Australian Football

Quite diminutive at 170cm and 73kg, Jack Morrissey was nevertheless asked to front up at full forward by Carlton when he debuted in 1920. To say he was a flop would be an understatement as he hardly touched the ball, let alone troubled the scorers. Needless to say, he was dropped, and when offered a second chance a few weeks later he lined up on a half back flank, a position to which he was much more suited.

Boasting good all round skills and a quick, alert football brain, Morrissey was a solid performer for the Blues whenever selected. After spending the 1921 season back with his original club Drouin, he resumed at Carlton in 1922 and had soon established a more or less permanent niche in defence. Then, in August 1923 the wheels came off in quite spectacular fashion following a crushing defeat at the hands of Essendon. At a post-match function tempers flared, blame was attributed, and several players, Morrissey included, resorted to fisticuffs. The upshot of it all was that Bert Boromeo, George Bolt and Morrissey were suspended ‘indefinitely’.

Of the three, Morrissey was the only one to see out his suspension and resume with the Blues, which he did in 1925. He went on to play a total of 56 VFL games for the club, the last of which was in round three 1927, without kicking a goal.

The 1928 season found him at North Melbourne where he saw out his career, adding a final 29 games and zero goals to his respective tallies over the ensuing three seasons.

Author - John Devaney