Dennis Keith "Fred" Phillis (born 9 September 1948) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the Glenelg Football Club in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL).

Background

Born Dennis Keith Phillis, his schoolmates likened him to noted

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

pace bowler Fred Trueman. He is almost exclusively known by his nickname. Phillis is the brother of fellow Glenelg player and businessman Wayne Phillis.https://www.waynephilliskia.com.au

History

Phillis began his senior career with Glenelg in the SANFL in 1966 as a

Centre half back In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-back ...

under the coaching of

Len Fitzgerald Len Fitzgerald (7 May 1929 – 17 April 2007) was an Australian rules footballer of exceptional talent in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and South Australian National Football League (SANFL). At various time he played in the key positions ...

. He was soon moved to Centre half-forward and later Full-forward by incoming 1967 coach Neil Kerley. This lateral thinking paid off with Phillis kicking a then SANFL record of 137 goals in 1969. He polled 18 votes in the 1969

Magarey Medal The Magarey Medal is an Australian rules football honour awarded annually since 1898 to the fairest and most brilliant player in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), as judged by field umpires. The award was created by Willia ...

to be the first player to win the medal having played chiefly at full-forward for the season. He played in Glenelg's 1973 Grand Final win over

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

at the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby ...

, and in losing Grand Finals for Glenelg against Sturt in 1969 and 1974, Norwood in 1975, and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

in 1977 and 1981. Quirkily enough, in the 1973 grand final win by Glenelg over North Adelaide, he failed to kick a goal. In perhaps Glenelg's most memorable non-finals game, Phillis scored 18 goals at Glenelg Oval in Round 18 of the 1975 SANFL season as part of the team's record-breaking 49.23 (317) to 11.13 (79) win over Central District, and kicked his 100th goal for the season during the match. Phillis is the highest goal scorer in the history of the Glenelg club, having kicked 836 goals in his 268-game, 14-year career, an average of 59.8 goals per season and 3.12 goals per match. He also kicked 48 goals in twelve night series matches for Glenelg, bringing his overall total to 884 goals from 280 matches in Glenelg colours. This is all the more remarkable when considering that former league leading goal kickers Jack Owens (1927–1928, 1932) and

Colin Churchett Colin Churchett (30 January 1926 – 5 February 2012) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Glenelg in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). He also played a game for South Melbourne in the Victorian Football Le ...

(1948–1951) are also Glenelg champions. , Phillis is third on the all time SANFL goal scoring list behind legendary North Adelaide full-forward Ken Farmer (1,417 from 1929–41), and Port Adelaide champion Tim Evans (992 from 1975–86): Owens sits 4th on the list with 827 goals, while Churchett is 15th with 555. After retiring as a player, Phillis continued to pursue his chosen career as an architect.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillis, Dennis 1948 births Living people Glenelg Football Club players Magarey Medal winners Australian rules footballers from South Australia South Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees