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Frank Maher (footballer)

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Frank Maher
Personal information
Full name Francis William Maher
Date of birth (1895-09-22)22 September 1895
Place of birth Camberwell, Victoria
Date of death 7 November 1976(1976-11-07) (aged 81)
Place of death Echuca, Victoria
Original team(s) Shepparton, Lilydale
Debut 11 June 1921, Essendon vs. Carlton, at East Melbourne Cricket Ground
Height 167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight 70 kg (154 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1921–1928 Essendon (VFL) 137 (124)
1929–1931 Oakleigh VFA) 048 0(69)
Total 185 (193)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1921–1928 Victoria 009
Coaching career
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1925–1927 Essendon 056 (32–23–1)
1932–1933 Fitzroy 036 (14–21–1)
1935–1936 Carlton 038 (26–11–1)
Total 130 (72–55–3)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1931.
Career highlights
  • Essendon Premiership: 1923, 1924
  • Essendon Captain: 1925-1928 (77 games)
  • Essendon Vice-Captain: 1924
  • Essendon Best and Fairest: 1927
  • Victoria captain: 1927, 1928.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Francis William Maher MM (22 September 1895 – 7 November 1976)[1] was a decorated Australian soldier who served in the First AIF, and was an Australian footballer and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and the Victorian Football Association (VFA).

Family

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The son of Cornelius Maher (1865–1934), and Mary Jane Maher (1869–1943), née Walmsley,[2] Francis William Maher was born in Camberwell, Victoria, on 22 September 1895.

He married Harriet Louise "Ettie" Benyan (1899–1979) in 1920.

Military service

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Maher served in the First AIF as a machine gunner from 1916 to 1919. Enlisted as a private, and holding the rank of Lieutenant at his discharge from service, he was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in May 1918 for his actions in France during the Battle of Broodseinde in October 1917.[3][4]

Corporal Francis William Maher (3845)
2nd Aust. Machine Gun Company.

              [Recommendation for the Award of Military Medal]
   During the operation at Broodseinde Ridge east of Ypres on 4th to
11th October 1917, this N.C.O. was in charge of a machine gun.
   He was wounded but refused to leave his post.
   His gun position was blown in by shell fire and he showed great
coolness and ability in constructing a new position under very
heavy shell fire and in getting his gun and men forward into it.
   His conduct throughout was splendid and his cheerful behaviour
and fine exhibition of courage and endurance were a great example
to his men and no doubt prevented the weaker ones from giving
way under the continual strain.
                                        17 October 1917.[5]

Football

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He only began playing football when serving overseas with the AIF; and, on his return to Australia, he started playing football with two clubs, Shepparton and Lilydale in the Yarra Valley Football Association.

"Horrie Gorringe, the solid little Tasmanian, is the finest rover I have ever seen. I could describe him in three words — the perfect footballer …
Second to Gorringe I would place Frank Maher, former Essendon rover and brainy little tactician.
Maher made a study of football, and his brilliance, pace, tricks and anticipation were all backed glorious passes which, literally speaking, went down a comrade's throat.
Maher came out of a crush and instinctively put the ball in the right direction — always to the best advantage of his side.
He had a swerve that invariably got him out of trouble.
Never at any time did he play the man, and he hated to give away a free kick.
His play left nothing to be desired.
In my opinion Maher was second to Gorringe only because he did not have the strength and physique of the Tasmanian."
               306-game Collingwood champion Gordon Coventry, 1938.[6]

Essendon (VFL)

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In the 1921 pre-season, he trained impressively with Carlton;[7] however, once it was established that he resided in Essendon's territory, he signed with Essendon.[8] Recruited from Lilydale Football Club, he played his first game for Essendon in 1921, at the advanced age of 25, against Carlton at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground on 11 June 1921.

"Mosquito Fleet"

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Maher was only 5'6" tall; and, along with six others — Jack Garden (5'5"), Charlie Hardy (5'3"), Vince Irwin (5'6"), George "Tich" Shorten (5'5"), Jimmy Sullivan (5'6"), and Rowley Watt (5'4")[9][10] — Maher was one of Essendon's legendary "mosquito fleet".[11][12] According to some,[13] there were another two Essendon players that were diminutive enough to be considered to be "mosquitoes": Garnet Campbell (5'7½"), and Greg Stockdale (5'8").

