George Denis Pruen Cordner (28 June 1924 – 17 October 1990) was an

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, industrial chemist and diplomat.

Early years

Cordner was the third of four sons to Edward "Ted" Cordner and Margaret Constance née Pruen. Like his father, Cordner and his brothers

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

(1919-1996),

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

(1922-2009) and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

(1929-2016) were also notable sportsmen. All of them represented

Melbourne Grammar School (Pray and Work) , established = 1849 (on present site since 1858 - the celebrated date of foundation) , type = Independent, co-educational primary, single-sex boys secondary, day and boarding , denominatio ...

University Blacks Melbourne University Football Club, often known simply as University, is an Australian rules football club based at the University of Melbourne. The club fields two teams, known as the "Blacks" and "Blues", who both compete in the Victorian Ama ...

and in Australian rules football.

Football

Melbourne (VFL)

Cordner made his senior VFL football debut in Round 5 of the 1943 VFL season for against at

Punt Road Oval Punt Road Oval, also known by naming rights sponsorship as the Swinburne Centre, is an Australian rules football ground and former cricket oval located within the Yarra Park precinct of East Melbourne, Victoria, situated a few hundred metres to ...

while on leave from the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

. It was the only time he played with his older brothers Don and Ted. Cordner was flattened five seconds into the match, but recovered and went on to kick two goals in a losing cause.

University Blacks (VAFA)

Following the war, Cordner played in the

Victorian Amateur Football Association The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) is the largest senior community Australian rules football competition in Victoria. It consists of seven senior men's and women's divisions ranging from Premier to Division 4. In addition there ...

(VAFA) for the

while studying a Bachelor of Science, specializing in metallurgy. He was the fifth Cordner to represent the Blacks and provided outstanding service in his three seasons with the club, finishing second in the VAFA A Grade Best and Fairest Award count in 1946 and 1947 before winning it in 1948. That year he was also club premiership captain.

Melbourne (VFL)

At the same time, Cordner was still a registered Melbourne player, and was called up to play his second senior VFL game in the drawn 1948 VFL Grand Final, where he played a sterling high marking game at centre half-back. He played again in the Grand Final Replay and was a Melbourne premiership player in just his third game of senior football. Cordner switched permanently to the Melbourne Football Club in 1949, and played for the club primarily in the

ruck Ruck may refer to: * Ruck (rugby union), a contesting for the ball in Rugby Union from a grounded player * Ruck (Australian rules football), an aerial contest in Australian rules football between rival ruckmen * Ruck (rugby league), the area sur ...

for the next eight years. He was particularly noted for his ability in wet weather; after watching Melbourne's win over in the 1954 Preliminary Final, ruckman and Brownlow medallist of that season Roy Wright wrote in '' The Herald'': Cordner went on to play in two more premiership teams for Melbourne, in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

. He retired at the end of the 1956 season, and was notable for having played his entire VFL career as an amateur.

Cricket

Cordner was also a capable

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er, known for his bowling. He played 40 district cricket matches for University between 1946/47 and 1953/54, taking 60 wickets at 23.8. In an intervarsity match at the University Oval in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1949, he took nine wickets (six of those in the second innings) for the match to help Melbourne beat Sydney.

Life after football

Australian Consul-General in New York

In September 1981, Cordner was appointed Australian Consul-General in New York. He took up the post in March 1982. Cordner's wife Pat was mugged on her first day out in New York city. In March 1984, Cordner was asked to return to Australia within three months.

Business leader

On returning to Australia, Cordner served in a number of leadership positions. He became a chairman of John Holland Constructions, chairman of

Australian Motor Industries Australian Motor Industries (AMI) was an automobile assembly firm that was significant in the early history of the automotive industry in Australia. Start of production The origins of Australian Motor Industries can be traced back to 1926 w ...

and a director of the Australian branch of British Petroleum and Plessey Pacific.Hutchinson (2008), p. 50

Death

Cordner died of

coronary heart disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic pla ...

on 17 October 1990 at his home in East Kew, and was buried in Point Lonsdale Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and two daughters.

Posthumous honours

Team of the Century (MFC)

In 2000, he was named in the Melbourne's "

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 ...

" as the starting ruckman, with

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

as his ruck-rover, and Stuart Spencer as his rover (his brother, Don Cordner, was selected as the back-pocket ruckman).

Hall of Fame (MFC)

In 2001, he was one of the 24 inaugural inductees into the Melbourne Football Club's "

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

" (his brother, Don Cordner, was also an inaugural inductee).

"150 Heroes" (MFC)

On 7 June 2008, as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations, the Melbourne Football Club announced its list of " 150 Heroes", Denis Cordner and two of his brothers, Don Corner, and Ted Cordner, were named on the list.

References

Bibliography

External links

* *
Denis Cordner, at ''Demonwiki''."Some Inspirational People"
Profiled by Laurence MacDonald Muir.
Profile
at the Australian Dictionary of Biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordner, Denis 1924 births 1990 deaths Melbourne Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Melbourne Football Club captains University Blacks Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Australian footballers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Consuls-General of Australia in New York Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Melbourne Football Club Premiership players Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Scientists from Melbourne People from Diamond Creek, Victoria

Early years

Football

Melbourne (VFL)

University Blacks (VAFA)

Melbourne (VFL)

Cricket

Life after football

Australian Consul-General in New York

Business leader

Death

Posthumous honours

Team of the Century (MFC)

Hall of Fame (MFC)

"150 Heroes" (MFC)

See also

References

Bibliography

External links