Australian Football

Covering 108 games and spanning eight seasons, the career of George Hams was relatively short, but it was one which incorporated 10 finals across five finals series, including two Grand Finals and a premiership. Many a 300-game player would happily have given up the extra 200-odd games for such an experience.

Recruited locally from Ivanhoe Amateurs, the solidly-built Hams made his debut for the Magpies in round six, 1948 against Richmond. His side suffered a thrashing at the hands of the Tigers, but Hams retained his place as Collingwood turned their fortunes around to win the next seven matches. The Magpies made it all the way to the Preliminary Final before going under to eventual premiers Melbourne, and Hams played every match, settling in as a reliable back pocket.

Hams barely missed a game over the next five seasons, and was a member of the Magpies' side that lost to the all-powerful Geelong in the 1952 Grand Final, and was named 19th man in the following year's Grand Final when Collingwood turned the tables on the Cats to win its 12th VFL flag. Hams replaced Pat Twomey, who had twisted his ankle, in the third quarter, and become a premiership player in an uncustomary position as a forward.

A knee injury restricted Hams to only nine games in 1954, and after he was dropped from the side early in 1955 and then suffered an injury playing reserves, Hams 'pulled up stumps' announcing his retirement from football in June of that year to focus on an engineering career.

Author - Andrew Gigacz