Mervyn Frederick "Merv" McIntosh (25 November 1922 – 3 May 2010) 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 in the (then)

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). A brilliant ruckman, he was awarded 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 ...

as the

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 in the league three times while playing with the

Perth Football Club The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). Representing the south-east area of the Perth metropol ...

Playing career

Merv McIntosh played 217 games for Perth (severely curtailed by the World War II years), plus 20 state games 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 ...

in the period 1939 to 1955. In a richly rewarded career he won three Sandover Medals, three

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pla ...

s and a

Tassie Medal The Tassie Medal was awarded to the outstanding player at each Australian rules football Interstate matches in Australian rules football, Interstate Carnival or Interstate matches in Australian rules football, Australian interstate championship se ...

(as the best player at the 1953 Adelaide National Football Carnival). He was named in the 1953

All-Australian Team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

. His Simpson Medal winning performance in his last game, propelling Perth to a two-point victory in the

1955 WANFL Grand Final The 1955 WANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Perth Football Club and the East Fremantle Football Club, on 8 October 1955 at Subiaco Oval, to determine the premier team of the Western Australian National ...

(Perth's first for 48 years), is legendary. At half-time,

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

had a 34-point lead, but in the third quarter McIntosh led his side to get within two points at the last change. In the final quarter, kicking into the wind, Perth got in front and hold East Fremantle at bay to win 11.11 (77) to 11.9 (75). McIntosh's strategy was to stay in the dead pocket and repeatedly knock the ball out-of-bounds. He won seven

best and fairest 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 ...

awards for his club. He is depicted in a Western Australian state guernsey in Jamie Cooper's painting ''The Game That Made Australia'', commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.

Honours

In 1996, Merv McIntosh was an inaugural inductee in 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 ...

. In 2021, he was elevated to Legend status, becoming the first player who played his entire career in the WANFL/WAFL to receive the honour. In 2004, he was inducted into Legend Status in 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, ...

. The Merv McIntosh Entrance to the

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

was named in his honour.

War service

McIntosh enlisted with the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

in 1941 and was discharged in 1946.

Family

McIntosh was married to Betty. Together they had six children. Their daughter,

Jill McIntosh Jill McIntosh is a former Australia netball international and national team head coach. As a player, McIntosh was a member of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 1983 World Netball Championships. She later coached Australia at th ...

, is a former Australia netball international and national team head coach.

References

*
AFL Hall of Fame
*

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntosh, Merv 1922 births 2010 deaths Perth Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Sandover Medal winners All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Western Australia