Laurie Fowler (born 29 December 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Richmond and

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). After finishing runner-up in the senior best and fairest count as a 16-year-old at Oakleigh Districts, Fowler was zoned to Richmond. Working his way up from the thirds side, Fowler made his senior VFL debut in 1971 and soon became recognised as a tough and courageous defender. He will be best remembered as the player who crashed into Carlton captain-coach John Nicholls at the start of the

1973 VFL Grand Final The 1973 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 1973. It was the 76th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League (VFL), staged to determine the prem ...

. The collision severely impacted Nicholls and helped Richmond avenge their loss to Carlton in the previous year's Grand Final. Richmond won the premiership again in 1974, but Fowler quit after he was omitted from the team. The Tigers considered Fowler's senior options to be limited and sold him to Melbourne, the club Fowler had supported as a child, for $15,000 (equivalent to over $100,000 in 2009). Fowler made an instant impact with the struggling Demons, winning the

Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal The Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player(s) adjudged the best and fairest at the Melbourne Football Club throughout the Victorian Football League/Australian Football League (VF ...

for the best and fairest player at the club in his first season. Although primarily a back-pocket player, Melbourne coach

Bob Skilton Robert John "Bob" Skilton (born 8 November 1938) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Playing as a rover, Skilton is one of only four players to have won the Brownlow Medal three tim ...

also used Fowler as a ruck-rover to help cover for

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

' lack of defensive skills in the midfield. In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, Melbourne narrowly missed out on the finals after Carlton drew with Footscray in the final round of the home-and-away season. Fowler was again among Melbourne's best players, finishing runner-up to Wells in the Keith Truscott Medal count. Skilton was replaced as coach by former premiership player Dennis Jones at the end of the 1977 VFL season, but Melbourne's fortunes did not improve and they finished last in 1978. During that season, Fowler had to be talked out of retirement after being relegated to the Reserves, and then quit for a brief time in May after being substituted against

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...

. Despite receiving offers from a number of top clubs at the time, Fowler returned to Melbourne just days later and reconciled. Jones was sacked at the end of the season and Carl Ditterich returned as captain-coach. Although Melbourne did not fare much better under Ditterich, Fowler continued to stand out, winning successive Keith Truscott Medals in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

and 1980 and representing

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 ...

at interstate level in 1980 and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. Fowler walked out on Melbourne after contract negotiations failed before the start of the

1982 VFL season The 1982 VFL season was the 86th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 20 March until 25 September, and comprised a 2 ...

. Instead, he spent the season in the

Victorian Football Association 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 ...

(VFA) with

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

. He then became captain-coach of fellow VFA club Springvale, leading them to the Second Division flag in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

Playing statistics

:Laurie Fowler's Player Profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1971 , style="text-align:center;", , 45 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1 , , 0 , , , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 11 , , 0 , , 0 , , 108 , , 12 , , 120 , , 32 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.8 , , 1.1 , , 10.9 , , 2.9 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 22 , , 7 , , 3 , , 181 , , 19 , , 200 , , 64 , , , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 8.2 , , 0.9 , , 9.1 , , 2.9 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1974 , style="text-align:center;", , 11 , , 15 , , 0 , , 0 , , 136 , , 19 , , 155 , , 38 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 9.1 , , 1.3 , , 10.3 , , 2.5 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 22 , , 0 , , 2 , , 312 , , 28 , , 340 , , 89 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 14.9 , , 1.3 , , 16.2 , , 4.2 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 22 , , 4 , , 6 , , 329 , , 68 , , 397 , , 90 , , , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 15.0 , , 3.1 , , 18.0 , , 4.1 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 17 , , 12 , , 16 , , 273 , , 60 , , 333 , , 57 , , , , 0.7 , , 1.0 , , 16.1 , , 3.5 , , 19.6 , , 3.4 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1978 , style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 15 , , 1 , , 1 , , 199 , , 29 , , 228 , , 44 , , , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 13.3 , , 1.9 , , 15.2 , , 2.9 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 21 , , 0 , , 0 , , 319 , , 87 , , 406 , , 100 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 15.2 , , 4.1 , , 19.3 , , 4.8 , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1980 , style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 21 , , 1 , , 0 , , 275 , , 92 , , 367 , , 86 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 13.1 , , 4.4 , , 17.5 , , 4.1 , , , - style="background:#eaeaea;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;", , 9 , , 22 , , 0 , , 0 , , 255 , , 85 , , 340 , , 72 , , , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.6 , , 3.9 , , 15.5 , , 3.3 , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 189 ! 25 ! 29 ! 2388 ! 499 ! 2887 ! 672 ! ! 0.1 ! 0.2 ! 12.7 ! 2.6 ! 15.4 ! 3.6 !

References

External links

*
Profile
at Demonwiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Laurie 1951 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Richmond Football Club players Richmond Football Club premiership players Melbourne Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Casey Demons players Casey Demons coaches Waverley Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players