Australian Football

A powerful mark, and an extraordinarily deft and clever palmer of the ball, Brunswick's Jack 'Silver' Whelan was one of the best VFA ruckmen of his day. He skippered the VFA at the 1950 Brisbane carnival even though he was not captain of his club at the time. His clashes with Port Melbourne's Frank Johnson were always highly memorable, with Whelan seldom doing less than breaking even in these encounters. Tragically for Brunswick, a disagreement over money in 1951 led to Whelan's premature departure from the club, and he played out the remainder of his career in country football.

Author - John Devaney