George Michael Moloney (7 August 1909 – 5 January 1983) 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 the
Claremont Football Club
The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are na ...
in the
West 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 for the
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...
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).
An inaugural member of 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 ...
and an inaugural Legend of 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, ...
, "Specka" Moloney had a formidable reputation as a centre, a goalsneak and a key forward. He is one of few players to kick 100 or more goals in a season in both the WANFL and the VFL/AFL competitions.
After four years at
Claremont in the 1920s, Moloney drew strong attention as a goalsneak for
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 ...
at the
1930 Adelaide Carnival
The 1930 Adelaide Carnival was the seventh edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was held from 30 July to 9 August and was the second carnival to be hosted by the South Austr ...
. The following year, he moved to Victoria and joined the
Geelong Football Club
The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...
, where he played for five years, generally at full forward; he won a premiership with the club in 1931, and kicked 109 goals in 1932.
In 1936, Moloney returned to Claremont in the WANFL, he won the
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 ...
in 1936 as the league's
fairest and best
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 ...
player playing primarily as a centre.
In 1938, he led Claremont to its first-ever premiership, and repeated the feat in the next two seasons.
All told, he played a total of 190 WA(N)FL games, some of them alongside brothers Robert (103 games 1930-36) and Syd (145 games 1934-41).
Arguably the greatest name in the history of the Claremont Football Club, and certainly one of the most uniquely versatile champions ever to have adorned the game, George "Specka" Moloney rounded off his association with the Tigers by coaching them, without much success, from 1948 to 1951.
In 1996, Moloney 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 ...
and in 2004 he was inducted 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, ...
where he has legend status.
References
Bibliography
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External links
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Profileat WAFL FootyFacts website
AFL Hall of Fame - PlayersProfileat WAFL Hall of Fame website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moloney, George
1909 births
1983 deaths
Geelong Football Club players
Geelong Football Club premiership players
Claremont Football Club players
Claremont Football Club coaches
Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Carji Greeves Medal winners
Sandover Medal winners
VFL Leading Goalkicker Medal winners
West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
VFL/AFL premiership players
Australian rules footballers from Fremantle