William Maxwell Oppy (14 October 1924 – 25 November 2008) was an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
player who played in the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
(VFL) between 1942 and 1954 for the
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...
. He was senior coach of Richmond in 1956.
Family
The son of James Thomas Oppy (1893–1935) and Doris Edna Oppy, née Watson (1895–1967), William Maxwell Oppy, known as "Max", was born on 14 October 1924. He was the brother of
Jim Oppy and cousin of
Dick Reynolds,
Tom Reynolds, and murdered lawyer
Keith William Allan
Keith may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Keith (surname)
* Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949)
* Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...
.
Football
Oppy, who was recruited from Kew, started his career as a rover at Richmond and played in their 1943 premiership side. The following season he was pushed into defence by
Jack Dyer and soon established a place in the side as a specialist
back pocket
In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the gro ...
, participating in a losing Grand Final at the year's end. He represented the VFL at interstate matches four times. Jack Dyer called him the "player who could not be hurt.
Reed, R., "Richmond loses one of the toughest players in Max Oppy", ''The Courier mail'', 27 November 2008.
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After retiring from football in 1954, Oppy returned to Richmond two years later and replaced Alby Pannam as senior coach. They managed just six wins, finishing in tenth position, which meant Oppy wasn't kept on in 1957.
Notes
References
* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
External links
*
Richmond Football Club – Hall of Fame
1924 births
2008 deaths
Richmond Football Club players
Richmond Football Club Premiership players
Richmond Football Club coaches
Kew Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players
People from Maryborough, Victoria
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