Billy Hammond

The younger brother of five-time Carlton premiership star Charlie Hammond, Billy "Chock" Hammond stayed loyal to his local suburb to represent the Magpies. A tall and heavily built utility recruited from Collingwood District, he arrived at Victoria Park with a reputation as a promising ruckman who could also hold down a key post in defence or attack. He broke into the senior side in Round 5, 1911, but his brief foray at the top level was marred by immediate injury setbacks that restricted him to just four games. Although he showed enough potential to be earmarked as a key prospect for the following season, he never played senior football again, eventually returning to the District side. His life was tragically cut short at age 31 when he died in the Exhibition Building hospital during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919.