Ronald Douglas Tucker (30 June 1921 – 10 April 1986) 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 for and in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). Playing in a number of positions, though primarily at

centre half-forward In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the North Melbourne ...

, Tucker kicked a total of 803 goals in 215 WANFL games between 1940 and 1955, and 32 goals in 14 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 interstate matches. Tucker was named in Perth's Team of the Century in 1998, and was inducted into 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, ...

in 2009.

Career

Born to William Henry Tucker and Annie Florence Lee on 30 June 1921 at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco,

, Tucker made his debut for in 1940, and was their leading goalkicker in 1941 with 44 goals. He served as a driver in the 52 Australian Transport Platoon during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and also played army football. He was also a noted athlete, winning the Northern Territory 120 yds. hurdles championship in 1944, and the New Britain 200 yds. championship in 1945. Tucker returned to Perth for the 1946 season. Tucker played in losing

Grand Finals Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

in both 1949, against , and 1950, against . Tucker kicked 115 goals in 1950 to be the WANFL's leading goalkicker, which is a Perth record. After a run of poor form for Perth, which resulted in him being switched to centre half-back for the latter half of the 1951 season, Tucker transferred to for the 1952 season. In 18 games at the club, playing either as a goalsneak or as a follower, he kicked 65 goals to lead the club's goalkicking. He transferred back to Perth for the 1953 season, and returned to form, kicking 87 goals. He again led the club's goalkicking in 1954 and 1955, with 44 and 52 goals in each respective season, but was dropped to the reserves several times. Tucker was unavailable for Perth's premiership win over in 1955 after injuring his knee in the preliminary final, and retired at the end of the season. Tucker died at Royal Perth Hospital on 10 April 1986, and was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

. In 1999, he was named at centre half-forward in Perth's Team of Century, and was posthumously inducted into the

in 2009.

Reputation

Tucker was considered the equal of leading full-forwards such as Bernie Naylor and John Coleman, and was considered superior to Naylor at ground level.Tucker v Naylor
– '' Western Mail''. Published Thursday, 13 June 1946. Retrieved from ''Trove'', 3 October 2011. Tucker played at either centre half-forward or full-forward in every interstate and carnival match for the WANFL between 1947 and 1950, kicking 32 goals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Ron 1921 births 1986 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian people of English descent Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia Perth Football Club players Subiaco Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees