Australian Football

South Melbourne recruited Tom Grimshaw from Footscray juniors in 1908, and he gave the side good service, mainly as a half back flanker, in 85 VFL games over five seasons. He was a member of South's winning Grand Final team against Carlton in 1909, but when the red and whites next made the premiership decider three years later he was missing with a knee injury.

In 1913, Grimshaw crossed to Footscray in the VFA and played in a premiership team in his first season. The following year he was widely regarded as one of the Tricolours' best in a losing Grand Final against North Melbourne. However, rumours that certain players, including Grimshaw, had deliberately played below their best in return for financial inducement gradually gained popularity if not quite credence over the course of the summer months, and prior to the start of the 1915 season Tom Grimshaw, along with four of his team mates, was unceremoniously sacked, bringing a sad end to an otherwise fine career. As for whether or not any of the Footscray players actually did 'play dead' in the 1914 Grand Final, we shall probably never know.

Author - John Devaney