Australian Football

Like his West Australian interstate adversary Ken Bagley, against whom he played at Hobart in the 1966 carnival, Rick Schoff was the quintessential ‘jack of all trades’. Selected as All Australian centre half back after both the 1966 and 1969 carnivals, he occupied virtually every position on the ground, to almost equally good effect, for his club, Sturt, for whom he played 215 games between 1959 and 1971. He also represented South Australia 13 times.

Blond-haired and stocky of build, Schoff was frequently, if predictably, likened to a ‘tank’ during his career, a cliché which unfortunately concentrated on one aspect of his game at the expense of others, and perhaps in part explains why, in spite of his noteworthy achievements in the interstate arena, he tended to be somewhat underrated. One person who certainly did not underrate him was his frequent interstate opponent John Nicholls, who observed that Schoff “was a fearless tear through player, who drove the ball forward with left foot kicks. A fine mark, he was a great stopper - I have seen him take Robert Walls apart and I’ve also seen him nullify Royce Hart”.¹

Schoff was equally effective as an attacking player, and in important games he was often used by coach Jack Oatey as the fulcrum of the Sturt attack, where his excellent positioning sense allied to great body strength repeatedly enabled him to gain possession under even the most intense duress before squeezing out telling handballs to teammates running past.

Injured in 1966 when the Double Blues won their first premiership for 26 years, Rick Schoff gained more than ample consolation in each of the ensuing four seasons with influential Grand Final performances as the side went on to make it a near record five flags in a row.

Author - John Devaney