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Athol Webb

Image DOB: 13 September 1935

Debut: Round 12, 1955 against St. Kilda at MCG
Last Game: Round 12, 1959 against Richmond at MCG

From: Scottsdale

Number: 15 (1955-1959)

Honours:
Premiership Player 1956, 1957
Grand Final team 1958
150 Heroes selection
Life Member - 2023

Games: 74
Goals: 146
Career Statistics

WinsDrawsLossesWinning %
5811578.37

Webb debuted in Tasmanian football in 1951, and after representing the Northern Tasmania League in 1952 he was signed by Melbourne to take part in 1953 pre-season matches. He said he had no intention of remaining in Victoria that season but simply wanted to say he had trained and played on the MCG, and returned to play a full season at Scottsdale where he won the best and fairest award at 17-years-old.

He eventually moved to the Demons in 1955. His clearance was initially held up during a dispute between the Tasmanian League and the VFL. His club approved his clearance in March but the Tasmanians held on until June - citing 'special circumstances'. It restricted Webb to eight games in his debut season. Those appearances stamped him as a player to watch for the future and it was a surprise when he was dropped for the Grand Final side. Failure to perform in the second half and inaccurate kicking during the Semi Final cost him dearly.

In 1956 he suffered a severely bruised chest and bruised shins when he ran at full speed into a goalpost during the Round 6 clash against North Melbourne. That year he booted five goals in the Grand Final victory over Collingwood.

In 1957 he played for a Victorian B side against Tasmania and contributed three goals to the winning Grand Final effort.

He twice injured an ankle outside of games in 1959. The first injury took place at training, but the second was the result of tripping on a faulty lino at a club dinner dance. He played just five games for the year.

The elusive forward was often used by Norm Smith as the decoy for Robert B Johnson, and played in a winning side nearly in 79% of his career matches but left the club at the end of 1959. He was offered a highly paid deal to move to West Perth before accepting a job as captain/coach New Norfolk in the Tasmanian league. He then moved on to East Launceston for 1962 and 1963.

In 1964 he moved to Sydney as player/coach for Western Suburbs, where he remained through 1965. He then coached The Rock-Yerong Creek from 1966 to 1968, before stepping down as coach and playing another seven years before retiring.

In 2006 he was inducted to the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame.

YearGamesGoalsBrownlow
1955 8140
1956 20280
1957 21565
1958 20440
1959 541

Notes
This article says Melbourne first tried to recruit him in 1950.

Lists
Interstate recruits
Life Members

Media
Examiner - 30/03/1953
Herald - 01/04/1953
Age - 30/03/1955
Argus - 07/04/1955
Age - 28/06/1955
Argus - 28/06/1955
Age - 16/09/1955
Age - 10/06/1959
Age - 17/10/1959
Age - 26/11/1959
Age - 02/07/1965

Links
Boyles Football Photos profile
"The Dashing Demon Decoy" - Boyles Football Photos
Wikipedia

Created by Supermercado. Last Modification: Tuesday 10 October 2023 11:19:22 AEDT by Supermercado. (Version 37)

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