Michael Tuck (born 24 June 1953) is a seven-time premiership-winning player,

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 with the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawt ...

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) /

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). His 426 career games was a VFL/AFL record until it was broken by

Brent Harvey Brent Harvey (born 14 May 1978), often known by his nickname "Boomer", is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He holds the record for most matches played ...

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 the ...

in Round 19 of 2016.

AFL career

Early career (1971–1973)

Raised in Berwick, in

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 ...

's outer south-eastern suburbs, Tuck joined Hawthorn in 1971 from the

country zone In Australian rules football, zoning (originally called district football, or electorate football in South Australia) refers to a system whereby a given area, either region or lower-level football league, is reserved exclusively for one club. Z ...

club of the same name, and remained at the club for his entire career. Tuck initially played as a

full forward Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals. The Coleman Medal is awarded to the player, often a full-forward, who has kicked the most goals in an Australian Football League seaso ...

and the understudy to the great

Peter Hudson Peter John Hudson AM (born 19 February 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the New Norfolk Football Club and Glenorchy Football Club in the Ta ...

, kicking 63 goals in the VFL Reserves in 1971. He made his Senior debut against Richmond in the eighth round the following year and kicked goals with his first three kicks in senior football, but soon after lost form and was dropped from the senior side. Tuck would play in Hawthorn's winning 1972 Reserve grade premiership side.

Rising career (1974–1985)

In the following years Tuck was tried as a winger and defender before in 1974 finding his true niche as a ruck-rover and firmly establishing himself in the Hawthorn senior side. With Don Scott and

Leigh Matthews Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the . Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...

, Tuck came to form a following combination feared by every other VFL club and a crucial role in Hawthorn's 1976 and 1978 premierships. Tuck was a team leader as Hawthorn appeared in seven successive grand finals between 1983 and 1989. In the last four years of his career Tuck was moved from the ball to the less demanding role of a running half-back flanker, but he still averaged over 17 possessions per game in the final years of his career.

Captaincy (1986–1991)

Tuck was the natural successor to the Hawthorn captaincy in 1986 after Leigh Matthews' retirement. He captained them from that year until his retirement in 1991 at the age of 38. He won a total of seven VFL/AFL premierships with Hawthorn, captaining the club in four of them. Tuck never won Hawthorn's best-and-fairest, but was runner-up on six occasions, and there was a good deal of controversy in 1982 and 1983 when he failed to poll a single vote in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the " best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by ...

, which led to votes for each match being made publicly available for the first time ever in 1984. His last game was in

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

's premiership win in the 1991 Grand Final over

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, at

Waverley Park Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football ...

Records

VFL/AFL

Tuck holds a number of

VFL/AFL 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 ...

games records. These are: * Most senior games for Hawthorn: 426 * Most VFL/AFL grand finals: 11 * Most VFL/AFL premiership wins: 7 * Most VFL/AFL games without winning a club best and fairest: 426 He retired as the tenth-oldest VFL/AFL player ever, at 38 years and 95 days old. Tuck's 426 games was a VFL/AFL record until it was broken by

in Round 19 of 2016; Harvey retired at the end of that season having played 432 premiership games.

Elite Australian rules football

In elite Australian rules football (the VFL/AFL, SANFL and WAFL), Tuck's 426 career premiership games was a record until broken by

Craig Bradley Craig Edwin Bradley (born 23 October 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer and first-class cricketer. He is the games record holder at Carlton in the AFL/VFL, and in elite Australian rules football (the AFL/VFL, SANFL and WAFL). Early ...

in Round 6 of the 2001 AFL season: Bradley retired at the end of the 2002 AFL season after 464 games (89 for Port Adelaide in the SANFL and 375 for Carlton), and remains the record holder as of 2022. As of 2022, Tuck's total of 426 premiership games is ranked fourth behind Bradley, Shaun Burgoyne (433, including 26 SANFL matches for Port Adelaide) and Harvey.

