Douglas Wilkie Medal
Encyclopedia
The Douglas Wilkie Medal is an award presented to those who do the least for Australian rules football
, in the best and fairest manner. An accolade presented by the Anti-Football League
, it is named after Douglas Wilkie
, a Sun News-Pictorial
columnist who wrote for the paper during the years 1946–1986. It was Douglas Wilkie who first suggested the notion of an Anti-Football League, which was brought into being by Keith Dunstan
. The League exists as a response to the overwhelming obsession of football by the Melbourne
public.
The award is the League's answer to the Australian Football League
's Brownlow Medal
, an honour bestowed on footballers who throughout the season play in a skilled and sportsmanlike fashion.
Following the suggestion of Wilkie's fellow writer Cyril Pearl, who wished to burn a football to express his disaffection for the game, the winner must destroy a football in a unique and creative manner on receiving their medal.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, in the best and fairest manner. An accolade presented by the Anti-Football League
Anti-Football League
The Anti-Football League is an Australian organisation that pokes fun at the obsession with Australian Rules Football. It was founded by Melbourne journalist Keith Dunstan in 1967...
, it is named after Douglas Wilkie
Douglas Wilkie
Douglas Wilkie was a respected columnist for The Sun News-Pictorial . The son of travelling Shakespearean actors Allan Wilkie and Frediswyde Hunter-Watts, he began his newspaper career as a copy boy with the Hobart Mercury. This period was followed by Sir Keith Murdoch appointing him as Geelong...
, a Sun News-Pictorial
The Sun News-Pictorial
The Sun News-Pictorial, commonly known as The Sun, was a morning daily tabloid newspaper in Melbourne, Australia established in 1922 and closed in 1990.It was part of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd stable of Melbourne newspapers...
columnist who wrote for the paper during the years 1946–1986. It was Douglas Wilkie who first suggested the notion of an Anti-Football League, which was brought into being by Keith Dunstan
Keith Dunstan
Keith Dunstan OAM is an Australian journalist and author born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of William Dunstan VC and Marjorie Dunstan. He attended Geelong Grammar School and was a Flight Lieutenant in 1943-46 with the Royal Australian Air Force, stationed at Labuan in the Pacific...
. The League exists as a response to the overwhelming obsession of football by the Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
public.
The award is the League's answer to the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
's Brownlow Medal
Brownlow Medal
The Chas Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal , is awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the Australian Football League during the regular season as determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires after each game...
, an honour bestowed on footballers who throughout the season play in a skilled and sportsmanlike fashion.
Following the suggestion of Wilkie's fellow writer Cyril Pearl, who wished to burn a football to express his disaffection for the game, the winner must destroy a football in a unique and creative manner on receiving their medal.
Previous winners
- 1967 – Harold HoltHarold HoltHarold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
, Prime Minister of AustraliaPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful... - 1968 – Bob SkiltonBob SkiltonRobert John "Bob" Skilton was an Australian rules football player who played as a rover for South Melbourne and Victoria between 1956 and 1971....
, football player - 1969 – Ron Frazer, actor
- 1970 – Barry Oakley, author A Salute to the Great McCarthy: a Novel (1970) ISBN 0855610085; the book was filmed in 1975 under the same name.
- 1972 – Cyril Pearl, author
- 1973 – Doug McClelland, politician
- 1974 – Leon Hill, former General Manager GTV-9
- 1975 – Barry HumphriesBarry HumphriesJohn Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the...
, writer, actor, bohemian - 1977 – Kate BaillieuKate BaillieuKatharine Jean Baillieu is an Australian journalist who was born in Melbourne on 7 January 1946. She is the fourth of seven children of Darren and Diana Baillieu...
, former GTV-9 personality - 1979 – Pete SmithPete Smith (announcer)Peter Philip Smith OAM is an Australian radio and television voice-over artist. He is primarily known for his work with GTV-9 Melbourne as their announcer, including being the announcer on the nationally screened Sale of the Century for twenty-one years.-Radio:Upon leaving school, Smith joined...
, television announcer - 1980 – Jack Elliot, racing writer
- 1981 – Lindsay ThompsonLindsay ThompsonLindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson AO, CMG , Australian Liberal Party politician, was the 40th Premier of Victoria from June 1981 to April 1982...
, Premier of VictoriaPremiers of VictoriaThe Premier of Victoria is the leader of the government in the Australian state of Victoria. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Legislative Assembly.... - 1983 – Julie Clarke, a suffering housewife
- 1985 – Shelley Dye, another suffering housewife
- 1986 – Sir Les PattersonSir Les PattersonDr Sir Leslie Colin Patterson is a fictional character portrayed by the Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Obese, lecherous and offensive, this farting, belching, nose-picking figure of Rabelaisian excess is an antipodean Falstaff...
, alter-ego of Barry HumphriesBarry HumphriesJohn Barry Humphries, AO, CBE is an Australian comedian, satirist, dadaist, artist, author and character actor, best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife and "gigastar", and Sir Les Patterson, Australia's foul-mouthed cultural attaché to the... - 1987 – Peter Russell-ClarkePeter Russell-ClarkePeter Russell-Clarke is an Australian television personality and author, best known as a television chef. He hosted a five-minute television show called Come and Get It, which aired on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network for nine years during the 1980s.He was chef for the Prince of...
, celebrity chef - 1988 – Terry LaneTerry LaneTerry Lane is a radio broadcaster and newspaper columnist based in Melbourne, Australia.He was born in South Australia and educated at Gawler High School. After studying for the ministry at the Churches of Christ College of the Bible in Melbourne, Lane was a minister for six years before working in...
, radio broadcaster - 1989 – Raelene BoyleRaelene BoyleRaelene Ann Boyle, AM, MBE, , Australian athlete, represented Australia at three Olympic Games as a sprinter, winning three silver medals. In 1998, Boyle was named one of 100 National Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia.-Early life:Boyle was born on 24 June 1951, the daughter of...
, athlete - 1990 – Tim BowdenTim BowdenTim Bowden , is an author, radio and television broadcaster and producer, and oral historian. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania....
, ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
broadcaster and author - 1992 – Wendy HarmerWendy HarmerWendy Harmer is an Australian author, writer, radio show host, and comedienne.-Early life and career:...
, broadcaster and comedian - 1993 – Tim Bowden
- 1994 – Dennis Pryor, author and broadcaster
- 2007 – Barry JonesBarry Jones (Australian politician)Barry Owen Jones AO, FAA, FASSA, FAHA, FTSE, FACE is a writer, lawyer, social activist, quiz champion and former politician. He campaigned against the death penalty throughout the 1960s, particularly against the execution of Ronald Ryan, and remains against capital punishment...
, former quiz champion, politician, author