Doug Heywood

A multitalented sportsman who captained Scotch College to a football premiership and won a state schoolboys tennis title, Doug Heywood was a skilled half-forward flanker whose VFL career was defined by a dramatic interruption and a famous near-miss. After establishing himself at Melbourne in 1944, his career was paused for RAAF service during World War II, followed by a stint in the amateur leagues where he won flags with University Blacks while completing a Commerce degree. In one of football's most remarkable selection stories, he was plucked from the amateurs after a four-year absence to play in the 1948 Preliminary Final due to an injury crisis, retaining his spot for the drawn Grand Final against Essendon before heartbreakingly losing his place for the premiership-winning replay. Heywood played two more full seasons, including a six-goal haul against Hawthorn in 1950, before retiring to become a highly respected commentator for the ABC and 3AW.