Australian rules legend Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer dies, aged 84
A magical chapter in the annals of AFL history has closed with the death of legendary ruckman Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer, who died in hospital after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
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Graham “Polly” Farmer, one of the greatest Australian rules footballers of all time, has died aged 84, surrounded by his family at Perth’s Fiona Stanley Hospital.
The legend of many generations will be remembered as a game-changer at his peak and a role model to some of the best to have ever played the game.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE TRIBUTES FOR ‘POLLY’
Farmer, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 70, will be long remembered for his feats as both a player and coach at the most elite levels of the game.
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His daughter Kim, who was with her father when he died, said she shared many special moments with him during the past week.
“We have just shared our last precious moments with our dear dad and grandfather,” she said
“It’s been an amazing life shared with a beautiful man. We will miss him.”
Geelong chief Brian Cook this afternoon paid tribute to the man he said had made the cats “forever better”.
“Polly Farmer was a pioneering figure in both Australian football and in changing Australian culture,” Cook said.
“Polly’s record as a footballer stands among the greatest that the game has known. He revolutionised football with his brilliant ruck play and use of handball as an attacking threat. He thrilled crowds both in Victoria and in Western Australia and was the first indigenous coach in the history of the VFL/AFL.
“The fact that Polly, who last played with the Cats in 1967, remains an iconic figure today for the Geelong faithful speaks to the impact he had on the club, our supporters and the region. The Geelong Football Club will forever be better due to the fact Polly played and coached us.
“Polly remained a role model for today’s players. He came to our team hotel a few years ago when we were playing in Perth and the excitement amongst our group was incredible.
“Polly had a caring side. Back in 2004 James Kelly suffered a broken leg in Perth and was forced to remain in hospital. Polly regularly visited him over that period. One Geelong person looking out for another.
“While it is easy to focus on Polly’s feats as a player, his role as a family man was even more significant. His love of his wife Marlene and his three kids Brett, Dean and Kim was known to all. Our thoughts are with Polly’s children and family.”
THE ORIGINS OF POLLY
Farmer was raised at Sister Kate’s orphanage in Queen’s Park, Perth, his famous nickname stemming from constant chatter as a young boy reminding someone of “Polly the Parrot”
He remained eternally grateful to Sister Kate, claiming without her he “wouldn’t have had an ice block’s hope in hell of ever leading a normal life”.
Farmer had a distinctive gait that would haunt opponents and opposition supporters alike as he dominated football fields in Western Australia and Victoria with his unique style in the 1950s and 60s, and changed the game via the razor-like handballs shot out with equal dexterity from either hand.
He lost his “soulmate” Marlene in 2015 after 58 years of marriage and is survived by children Brett, Dean and Kim.
THE TORVILL & DEAN OF THE FOOTY FIELD
A major beneficiary of those hands was Billy Goggin, 78, who remains forever grateful that fate provided him with what he regards as the best viewing seat in the game.
Goggin was one of the finest rovers the code has seen and his 248-game career with Geelong from 1958-71 coincided with the six seasons of the man he believes is the best to play the game in Farmer — or “Pol” as his teammates refer to him.
Farmer’s understanding with Goggin was to the VFL as Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were to figure skating or jockey Hugh Bowman and Winx to a racetrack. They appeared in near perfect sync from the moment Farmer played his first game for Geelong at Princes Park on Saturday, April 21, 1962.
“My brother Matt had played for Victoria against Western Australia in Perth and came back saying he had just seen the best player in his life,” Goggin said.
“He said ‘don’t worry about Ted Whitten and Ron Barassi, this Polly Farmer bloke is something else’. He was right.
“Polly is the best player I have ever seen. There are others with loads of talent but when you put the whole package together, Polly was the best.
“He could jump that high, he was incredibly strong, a beautiful kick and the finest handballer the game has seen.
“As ruckman and rover it took us a little while to work together because he was unusual in that he used to palm the ball with his left hand.
“In the end we didn’t talk, we just looked at each other. Polly was very calm and even when he got upset he would get over it quickly, although he couldn’t tolerate fools and in football he would have met his fair share.
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“His attitude lifted those around him, but Polly was as close to a professional footballer as you could meet because he trained every day.
“We didn’t have weights at the football club when he arrived so he would go to the local gym and lift heavier weights than the weightlifters.
“He used to work at a tyre place in Geelong West with John Buckenara, who was the father of Gary, where he would spend a lot of time handballing. In fact you hardly ever saw him without a ball in his hand.
“On the field he was our coach. When he came back to Geelong as coach between 1973-75 he was ahead of his time.
“He wanted his players super fit but a lot of them weren’t and couldn’t do what he wanted them to do.
