Dees' mistake a gift for Tigers
Jon Anderson | May 22, 2009
WHEN you swap a player with very little exposed form, you run the risk of it coming back to bite you in a mammoth way.
And there is no better case in point than the decision by Melbourne in 1942 to swap a young ruckman named Bill Morris with a player called Colin Galbraith.
The Demons thought Galbraith a budding star and regarded Morris as expendable given their quality ruck stocks at the time.
Men such as Don Cordner, Jack Mueller and Adrian Dullard were ahead of Morris, so the deal was done.
Morris had been tied to Melbourne after playing amateur football with Old Scotch but was cleared to Richmond following one reserves match.
Sadly, Galbraith injured a knee after just four senior games while Morris became a ruck genius, adept with either hand at finding his grateful rovers with the ball.
His expertise is highlighted by 15 state appearances, a Brownlow Medal (in 1948) and finishes of second, third and sixth, three club best-and-fairests and selection in the Tigers' Team of the Century.
But the man nicknamed "Paleface" because of his pallid complexion doesn't always get the kudos he deserves due to his early death in 1960.
Those who played with or against him rate Morris alongside the elite ruckmen of any era. Take Geelong legend Bob Davis, for example.
"He was a magnificent player, right up there with the best ruckmen I've seen," Davis said.
"He wasn't one of those monster ruckmen, more a player who glided across the ground. He had a great leap, could take a big mark and keep going all day.
"But, more importantly, he was a great fellow on and off the field. His place in the AFL Hall of Fame is richly deserved."
Ken Hands, inducted last night alongside Morris, played football from 1945-51 with and against him: "He was what I would describe as an effortless player, so fluent that he was a pleasure to watch," Hands said.
Morris was represented at the dinner by his wife Jill, daughter Virginia and grandsons Thomas, 22, Alexander, 18, and grand-daughter Charley, 14.
For Jill Morris it was a "very exciting but very unexpected" reward for a man who placed modesty ahead of fame.
"This recognition rounds off his career, but the sad part is he's not here to witness it. And a lot of people at the dinner would never have seen him (play)," she said.
"That's one reason why I invited two men in his teammate Havel Rowe and club historian Bill Meaklim, because they both saw Bill playing at his peak."
Morris was born in Culcairn in southern New South Wales, where his Scottish-born father worked as a bank manager.
His father and New Zealand-born mother then moved to the western suburbs of Melbourne before shifting to East Melbourne.
It was from there that Bill began his schooling at Scotch College and joined their old boys football team from 1939-41.
At 188cm he wasn't tall, even in an era when ruckman were 10-12cm smaller, on average, than today.
He compensated for his lack of height through judgment and balance, and being totally team orientated.
Morris began his VFL career rucking with Richmond legend Jack Dyer and finished in tandem with dual Brownlow medallist Roy Wright.
"Roy Wright always said Bill taught him everything he knew and, as good as Roy was, people say that was true," Jill Morris said.
"Bill would ruck the whole day. In fact, I never saw him sit on the bench in his 140 games, but I realise football is very different today."
Come Brownlow night this year the Morris family will be reminded again of Bill's greatness through his 1948 medal, which is kept in a safe.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25517935-19742,00.html
