Australian Football

Ernie Hine played 91 league games for West Torrens between 1925 and 1932, highlighted by his winning of the club’s best and fairest award in 1927. Appointed to the captaincy in 1931 he resigned after suffering a season-ending injury towards the end of the opening round defeat of South Adelaide on the Adelaide Oval. Hine’s performance in the match up to that point had been so good that he was named as the best player afield in most press reports.

The injury effectively ruined Hine’s career because although he fronted up for the first three rounds of the 1932 season he was unable to perform at anywhere near the level he would have wanted and so he opted to retire. He continued to serve the club off the field for many years. In addition to his club games, Ernie Hine represented South Australia twice against the VFL, first during the 1927 Melbourne carnival, and then in the drawn match on the Adelaide Oval a year later.

Author - John Devaney