Australian Football

Powerful, extremely quick, and highly versatile, Brunswick's Henry Chase was one of the foremost VFA identities of the early twentieth century. He made his senior debut as an eighteen year old in 1903, and played his last game seventeen years later, in 1920. 

When Brunswick reached four consecutive premiership play-offs between 1908 and 1911 Chase was the team's major driving force, so that "beat Chase and you beat Brunswick" became the catch-cry of opposition supporters. This was easier said than done, and clubs were prepared to go to quite exorbitant lengths in order to undermine his effectiveness. On one notorious occasion, for example, Footscray was alleged to have offered him a financial inducement to 'go easy', to which Chase replied: "Sorry but I couldn't play that way. Even if I took your money, once I got out on the ground, I would forget about it and play to win. That is the way I play"¹.

In 1909, when Brunswick secured its first ever VFA premiership by coming from behind to beat Prahran in the challenge final, Henry Chase starred on a half forward flank, but many of his best games were played in the centre. Between 1912 and 1915, when he was arguably the most influential player in the VFA, league clubs clamoured for his signature, but to no avail. His importance to Brunswick was clearly evidenced by the fact that, when he missed the second half of the 1914 season through injury, the Magpies failed to qualify for the finals for the only time in that four season period. Chase officially retired at the end of the 1919 season after an unknown number of VFA games, but he made a comeback in 1920 on the occasion of an award presentation.

Author - John Devaney