Hedley Tomkins

Deemed too small for league football by Fitzroy after just four senior games as a teenager, Hedley Tomkins proved his critics wrong to become one of the premier rovers of his era. Standing at just 164cm, he eventually found a home at Melbourne—via a dominant stint with Preston in the VFA—where he established himself as a tenacious midfielder renowned for his precise stab passing. His form was strong enough to earn Victorian state selection in 1912 and 1913 before his work as a travelling salesman took him to Western Australia, where he starred for East Perth and represented his adopted state. Tomkins' playing career was tragically cut short during World War I at the Battle of the Somme, where severe shrapnel injuries resulted in the amputation of his right leg, though he remained connected to the sport post-war as a respected football journalist.