“In the end the club didn’t give him enough time. Had they stuck with him, Geelong would have been a premiership side, but they were shortsighted.”
By the mid-1960s, Farmer and Goggin were regular members of Victoria’s state side and would travel together for training at the MCG. It was a time when legends such as Bob Skilton, John Nicholls, Kevin Murray, Ron Barassi, Barry Davis, Jack Clarke, Ken Fraser, Darrel Baldock and Ian Stewart wore the Big V.
“Don’t worry, when Polly walked in he was the star,” Goggin said.
“They all looked up to him and recognised him as the best player.
“John Nicholls was a wonderful player but I reckon even he would say he learnt off Polly. He could play anywhere, any position on the ground including small back pocket if you wanted. Polly was the master of them all.
“There was a great ruckman from Perth named Jack Clarke who could leap, but have a look for the picture that shows Polly sitting on his shoulders.
“It tells you everything you need to know.
“Just as importantly, off the ground he was a lovely person who was naturally kind-hearted.”
Goggin doesn’t like comparing players but he says facts are facts.
“How many of those Team of the Century sides was he named in?” asked Goggin.
The answer is an extraordinary six, made up of the AFL, indigenous, East Perth, West Perth, Geelong and Western Australian — and nobody gets anywhere near matching that.
‘SECOND FATHER’: THE QUICK-THINKER
Like Goggin, John Sharrock played with Farmer in Geelong’s 1963 Premiership side, having met the man who would become his “second father” on a pre-season trip to New Zealand in October, 1962.
“Pol became my second father because I had moved away from Tooleybuc to Geelong and missed my parents,” recalled an emotional Sharrock, 75.
“He and his wife Marlene were very good to me, as they were to all the Geelong players of the time. Pol was a beautiful bloke who cared for others
“Some of the boys in Fred Wooller, Colin Rice and Terry Callan flew over to see Pol to say their final farewells.
“They found it very confronting but for them it was a matter of saying goodbye. ‘Ricey’ always wanted to rove to him but sadly, whenever Pol came off the ball for a rest, so did Bill Goggin.
“He was too smart, was Bill.
“Before a game Polly was very intense, before his time.
“He trained twice as hard as we did and he studied the opposition harder than anyone, and not just his own opponent in the ruck.
“I remember playing a pre-season practice game against Albury in 1963 and playing on Fred Goldsmith and getting a few kicks (Sharrock booted 7.6) but that wasn’t enough for Pol.
“He instructed me to use my right foot when kicking for goal because it would come in handy at some stage of my career.
“He would tell me before a game the weaknesses of my opponent.
“He would also see things in their game during a match and explain them.
“You know what else, he was as tough as anyone?
“He didn’t go out looking for it but if someone backhanded him, he would repay with interest.
“The only difference was he performed the act with more style and could make it appear accidental.
“I think the only time he got reported was for Hawthorn’s “Delicate Des” Dickson after he ran me into a fence.
“Pol hit him with a backhander but the umpire reported him for striking with his left hand, when it had actually been his right hand.
“So he got off on a technicality.”
Like Farmer during his years in Geelong, Sharrock became a car dealer, again claiming he was taught by a master: “I bought my first car from Polly, a second-hand FC Holden that had 27,000 miles on the clock.”
“I ran into the old owner about three weeks later and he asked me how the car was going?
“I said ‘it’s fantastic, but so it should be because it’s only done 27,000’.
“He replied ‘that’s funny, when I traded it the car had done 52,000’ (laughter).
“They had given it a little trim (or haircut as it was known at the time).
“But Pol paid me back five years later when he moved back to Perth.
“He and Marlene sold the family home in Belmont in Geelong and I had just moved into Highton.
“He asked me ‘John, how old are your washing machine, fridge and stove?’
“I explained they looked really old, about 15 years, so he kindly offered to swap his, which were virtually new.
“They were all white and worked OK so what where was the problem? He was always a quick thinker.”
KEVIN BARTLETT
Five Premierships, five best and fairests for Richmond, 1965-83
You can only be good as you can be in your own era, and there was noone greater than Polly Farmer.
His contribution to the game will forever remain immense. He transformed the VFL, which was the best competition in the land, via his incredible handball.
Before Polly Farmer, handballing was the last resort and used only to get yourself out of trouble.
Because of Polly it became an attacking weapon and he could rocket the handball 25 metres. Everyone handballs today yet nobody handballs as well as Polly, or anywhere near him for that matter.
Plus he was a beautiful mark and excellent left footy kick.
He is the best handballer I’ve seen ahead of players such as Barry Cable and Greg Williams. He made Geelong such a force via his handball to a running Tony Polinelli or Billy Goggin.
I got to know him on a Galahs tour in 1968 when we roomed together in Ireland. He was quietly-spoken but had an obvious astute knowledge of the game.
