Rex Elvyn Garwood (15 May 1930 – 16 May 2007) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football in the

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian r ...

and

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

during the 1950s.

Football

TFL career

Best known for his exploits on the football field, Garwood is the only person in history to have won three William Leitch Medals. He was mostly used as a ruck rover but could also play in key positions such as centre half-forward. Garwood made his league debut in 1950 with New Town. He won his first Leitch Medal the following season, topped New Town's goalkicking and played in their 1951 premiership team. In 1953 he was appointed club captain and helped them to another premiership. He transferred to

New Norfolk New Norfolk is a town on the River Derwent, in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. At the 2011 census, New Norfolk had a population of 5,543. Situated north-west of Hobart on the Lyell Highway, New Norfolk is a modern Australian region ...

in 1954 and was immediately given the role of captain-coach. The Tasmanian won his second Leitch Medal in 1955 and at the conclusion of the 1957 season was relieved of his coaching duties. He won another Leitch Medal in 1958 before his retirement in 1960.

State Representative

Garwood was a regular Tasmanian interstate representative. He played for his state in the 1953 Adelaide Carnival,

1956 Perth Carnival The 1956 Perth Carnival was the 13th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It took place from 11 to 23 June at Subiaco Oval, Perth. Five teams automatically qualified for the c ...

and the

1958 Melbourne Carnival The 1958 Melbourne Carnival was the 14th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It was the last carnival to be hosted by the state of Victoria and was also known as the Centenary ...

. At the Perth Carnival he was captain-coach and kicked seven goals in a game against the VFA. Garwood also captained Tasmania in interstate matches during 1955 and 1957.

Cricket

Garwood played five first-class matches for Tasmania between the 1952/53 and 1955/56 Australian cricket seasons. He was a top order batsman but didn't manage to score a half century in his career, with a best of 49 which came against Victoria in 1953–54. In all he scored 189 runs at 18.90 and took five wickets at 32.00.

Later years

In his later years Garwood excelled at Bowls and was a winner of several Tasmanian championships. Garwood became the first Tasmanian in 13 years to represent Australia when he appeared for his country in a Test match against New Zealand in 1985. He won a gold medal in the pairs championship of the 1985 Australia Games. He was the first person inducted into the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 2004 was named on the interchange bench in the official Tasmanian Football 'Teams of the Century'.

References