Noel James Abernethy (4 November 1902 – 1 October 1974) 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 as a

half-back flank In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-back line refers to the positions of the 3 players on the field that occupy the centre half-back and left and right half-back flank positions. Centre half-back The role of the centre half-bac ...

er who played for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

after being schooled at Wesley College. He played 130 games for Melbourne between 1923–24 and 1926–32. He kicked 61 goals. Abernethy was originally from

Shepparton Shepparton () (Yorta Yorta language, Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River (Victoria), Goulburn River in northern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Mel ...

and attended

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

at Wesley. Abernethy had a successful junior career for Wesley, being the champion player of the

Associated Public Schools of Victoria The Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) are a group of eleven independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools in New South Wales, the Great Public Schools Association in Quee ...

. As such he attracted interest from many VFL clubs. Because he had been living in St Kilda, the St Kilda claimed that Abernethy was in their zone. The Demons, however, argued that he technically still lived with his parents in Shepparton. The VFL committee ended up siding with Melbourne's point of view and the Demons signed Abernethy. Abernethy played for Melbourne in 1923 and 1924, but moved back to Shepparton in 1925, to further his law career. Abernethy was captain the

Shepparton Football Club The Shepparton Football Netball Club, nicknamed the ''Bears'', is an Australian rules football and netball club in the Goulburn Valley Football League. The Shepparton Bears, a local football team, play their home games at Deakin Reserve, Sheppa ...

when they won the 1925

Goulburn Valley Football Netball League The Goulburn Valley League (GVL), also known as the Goulburn Valley Football Netball League (GVFNL), is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria. History The league was initially call ...

premiership. Abernethy came back to play for Melbourne the next season and was a part of their premiership team. He continued to play for the Demons until his retirement from VFL football in 1932. Abernethy was made a life member of the Melbourne Football Club in 1961. In 2008, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Melbourne Football Club's founding, the Demons named their "150 greatest heroes", of which Abernethy was one.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abernethy, Jim Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Melbourne Football Club players 1902 births 1974 deaths People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) Shepparton Football Club players Melbourne Football Club premiership players VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen