When the new inductees into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame were announced on Friday evening, two of Melbourne’s best ever were elevated to Legend status, alongside Hawthorn great, Colin Robertson.
The two Melbourne identities who received this honour were Ivor Warne-Smith and Bob ‘Tassie’ Johnson. Both exemplifying two great eras in their own right, they are two of those who come most immediately to mind when the Melbourne Football Club is mentioned. Both members of the Club’s Team of the Century and Hall of Fame, they each made a significant contribution to the game from the 1920s to the late 1960s.
As the media release announcing their elevation announced:
‘Ivor Warne-Smith’s individual brilliance helped lift football at Latrobe and North-west Tasmania to its highest point in the 1920s. His long career subsequently shifted to Melbourne, Victoria where he was the first player to win 2 Brownlow Medals amongst many other accolades.
‘Bob ‘Tassie Johnson was a triple premiership player with the dominant Melbourne football teams of the 1950s and 1960s. Tassie represented Victoria on many occasions and was named at full-back in Tasmania’s ‘Team of the Century’.’
Ivor Warne-Smith’s achievements read as one of the feature pieces of the game in both Tasmania and Victoria. A Gallipoli veteran, he was renowned for being able to play anywhere, and was instrumental after his retirement in helping to build the all-conquering Melbourne teams of the 1950s.
Bob ‘Tassie’ Johnson was an assured and tough character, who played in three premierships with Melbourne - 1959, 1960 and 1964 - after his arrival from the Apple Isle. Versatile and dedicated, he started off at full back with the Demons, but was more than capable of playing wherever needed. Playing through two contrasting eras, he served as captain in his last season at Melbourne.
Later recognised as Tasmania’s greatest full back of all time, Johnson, like Warne-Smith, was an unassuming star. It is only now, with reflection born of time, that this pair is being honoured with full recognition, and all at the Club are proud to acknowledge this latest accolade.
