Australian Football

Deceptively indolent and casual in approach, Eric Zschech was actually a supremely effective performer for Richmond throughout his comparatively brief six season, 102 game VFL career. Recruited from Minyip, where he had played under the great Roy Cazaly, Zschech soon established himself as the Tigers' centreman, where his effortlessly accurate foot passing marked him out as a player of rare class.

Zscech was in the pivot as Richmond beat Carlton in the 1932 Grand Final, and again two years later when South Melbourne's famous foreign legion were the victims. He also played in the losing 1931 and 1933 Grand Finals. His understanding with champion full forward Jack 'Skinny' Titus was legendary, and seemed at times almost telepathic.

After leaving Richmond, Eric Zschech played with great distinction for Lefroy, captain coaching the side to a premiership in 1937, and winning the George Watt Memorial Medal for the best and fairest player in the TANFL on no fewer than three occasions. After a break for the war he resumed his senior football career with Sandy Bay, and was a member in 1946 of that club's first ever TANFL premiership side.

Author - John Devaney