Other matches

Tuck also played 11 matches for Victoria in State of Origin football, and 29 pre-season/night series matches (which are counted as senior in the SANFL and WAFL but not the VFL/AFL). If these are included, Tuck played a total of 466 career senior games. The VFL/AFL record Tuck's total as 437 career senior games, excluding his pre-season/night series matches. Depending on the viewpoint taken: * The VFL/AFL's total of 437 was an elite Victorian football record until broken by Harvey (who also played 11 International Rules matches, which are counted as senior by the AFL) in Round 16 of 2016, while Harvey retired with 445 senior career games (Harvey also played two matches for Victoria in State of Origin). * If Harvey's International Rules matches are excluded, Tuck's overall total of 466 was an elite Victorian football record until broken by Harvey in Round 10 of 2016, while Harvey retired with 480 senior career games. * If Harvey's International Rules matches are included, Tuck's overall total of 466 was an elite Victorian football record until broken by Harvey in the first pre-season round of 2016, while Harvey retired with 491 senior career games. As of 2022, Tuck's total of 437 career senior matches (using the AFL/VFL's total) ranks seventh behind Bradley (501), Peter Carey (467), Greg Phillips (447), Russell Ebert (446), Harvey (445) and Burgoyne (438), while the overall total of 466 career senior matches ranks fourth (if International Rules matches are excluded) behind Bradley (519), Harvey (480) and Carey, or fifth (if International Rules matches are included) behind Bradley (528), Harvey (491) and Carey and Burgoyne (equal on 467).

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" ,

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 Solar time, me ...

, , , , 17 , 5 , , 3 , , 3 , , 49 , , 56 , , 7 , , 7 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 9.8 , , 1.4 , , 11.2 , , 1.4 , , , , 0 , - , scope="row" ,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, , , , 17 , 11 , , 2 , , 3 , , 111 , , 7 , , 118 , , 16 , , , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 10.1 , , 0.6 , , 10.7 , , 1.5 , , , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" ,

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, , , , 17 , 23 , , 23 , , 19 , , 374 , , 44 , , 418 , , 67 , , , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 16.3 , , 1.9 , , 18.2 , , 2.9 , , , , 1 , - , scope="row" ,

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. ...

, , , , 17 , 24 , , 20 , , 25 , , 414 , , 44 , , 458 , , 61 , , , , 0.8 , , 1.1 , , 18.0 , , 1.9 , , 19.9 , , 2.7 , , , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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 Phila ...

^# , , , , 17 , 25 , , 15 , , 19 , , 435 , , 109 , , 544 , , 72 , , , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 17.4 , , 4.4 , , 21.8 , , 2.9 , , , , 4 , - , scope="row" ,

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 Democratic R ...

, , , , 17 , 25 , , 13 , , 11 , , 453 , , 114 , , 567 , , 82 , , , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 18.1 , , 4.6 , , 22.7 , , 3.3 , , , , 20 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

^# , , , , 17 , 25 , , 18 , , 25 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 490^† , , 134 , , 624 , , 89 , , , , 0.7 , , 1.0 , , 19.6 , , 5.4 , , 25.0 , , 3.6 , , , , 14 , - , scope="row" ,

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 song ...

, , , , 17 , 22 , , 20 , , 27 , , 419 , , 126 , , 545 , , 68 , , , , 0.9 , , 1.2 , , 19.0 , , 5.7 , , 24.8 , , 3.1 , , , , 12 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, , , , 17 , 19 , , 15 , , 24 , , 282 , , 103 , , 385 , , 68 , , , , 0.8 , , 1.3 , , 14.8 , , 5.4 , , 20.3 , , 3.6 , , , , 2 , - , scope="row" ,

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 ...

, , , , 17 , 21 , , 32 , , 31 , , 300 , , 110 , , 410 , , 84 , , , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , 14.3 , , 5.2 , , 19.5 , , 4.0 , , , , 6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" ,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, , , , 17 , 25 , , 37 , , 28 , , 374 , , 160 , , 534 , , 73 , , , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , 15.0 , , 6.4 , , 21.4 , , 2.9 , , , , 0 , - , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

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 Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

^# , , , , 17 , 20 , , 33 , , 22 , , 350 , , 98 , , 448 , , 75 , , , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , 17.5 , , 4.9 , , 22.4 , , 3.8 , , , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" ,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, , , , 17 , 20 , , 21 , , 14 , , 296 , , 92 , , 388 , , 45 , , , , 1.1 , , 0.7 , , 14.8 , , 4.6 , , 19.4 , , 2.3 , , , , 8 , - , scope="row" ,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, , , , 17 , 23 , , 23 , , 18 , , 305 , , 106 , , 411 , , 63 , , , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 13.3 , , 4.6 , , 17.9 , , 2.7 , , , , 1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

