George Lewis Calwell (2 July 1891 – 24 August 1971) 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 Carlton 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). Calwell was born in Carlton, the eldest child of George Lewis Calwell snr and Caroline Alice Corrigan. Two of his younger brothers, Clarrie and

Bert 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 ...

, also played VFL football. Originally from the Clifton's Rope Works team, Calwell made his league debut for Carlton in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

and, despite not initially taking part in that year's finals series, was recalled for 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 ...

. Carlton wanted his pace around the packs and put Calwell in the first ruck, a decision which helped them to claim the premiership. A foot injury caused Calwell to miss playing in Carlton's premiership team the following season. By now he had enlisted for active service and was assigned to the Corps of Engineers for specialist training at Langwarrin. He was however picked in the 1916 VFL Grand Final, his first match since late in the 1915 season. Just weeks after the Grand Final, Calwell was told by army doctors that he was suffering from a degenerative condition in the joints of the toes. He was discharged as medically unfit and never played for Carlton again.AFL Tables: George Calwell
/ref> Off-field, Calwell initially worked as a policeman before being dismissed after firing a pistol and endangering colleagues during a struggle with fellow officers at the Russell-street police station in 1913; he faced trial but was found not guilty. He later worked as a carpenter. In 1923, Calwell was convicted of assault with intent to commit an offence against a 21-year-old woman who was boarding at his and his wife's Hawksburn home, and was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calwell, George 1891 births Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players Australian military personnel of World War I 1971 deaths VFL/AFL premiership players People from Carlton, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne 20th-century Australian sportsmen