Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Eric Leech

Known as
Eric Leech

Born
21 May 1951 (age 72)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 16d
Last game: 28y 12d

Height and weight
Height: 189 cm
Weight: 91 kg

Senior clubs
Richmond

Jumper numbers
Richmond: 25

Eric Leech

ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
RichmondV/AFL1970-19797900.0067%5.722.172.220
Total1970-19797900.0067%5.722.172.220

AFL: 8,281st player to appear, 3,050th most games played, 12,394th most goals kickedRichmond: 721st player to appear, 213th most games played, 1,113th most goals kicked

Eric Leech’s career with Richmond was effectively ruined by injury. Between 1970 and 1979 he played a total of 149 senior or reserve games out of a possible 237. At a time when the Tigers enjoyed almost unmatched pre-eminence only one of Leech’s appearances came in a final. He kept his place on the list though because he was such an effective defender, and always gave good value when selected. Playing in a back pocket or at full back, he was no stylist, preferring to nullify his direct opponent by whatever means possible rather than go on eye catching runs out of the backlines. He was good in the air, but almost invariably chose to spoil rather than attempt to mar. He played 79 senior VFL games for the Tigers without registering a single goal.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers by Russell Holmesby & Jim Main; Wikipedia article; https://www.tigerlandarchive.org/tiki-index.php?page=Eric+Leech

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.