Carl_Willis_(Australian)
Carl Willis (Australian sportsman)
Australian rules footballer and cricketer
Carl Bleakley Willis (24 March 1893 – 12 May 1930) was an Australian sportsman who played Australian rules football with South Melbourne and University in the Victorian Football League (VFL) as well as first-class cricket for Victoria.
| Carl Willis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Carl Bleackley Willis | ||
| Date of birth | (1893-03-24)24 March 1893 | ||
| Place of birth | Daylesford, Victoria | ||
| Date of death | 12 May 1930(1930-05-12) (aged 37) | ||
| Place of death | Berrigan, New South Wales | ||
| Original team(s) | Wesley College, Melbourne | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1912–14 | University | 46 (41) | |
| 1915, 1920–21 | South Melbourne | 29 (18) | |
| Total | 75 (59) | ||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1921. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
The son of Thomas Rupert Henry Willis (1860-1933),[1] and Mary Wilson Willis (1867-1949),[2] née Bleakley, Carl Bleakley Willis was born at Daylesford, Victoria on 24 March 1893.[3][4]
Willis was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, and the University of Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc) in December 1915.[5]
University (VFL)
He was a regular player for University in 1912, his first season.[6]
Tribunal
He was suspended for four weeks after being reported by a steward for punching Fred Hanson in the match against St Kilda, at the M.C.G. on 18 May 1912.[7][8][9][10]
It was the first time in VFL history that a player had been suspended by a steward; and Willis was the only University player to be suspended during the club's VFL existence.[11]
South Melbourne (VFL)
He was cleared from University to South Melbourne in the 1915 pre-season.[12]
He captained South Melbourne in the 1921 season.
Pioneer Exhibition Game" (London, October 1916)
He played for the (winning) Third Australian Divisional team in the famous "Pioneer Exhibition Game" of Australian Rules football, held in London, on Saturday, 28 October 1916. A news film was taken at the match.[14][15]
He enlisted in November 1915 and served as a dentist with the Australian Army Medical Corps Dental Detail.
He served if France in late 1916, but was gassed, hospitalised and returned to England, taking charge of a dental unit on Salisbury Plain.[16] He rose to the rank of captain in July 1918.[17]
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(Carl Willis middle row, 4th from left)
His cricket career, which began in 1913–14, continued after he retired as a footballer. Willis represented the Australian Imperial Forces team in 1918 and 1919, and Victoria from 1914 to 1928. He was selected to tour New Zealand in 1920–21 with the Australian team but was unavailable.[18]
He practised dentistry in the Melbourne suburb of Malvern until 1929, when he moved to Numurkah in northern Victoria and then to Tocumwal in New South Wales.[19]
He died of pneumonia on 12 May 1930 in Berrigan, New South Wales,[20] and was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery on 14 May 1930.[21]
- Growden (2019), p. 121.
- Richardson (2016), p. 51.
- The original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916) on YouTube
- The 2019 remastered and colourised version of the original newsreel: Australian Football (Pathé Newsreel, 1916), remastered and colourised version (2019) on YouTube
- Growden (2019), p. 127.
- "St George's Church Malvern" (PDF). storage.cloversites. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- "The Australian Team". Evening Post. CI (26): 3. 31 January 1921. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- "Death of Carl Willis". The Australasian: 24. 17 May 1930. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- Photographs at third from left, middle row, at File:Melbourne_University's_Inter-Varsity_Team_(Adelaide_1914).tiff, Group portrait of members of the AIF Cricket Eleven (D00685), collection of the Australian War Memorial, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 10 January 1920), p.2, and Table Talk, (Thursday, 15 January 1920), p.15.
- Football Riot: An Angry Crowd: M.C.C. Ground Rushed: Player Reported, The Argus, (Monday, 9 August 1915), p. 8.
- Pioneer Exhibition Game Australian Football: in aid of British and French Red Cross Societies: 3rd Australian Division v. Australian Training Units at Queen's Club, West Kensington, on Saturday, October 28th, 1916, at 3pm, Wightman & Co., (London), 1919.
- Growden, G. (2019) Cricketers at War, ABC Books: Sydney. ISBN 9781460711149
- Holmesby, R. & Main, J. (2007) The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. ISBN 9781921496325.
- Richardson, N. (2016) The Game of Their Lives, Pan Macmillan Australia: Sydney. ISBN 9781743536667
- A.I.F. Cricketer's death, The (Lismore) Northern Star, (Saturday, 11 May 1930), p.6.
- First World War Embarkation Roll: Lance-Corporal Carl Bleackley Willis (346), collection of the Australian War Memorial.
- First World War Nominal Roll: Captain Carl Bleackley Willis, collection of the Australian War Memorial.
- First World War Service Record: Captain Carl Bleackley Willis, National Archives of Australia.
- Carl Willis's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Carl Willis at AustralianFootball.com
- Cricinfo biography