Ernest Edgar "Ern" Henfry (24 July 1921 – 14 January 2007) 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 who played for in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WANFL) and in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). He later served as coach of Perth, and also coached

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, having previously played at state level for both WA and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

in 2014.

Career

Henfry made his senior debut for Perth during the 1937 season, aged 16 years and 49 days, with only seven other players known to have debuted at a younger age. He played twice at state level during the 1939 season, at the age of 17, and then finished second to Haydn Bunton in the 1941

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and be ...

.Ern Henfry
– Australian Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 June 2014. During the Second World War, Henfry served in the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

(ADF), initially as a private in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

, and then as a flight lieutenant in the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). While training 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 ...

, he played for a RAAF team in the

New South Wales Australian National Football League AFL Sydney is an Australian rules football League, based in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. The AFL Sydney competition comprises 126 teams from 22 clubs which play across seven senior men's divisions, five women's divisions, a Master's Divis ...

(NSWANFL), which included several VFL and SANFL players, including captain

Alby Morrison Albert George Henry Morrison (29 January 1909 – 24 September 1997) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Footscray in the VFL during the 1930s and 1940s. He was named at half forward in Footscray's 'Team of the Century' A versa ...

. In 1944, while based in Victoria, he played two games for Carlton. When the war ended, he remained in Victoria, and Carlton requested a clearance from Perth to enable him to play for them. He was forced to sit out the 1946 season as Perth did not agree to a clearance, but was then able to captain Carlton for the 1947 season. It was a successful year, with Carlton defeating Essendon in a one-point thriller in the Grand Final. The season was capped off when he shared Carlton's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award with his close friend

Bert Deacon Bertrand John Deacon (8 November 1922 – 3 January 1974) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He is remembered for being Carlton's first ever Brownlow Medal winner. Initially a cent ...

, who also won the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

that year, Carlton's first. Henfry placed fourth in the Brownlow count.Ern Henfry
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Blueseum
Retrieved 4 June 2014. In 1949, after some controversy, he captained Victoria against Western Australia, being only the second man to represent Victoria after first representing Western Australia. Returning to Western Australia before the 1953 season, Henfry captain-coached Perth for two seasons before retiring from playing. He remained as non-playing coach, and in 1955 coached Perth to its first premiership since 1907, with the club winning the grand final by two points over . Henfry remained Perth's coach until the 1959 season, and then again from the 1962 season through to the 1964 season, overall coaching the club in 242 games with a win rate of 57.4%. He also coached the state team in six matches during the 1956 and 1957 seasons, including at the 1956 Australian National Football Carnival, held in Perth, with WA placing second. During the 1961 season, during the gap between his years coaching Perth, Henfry coached the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

's side in the

Western Australian Amateur Football League The Perth Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a ...

(WAAFL) to an A-grade premiership. Henfry died in Inglewood, a suburb of Perth, in January 2007, aged 85. He had been an inaugural inductee into the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

in 2004, and was posthumously inducted into the

in 2014.Adam McNicol (4 June 2014)
"Hall of Fame 2014: Blues, Bulldog join the greats"
– Australian Football League. Retrieved 4 June 2014.

References

External links

*
Ern Henfry WANFL playing statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henfry, Ern 1921 births 2007 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club Premiership players John Nicholls Medal winners People educated at Perth Modern School Perth Football Club coaches Perth Football Club players Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Army personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players Military personnel from Western Australia