McDONALD, Norm

Norm McDonald was one of Essendon's greatest-ever half-back flankers, and amongst the fastest footballers to play in that position. He was the first of the Club's many Indigenous players.

A Gunditjmara man, he grew up on Lake Condah Mission in Western Victoria until his mother passed away from tuberculosis, after which he was placed in the Geelong Protestant Orphanage.

He had played with Belmont as a boy and then enlisted in the Army after lying about his age (he was only 16). He served in the Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Company in the Northern Territory before qualifying as a parachutist, finally being discharged in 1946.

He had played with the Geelong RAAF in 1945 and asked Geelong to sign him up but they weren't interested. He then moved to Melbourne and signed with Essendon in 1946.

He had remarkable ability and fine balance. He took risks but covered them with spectacular recoveries and his blistering pace. He was also a superb ball handler.

McDonald starred on the half-back flank in the 1949 and 1950 premiership wins and was Essendon best player in the 1948 finals series. He also won Essendon's Best and Fairest award in 1951 and he played for Victoria in 1952.

He was Essendon second top Brownlow Medal vote scorer in 1948,1950 and 1951 (equal). He also won the Club's Best First Year Player award in 1947 and the Most Improved Player award in 1948.

He only kicked three goals in his career and they all came in the same game, a win against South Melbourne in Round 13, 1953.

McDonald was reluctantly cleared to Golden Square in 1954 to become their captain-coach. The next year, he returned to Essendon but was told that he was too old so he played with Kensington Scouts in the Sunday League in 1955 and later with Preston-Brunswick in the same League.

He was also a professional runner and was runner-up to Lance Mann (also an Essendon player) in the 1952 Stawell Gift and won the backmarkers race at Bendigo in that same year. He missed the first four games of the season due to his running commitments.

He was also a competent boxer, a sport he took on as part of his rehabilitation after injury and won three of his four fights.

He managed all this despite his well-known love of a beer.

In his later years, he returned with his family to Lake Condah Mission where he shared his cultural knowledge and stories of growing up on Lake Condah Mission.

He was thrilled when Essendon's next Indigenous player, Michael Long, initially chose to wear number 4, in Norm's honour.

He was depicted as "Speed" in the Spirit to Win mural at Windy Hill.

He was named at number 33 in the Champions of Essendon (2002) and on the half-back flank in the Indigenous Team of the Century (2005). He was inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll in 2018 in recognition of his pioneering efforts for greater inclusion of Indigenous people in Australian Rules, as well as his contribution to his community for his fight against oppression and racism.

Norm McDonald died at the Footscray District Hospital on 28th November 2002 after a short illness.