yellow.

The Waverley Hotel is exactly the same pub as Boho is now.

Shearman was licensee for some time before he tried to go to Sturt. In fact I beiieve that West Torrens put him into the hotel and as correctly stated he had the West Torrens Eagle emblem on a neon sign on the pub. West Torrens in the very early 60s were considered the wealthiest club in the league but a financial disaster in 1963 caused huge damage. It never really recovered from this financial disaster and though it survived a further 27 years I believe that it was this, rather than Woodville's introduction was the main cause of Torrens demise.

Incidentally Lindsay Head at the same time was the licensee of the Cross Keys Hotel at Cavan.

[redandblack]

I was actually at Adelaide Oval the day Neil Hawke kicked the 15 goals.

He was also a sought-after speaker later at junior cricket clubs and had a wonderfully impressive voice.

[robranisgod]

I was actually at Adelaide Oval the day Neil Hawke kicked the 15 goals.

He was also a sought-after speaker later at junior cricket clubs and had a wonderfully impressive voice.

I believe that he kicked the 15 goals on South's Ron "Dasher" Hewitt, not to be confused with North's Ron "Dasher" Hewitt.

South's Dasher Hewitt worked for the Advertiser, I think as a printer or a similar trade, but he also used to write game reports for the Adertiser in the 1960s. He also appeared on the Saturday evening Football Report on Channel Seven for a year of two in the early 1960s

North's Dasher Hewitt was a state wingman and vice captain of North's 1960 premiership side. He originally came from Crystal Brook and won North's best and fairest in 1961. Like a long line of top North footballers he wore number 6.

I concur with what redandblack says about Neil Hawke as a public speaker.

As a young person I had the pleasure of hearing Neil Hawke speak. He was fantastic. The main thrust of his speech was "Don't be a sporting snob, I was". He maintained that for example as a young man he used to sulk if he was dismissed cheaply in cricket (remember that as well as being a top pace bowler he was a good enough batsman to make Sheffield Shield centuries). He never mentioned the quitting Port in 1957, but I have often wondered whether he was referring to that as well. He stated that no matter what the standard of sport you play enjoy every moment whether you win or lose. 45 years later I still remember the speech vividly. It must have made a huge impression on me.