Donald William James "Mopsy" Fraser (24 October 1922 – 26 June 1987) 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who played in the
VFL between 1945 and 1952 for the
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...
.
Family
The son of
Donald James Benjamin Fraser, and Lilian Rose Fraser, née Haig, Donald William James Fraser was born in
Collingwood, Victoria
Collingwood is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3km north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Yarra Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. Collingwood recorded a ...
on 24 October 1922.
His father (also "Don Fraser"), was an Australian rules footballer in the 1920s and 1930s, who twice won the
leading goalkicker award while playing for
Oakleigh, and also played 18 games for Richmond.
Football
Known as "Mopsy", he is still regarded as one of the most rugged players ever to play in the
Victorian Football League (VFL), serving a total 16 weeks in suspensions whilst at the
Tigers
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...
.
He then played in the
Victorian Football Association (VFA), serving as captain-coach of the
Port Melbourne Football Club
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) – ...
, leading the club to the 1953 premiership, and then later serving as captain-coach at
Prahran
Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...
. He was suspended for a further 30 matches in the VFA, missing out on finals series with
Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...
in 1954 and 1955, and while at Prahran was suspended for the last fifteen weeks of the 1957 season for a dangerous sling tackle on an opponent, following by using abusive language towards the umpires.
See also
*
1950 Brisbane Carnival
Footnotes
References
* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
External links
*
Don Fraser at ''Boyles Football Photos''.
Don "Mopsy" Fraser at ''The VFA Project''.
Richmond Football Club players
East Launceston Football Club players
Port Melbourne Football Club players
Port Melbourne Football Club coaches
Prahran Football Club players
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
1922 births
1987 deaths
People from Collingwood, Victoria
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