Ern Henfry
Ernest Edgar Henfry (24 July 1921 – 14 January 2007) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Perth in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) and Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He later served as coach of Perth, and also coached Western Australia, having previously played at state level for both Western Australia and Victoria. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2014.
| Ern Henfry | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Ernest Edgar Henfry | ||
| Date of birth | 24 July 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Perth, Western Australia | ||
| Date of death | 14 January 2007 (aged 85) | ||
| Place of death | Inglewood, Western Australia | ||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 83 kg (183 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre | ||
| Playing career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1937–1941 | Perth | 51 (70) | |
| 1944 | RAAF (NSW) | [?] | |
| 1944 | Carlton | 2 (0) | |
| 1945 | Perth | 1 (2) | |
| 1947–1952 | Carlton | 82 (20) | |
| 1953–1954 | Perth | 22 (17) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1939 | Western Australia | 2 (2) | |
| 1949 | Victoria | 2 ([?]) | |
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1953–1964 | Perth | 242 (139–103–0) | |
| 1956–1957 | Western Australia | 6 (3–3–0) | |
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Playing career edit
Henfry made his senior debut for Perth during the 1937 season, aged 16 years and 49 days, with only seven other players known to have debuted at a younger age.[1] He played twice at state level during the 1939 season, at the age of 17,[2] and then finished second to Haydn Bunton in the 1941 Sandover Medal.[3]
During the Second World War, Henfry served in the Australian Defence Force, initially as a private in the Australian Army, and then as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).[4][5] While training in Sydney, he played for a RAAF team in the New South Wales Australian National Football League, which included several VFL and SANFL players, including Footscray captain Alby Morrison.[6][7]
In 1944, while based in Victoria, Henfry played two games for Carlton. He continued to fly back to Sydney weekly to turn out for the RAAF side as part of sanctioned training.[8] When the war ended, he remained in Victoria, and Carlton requested a clearance from Perth to enable him to play for them. He was forced to sit out the 1946 season as Perth did not agree to a clearance, but was then able to captain Carlton for the 1947 season. It was a successful year, with Carlton defeating Essendon in a one-point thriller in the grand final. The season was capped off when Henfry shared Carlton's best and fairest award with his close friend Bert Deacon, who also won the Brownlow Medal that year, Carlton's first. Henfry placed fourth in the Brownlow count.[9]
In 1949, after some controversy, Henfry captained Victoria against Western Australia, being only the second man to represent Victoria after first representing Western Australia.[10]
Coaching career edit
Returning to Western Australia before the 1953 season, Henfry captain-coached Perth for two seasons before retiring from playing. He remained as non-playing coach, and in 1955 coached Perth to its first premiership since 1907, with the club winning the grand final by two points over East Fremantle.[11] Henfry remained Perth's coach until the 1959 season, and then again from the 1962 season through to the 1964 season, overall coaching the club in 242 games with a win rate of 57.4%.
He also coached the state team in six matches during the 1956 and 1957 seasons, including at the 1956 Australian National Football Carnival, held in Perth, with Western Australia placing second.[3] During the 1961 season, in the gap between his years coaching Perth, Henfry coached the University of Western Australia's side in the Western Australian Amateur Football League to an A-grade premiership.[12]
Death edit
Henfry died in Inglewood, a suburb of Perth, in January 2007, aged 85.[13] He had been an inaugural inductee into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and was posthumously inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2014.[14]
References edit
- ^ Greg Wardell-Johnson and Steve Davies. "Youngest WAFL footballers"
- ^ "WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INTERSTATE FOOTBALL REPRESENTATIVES 1904 - 2013" – West Australian Football League. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ a b – Australian Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ HENFRY, ERNEST EDGAR (Army) – WW2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ HENFRY, ERNEST EDGAR (RAAF) – WW2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ (8 April 2013). GREAT FOOTBALL IN SYDNEY DURING WWII – NSW Australian Football History Society. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "168 given try-out in 'Rules". The Daily Telegraph. 16 April 1944. p. 17. Retrieved 6 September 2023 – via Trove.
- ^ "Special Trips For Games By Flier-Footballer". The News. 30 August 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2023 – via Trove.
- ^ Ern Henfry – Blueseum. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ Daily News. [1]. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ Ernest Edgar HENFRY – WA Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ WA Hall of Champions Inductee: Ern Henfry 10 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine – Western Australian Institute of Sport. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ ERNEST EDGAR HENFRY – Metropolitan Cemeteries Board. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ Adam McNicol (4 June 2014). "Hall of Fame 2014: Blues, Bulldog join the greats" – Australian Football League. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
External links edit
- Ern Henfry's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Ern Henfry WANFL playing statistics