Australian Football

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Known, in South Australia at any rate, as ‘football’s Bradman’, Ken Farmer was quite simply the most prolific goalkicker in the history of the game. In thirteen seasons with North Adelaide he booted no fewer than 1,417 majors, at an average of 6.3 per match. In addition to topping the club goal kicking list in every season of his career, Farmer headed the league list in eleven consecutive seasons, topping the century each time. The keys to his success were strong hands, speed off the mark, and extreme accuracy when kicking for goal, whether from a set shot (typically using a torpedo punt, although he was also proficient in the use of the ‘checkside’ or ‘banana’ kick), or when snapping for goal from seemingly impossible positions à la Daicos.

Farmer was no slouch when it came to interstate football either, averaging 5 goals a game, mostly in losing sides against the Vics.

A member of North Adelaide’s 1930 and 1931 premiership teams as a player, after World War Two Farmer steered the club to two further flags in four seasons as non-playing coach.

In 2001, Ken Farmer was the inevitable selection as full forward in North Adelaide’s official ‘Team of the Twentieth Century’.

Author - John Devaney