I’m sure he could have been a good coach of Geelong had he been appointed in another era rather than 1973-75.
BOB SKILTON
Three Brownlow medals, Rover in the VFL Team of the Century
There was no better ruckman than Polly Farmer. I was lucky enough to rove to him when he played a few games for Victoria between 1963-65 and it was a pleasure.
I envied Billy Goggin roving to him each week at Geelong because Polly didn’t go up and just hit the ball, he palmed it to exactly where he chose.
When I played for South Melbourne against Geelong, I would try and rove to Polly but he was just too smart, always a step ahead.
He took great delight in making sure it didn’t go where you thought it was going to go.
There was a time during games when you would stop and couldn’t help but admire what he could do.
And it seemed effortless because he was so unhurried. There was huge fanfare when he arrived and he lived up to every bit of it.
I’m sure many at Geelong would look back and think they should have won more than one Premiership in Polly’s time.
Just a once in a generation player, like a John Coleman or Gary Ablett snr. Not many sportspersons get to actually change the way their game is played, but Polly did.
MAL BROWN
1969 Sandover Medal, three best and fairests East Perth
I played with Polly for Western Australia in 1970 when he was 35.
He had put a bit of weight on so he couldn’t jump like he used to be able to in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but he made up for it with his body positioning.
You would have heard all about his brilliance with hand and football, but did they tell you how tough he was?
Don’t worry, Polly could dish it out when he had to. He just did it with more style than most. He was also quite a ruthless coach when he needed to be.
As a player he was poetry to watch, like watching some beautiful batsman or Roger Federer play tennis.
As a person Polly was quite intense, wanting to know what you did in your life and how you were going. He was never happy about the officiating in the 1967 Grand Final and would often raise it, even in later years.
THE CHIEF
Gillon McLachlan, AFL CEO
When the Australian Football Hall of Fame was founded in 1996, Graham Farmer was one of the elite dozen players in our game’s history who was deemed both exceptional and worthy to be an inaugural Legend.
When discussing ruckmen, every player who saw him play or took the field against him, deferred to Polly.
Our game has always started in the centre square, with a contest between two big men, and Polly was the greatest of all the big men who seek to set the standard of competitiveness for their teams, lead from the front at every contest and compel their teammates to match their skills and commitment in the pursuit of victory.
Beyond football, as a proud Noongar man, he was a leader for the Aboriginal community and his standing in the game and in society enabled his people to believe that they too could reach the peaks and achieve their best potential.
He laid the path for so many great footballers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to come into the elite levels of the game and showcase their skills.
At every point of his career, his teams found success on the field, thanks largely to his dominance that built a record that few players could ever hope to match.
DENNIS COMETTI
Broadcast legend and former WAFL coach
Legendary AFL commentator Dennis Cometti felt privileged to be coached by Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer during his own football days, a “lovely man” who “you wanted to do well for”.
Speaking about Farmer in a podcast in 2017, Cometti recalled his days playing for West Perth when Farmer returned to the west to be playing coach in the state league.
Cometti, who before making his name as a commentator was a goalkicker in the WAFL, called time early on his career as his passion for footy “waned” as he battled injury while his broadcasting career took an upward turn.
The man who went on to become Channel 7’s chief caller on Friday nights said his early exit from the field was not due to a lack of effort from Farmer to keep him in the game.
“’Pol’ was (often) around, I’ll give him his due, he spoke with my mum, and you know they’d have cups of tea together and she was delighted because Polly was Polly,” Cometti said.
“I’d be there sometimes, not others, and when I came in she’d say ‘Oh he’s a lovely man, he’s wonderful, how could you let him down?’
“I didn’t want to let him down. Later on we reconciled ... when I say reconciled we sat down and we talked about it.
“He wrote the foreword to a book I wrote ... he was very generous in what he wrote.
“He acknowledged in that and he said to me privately as well ‘You made the right decision’.
“And I thought, in many respects, that was important. Because I did feel as though I’d let him down a little bit.”
Cometti was at one stage listed by Footscray came under notice from VFL clubs after booting more than 60 goals in the WAFL one season while playing under Farmer.
“He (Farmer) was always very good to me,” Cometti said on the This Is Your Sporting Life podcast.
“He came back from Geelong and was still a very good player and he became captain-coach of West Perth ... our relationship was good.
“In 1968 Polly arrived. We got on, different generations but I found him a really gentle man, a lovely man.
“I had a good year ... and it was because of ‘Pol’ to a certain extent.
“He was a hard man to deny as a coach. If he told you something as a coach you felt — or I did anyway — his nature was such that you wanted to do well for him. And that’s the hallmark of a good coach.”
— Ben Broad