Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Lance Oswald

Known as
Lance Oswald

Born
14 February 1937

Died
19 March 2019 (aged 82)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 20y 65d
Last game: 26y 212d

Height and weight
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 80 kg

Senior clubs
St. Kilda

Jumper numbers
St. Kilda: 22, 24

Lance Oswald

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
St. KildaV/AFL1957-19631071040.9753%16.00—3.5034
Total1957-19631071040.9753%16.00—3.5034

Pre 1965 stats are for selected matches only

AFL: 6,759th player to appear, 2,190th most games played, 1,020th most goals kickedSt. Kilda: 1,039th player to appear, 122nd most games played, 56th most goals kicked

Lance Oswald was a brilliant footballer who foreshadowed the modern, expansive, wide-ranging type of centreman who operates and thrives today. In essence, Oswald effectively operated as an extra on-baller racking up numerous possessions and, for a brief time, he was arguably the best centreman in Victoria. If he had a fault it was his tendency to put in an occasional sub-standard performance. A club best and fairest winner in both 1960 and 1961 he represented the VFL both years but when Ian Stewart arrived from Tasmania in 1963 Oswald was displaced from the pivot and consigned to a half forward flank. At the end of the season, still aged just twenty-six, he quit VFL football in order to take up a coaching appointment with Strathmerton.

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers by Russell Holmesby & Jim Main; Wikipedia article

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.