Australian Football

Rarely can the arrival at a club of an unheralded 17-year-old have been more propitious than that of Mount Gambier recruit Jeffrey Potter at Port Adelaide in 1959. The previous year had seen the retirement of arguably the greatest Magpie, and undoubtedly one of the greatest rovers, of all time in Foster Neil Williams, but within a few games of the 1959 season it was clear that, in Potter, Port had a ready-made replacement.

Quietly spoken and unassuming, Potter did not court publicity, but the consistent brilliance of his performances in both Port Adelaide and state jumpers over the ensuing twelve seasons inevitably attracted more than a modicum of attention. In 1964, South Fremantle tried to woo him away from Alberton, without success, and the following season Carlton went so far as to arrange a promotional photo shoot in which Potter was pictured wearing the club’s number 1 playing jumper. They bred them loyal in those days, however, and Jeff Potter was having none of it.

To look at him - chunky, almost rotund, deceptively slow - you would scarcely have thought of him as a league footballer, let alone one of the finest of his era. Once you saw him in motion, however, all doubt was erased. Like his contemporary Darrel Baldock, or Greg Williams in later years, speed of thought more than compensated for any apparent slowness over the ground. Blessed with the happy knack of knowing precisely where the ball was going to be, and arriving there ahead of it, once he gained possession he immediately made you aware of how that thickset frame and low centre of gravity could be turned to advantage, for try as they might, few opposition players were able to unsettle him. Beautifully balanced, he could run backwards out of a pack just as quickly as if he were running forwards, and few if any players could get the ball onto the boot with such rapidity.

Four times a recipient of the Port Adelaide best and fairest award, only Russell Ebert (six wins) has won more. The fact that the first of Potter’s awards was in 1961 and the last in 1969 demonstrates how he maintained his high standards throughout his career. In the interstate arena, he represented South Australia 23 times, kicking 26 goals.

Often compared to Bob Quinn, with “his rolling gait and hands-on-hips attitude”¹, Potter was perhaps less feted but ultimately no less important to the Magpie cause than the illustrious dual Magarey Medallist.

Author - John Devaney