Samuel Leslie McClements (12 May 1922 – 27 October 1973) was an Australian rules footballer who played for

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...

in the

West Australian National Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) 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 from March to September, ...

(WANFL) and in Tasmania with

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

. Although not the tallest going around, McClements played as a ruckman and was Claremont'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 ...

' winner every year from 1946 to 1950. He was unlucky not to play in a premiership as his career began the year after Claremont's strongest era where they won three successive flags. McClements represented Western Australia at the 1947 Hobart Carnival, starring in their upset win over the VFL and sharing the

Tassie Medal The Tassie Medal was awarded to the outstanding player at each Australian rules football Interstate Carnival or Australian interstate championship series held between 1937 and 1988 with the exception of the 1975 knock-out series. The medal is n ...

with Bob Furler of Canberra. In Tasmania he was a good performer for Clarence, where he won two 'Best and fairest' awards and earned selection in the Tasmanian squad for the

1953 Adelaide Carnival The 1953 Adelaide Carnival was the 12th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition. It took place from 8 to 18 July at Adelaide Oval. Home state South Australia was joined by the tw ...

. Three years earlier he had represented Western Australia at the Brisbane Carnival. When not playing football he worked as a truck driver for a hardware firm. He served with the 9th Division of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, 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 (Austral ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and was a member of an army football side that defeated an

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

side in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

in 1945.FOOTBALLERS ON MONDAY
– '' The Western Mail''. Published 1 August 1946. Retrieved fro
Trove
15 January 2012. His niece

Lyn McClements Lynette Velma McClements (born 11 May 1951), also known by her married name Lyn McKenzie, is an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s and 1970s who won a gold medal in the 100-metre butterfly at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Com ...

is a gold-medal-winning Olympic swimmer.

References

External links

*
Les McClements' playing statistics
from WAFL Footy Facts 1922 births 1973 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Claremont Football Club players Clarence Football Club coaches Clarence Football Club players Australian truck drivers West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees {{AFL-bio-1920s-stub