George Caris (8 June 1927 – 10 October 2013) 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 with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

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).

South Melbourne

Caris came to South Melbourne from Olympic, a club in the local Sunday Amateur competition. Used as a ruck-rover, Caris made 15 appearances for South Melbourne in the

1948 VFL season The 1948 VFL season was the 52nd season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 17 April until 9 October, and comprised a 19- ...

and earned a

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 ...

vote while playing on

Norm Smith Norman Walter Smith (21 November 1915 – 29 July 1973) was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After more than 200 games as a player with and , Smith began a twenty-year coaching career, inc ...

, but only managed to play three senior games in 1949. He played his first game of the 1950 season in round four, against Fitzroy, during which he was reported for "kicking" opponent Jack Gaffney. Caris, who had kicked the only goal of his career in the third quarter, was suspended for eight weeks. It would end up being his final appearance at VFL level, in 1951 he left for

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Port Phillip local government areas. Port Melbourne recorded a populatio ...

VFA

Caris was a regular member of the Port Melbourne team in the 1951 VFA season, as a half back flanker, although an ankle injury sustained in the club's

preliminary final The McIntyre System, or systems as there have been five of them, is a playoff system that gives an advantage to teams or competitors qualifying higher. The systems were developed by Ken McIntyre, an Australian lawyer, historian and English lect ...

win cost him a grand final appearance. The following year he was a beneficiary of injury, when he took Denis Fogarty's spot in the starting side for the grand final against Oakleigh, which Port Melbourne lost by 21 points. He kicked two goals and was named amongst Port Melbourne's best players. In 1953, Caris trained with the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

, but would return to Port Melbourne for a third and final VFA season. He finished his VFA career with a premiership, as a

back pocket In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...

in Port Melbourne's grand final win over

Yarraville Yarraville is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. Yarraville recorded a population of 15,636 at the . Yarraville i ...

Murtoa

Caris was cleared to

Wimmera Football League The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat to Nhill as well as Minyip-Murtoa ...

club Murtoa as coach in 1954. Coach of Murtoa for three seasons, Caris continued as a player until 1960. Following a year as coach of Jung, he returned to Murtoa for a season in 1962, then later in 1968 came out of retirement and played one final season. He also played cricket for Murtoa and scored his maiden century at 51 years of age.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caris, George 1927 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Sydney Swans players Port Melbourne Football Club players Murtoa Football Club players 2013 deaths