Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Wilbur Harold Harris

Known as
Wilbur Harris

Born
28 May 1912

Died
28 June 1981 (aged 69)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 21y 13d
Last game: 29y 59d

Height and weight
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 87 kg

Senior clubs
West Torrens; South Melbourne

Jumper numbers
South Melbourne: 20, 33

Recruited from
West Torrens (1933)

Wilbur Harris

Club
League
Career span
Games
Goals
Avg
Win %
AKI
AHB
AMK
BV
West TorrensSANFL1931-193226170.65
South MelbourneV/AFL1933-194169190.2839%10.222.787
Total1931-194195360.38

Pre 1965 stats are for selected matches only

AFL: 4,059th player to appear, 3,462nd most games played, 3,803rd most goals kickedSouth Melbourne: 479th player to appear, 234th most games played, 328th most goals kicked

After playing 26 SANFL games and kicking 17 goals for West Torrens in 1931 and 1932 Wilbur Harris became one of the famed ‘foreign legion’ intake at South Melbourne in 1933. A hefty ruckman, he initially struggled to hold down a regular place in the strong South senior line-up, although he was named as nineteenth man for the losing grand final of 1934 against Richmond.

From 1937 onwards Harris played significantly more senior football and when he retired in 1941 he had made 69 appearances for the southerners and kicked 19 goals.

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.