Merv Hobbs

Mervyn 'Merv' Hobbs (born 16 June 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Footscray in the VFL during the early 1960s.

A rover, Hobbs is best remembered for a spectacular mark which he took in the 1961 Preliminary Final where Footscray upset Melbourne to end their streak of seven successive Grand Final appearances. His team lost the 1961 Grand Final comfortably to Hawthorn but he played in back to back Night Series Premierships in 1963 and 1964.

Hobbs often rested in the forward pocket and was handy near goals. In an era where Footscray lacked big goal-kickers, Hobbs contributed one and a half goals a game. He kicked a career best eight goals in a game against South Melbourne at Western Oval early into his second season. His season tally of 16 goals in 1963 was enough to share Footscray's goal kicking award and his 24 goals in 1965 won it outright.

An injury sustained at training in the 1966 pre-season in which he tore his anterior and interior ligaments as well as cartilage in his right knee, ended his VFL career.

It wasn't until nine years later that he returned to football when he took the field for VFA club Yarraville and later Brunswick. He also served as coach of Williamstown and Footscray's Under-19s.

References

• Merv Hobbs's statistics from AFL Tables
• Full Points Footy Biography: Merv Hobbs