DOB: 8 October 1891
Died: 3 October 1966
MFC Debut: Round 1, 1919 against St. Kilda at Junction Oval
Last MFC Game: Preliminary Final 1925 against Collingwood at MCG
From: Ballarat College/Geelong College/East Geelong/Geelong
Number: 15 (1919-1925)
Honours:
Captain - Coach - 1919
Captain - 1920
Leading Goalkicker - 1919
Victorian State Player - 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924
Life Member
Games: 106 (194 total)
Goals: 97 (169 total)
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % | |
| 38 | 3 | 65 | 35.84 | |
Born 'George Heinz', the man later known as George Haines was born in Ballarat and originally attended Ballarat College before shifting to Geelong College where he became a prominent rover in their football team.
Beginning his VFL career at Geelong in 1910, Haines played 87 games in four years before World War I intervened. He had played for Victoria in the 1911 and 1914 carnivals, and was voted best Victorian player in the second series. In 1915 he trained with Carlton, but could not get a clearance to join them and sat out the season.
Changing his name to Haines to avoid anti-German sentiment, he served in the AIF, intially in the Masseur Corps and later the Sea Transport Corp before being discharged in 1917.
In 1920 he captained a VFL side against the Ballarat League, and was captain of Victoria against New South Wales.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow | |
| 1919 | 14 | 15 | n/a | |
| 1920 | 14 | 18 | n/a | |
| 1921 | 16 | 22 | n/a | |
| 1922 | 16 | 13 | n/a | |
| 1923 | 13 | 14 | n/a | |
| 1924 | 14 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1925 | 19 | 5 | 0 | |
Coaching
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | % |
| 16 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.0 |
First game as coach: Round 1, 1919 vs St. Kilda at Junction Oval
Last game as coach: Round 18, 1919 vs Essendon at MCG
Signed as Captain/Coach of the Fuschias in their first season after the war, Haines had the misfortune of taking over as coach when the club was at its lowest ebb. He failed to win a game all season and was replaced as coach by Gerald Brosnan, although he retained his job as captain.
In 1921 when Percy Wilson became captain-coach Haines was named vice-captain.
In 1922 Haines was voted the best rover in the league by the Sporting Globe and captained Victoria against South Australia. He was also one of the side's most reliable players, never playing less than 13 games in a season until retirement. In 1923 he was vice-captain of Victoria before leading the side against New South Wales in 1924.
Haines retired due to injury before the 1926 season. He continued to train with the team and kept the option of a comeback open but did not eventually play, missing out on a premiership. Beating five others to be appointed playing coach of St. Kilda in 1927, he suffered a recurrence of a leg injury in the first game of the season and could not play again.
Haines later returned to Melbourne and served as a selector until mid 1938, and as committeeman into the 1940s.
Notes
Some sources say he played his one game for St Kilda when they were short of players but newspaper reports of the time make it clear he was captain/coach but suffered a serious injury in Round 1. Once source shows him as Heinz in 1922.
Lists
Directors
Geelong
Players who served during war
St Kilda
Media
Herald - 14/05/1915
Herald - 04/06/1915
Australasian - 30/08/1919
Herald - 12/06/1920
Sporting Globe - 03/10/1925
Argus - 19/01/1927
Argus - 21/04/1927
Argus - 02/05/1927
Argus - 21/06/1938
Links
Australian Football profile
Boyles Football Photos
Demonwiki image gallery
Geelong College profile
War record
Wikipedia profile