Australian Football

Boasting the nickname 'Otto', Ted Pool (all too often misspelt 'Poole') made his GFA debut for Kalgoorlie City, as a rover, in 1924. It was immediately obvious that here was a precocious, rare talent, and in spite of his comparative inexperience he was called upon to shoulder ever increasing amounts of responsibility in what, at the time, was the weakest team in the competition. Things were soon to improve, however: in 1925, the Magpies, as they were then known, played off in the Grand Final, going down to Boulder City, with the young Ted Pool putting in a near best afield display for the losers.

In 1926 Pool moved to Victoria and lined up with Hawthorn, for whom he would go on to carve out an auspicious 13-season, 200-game league career, becoming in the process the first West Australian born player to reach the double century in the VFL. He also played seven interstate games for Victoria, and was universally acknowledged as one of the most energetic, determined and effective small men of his era. Former team mate Bert Mills described him as 'the best rover I ever played with. He was a marvel, the way he kept going year after year.'¹

Author - John Devaney