The term "mosquito fleet" was drawn by analogy from a maritime expression relating to particular assemblies of small vessels (e.g., the South Australian "mosquito fleet", the Queensland "mosquito fleet", a number of different U.S. "mosquito fleets", etc.).

Career

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He played 137 games with Essendon Football Club from 1921 to 1928. The last 118 of those games — from round 12 in 1922 to round 17 in 1928 inclusive (he did not play in the last match of the 1928 season, "[having] requested the selectors not to consider him for the match as he was not in form"[14]) — were played consecutively.

He was first rover (with 2 goals) in the 1923 premiership team, and played on the half-forward flank (with 4 goals in the three matches) in the team that won the 1924 (round-robin) premiership.

Maher was captain-coach of Essendon in 1927; and, although his application to coach Essendon in 1928 was rejected, he captained Essendon in that year.

Victorian representative player

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He represented Victoria on nine occasions in 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927 (captain), and 1928 (captain).

Maher, was captain of the Victorian Football League representative team that played against the Ovens and Murray Football League in Wangaratta in June, 1928 and praised a 16 year old Haydn Bunton (O&MFL) after the games as a player "who could hold his own in any league team".[15]

Brownlow medal (third place)

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He polled strongly in the 1925 Brownlow Medal, coming in third place with four votes.[16]

Oakleigh (VFA)

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Late in 1928, the VFA decided to expand its number of teams from ten to twelve. Oakleigh and Sandringham were chosen to take part in the 1929 VFA competition.[17]

In 1929 Maher was cleared from Essendon to serve as Oakleigh's captain-coach for its first season in the VFA.[18][19] He was paid £9 per week; "a huge fee at this time" — "it was double the basic wage".[20] Recruiting Maher also meant that Oakleigh — with Maher as its first rover, and ex-Richmond George Rudolph and ex-Geelong Eric Fleming as its followers[21] — had a formidable first ruck combination.

Oakleigh won two VFA premiership with Maher as its captain-coach: the first in 1930, when it defeated Northcote in a fiery match, and in 1931, when it, again, defeated Northcote.

Fitzroy (VFL)

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He left Oakleigh at the end of 1931, and having been selected ahead of fourteen other applicants,[22] he was appointed the non-playing coach of Fitzroy in 1932, and served as coach for two seasons, 1932 and 1933. He was replaced as coach in 1933, by Jack Cashman, due to the club's decision to appoint a playing coach.[23] Ironically, Cashman resigned after serving only two games as Fitzroy's captain-coach, citing difficulties with members and supporters of the club,[24] and was immediately cleared to Carlton.[25]

Oakleigh (VFA)

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Once it was made known that Maher was not continuing as Fitzroy's coach, Oakleigh appointed him as its non-playing coach for the 1934 season.[26]

Carlton (VFL)

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Rejecting offers to return to coach Fitzroy,[27][28] Maher coached the Carlton Football Club in 1935[29][30][31] and in 1936. He was unable to continue coaching in 1937 due to a move to Sydney in late 1936 to take up new position with his employer.

General Motors-Holden

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Originally employed with the Commonwealth Statistician, Maher resigned from the public service in 1928 when the Statistician's Office was transferred from Melbourne to Canberra. He immediately transferred to General Motors; and, in late 1936, he was promoted to a position with General Motors in Sydney.[32] In 1946, he was appointed Victorian sales manager of General Motors-Holden's Limited.[33]

Essendon Past Players & Officials Association

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He was president of Essendon's past players and officials association (1958–1968).

