Les Gibbs

Standing at just 163cm, Les Gibbs was a diminutive rover and forward pocket whose promising VFL career was heavily fragmented by the Second World War. Recruited from Parkdale and the younger brother of Fitzroy and Collingwood player George Gibbs, he broke into the Melbourne lineup in 1939, notably making his debut as a replacement for the suspended Ron Barassi Snr. While his stature made him an elusive target in the forward line, his momentum was constantly stalled by military service, first with the Army and later the RAAF, which restricted him to sporadic appearances across six seasons. His most consistent football came during the 1941 Patriotic Carnival, where he was named among Melbourne's best players in all four lightning matches, but he was unable to secure a permanent post-war spot and eventually transferred to the VFA to play for Preston and Brunswick.