George Rawle
| George Rawle | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth | 2 December 1889 | ||
| Date of death | 12 June 1978 (aged 88) | ||
| Original team(s) | North Melbourne (VFA) | ||
| Height / weight | 175 cm / 80 kg | ||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
George Rawle (2 December 1889 – 12 June 1978) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the VFL during the 1920s. Rawle suffered a severe ankle injury when a boy, and the bone calloused, leading to the foot being badly deformed. Rawle tightly bandaged the injured foot, which enabled him to play.[1]
Rawle was 33 years old when he made his league debut with Essendon in 1923, the second oldest to debut in history behind his teammate Charlie Hardy. He was a late inclusion in the 1923 VFL Grand Final, making Rawle one of just three footballers in history to play in a premiership on debut after Essendon beat Fitzroy by 17 points. The following season he played in another premiership.
The reason many Essendon players started their VFL careers late was because the likes of Rawle, Hardy and Syd Barker had been with North Melbourne in the VFA and joined Essendon when North briefly disbanded in 1921. Rawle's case was slightly different, he crossed to Essendon's VFA club, Essendon Association, and returned to North Melbourne in 1922 as captain-coach before becoming coach of Essendon seconds in 1923.
His career at North Melbourne had begun in 1911 and he played in their 1914, 1915 and 1918 premierships. After he left Essendon he returned to the VFA as captain-coach of Camberwell for their inaugural season.
Rawle's son Keith later became an Essendon premiership player.
References
- ^ Atkinson, Graeme (1989). 3AW Book of Footy Records. South Melbourne,: Magistra Publishing Company Pty Ltd. p. 278. ISBN 1863210091.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
External links
- George Rawle's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- George Rawle at AustralianFootball.com