Death

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He died on 7 November 1976.[34][35]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Frank Maher - Player Bio". Australian Football. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  2. ^ Deaths: Maher, The Argus, (Friday, 24 September 1943), p.2.
  3. ^ Blueseum profile
  4. ^ Awards of Military Medal ("No.3845 Sergeant F. W. Maher, Machine Gun Corps"), Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No.95, (Thursday, 27 June 1918), p. 1390.
  5. ^ Recommendation for Distinguished Conduct Medal: Corporal Francis William Maher (3845), dated 17 October 1917: a hand-written (pencil) note on Maher's file indicates that, rather than a Distinguished Conduct Medal, he was awarded a Military Medal.
  6. ^ Coventry, G., "Those Busy Rovers", The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 21 May 1938), p.8.
  7. ^ Players who are in the Public Eye, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 6 May 1921), p.3; Play and Players, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 6 May 1921), p.3).
  8. ^ Play and Players, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 19 June 1921), p.3.
  9. ^ Maplestone (1996, p.100) notes that Hardy was the second shortest player ever to play senior VFL football, and that Shorten was the lightest player ever to play senior VFL football. (At 5'0", Jim "Nipper" Bradford who played with Collingwood and North Melbourne in the 1940s was the shortest player ever to play senior VFL football.)
  10. ^ All the Mosquitoes, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Wednesday, 20 September 1950), p.28.
  11. ^ Buggy, Hugh, "Another 'Football Flashback': Dons' 'Mosquito Fleet' Rode Waves of Bumps", The Argus, (Saturday, 12 August 1950), p.6.
  12. ^ Hardy, Charlie, "The 'Mosquito Fleet'", The Sporting Gobe, (Saturday, 26 August 1939), p.6.
  13. ^ (for example, Essendon's Famous "Mosquito Fleet" is a Worry to Opposing Sides, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 22 May 1926), p.6.)
  14. ^ Place Within Their Reach, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 31 August 1928), p.13.
  15. ^ "1928 - O&MFL v VFL match review". Weekly Times. The Weekly Times Newspaper. 23 June 1928.
  16. ^ In those days, there was only a single vote available in any one game. The 1925 winner, St Kilda's Colin Watson won the medal with 9 votes (i.e., best on the ground on nine occasions) having played in only 15 matches.
  17. ^ Football: Association Admits Oakleigh: Sandringham May Also Be Invited, The Age, (Tuesday, 27 November 1928), p.11.
  18. ^ 'Fairplay', "Ornament to the Game: Frank Maher's Fine Record", The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 20 April 1929), p.6.
  19. ^ Victorian Football Teams: No.13 — Oakleigh, The Australasian, (Saturday, 27 July 1929), p.76.
  20. ^ Maplestone (1996), p.113.
  21. ^ Rudolph and Fleming went to Oakliegh without being cleared by either of their VFL clubs (see Victorian League Exodus: Players Join Up With The Association, The Referee, (Wednesday, 24 April 1929), p.13).
  22. ^ Fitzroy Appoints New Coach, The Sporting Globe, (Saturday, 19 December 1931), p.1.
  23. ^ Maher or Cashman?, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Monday, 22 January 1934), p.15; Football, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Wednesday, 24 January 1934), p.16.
  24. ^ Cashman Tells Why He Resigned, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Wednesday, 16 May 1934), p.1.
  25. ^ J. Cashman Transfers, The Age, (Wednesday, 23 May 1934), p.12.
  26. ^ Barclay, H.H., "Frank Maher to Coach Oakleigh Club", The (Melbourne) Herald, Thursday, 25 January 19340, p.30.
  27. ^ Barclay, H.F., "Fitzroy Coach: Maher Still Likely, Officials Say, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Monday, 22 October 1934), p.21; Barclay, H.F., "Maher for Carlton: Will Not Coach Fitzroy: His Reasons", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Tuesday, 11 December 1934), p.24.
  28. ^ Maher was not granted a clearance by Fitzroy until 14 March 1935: see Carlton Sure of Maher: Minogue Cleared to St. Kilda, The Melbourne Herald, (Friday, 8 March 1935), p.2 and Maher and Rowe: Both Granted Vlearances, The Argus, (Friday, 15 March 1935), p.13.
  29. ^ Coach, The Argus, (Friday, 22 February 1935), p.13.
  30. ^ In 1935, as the coach of Carlton, he coached Cashman, the man who had replaced him at Fitzroy; Cashman played in five senior games for Carlton in that season.
  31. ^ League's Most Sought-After Coach: Frank Maher Tries His Hand on the Dark Blues: The Man, His Record, and His Methods, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 20 March 1935), p.9.
  32. ^ Victorian Games, The Canberra Times, (Monday, September 1936), p.3.
  33. ^ Frank Maher's New Job, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 29 May 1946), p.12.
  34. ^ Death Notices: Maher, The Age, (Tuesday, 9 November 1976), p.31.
  35. ^ Fiddian, Mark, "Ex-Don Dies", The Age, (Tuesday, 9 November 1976), p.38.

References

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