EASTERN SUBURBS EDITION
Melbourne
Observer
BOROONDARA • MAROONDAH • MONASH • WHITEHORSE
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Incorporating the Booroondra Weekly, Box Hill Reporter, Whitehorse Gazette, Maroondah Mail, Knox-Sherbrooke News and Monash Gazette.
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2022
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■ Collingwood football great Thorold Merrett, 89, might have officially hung up his boots more than 60 years ago, but he still dreams each night about playing at the MCG. The former Pies superstar, who now lives at Allity’s Templestowe Manor residential aged care home, still maintains a keen interest in the sport, these days watching matches on TV as opposed to playing as a mid-fielder. “I love a tall ruckman who can fly like a bird in the sky and mark the ball,” he said. “I watch them on TV now because I’m a 100 per cent a supporter and do the footy tipping every week.” The Victorian Football League player and winner of two Copeland Trophies realised his dream to be-
● Thorold Merrett, 89
come a club champion when he was inspired to play at four, then never looked back. “My father taught me how to kick a ball suspended in a tree from a young boy and I became very good at it,” he said. Thorold also mastered kicking stab passes through a suspended tyre in the Victorian country town of Cobden. Flash forward to being drafted to play professionally for Collingwood in 1950 when it was whispered in country circles that he “could kick a grain of wheat down a chook’s throat at 30 yards.” “I played very well, and they invited me to permanently join them as a recruit player as number 17,” he said. “A good footballer needs speed
and courage and I had both. I didn’t expect it to happen, but I made a marked impression on the people who counted. “I loved it very much wearing the black and white colours. “I was fortunate to have the full support of the club behind me. “It was a beautiful occupation. “My wife Doreen passed away five years ago, and I have 11 grandchildren plus two great grandchildren.” Thorold recently celebrated his 89th birthday at Allity (now a part of Bolton Clarke Group) surrounded by family and friends. “The people here are so kind and caring,” he said. “I play carpet bowls; we go on bus trips hotels and go out to clubs for lunch.”
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