The one and only... Geoff Weber
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Of the more than a thousand footballers who played only a single V/AFL game, a solid proportion made their appearance in the final round of a season. This is particularly true of the first half of the League era, and its not hard to fathom why.
In the less professional era of the game, clubs that were out of premiership contention used late season matches to trial new blood. In an era where teams were not constrained by list sizes, clubs could pluck players from local or country leagues and give them a run in 'the big league'. Even in more recent times with restricted list sizes, final round 'dead rubbers' have been used to trial hopefuls. Some stars of the game made their entrances this way. Swan Leo Barry and Geelong's Matthew Scarlett are cases in point.
But as one might expect, many such trials ended there, with players not quite showing enough to take the next step up. Or in some cases the players themselves might have decided the big smoke was not for them.
And then there's Geoff Weber.
For a player who ostensibly fits into the former category – "didn't quite show enough to take the next step up" – Geoff Weber managed to keep his name in newspaper sports pages for a remarkably long time. In Weber's case, his prowess in another sport – wrestling – helped keep his profile high. But many of his mentions revolved around his football ability, so it seems quite remarkable that his first game of footy at the highest level was his last.
The hopefuls
On Saturday, September 15, 1934, Carlton and St Kilda met at Princes Park in the final home-and-away round of the VFL season. Both sides had been in finals contention at various stages, the Blues having climbed as high as second on the ladder, and the Saints also making a brief appearance in the top four. But coming into this final round, the two sides had lost contact with that final four, with Carlton a game and a half behind fourth-place Collingwood, and the Saints a further two games in arrears, occupying sixth place on the ladder.
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So the match was a dead rubber, the combatants fighting only for pride. Except perhaps for Carlton's Bernie Treweek and a Saints trio comprising Lard Smith (left), Jack Lake and our man Geoff Weber.
Treweek was playing his second VFL match, and he showed enough to be retained by the Blues, although ultimately most of his 63 matches came in Fitzroy colours after he moved to Brunswick Street in 1937. Also playing his second match, St Kilda's Jack Lake was not so fortunate. Having made his debut in a win over Hawthorn seven weeks earlier, he had been dropped but was being given a second chance against the Blues. Sadly, Lake didn't take that second chance. His name was not mentioned in any match reports and his second VFL match proved to be his last.
The match's two debutants were Weber and his St Kilda teammate Laird Smith. Smith did enough for the Saints to retain his services. The next year he played nine games as St Kilda pushed close to a finals birth and thereafter he became a permanent team member. Smith crossed to Richmond in 1939 and he would have almost certainly won a premiership with the Tigers had war not intervened. Although his time at Richmond ended in 1945 his wartime service in the AIF meant he didn't play a single game in 1942, 1943 or 1944. The Tigers made the Grand Final in all three of those years, winning in 1943. Laird Smith was sadly not available for any of those season climaxes.
Weber or not...
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Geoff Weber likewise did not go unnoticed in his debut. The game itself was a ripper. The Saints burst out of the blocks and had eight goals and a 32-point lead at quarter time. Carlton whittled that back to 12 points at the long break but St Kilda went into the final quarter with a three-goal buffer. This was extended to four goals when full forward Bill Mohr (right), playing his 100th game, kicked his fourth of the afternoon early in the final term.¹
Remarkably, that proved to be St Kilda's last major score. What followed was a Blues blitz in which they peppered the goals. By the time the final siren sounded Carlton had kicked 5.9 for the term to the Saints' 1.1. The Blues were the victors by 15 points.
As for Geoff Weber, he drew several laudatory comments. The Melbourne Herald made the following observation:
Making his first appearance In League football, Geoffrey Weber, an amateur recruit showed promise for St Kilda. He played in a back pocket and ruck creditably. and gave the impression that his height and weight fit him for League company.²
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That height and weight reveals much about Weber. He stood at 6 foot 2 inches and weighed 212 pounds. In metric terms, that's 187 cm and 96 kg. A rough guideline for ideal heights and weights for modern players is for the height (in centimetres) to be 100 more than the weight (in kilograms). Patrick Cripps, for instance, clocks in at 195 cm and 96 kg. Of course their are variations, but Weber's measurements suggest he was not only quite tall for his day but also extremely strong.
