Australian Football

Earmarked early in his career as a wet weather footballer par excellence, Max Urquhart ended up wearing this label more as a noose around his neck than an accolade the longer his career progressed. Indeed, Urquhart himself felt that he was sometimes unfairly omitted from the Collingwood side merely because the weather was dry, and therefore presumed to be inimical to his style of play. In fact, Urquhart's hard running, straight at the ball style did not depend on any particular weather conditions for its effectiveness.

Come rain or shine, Urquhart was capable of a consistently high performance level. Hailing from the small New South Wales town of Urana, he commenced with the Magpies in 1963, and the following season ran second in the voting for the Brownlow Medal. The fact that the 1964 season was unusually dry bears eloquent testimony to Urquhart's effectiveness in all weathers. Between 1963 and 1969 Max Urquhart played a total of 92 senior games, and kicked 28 goals. His appearances included the losing Grand Finals of 1964 against Melbourne and 1966 against St Kilda.

Author - John Devaney