Walter Albert Lock (22 January 1917 – 17 June 1992) 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

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 ...

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).

Family

The son of Walter "Paddy" Lock (1882-1951), and Mabel Rebecca Lock (1891-1965), née Eastman, Walter Albert Lock was born at

Maryborough, Victoria Maryborough () is a town in Victoria, Australia, on the Pyrenees Highway, north of Ballarat and northwest of Melbourne, in the Shire of Central Goldfields. At the 2016 census, it had a population of 7,921. History The area was originally ...

on 22 January 1917. He married Margaret Greenough Day (1921-2005) on 14 October 1944. They had four children.

Cricket

He was a talented cricketer.

Football

Recruited from Maryborough, and granted a permit on 23 April 1936, Lock began his career with Melbourne as half forward flanker — according to

Percy Beames Percy James Beames (27 July 1911 – 28 March 2004) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as first-class cricket for Victoria in the Sheff ...

, he was known as Melbourne's " Bunton" in his early years. — and went on to later play in the backline as a valuable defender. ::"He was restricted to 13 games in his second season

937 Year 937 ( CMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * A Hungarian army invades Burgundy, and burns the city of Tournus. Then they go southward ...

by a series of ankle injuries, as well as being bitten n the backby a horse while at work. In the 1939 pre-season he needed a tetanus injection after the nails of a boot stop punctured his skin." — ''Demonwiki". Due to suspension, Lock did not play in Melbourne's 1939 premiership team. Due to an injury sustained in the 1940 preliminary final, he was unable to play in Melbourne's 1940 premiership. He played (at half-back flank) in Melbourne's 1941 premiership side — as one of the team's best players, with a performance described as "outstanding". On his discharge from the Army in 1946, and aged 29, Lock resumed his football career. He was Melbourne'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 ...

, and was named in the ''Sporting Life'' "Team of the Year" in 1947. Due to an injury sustained in the 1948 semi final, he did not play in Melbourne's premiership match that year, and was only able to play four games in 1949. He retired in the 1950 pre-season when he discovered that his knee was "not likely to respond to treatment".

Military service

In 1942, Lock enlisted 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 ...

to serve in World War II. He held the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

, served overseas in the 4th Field Ambulance, and was discharged on 4 January 1946.

Legacy

Lock was a boyhood hero of

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

. Barassi described Lock as someone who "combined strength with guile and football intelligence" and "was dashing and played with flair".

Life membership (M.F.C.)

Lock was made a life member of the Melbourne Football Club in 1946.

Team of the Century (M.F.C.)

In 2000, he was named on the interchange bench in Melbourne's official "

Team of the Century In team sport, team of the century and team of the decade are hypothetical best teams over a given time period. For the century team, it can be either 100 years, or for a century (always the 20th). Similarly the team of the decade can be for 10 ...

"150 Heroes" (M.F.C.)

In 2008, during the Melbourne Football Club's 150th anniversary celebrations, Lock's name was included in the list of the club's " 150 heroes".

Hall of Fame (M.F.C.)

In 2013, he was inducted into Melbourne's "

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

Footnotes

References

* *
World War Two Nominal Roll: Corporal Walter Albert Lock (VX106529, V132513), ''Department of Veterans' Affairs''.

World War Two Service Record: Corporal Walter Albert Lock (VX106529, V132513), ''National Archives of Australia''.

External links

* *
Wally Lock, at ''Demonwiki''.

Wally Lock, at ''Boyles Football Photos''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lock, Wally 1917 births 1992 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Melbourne Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Maryborough Football Club players Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Melbourne Football Club premiership players VFL/AFL premiership players