Murray Weideman (16 February 1936 – 17 February 2021) was an

Australian rules 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 ...

footballer 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 died one day after his 85th birthday.

Personal life

The son of George Oliver and Hazel Howard Weideman (née Start), and the younger brother of pharmacist/parliamentarian George "Graeme" Weideman, he was born on 16 February 1936. He died on 18 February 2021. Weideman's son

Mark Weideman Mark Weideman (born 30 December 1961) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Weideman was just 16 when he made his senior debut for South Australian National Football League ...

also played for West Adelaide (SANFL) and Collingwood; and his grandson, Sam Weideman, plays for

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

Playing career

Weideman is probably best remembered today as Collingwood's 'enforcer' of the late 1950s and early 1960s, loved by the club's supporters, and loathed by those of the opposition. He made his senior VFL debut in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, and was on the bench for that year's

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 ...

, in which Collingwood defeated

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

. When regular Collingwood skipper Frank Tuck was injured and unavailable for the 1958 VFL Grand Final against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Weideman became Collingwood's acting skipper, and kicked two goals. (Collingwood won by three goals.) The wet weather that day made the ball slippery and produced congested packs of players, which suited Weideman with his physical strength more than it did players who relied on speed and nimbleness. Despite this, Weideman's opponent, the Melbourne centre-halfback

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing p ...

, was (as often) among Melbourne's best players —"though outmatched by Weideman in the last .e. the thirdquarter", according to Tony Charlton's commentary in the
Channel 7 highlights
of the final quarter.

Awards

Weideman was much more than just the football equivalent of a hit man. He won the

Copeland Trophy The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year. The Copeland Shield, as it was formerly known, was donated by Ern Cop ...

for Collingwood's best and fairest player in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, and was usually among the Magpies' best players in important games. He moved to the Albury Football Club in 1964 as captain-coach and was selected as centre half forward in Collingwood's official 'Team of the Twentieth Century'.

Coaching career

Weideman accepted the captain-coach position of

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

in the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

in 1964 and lead them to the 1966 premiership, where he coached until 1967. Murray Wiedeman then coached West Adelaide in the

South Australian National Football League 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. ...

(SANFL) from 1968 to 1971, taking West Adelaide to the Preliminary Final in 1969. Weideman made a brief return to his old club Collingwood in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

as coach. After a solid debut season which spawned an 11–9 record and fifth place on the ladder, things quickly went bad in

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

as the club plummeted to its first wooden spoon. Weideman was quickly replaced by former multiple time

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

premiership coach

Tom Hafey Thomas Stanley Raymond Hafey (5 August 1931 – 12 May 2014) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He then became one of the VFL's longest-serving and most succes ...

for the

1977 VFL season The 1977 VFL season was the 81st season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 2 April until 1 October, and comprised a 22-g ...

Wrestling

Weideman's reputation as a football 'hard man' was utilised by the Australian

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

promotion of the day, ''International Wrestling''. While recovering from a shoulder injury sustained during 1962 season, Weideman was induced to enter the

wrestling ring A wrestling ring, also known as the squared circle, is the stage on which a professional wrestling match usually occurs. It is similarly constructed to a boxing ring and is traditionally square-shaped. In Japan, it is also common to see mixed mart ...

in a bid to draw publicity to the ailing promotion. He was paired with Italian-American veteran Salvatore Savoldi as his

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

partner, and generally put over by his opponents. While briefly serving its purpose in attracting publicity, it ultimately resulted in little benefit to either Weideman or International Wrestling.

Footnotes

References

* Hillier, K., ''Like Father Like Son (Second, Revised Edition)'', Pan Macmillan Australia, (Sydney), 2006. * Ross, J. (ed), ''100 Years of Australian Football 1897–1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported'', Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.

External links

* *
1966 - Ovens & Murray FL Premiers: Albury FC team photoWrestling with the Weed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weideman, Murray Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Collingwood Football Club coaches West Adelaide Football Club coaches Copeland Trophy winners Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Albury Football Club players Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian male professional wrestlers 1936 births 2021 deaths Place of death missing VFL/AFL premiership players