^# , , , , 17 , 24 , , 13 , , 14 , , 295 , , 179 , , 474 , , 67 , , , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 12.3 , , 7.5 , , 19.8 , , 2.8 , , , , 5 , - , scope="row" ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, , , , 17 , 26 , , 17 , , 14 , , 348 , , 165 , , 513 , , 62 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF, 73^† , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 13.4 , , 6.3 , , 19.7 , , 2.4 , , 2.8 , , 14 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

^# , , , , 17 , 22 , , 4 , , 10 , , 246 , , 132 , , 378 , , 46 , , 40 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 11.2 , , 6.0 , , 17.2 , , 2.1 , , 1.8 , , 1 , - , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

^# , , , , 17 , 23 , , 5 , , 9 , , 284 , , 121 , , 405 , , 64 , , 47 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 12.3 , , 5.3 , , 17.6 , , 2.8 , , 2.0 , , 6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , scope="row" ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, , , , 17 , 22 , , 2 , , 5 , , 299 , , 125 , , 424 , , 65 , , 45 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 13.6 , , 5.7 , , 19.3 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , , 0 , - , scope="row" bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

^# , , , , 17 , 21 , , 4 , , 4 , , 229 , , 94 , , 323 , , 48 , , 55 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 10.9 , , 4.5 , , 15.4 , , 2.3 , , 2.6 , , 6 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 426 !! 320 !! 325 !! 6353 !! 2070 !! 8423 !! 1222 !! 260 !! 0.8 !! 0.8 !! 14.9 !! 4.9 !! 19.8 !! 2.9 !! 2.3 !! 104

Honours and achievements

Team * 7× VFL/AFL premiership player ():

* 4× Minor premiership ():

Individual * 4× VFL/AFL premiership captain:

* 2×

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 ...

: 1979, 1983 * 2× VFL Team of the Year: 1983, 1990 * AFLPA best captain: 1986 * Hawthorn captain: 1986-1991 * 2×

Victoria Australian rules football team The Victoria Australian rules football team, known colloquially as the Big V, is the state representative side of Victoria, Australia, in the sport of Australian rules football. The Big V has a proud history, dominating the first 100 years of ...

: 1983, 1984 *

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 ...

Hall of Fame – Legend status *

Team of the Century *

life member

Legacy

Tuck was a skinny ruck-rover with great stamina as evidenced by the length of his career. He held the record as the VFL/AFL games record holder with 426 senior games, from his retirement until 30 July 2016, when the record was broken by North Melbourne's

. However, Tuck's durability is not only reflected in the number of senior games he played but also in having played fifty games for Hawthorn's reserves before becoming a regular senior player. Tuck also polled 104 Brownlow votes for his career, but never came close to winning the award. Two of his sons have played in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Shane Tuck Shane Tuck (24 December 198120 July 2020) was an Australian rules footballer who played 173 matches for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) after also spending two years on the AFL list at Hawthorn without makin ...

for Richmond, and

Travis Tuck Travis Tuck (born 7 September 1987) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. Tuck was selected with a father–son selection (pick 38) in the 2005 AFL Draft. ...

for Hawthorn. The medal presented to the best afield in the preseason cup final was named after him in 1992, as was a grandstand at

Glenferrie Oval Glenferrie Oval is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the historic home of, and is synonymous with, the Hawthorn Football Club, who played there from 1903 and as a VFL/AFL ...

. He was inducted into the

in 1996.

Coaching career

Tuck briefly served as a reserves coach at Geelong, under former Hawks teammate

Gary Ayres Gary James Ayres (born 28 September 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is currently the senior coach for the Montrose Football Club in the Eastern F ...

Personal life

Tuck is the brother-in-law of former Geelong player Gary Ablett, Sr., having married Fay Ablett.

Footnotes

References

*
AFL: Hall of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Michael Hawthorn Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club Premiership players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australians (1953–1988) Victorian State of Origin players 1953 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Seven-time VFL/AFL Premiership players People from Berwick, Victoria