It's hardly surprising, then, that Weber was a wrestler. And it seems that wrestling was more of a priority for the big man prior to his VFL debut in 1934. But with the promise shown on in that first match, and keen interest from as many as six VFL clubs, Weber made the decision to become a professional sportsman. This meant forgoing his amateur status as a wrestler, and duly did so in an official letter to the secretary of the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association, which identified the six clubs seeking his footballing services:
Dear Sir. — I wish to make the following declaration re my amateur status. I entered into a contract on May 5, 1932. with Mr George Beattie to be trained as a teacher of physical culture, including medical massage. dietetics. jiu-jitsu, fencing, weightlifting, skipping, wrestling, etc. Mr Beattie informed me that my training would not Infringe my amateur status. In my first year I received no salary, and have since received only a nominal salary to cover my out of pocket expenses. My contract has 18 months to go. I declare I have never infringed my amateur status either In spirit or in practice. I have played amateur football for four years.
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This year I was approached by the following clubs to play for them: South Melbourne, Essendon, Carlton, North Melbourne, Fitzroy. Melbourne and St. Kilda. When the amateur football season had finished I played a trial came with St. Kilda as an amateur, and I Intend to play I with that club next season. Since the matter has been made public, I wish to inform you that I will forfeit my amateur status as from November 1. I have been appointed coach by Mr Beattie (right) to a newly-formed sports club, which will take part in inter-club gymnastic competitions for the Major Conder Shield. I wish to thank you and your committee for the consideration you have given me during my connection with the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association and other amateur bodies. I intend to remain an amateur at heart and to do all I can for amateur sport. — Yours faithfully, GEOFF WEBER.³
Weber's letter highlights two notable things. First, just how entrenched the difference between the amateur and professional sports was, and the level of serious consideration given to moving from the former to the latter. Second, how remarkable it is in hindsight that Weber never played another senior match.
A star in the making?
With both player and club happy with his first-game form, Weber joined St Kilda ahead of the 1935 season. In a twist, his first official appearance at the club (excluding his trial match) was as a wrestler. On Saturday October 18, 1934, the St Kilda Football Club held a fundraising sports carnival. Along with cycling, athletics and goalkicking competitions featuring professionals and St Kilda players, the program included Weber's first professional wrestling bout. Weber took on middleweight professional H Ford and won, recording the bout's only fall.⁴
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Not content with that success, Weber also won the St Kilda footballers 100-yard handicap⁵, showing that he was not just a man of brawn but also speed. Little wonder six clubs enquired about his footballing services. New Saints coach Dan Minogue (who had led Richmond to its first two premierships in 1920-21) had high expectations of Weber. In a column for the Sporting Globe during the 1935 pre-season, Minogue said: "Weber, the young giant who played in the last game of the season, is very keen on the game, and with his pace and strength should develop into a valuable follower."⁶
Weber played in practice matches ahead of the season, but an unusual twist was to come. In an innovative move, St Kilda formed an agreement with VFA club Brighton allowing the exchange of players via a loan system. The system allowed players to return to the Saints whenever required. The club decided this would be an ideal way for Weber to reach VFL standard as quickly as possible, and he was 'loaned' to Brighton, with an expectation of a quick return.⁷
Saving a life on the way
To facilitate this loan to Brighton, Geoff Weber was required to gain a permit from the VFL. The process was a formality, but required Weber to attend VFL headquarters in person. This he did on the evening of Wednesday April 17, 1935. While the granting of the permit was a formality, Weber's journey to League HQ was anything but.
Weber was descending a staircase in a city building when he heard screams of pain from a nearby lift. Rushing to the scene he found a man whose leg was jammed between the lift and the step leading to the lift well. According to 'Forward' in The Age, "Weber rushed to his assistance, grabbed the lift, made a super effort, pulled it upward, and dragged the man back to safety."
