Australian Football

Barrie Vagg was a Shepparton product whose first attempt to make the grade in league football, with Footscray in 1960, ended in frustrating failure. Two years later he returned to the city to try his luck with Melbourne, and enjoyed success from the start. Exceptionally speedy, elusive, and a superb kick with either foot, he was, in modern parlance, the quintessential 'receiver'.

Vagg enjoyed premiership success with the Demons in 1964 when he lined up on a half forward flank in the four-point Grand Final defeat of Collingwood (match reviewed here). When he retired in 1969 he had played a total of 115 VFL games for the Demons, kicking 130 goals. His failure at Footscray must have been a distant memory as he got to do something no Bulldogs player would manage in generations - play in a premiership.

Author - John Devaney