Greg Wood (born 8 March 1953) 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 with

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

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). Prior to joining Melbourne, Wood played 42 games with Redan football club between 1968-1972 and was named in their team of the 20th Century. He was also runner-up in the best and fairest for Redan in 1969. In 1972 he crossed to

Wallan football club The Wallan Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies, is an Australian rules football club located 45 km north of Melbourne in the town of Wallan and is affiliated with the Riddell District Football League. The club was founded in 1904 and wear ...

where kicked 130 goals in his first season and 179 the following year, the most goals ever scored in a single year for the club. The

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

spotted his potential and Wood was drafted in 1974. In his first game, during the warm-up, Wood accidentally bounced the ball into his testicles, which left him in agony for much of the first quarter. Not wanting to alert the coach through fear of embarrassment, Wood struggled on to collect 13 disposals. Despite spectacular high-marking skills and deft touch around goal, Wood was plagued by injuries and retired at the end of 1974. Wood never played football again, and it has been said famously that he "promised a lot, but didn't deliver" on the big stage of the VFL. Wood went on to open a highly successful record shop on Sturt Street in Ballarat, which over 40 years has morphed into "L'espresso" a cafe/restaurant/record shop that is a favourite with Ballarat locals (including the late

Peter Temple Peter Temple (10 March 1946 – 8 March 2018) was an Australian crime fiction writer, mainly known for his ''Jack Irish'' novel series. He won several awards for his writing, including the Gold Dagger in 2007, the first for an Australian. He w ...

) and tourists alike. Greg still resides in Ballarat.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Greg 1953 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Football Club players