In the second of a special series on richmondfc.com.au leading into next Monday night’s 2012 Brownlow Medal count, Tony Greenberg profiles the Tigers’ 1948 Brownlow Medallist, champion ruckman Bill Morris.

No. 2:  Bill Morris

The trade deal that enabled Richmond to secure the services of ruckman Bill Morris, from Melbourne in 1942, may well have been the best ever orchestrated by the Tigers.

Morris had first attracted the attention of Tiger talent scouts while playing with the Army in a services game on Punt Road Oval one Sunday earlier that year.

Richmond saw huge potential in Morris and was extremely keen to recruit him, but there was a problem. 

Morris was residentially tied to Melbourne and had played one game with its seconds side, in the 1941 season.

The Tigers, however, refused to give up the hunt for Morris, and set about negotiating a trade deal with Melbourne.

They eventually got their man, swapping a young ruckman on their list, Colin Galbraith, to the Demons in exchange for Morris.

Galbraith injured a knee after only four senior games with Melbourne, while Morris went on to become one of the greatest players in Richmond’s proud league football history.

Mind you, it took Morris a fair while to establish himself in the Tigers’ line-up.
He played just five games in his 1942 debut season, including the Grand Final loss to Essendon, none in 1943, due to the fact he was serving in the Australian Army during World 2, and only six in 1944.

It wasn’t until 1945 that Morris’ league career took off . . .

Nicknamed “Paleface”, because of his complexion, Morris made his Victorian State debut in the ’45 season, and wore the big V every year from then on, with the exception of 1948, until his retirement in 1951.

Morris also won the first of his three Tiger Best and Fairests in ’45 and, the following year, he finished equal second in the Brownlow Medal, one vote behind Melbourne’s Don Cordner.

He polled strongly again in 1947 and then, in 1948, he beat a star-studded field home, including eventual Brownlow Medallists, Bill Hutchison (Essendon), Ron Clegg (South Melbourne) and Alan Ruthven (Fitzroy) to win the coveted Medal.

The then 26-year-old polled polled 24 votes to defeat Carlton’s Ollie Grieve, on 21 votes, with Hutchison a further four votes behind in third place.  South Melbourne champion Ron Clegg was fourth, with 16 votes, while Collingwood’s Bill Twomey was fifth, with 15 votes, and Ruthven equal sixth, on 13 votes.

Two years later, in his first season as Richmond’s captain, Morris finished equal third in the Brownlow, with 17 votes, behind Fitzroy’s Ruthven, to further enhance his reputation as a scrupulously fair, brilliant player.

Morris had another year as the Tigers’ skipper in 1951, before retiring from league football at the end of that season, with 140 games, 103 games, and that 1948 Brownlow to his credit.

At 188cm and 86kg, Morris frequently had to compete against taller, more strongly-built opponents in the ruck, but he more than compensated with his many other attributes.

For starters, Morris had superb timing, both when leaping for a hit-out or mark.  He also possessed enormous stamina, which enabled him to regularly ruck unchanged for an entire match.

Strong marking, long kicking with either foot, and clever evasive skills, completed the total ruck package.

There was no bigger fan of Bill Morris than the man regarded as the best Tiger of them all - Jack Dyer.

“Bill Morris was certainly the greatest ruckman I have seen.  He had more finesse and class than any other man ever to walk the turf,” Dyer wrote in his book “Captain Blood”.

“Morris was a football artist.  His ruckwork, palming of the ball and marking was a delight.

“His forte was that he went through the air instead of up in the air.
“He would spear at the ball and could come from any angle and was one of those players who put himself in dangerous positions, but missed being killed by fractions.
“His manipulation of the ball was brilliant and he could flip the ball in any direction to any point.

“The ability to ride a knock was a feature of Bill’s play. Many a time I’ve seen him in dire trouble.  But he could take the knock and use it to position and balance himself.  He could even baulk in mid-air.

“He was a football freak, who comes but once in a lifetime”.

Bill Morris profile
Born:  24/4/1922
Height:  188cm
Weight:  86kg
Recruited to Richmond from:  Scotch College/Melbourne
Guernsey number:  No. 5
Games (1942 & 1944-51):  140
Goals:  98
Honors:  1948 Brownlow Medal winner, three-time Club Best and Fairest winner, Richmond captain 1950-51, member of Richmond’s Team of the Century, Richmond Hall of Fame inductee, Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee, Richmond Life Member, 15-time Victorian State representative