Terrence Brian "Terry" Moriarty (3 July 1925 – 23 October 2011) 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 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 metropo ...

in the

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). Having won the club's

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 ...

trophy in his first two seasons, Moriarty went on to play 253 games over a 15-season career, which remains a club record. He also played nine interstate matches 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 ...

. Having also served in 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 ...

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 ...

, he was the winner of the 1943

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 best player in the competition, 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 2010.

Career

Born in East Victoria Park, Moriarty played under-12 and under-14 matches for Victoria Park in the local Temperance League, and progressed to the Victoria Park side in the Metropolitan Juniors Football Association (MJFA) in 1941, aged 16. He attended St Patrick's Boys' School and Aquinas College, playing football for both schools. Falling into the

's recruitment zone, he made his senior debut for Perth in 1942 in the wartime age-restricted competition, and won the club's

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 ...

trophy in his first season, playing mainly off a half-back flank. He finished equal fourth in the 1942

for the fairest and best player in the competition, with nine votes. In 1943, he won both his club's best and fairest and the Sandover Medal, finishing with 28 votes to become the first Perth player to win the award. Moriarty enlisted in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in September 1943, serving as a gunner in the 2nd Medium Regiment of the

Royal Australian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery, normally referred to as the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), is a Regiment of the Australian Army descended from the original colonial artillery units prior to Australia's federation. Australia's first ...

. He was posted to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for training, and played seven games with the South Sydney Football Club in the Sydney Australian Rules Football League. He returned to Western Australia in time for the first game of the 1946 season, and was discharged from service in September 1946.2010 Hall of Fame inductees
– wafootball.com.au. Published 11 March 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2011. He played with Perth on their tour of the Eastern states in July–August 1946, which included matches in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

and Sydney. The game at Broken Hill attracted 5,000 spectators paying £389/15/9 where he was named in the best but did not kick a goal. Broken Hill won The game against Southern Riverina was played at the Rock before a crowd of 1750 which was a record for a mid-week game in the area. Perth won 18.25 (133) to 14.4 (88). The game against NSW was played at Trumper Park on 11 August, and reportedly attracted a crowd in excess of 10,000 paying an amazing £464/14/6 at the gate, with Perth winning the game 22.15 (147) to 18.16 (124). Most often used as a half-back flanker, Moriarty played in two losing grand finals for Perth, in 1949 and 1950, before finally achieving a premiership in 1955, despite receiving a broken nose during the grand final. He retired in 1958 after 253 games, which remains a club record. Towards the end of his career, he had been restricted by recurring

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

injuries. Moriarty was inducted into the

in 2010, and died at

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia. Opened in 1958 as the Perth Chest Hospital and later named in honour of Sir Charles Gairdner, governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, it is pa ...

in Nedlands on 23 October 2011, after a short illness, with ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' noting he was a "dour ball player with strong team values".Wilson, Ray (2011)
"Demons farewell favourite son"
– ''

''. Published 26 October 2011. Retrieved from Factiva, 5 June 2013.

Notes

* Due to a large number of players being unavailable due to military service, the WANFL was limited to players under the age of 18 years for three seasons from 1942 to 1944. Games played and awards won during this period of time are still counted as official. * Cyril Hoft of Perth tied with Tom Outridge for the 1921 medal, but lost on countback, having played less games. Hoft was retrospectively awarded a medal in 1997, so is technically the first Perth player to win the award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moriarty, Terry 1925 births 2011 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II People educated at Aquinas College, Perth Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia Perth Football Club players Sandover Medal winners South Sydney Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Army soldiers