Australian Football

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Key Facts

Full name
Maurice Sankey

Known as
Maurice Sankey

Born
9 February 1940

Died
21 November 1965 (aged 25)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 19y 201d
Last game: 25y 193d

Height and weight
Height: 193 cm
Weight: 87 kg

Senior clubs
Carlton

Jumper numbers
Carlton: 44, 16

Recruited from
Latrobe (1959)

Maurice Sankey

Advanced stats
ClubLeagueCareer spanGamesGoalsAvgWin %AKIAHBAMKBV
CarltonV/AFL1959-1965100610.6148%9.132.004.139
Total1959-1965100610.6148%9.132.004.139

Pre 1965 stats are for selected matches only

AFL: 7,103rd player to appear, 2,439th most games played, 1,752nd most goals kickedCarlton: 728th player to appear, 180th most games played, 145th most goals kicked

A relentlessly vigorous ruckman who relished the physical side of the game, Maurice Sankey was the sort of player whose value to his team greatly transcended his statistical, or even readily observable, contribution. He hailed from the football hotbed of north-west Tasmania and commenced his senior football with NWFU club Latrobe.

In 1959 he was recruited by Carlton , and during his early seasons in particular he gave the Blues sterling service. He was one of Carlton 's best players in a losing effort against Essendon in the 1962 Grand Final. He continued with the Blues for three further seasons, by which time he had played precisely 100 VFL games and kicked 65 goals. Then, in November 1965, he was tragically killed in a car accident at the age of just 25.

Sankey was posthumously inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

Author - John Devaney, with updates by Andrew Gigacz

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications. Photo courtesy of blueseum.org.

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Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.