Bill Mohr

Wilbur T. "Bill" Mohr (29 June 1909 – 29 March 1971) was an Australian rules footballer who represented St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1930s.

For the American politician, see William Mohr.

Bill Mohr
Personal information
Date of birth 29 June 1909
Place of birth Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Date of death 29 March 1971(1971-03-29) (aged 61)
Original team(s) Royal Stars, Wagga Wagga
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 80.5 kg (177 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1929–1941 St Kilda 195 (735)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1941.
Career highlights

VFL/AFL

St Kilda Football Club

  • St Kilda best and fairest 1932, 1936
  • St Kilda captain 1937
  • 12× St Kilda leading goalkicker 1929–1940 (club record)
  • St Kilda Team of the Century: half-forward flank
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Career

Playing as a half-back flanker initially, Mohr later became one of the league's greatest full-forwards; he kicked 101 goals in 1936 (the first St Kilda player to kick more than 100 goals in a season) and was the VFL Leading Goalkicker in that year.

Bill Mohr, trading card, 1933

Mohr possessed an ability to kick straight from any angle, and he was one of the best exponents of the drop kick. He was appointed captain of St Kilda in 1937, and was the club's leading goalkicker in every season from 1929 to 1940. It was announced that at the start of his final season, 1941, he would play in defence.[1] But in May that year, after having only played one game for the season, Mohr announced his retirement, saying that he felt he could not reach form and that it was also time to make way for a younger player.[2]

In 1947, Essendon champion Dick Reynolds, in an article for the now-defunct Melbourne newspaper The Argus, wrote about Mohr that:

[He] was handicapped because he played with a team that had few successes. He was a clever position player, grand trier, and a remarkably straight kick.[3]

In 1955, in an interview with The Argus, former South Melbourne champion Laurie Nash echoed similar sentiments about Mohr:

Bill Mohr was hampered by playing with a comparatively weak St. Kilda combination. In a stronger team he might easily have qualified for a higher place in full forward rankings. An extremely heady player, he was an accurate kick and dependable mark.[4]

Posthumous honours

Mohr was one of the first players inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996.[5]

In St Kilda's Team of the Century, he was named on the half-forward flank to accommodate Tony Lockett at full-forward.[6]

References
  1. "Around the Clubs". The Argus. Melbourne. 7 April 1941. p. 9. Retrieved 21 June 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "TEAM CHANGES". The Argus. Melbourne. 2 May 1941. p. 10. Retrieved 21 June 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Bob Pratt (S M) was best full forward of my time". The Argus. Melbourne. 10 July 1947. p. 11. Retrieved 21 June 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "PRATT-Best ever". The Argus. Melbourne. 30 April 1955. p. 11. Retrieved 21 June 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Australian Football Hall of Fame Players Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  6. St Kilda Team of the Century
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