Australian Football

Renowned for his uncompromising aggression and toughness, George Morrissey began his senior career with Ballarat, where it soon became obvious that he was a VFL player in the making. In 1907 he transferred to St Kilda and, playing mainly in the forward lines, was instrumental in the club making the VFL finals for the first time. After four seasons with the Saints he crossed to Tasmania where he was appointed as North Hobart's first official coach. He spent most of his time with the Robins playing as a ruckman, and he also represented Tasmania in that position at the Adelaide carnival.

In 1912, Morrisey returned to St Kilda but soon landed himself in hot water when he was reported for abusing an umpire; he received a hefty suspension, but was back in time to play a prominent role in the Saints' 1913 finals campaign which culminated in a 13-point Challenge Final loss to Fitzroy. After playing 93 VFL games and kicking 64 goals for St Kilda Morrissey headed to Western Australia in 1914 where he finished his league career with a dozen games for East Perth spread over the next three seasons.

Author - John Devaney