George Victor "Mick" Pleass (12 November 1874 – 27 August 1925) 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 ...

and

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

in the VFA and

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).

Football

Pleass was a follower and played his early football at South Melbourne when they were 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). He participated in their inaugural VFL match and remained with the club until 1904 when he crossed to Essendon, after his transfer to play for

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

in the

Western Australian Goldfields The Western Australian Goldfields is a term for areas in Western Australia that have had significant areas of gold mining occur. Range of goldfields There are goldfields across the state of Western Australia, from the Kimberley region to the so ...

was refused. During his career he represented

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 football on three occasions. At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for ''The Argus'' ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:
Backs:

Maurie Collins Maurie Ignatius Collins (21 July 1876 – 8 November 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Collins played his early football at both Albert Park and Xavier College. He was in ...

(Essendon),

Bill Proudfoot William Henry Proudfoot (11 June 1868 – 11 January 1931) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and Victorian Football Association (VFA). Family Bill is the uncle ...

(Collingwood), Peter Burns (Geelong); Halfbacks:

Pat Hickey Patrick Hickey may refer to: * Patrick Hickey (artist) (1927–1998), Irish visual artist * Pat Hickey (ice hockey) (born 1953), Canadian ice hockey player * Pat Hickey (footballer) (1871–1946), Australian rules footballer * Pat Hickey (politicia ...

(Fitzroy), George Davidson (South Melbourne), Alf Wood (Melbourne); Centres:

Fred Leach John Frederick Leach (6 March 1878 – 14 April 1908) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of Thomas Leach (1847-1916), and Emma Bunkin Leach ...

(Collingwood),

Firth McCallum Firth William McCallum (27 December 1872 – 11 July 1910) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL). At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player" ...

(Geelong),

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, t ...

(Essendon); Wings: Charlie Pannam (Collingwood),

Eddie Drohan Edward Patrick Drohan (17 July 1876 – 28 July 1938) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) before becoming an umpire and a coach. Droha ...

(Fitzroy),

Herb Howson Herbert Howson (11 August 1872 – 8 May 1948) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Football A wingman, Howson played with South Melbourne for four seasons in the Victorian ...

(South Melbourne); Forwards: Bill Jackson (Essendon),

Eddy James Edwin Ernest 'Eddy' James (14 February 1874 – 16 September 1937) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong Football Club, Geelong in the years before and following the formation of the Australian Football League, VFL. Footbal ...

(Geelong),

Charlie Colgan Charlie Colgan (9 February 1878 – 25 July 1935) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", th ...

(South Melbourne); Ruck: Mick Pleass (South Melbourne),

Frank Hailwood Frank Hailwood (3 April 1873 – 21 May 1944) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family One of the eight children of Joseph Hailwood (1834–1912), and Ellen ...

(Collingwood),

Joe McShane Joseph Francis McShane (29 November 1868 – 26 July 1950) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of Philip McShane (1835-1908), and Mary Ann McShane (1836-1912), née McCabe, Joseph Francis ...

(Geelong); Rovers:

Dick Condon Richard Condon (19 March 1876 – 27 December 1946) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Richmond in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1894-1900, 1902-1906 a ...

(Collingwood),

Bill McSpeerin William Joseph McSpeerin (25 September 1874 – 3 June 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of James McSpeerin (1846-1909), and Catherine McSp ...

(Fitzroy),

Teddy Rankin Edwin Walter "Teddy" Rankin (11 March 1872 – 31 July 1944) was an Australian rules footballer, originally with Riversdale, who began playing with Geelong in the VFA in 1891, and later played in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family ...

(Geelong).
From those he considered to be the three best players — that is, Condon, Hickey, and Pleass — he selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.
'Old Boy', "Football: A Review of the Season", (Monday, 18 September 1899), p.6
. A ruckman, Pleass briefly gave the game away in 1902 to become a field umpire but returned to South Melbourne after officiating in a couple of games.

Death

He died at the Kalgoorlie Government Hospital, in

Boulder, Western Australia Boulder is a suburb in the Western Australian Goldfields, east of Perth and bordering onto the city of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. The Boulder (horse) Races were a significant event in early twentieth century goldfields regio ...

on 27 August 1925.Deaths: Pleass, ''The Argus'', (Tuesday, 8 September 1925), p. 1.
/ref>

Notes

References

'Follower', "The Footballers' Alphabet", ''The Leader'', (Saturday, 23 July 1898), p. 17
"P is for Pleass, unsurpassed in the ruck".
South Melbourne Team, ''Melbourne Punch'', (Thursday, 4 June 1903), p. 16.
* Maplestone, M., ''Flying Higher: History of the Essendon Football Club 1872–1996'', Essendon Football Club, (Melbourne), 1996. *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pleass, Mick 1874 births 1925 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents Sydney Swans players Essendon Football Club players Australian Football League umpires South Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players Australian rules footballers from Adelaide

Football

Death

See also

Notes

References

External links