Australian Football

Bob Furler was something of the archetypal football nomad who, after starting his league career with North Adelaide in 1938, where he played 26 senior games, then spent some time in Whyalla before joining the RAAF and playing half a dozen games for Hawthorn in 1945 while on active service. After being discharged he enjoyed a brief, but highly successful, stint with Ainslie in the CANFL. In 1947, Furler represented Canberra in section two of the Australian championships in Hobart, where in spite of his team's failure to win a match, he was the recipient of seven Tassie Medal votes, making him a joint winner of the award, along with Western Australia's Les McClements.

Captain-coach of Ainslie in both 1947 and 1948, Furler was successful in steering the side to a premiership in the former year, when the Tricolours won what was described in the local press as "terrifically fast, hard and spectacular"¹ Grand Final against Eastlake by 28 points. Furler had also been a member of Ainslie's premiership winning combination the previous year. In 1947, the rubber stamp to what was a superlative all round season for Furler came when he tied for Ainslie's best and fairest award with his vice-captain, Alan 'Ginty' Stevens.

Author - John Devaney