Graham Melrose
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | , |
| Recruited from | East Fremantle Football Club (WAFL) (1967-1974) |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 1, 1975, North Melbourne vs. , at |
| Team(s) | AFL North Melbourne (1975-1979 111 games)
WAFL East Fremantle (1967-1974 140 games) WAFL Swan Districts (1980-1982 67 games) AFL/WAFL/State 327 games (1967-1982) [1]. |
| Coaching career¹ | |
| Team(s) | Swan Districts 1995-1996 [2]. |
| ¹ Statistics to end of season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Graham Melrose is a former Australian rules football player regarded as a competitive and skilful rover with particularly accurate foot passing. He began his career at East Fremantle in the WAFL competition in 1967. The team was experiencing little success at the time but with players such as Melrose, Peake, Buhagier and Grljusich joining through the late 1960's and early 1970's and under the stewardship of coach John Todd East Fremantle won the 1974 premiership. Melrose was awarded the Lynn Medal (Fairest and Best award at East Fremantle) twice while at the club and also won the Sandover Medal in 1974. Melrose moved East in 1975 to join the North Melbourne Football Club where he settled into the regular lineup in the forward pocket and sharing roving duties with Barry Cable. The Kangaroos went on to win the 1975 Grand Final but Melrose was unable to play because of a hand injury. In 1976 Melrose had a great season and performed consistently well, he also played a great game in the 1976 Grand Final which saw Hawthorn Football Club beat North Melbourne. The 1977 season was another outstanding time for North Melbourne in which the club won its second VFL premiership against Collingwood, but Melrose did not take part in this game due to injury. Melrose played another sound season in 1978 and lined up in the forward pocket for Norths in the Grand Final against Hawthorn which saw Norths lose by 3 goals. Melrose played out the 1979 season before returning to Western Australia in 1980 where he joined the Swan Districts Football Club under his old mentor John Todd. Swan Districts had a great season but lost the 1980 grand final to South Fremantle by 58 points and Melrose played on a half forward flank. In 1981 Swan Districts made the second semi final but lost to Claremont by 27 points. Melrose played in the centre on this occasion and was rated as one of the best on ground. [4]. Swan Districts ended their premiership drought in 1982 where they beat Claremont by 49 points. Melrose was awarded the Simpson Medal for his efforts on field where he had played on a half-back flank. Melrose was captain of the side in 1982 and co-captain with Keith Narkle in 1983. Swan Districts went on win the 1983 premiership but without Melrose playing. Retiring as a player in 1983 Melrose returned to Swan Districts as a coach for the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Melrose had a memorable career in both the VFL and WAFL and in Swan Districts Team of the Century [5] and the East Fremantle Team of the Century [6]
[edit] References
- ^ Full Points Footy- Graham Melrose (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
- ^ Swan Districts Football Club - Playertracker - Graham Melrose (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-17.
- ^ EFFC - Old Easts make WA Football Hall of Fame (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ^ WA Football - Grand Final Results 1951-2006 (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ^ Swan Districts Football Club - Team of the Century (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ^ Full Points Footy - East Fremantle Football Club - Team of the Century (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
