A season with the longest winning streak in the V/AFL history and the debut of one of the game’s giants while Collingwood mourned the loss of a club legend. 1953 was a year Coronation Fever swept the country, a Melbourne premiership player helped get the Olympic games to the MCG and the first All Australian Squad was announced. Supporters flocked to an Anzac Eve night game, even if it was not easy to see all the action. Geelong dropped one of their stars during the finals, was he a victim of religious bigotry? All this and more if you listen to the 1953 episode of Grand Final History
Coleman Video from NFSA Archive
All Australian Squad 1953
In alphabetical order the team was :
Jack Clarke (VFL): Essendon and Victorian League centre, unbeaten during the championship. Jack Clarke (WA): A rangy, spring-heeled follower. John Coleman (VFL): Full-forward and the greatest forward in Australian football today. Kicked 15 goals in the three carnival games he played. Neil Davies (SA): Winger, half-forward – a real dasher. Originally from Broken Hill. Len Fitzgerald (SA): Played centre half-forward then was switched to centre half-back in the play-off match in an endeavour to check the influence of the VFL’s Fred Flanagan. Bob Hank (SA): Captained the South Australians and played centre in all games – is a smart mover but a roamer. Des Healey (VFL): Played brilliantly off a wing and repeated the performance in the Grand Final for Collingwood against Geelong on the MCG. Ted Henrys (VFA): Full-back. Delighted with his field kicking and general anticipation. Went on to win the J. J. Liston Trophy for best and fairest in the Victorian Football Association. Jack Howell (VFL): Formed a winning ruck with club teammate Ken Hands and Billy Hutchison. Bill Hutchison (VFL): Was Victorian captain and best rover in the Championships. Frank Johnson (VFA): Was one of the star ruckmen. His marking was outstanding but his kicking was not of such high standard. He’d won the Liston [Trophy] in 1952. John Leedham (Tas): Was the only Tasmanian to win selection. Played mostly at half-back but by build would be better suited to a back pocket. Proved a terrier in a side that went winless throughout. Jack Lynch (SA): Is a stylish wingman who has played better football than he did in the 1953 championships. John Marriott (SA): A giant of a ruckman at 6 ft 3 in [191 cm] and 15 st [95 kg]. Steve Marsh (WA): Has been Western Australia’s main rover in the postwar years. Merv McIntosh (WA): Won the Tassie Medal for best and fairest and was the No. 1 personality of the championships.Bob Rose (VFL): A Victorian League champion. Has proved his calibre a hundred times with Collingwood. Bernie Smith (VFL): Played brilliant football in the back pocket. Won the Brownlow Medal in 1951. Is a key man with Geelong. Frank Sparrow (WA): Was West Australian captain. Started as centre, then switched to centre half-back to meet team demands and to cover injuries. Clayton Thompson (SA): Played full-forward and headed the goal-kickers’ list with 17 goals in three games. (Great Australian Football Stories Ken Piesse, The Five Mile Press, 2011 p49)