Anthony James Polinelli (born 18 February 1943) is a former

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 who played with

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 ...

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) during the early 1960s.

Football

Polinelli started his career as a rover but developed into a dashing wingman. On 6 July 1963 he was a member of the Geelong team that were comprehensively and unexpectedly beaten by Fitzroy, 9.13 (67) to 3.13 (31) in the

1963 Miracle Match The "Miracle Match" is the unofficial title given to the Round 10, 1963 Victorian Football League (VFL) home-and-away match played between Fitzroy and Geelong at Brunswick Street Oval in North Fitzroy on 6 July 1963. The game is most notabl ...

. He was a reserve in Geelong's 1963 premiership side and only appeared on the field briefly during the last quarter. It is said that he had a

pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...

which he would smoke during the half time of matches. He was shortlisted for the

VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century The Victorian Football League-Australian Football League (VFL/AFL) Italian Team of the Century was announced in June 2007. It recognises the role of Italian Australian players in the sport. Players and/or at least one of the player's parents or ...

but didn't make the final cut.

Athletics

Geelong encouraged him to train with Arthur Edgerton, a specialist sprint coach based in Geelong. Under Edgerton's guidance Polinelli won the 1966 Bendigo Gift before finishing second to Wodonga's Bill Howard in the 1966

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, S ...

Notes

References

Stone, Peter (1966), "League Players top Gift hopes, ''The Age'', (Saturday, 9 April 1966), p. 24.

External links

* 1943 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club premiership players Maryborough Football Club players Living people VFL/AFL premiership players 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1940s-stub

Football

Athletics

See also

Notes

References

External links