Good deed done, Weber continued on his way to the VFL offices to pick up his permit. News of his feat preceded him though, and excited league officials asked him about it on his arrival. The nonchalant Weber replied, "It was nothing." Not satisfied with such a modest response, one official pressed him further: "All the same had you not released the man his leg would have been torn off, or lie would have been crushed to death," said the League delegate.
"That is so," replied Weber.⁸
An elusive second game
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Weber's time with Brighton was expected to be short-lived and by June those predictions seemed certain to play out. His "remarkable development" in VFA form resulted in an official transfer back to the Saints. The Age reported that Weber was, "just the type of player the St. Kilda side needs at the moment, and officials are congratulating themselves that he is available again for the League side."⁹
A second senior VFL game seemed imminent for Weber, but it did not come. He spent the remainder of the 1935 season in St Kilda's seconds, strangely not given another senior opportunity. By the start of the 1936 season, he found himself back at Brighton, but once again the Saints came calling. In June, the Age reported: "It has been learnt that certain St. Kilda officials are pressing for the return of G. Weber, the Brighton follower, who is showing excellent form this season."¹⁰
Again, though, expectations were not fulfilled. The season came and went, as did the 1937 season, with Weber still plying his trade at Brighton with great success. In 1938, a familiar tale played out yet again – Weber spent the pre-season with St Kilda but his season-proper games all came in the ruck with Brighton.
In 1939, Weber informed Brighton that he would be unavailable for at least the first six matches of that season. Was he disillusioned by unfulfulfilled dreams of playing further VFL footy? Perhaps, but the reason for his absence was revealed in May by The Age: "GEOFF WEBER, former St. kilda player, who was with Brighton last season, has forsaken the football field for the stage. He was one of the stars of the Casino Revue at the King's"¹¹
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There is no record of George Weber playing another game of football. Of course 1939 heralded the onset of a war that would drag on for six years and Weber, along with many other footballers enlisted. As a warrant officer he performed feats of strength in a number of soldiers' benefit concerts during the war. Weber appeared in a number of exhibition wrestling contests and, in a 1941 benefit concert in Bacchus Marsh, he "carried four large soldiers around the stage, with the Brigadier (Col. N. M. Freeman) hooked under one arm." The four soldiers between them weighed a combined 64 stone. Weber followed up that feat with "an exhibition of ju-jitsu".¹²
Weber was also happy to share his skills and knowledge with others, provding phyical training and lessons in unarmed combat.¹³
When World War II finally ended in September 1946, George Weber was 30 years old. For a footballer, that's not a young age, but nor is it old. Whether Weber had any ambitions of pulling on a pair footy boots again is not known. In any case, it appears he did not. As would not be unexpected for a footballer who played only a single game at the highest level, the name Geoff Weber soon faded from the public conscious of footy fans.
Yet Weber was a champion wrestler, fine athlete, very good footballer, stage performer, and leader of military men. He was even literally saved a man's life.
Perhaps more people should know about Geoff Weber, even if he never did get the chance to play that second VFL match.
Geoff Weber's story, and those of many other one-game players, will be featured in the forthcoming book, The One And Only — Stories of V/AFL players whose first game was their last, by Andrew Gigacz and Mic Rees.
Footnotes
1. 'Carlton's Staggering Finish', The Age, 17 September 1934, page 8
2. The Herald, 21 September 1934, page 13
3. 'Weber to Turn Professional', The Herald, 11 October 1934, page 32
4. 'Successful Centenary Meeting', The Age 19 October 1934, page 9
5. ibid.
6. 'Put Devil Into the Saints' by Dan Minogue, The Sporting Globe, 9 March 1935
7. 'Exchanging players', The Argus, 11 May 1935
8. 'Player Saves Man's Life', by Forward, The Age, 18 April, 1935
9. 'Weber returns to St Kilda' by Forward, The Age, 10 June 1935
10. 'Two Transfers Mooted', The Age, 19 June 1936
11. 'From Forward's Notebook', The Age 15 May 1939
12. 'Soldiers' Second Concert', The Bacchus Marsh Express, 8 March 1941
13. 'How Military Police Keep Fit', The Telegraph (Brisbane), 17 November 1943
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