Merv McIntosh

Merv McIntosh was a highly successful ruckman in the WANFL winning three Sandover Medals, three Simpson Medals and representing Western Australia 20 times.

Mervyn Francis "Merv" McIntosh (25 November 1922 – 3 May 2010) was an Australian rules footballer in the (then) West Australian National Football League (WANFL). A brilliant ruckman, he was awarded the Sandover Medal as the fairest and best player in the league three times while playing with the Perth Football Club.

Merv McIntosh played 217 games for Perth (severely curtailed by the World War II years), plus 20 state games for Western Australia in the period 1939 to 1955. In a richly rewarded career he won three Sandover Medals, three Simpson Medals and a Tassie Medal (at the 1953 Adelaide Carnival). He was named in the 1953 All-Australian Team.

His Simpson Medal winning performance in his last game, propelling Perth to a two-point victory in the 1955 grand final (Perth's first for 48 years), is legendary. At half-time, East Fremantle had a 34-point lead, but in the third quarter McIntosh led his side to get within two points at the last change. In the final quarter, kicking into the wind, Perth managed to get in front and hold East Freo at bay to win 11.11 (77) to 11.9 (75). McIntosh's strategy was to stay in the dead pocket and repeatedly kick the ball out-of-bounds.^[1]

He won seven best and fairest awards for his club. At his peak he was regarded by many as Australia's premier ruckman. He is depicted in a Western Australian state guernsey in Jamie Cooper's painting the Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport^[2].

Career highlights

• Perth 217 games
• 24 State games
• Perth Captain 1947-1950, 1952
• Perth Fairest & Best 1946-1950, 1952, 1954
• Sandover Medallist 1948, 1953, 1954
• Simpson Medallist 1952, 1953, 1955
• All-Australian 1953

The Merv McIntosh Entrance to the Subiaco Oval is named in his honour. [1]

In 1996, Merv McIntosh was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.

In 2004, he was inducted into Legend Status in the West Australian Football Hall of Fame.

References

• Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. pp. 93. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X. 
• AFL Hall of Fame
• Full Points Footy Bio

1. ^ http://www.abc.net.au/wa/stories/s1071019.htm
2. ^ Australian Football League, The Game That Made Australia, Retrieved 19 September 2010

Persondata
Name	Macintosh, Merv
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 November 1922
Place of birth
Date of death	3 May 2010
Place of death