ONE OF VICTORIA'S BEST FOOTBALLERS - George Haines on and Off the Field MUSIC HIS FAVORITE HOBBY - The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954) - 12 Jun 1920 (original) (raw)

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Sat 12 Jun 1920 - The Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954)
Page 4 - ONE OF VICTORIA'S BEST FOOTBALLERS

ONE OF VICTORIA'S BEST FOOTBALLERS

George Haines on and Off the Field

There are many interesting sides to

the life of George, Haines, captain of

the Melbourne football team.

The public knows him as a truly

great rover, but football is only one

of his many pastimes. At one. time or

another he has excelled in seven or

eight other branches of sport, while he

is a musician of rare talent. Ater a

strenuous match Haines delights to go

home and spend an hour or two with

the violin or mandolin, while his wife

provides the pianoforte accompani

ments. Mrs Haines holds high de

grees as a musician, and before her

marriage, under the name of Miss OUve

iKeown, she was well known on the

concert platform as a solo pianist and

a monologue entertainer. With similar

tastes it is readily understood that the

young couple spend a great deal of

ift&r spare time in an atmosphere of

music, which Haines must find strange

relief from the raucous noises of the

Anyone who has played the game

knows how hard it is to find in the

average football team a pianist who

can even vamp for, a comic song, so in

that connection Haines 1b quite excep

tional. Indeed, the wonder is that he

-ver found time to develop Into such n

great footballer, for his love for music

dates back to a very early age. When

he was eight ho was quit© an expert

However, it so happened that Haines

was able to make sport and music go

hand in hand, and besides football he

has excelled at rowing, lawn tennis,

cricket, swimming, and running. Born

at Ballarat, he went to tho local col

lege and subsequently to Geelong Col

lege, and for each he played in the

first eighteen. He was only 17 years of

ago when he started playing League

football for Geelong, and very soon his

great work as a rover attracted the

critics. And then the war broke out,

and Haines was away in 1915, 1916, 1917

. On his return he took a position as

clerk in charge of the City Council

cattle yards, and he joined up with

Melbourne, 'being elected captain. HiB

play and his handling of the team have

oeen big factors in the success of Mel

bourne this season. He is just the

rvpe of man who makes tho good lead

er. He has a very likeable personality,

und he can speak authoritatively on a

Variety of subjects, i He is a strong

believer in healthy, exercises, -but he is

far from being a faddist, in the matter

met training— he is Just normal. In phy

sique he is the ideal rover, being 5ft.

Tin. high, and turning the scale at list.

, in the summer, months Haines keeps

himself fit by " swimming und playing

tennis. In 1915 he was runner-up in

the Singles Handicap at the Geelong

(Easter tournament, which attracts

most of the best tennis players in the

State. He was a member of the Bar-i

won Rowing Club and he has stroked

the maiden "eights," "fours" and

"pairs." At one time he played cric-

ket with Geelong in the . sub-district

pennant comj>etition. He was always

a speedy runner, and since the war he

has won tho Old Geelong Grammarians'

In his seven seasons of League foot

ball,, Haines has played with and

against many great '.footballers. He

took part in the- 1911 and 1914 carni

vals, and he was also in the State team

in- 1912. In 1914 he won the "gold"

football for the host Victorian playing

at th? carnival,- Speaking of the rovers

lie has met, Haines regards Ernie

Cameron as being the best of past

years, and Ogderi the best of the pre

sent- -day. He describes Ogden as a

nippy", dashing and. strenuous piayer.

"The .Vest ruck I ever roved for was

composed, of Brake' (University) and

Charge . (South Melbourne)," he add,

"while the best club combination was

made up of Mars-ham and Gray, the old

Geelong. ruck men. Gray was one of

the finest 'shepherds' I hnve "ever seen.

Everyone knows- the greatness of Dick

Lee as a forward, and in that position

Roy L. Parlt was.a wonder for his

"We have had some brilliant centre

men, but;the best of. them all, was, I

think, M'Gregor, of Carlton. And

among the other noted players in vari

ous positions -that come to mind are

Schmidt,, Slater and Eicke. In 1911 I

saw Lee take the highest mark within

my knowledge, but for consistency in

the matter of high marking Eicke

I Speaking about. the quality of play,

Ha1ries"wijs Inclined to agree with Con

M'Carthy, who, in an interview pub

lished last week', slated that this sea

son plajrerg lid not use the , best of

judgment, and were too inclined to kick

at random. . Nevertheless, it was prov

ing an interesting season, particularly

for 'Melbourne, who hoped to retain

their present high position.

"The games are fairly strenuous,"

continued Haines in answer to a ques

tion, "but I would not say the play was

really rough. Now and again a few

hot-headed players mix matters, but

thai cannot be avoided. A footballer

must, expect hard knocks— they are un

avoidable — but the man who keeps

himself in good condition does not suf

fer Ill-effects." Forhapa Haines owes

his comparative freedom from injury

to his condition, for even in the "off"

season he goes, in .for. exercise., He has

facilities for indulging in physical cul

ture at home, and' he .docs a great

deal of skipping, ball-punching and

walking, apart from his training on