Marcus Whelan

Marcus Whelan
Whelan during his Collingwood career
Personal information
Full name	Marcus Joseph Whelan
Date of birth	(1914-06-27)27 June 1914
Place of birth	Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Date of death	31 August 1973(1973-08-31) (aged 59)
Place of death	Mornington, Victoria
Original team(s)	Noorat, Darley
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1933–42; 1946–47	Collingwood	173 (31)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1947.
Career highlights
Collingwood premiership team, 1935, 1936 Collingwood Grand Final team, 1937, 1938, 1939 Brownlow Medal, 1939 Copeland Trophy, 1939 Victorian representative 3 times Collingwood Team of the Century
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Marcus Joseph Whelan (27 June 1914 – 31 August 1973)^[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of John Whelan and Ellen Margaret Whelan, née Parker, he was born in Bacchus Marsh on 27 June 1914. He married Marjorie Alice Dummett on 14 October 1939.^[2]

Whelan's son Shane played for Collingwood between 1967 and 1969; and his granddaughter is the actress/television presenter Nicky Whelan.

Football

Collingwood

Whelan played mostly in the midfield as a centreman, although he played some 40 games at full-back.^[3] He was a fine, long drop-kick, and an expert place-kick.^[4] Whelan won the Brownlow Medal in 1939 and was also awarded Collingwood's best-and-fairest award, the Copeland Trophy. After fighting in World War II, he returned to the Victorian Football League in 1946 and retired at the end of the 1947 season.

Sports journalist Michael Roberts and former Australian rules footballer described Whelan as being "a famously cool, calm and polished performer."^[5]

In 1956, Jack Dyer called Whelan one of the best centremen of his time. “He was a spectacular player who could take a brilliant high mark and could hold his own with a ruckman,” Dyer wrote.

Fellow Collingwood player Bob Rose concurred: “He was a magnificent stab kick and could dispose of the ball perfectly while travelling at top speed.”

St Kilda

In 1948, he was cleared from Collingwood to play with the St Kilda Second XVIII as captain-coach.^[6]

Carrum

In 1949, he was appointed captain-coach of the Carrum Football Club in the Mornington Peninsula Football League.^[7]

Employment

Whelan worked at Carlton & United Breweries in Melbourne, alongside his coach Jock McHale.^[8]

Footnotes

References

• De Bolfo, Tony (14 March 2017). "200 Club push for 'Mulga', Baxter and Bob". Carlton Football Club.
• Football Ace Whelan: Crowd's Idol Gets Ready For Big Season, Pix, Vol.5, No.13 (Saturday, 30 March 1940), pp.28-31.
• Marcus Whelan (Collingwood) in an artistic place kick, The Argus Pictorial-Supplement, (Tuesday, 14 May 1940), p.6.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcus Whelan.