Ernest Edgar Henfry (24 July 1921 – 14 January 2007) 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 for in the

Western Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

(WANFL) and in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). He later served as coach of Perth, and also coached

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, having previously played at state level for both Western Australia and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

in 2014.

Playing career

Henfry made his senior debut for Perth during the 1937 season, aged 16 years and 49 days, with only seven other players known to have debuted at a younger age. He played twice at state level during the 1939 season, at the age of 17, and then finished second to Haydn Bunton in the 1941

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant an ...

.Ern Henfry
– Australian Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 4 June 2014. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Henfry served in the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

, initially as a private in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, and then as a flight lieutenant in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF). While training in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, he played for a RAAF team in the New South Wales Australian National Football League, which included several VFL and

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

players, including captain Alby Morrison. In 1944, while based in Victoria, Henfry played two games for Carlton. He continued to fly back to Sydney weekly to turn out for the RAAF side as part of sanctioned training. When the war ended, he remained in Victoria, and Carlton requested a clearance from Perth to enable him to play for them. He was forced to sit out the 1946 season as Perth did not agree to a clearance, but was then able to captain Carlton for the 1947 season. It was a successful year, with Carlton defeating Essendon in a one-point thriller in the

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

. The season was capped off when Henfry shared Carlton's

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

award with his close friend

Bert Deacon Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album ''Here Comes a ...

, who also won the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

that year, Carlton's first. Henfry placed fourth in the Brownlow count.Ern Henfry
�
Blueseum
Retrieved 4 June 2014. In 1949, after some controversy, Henfry captained Victoria against Western Australia, being only the second man to represent Victoria after first representing Western Australia.

Coaching career

Returning to Western Australia before the 1953 season, Henfry captain-coached Perth for two seasons before retiring from playing. He remained as non-playing coach, and in 1955 coached Perth to its first premiership since 1907, with the club winning the

by two points over . Henfry remained Perth's coach until the 1959 season, and then again from the 1962 season through to the 1964 season, overall coaching the club in 242 games with a win rate of 57.4%. He also coached the state team in six matches during the 1956 and 1957 seasons, including at the 1956 Australian National Football Carnival, held in Perth, with Western Australia placing second. During the 1961 season, in the gap between his years coaching Perth, Henfry coached the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

's side in the Western Australian Amateur Football League to an A-grade premiership.

Death

Henfry died in

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

, a suburb of Perth, in January 2007, aged 85. He had been an inaugural inductee into the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise significant contributors to Australian rules football in Western Australia. Candidates are players, coaches, umpires, administrators and media representatives. The induct ...

in 2004, and was posthumously inducted into the

in 2014.Adam McNicol (4 June 2014)
"Hall of Fame 2014: Blues, Bulldog join the greats"
– Australian Football League. Retrieved 4 June 2014.

References

External links

*
Ern Henfry WANFL playing statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henfry, Ern 1921 births 2007 deaths Australian Army soldiers Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players John Nicholls Medal winners People educated at Perth Modern School Perth Football Club coaches Perth Football Club players Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Army personnel of World War II Royal Australian Air Force officers VFL/AFL premiership players Military personnel from Western Australia