94 Facts About Laurie Nash

Laurence John Nash was a Test cricketer and Australian rules footballer.

An inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Laurie Nash was a member of South Melbourne's 1933 premiership team, captained South Melbourne in 1937 and was the team's leading goal kicker in 1937 and 1945.

In cricket, Laurie Nash was a fast bowler and hard hitting lower order batsman who played two Test matches for Australia, taking 10 wickets at 12.80 runs per wicket, and scoring 30 runs at a batting average of 15.

The son of a leading Australian rules footballer of the early twentieth century who had played cricket against the touring Marylebone Cricket Club in 1921, Laurie Nash was a star sportsman as a boy.

Laurie Nash made his Test cricket debut in 1932, against South Africa and his Victorian Football League debut in 1933.

Laurie Nash retired from VFL football at the end of the 1945 season to play and coach in the country before returning to coach South Melbourne in 1953.

Laurie Nash was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, on 2 May 1910, the youngest of three children of Irish Catholics Robert and Mary Laurie Nash.

Laurie Nash had a brother, Robert Junior, and one sister, Mary, known as Maizie.

Laurie Nash's mother was an orphan who was probably adopted several times, allowing historians no opportunity to determine any sporting links on her side of the family.

In Hamilton, Laurie Nash attended Loreto Convent and began his interest in sport, practising kicking a football made of newspapers and tied together with string.

Laurie Nash made his first grade debut for Fitzroy as a seventeen-year-old and spent two and a half seasons at Fitzroy, earning plaudits for his performances and, until he broke his wrist in a fielding mishap, there were suggestions that he was close to Victorian selection.

Laurie Nash Senior was a member of a group of 600 police who went on strike in 1923 for better wages but was dismissed from the force and required to find another livelihood.

Laurie Nash Senior went into the hotel business, firstly in Melbourne before eventually moving his family to Tasmania in 1929 to run the hotel at Parattah.

Laurie Nash made the Tasmanian side for the national carnival in Adelaide where he won the medal for the most outstanding Tasmanian player of the carnival.

Laurie Nash played in defence for City while Robert Junior played in the forward line and both were considered sensational.

Between 1930 and 1932 Laurie Nash played 45 games for City, kicking 14 goals, and winning the Tasman Shields Trophy, awarded to the Best and Fairest player in the NTFA, in 1931 and 1932.

Additionally, Laurie Nash played 10 games for Northern Tasmania and 5 games for Tasmania at the national carnival.

Laurie Nash played for Tasmania against the West Indies national cricket team in December 1930.

Journalists noted that during Constantine's innings, Laurie Nash was the only Tasmanian bowler to watch the West Indian closely and take note of his strengths and weaknesses, which led to his eventual success against the batsman.

In September 1932 Laurie Nash married Irene Roles in Launceston, with City and Tasmania teammate Ted Pickett acting as best man.

For years afterwards, Laurie Nash was subjected to a campaign by Catholic clergy to hold a Catholic wedding ceremony to legitimise his marriage but refused.

Wallish states that it was thought that Laurie Nash sought to have additional children but Irene was opposed.

On 26 January 1931 Laurie Nash was called for throwing in a match for Tasmania against Victoria at Launceston.

Laurie Nash later claimed that the throw was deliberate and came out of frustration with his fielders.

Laurie Nash was picked for Tasmania in two matches against the touring South Africans in January 1932.

Laurie Nash was the first Tasmanian based player chosen to play for Australia since Charles Eady in 1902 and would be the last until Roger Woolley debuted in 1983.

Laurie Nash has plenty of stamina for a fast bowler and is considered by some to be the man for whom the selectors are searching to fill the place of Gregory.

Laurie Nash himself claimed that he could have ended Bodyline in two overs without needing to resort to a leg field, as he believed that the English batsman could not hook and a few overs of sustained, fast short pitched bowling would have caused England to abandon their Bodyline tactics.

Laurie Nash moved to Melbourne in late 1932 and began playing cricket for South Melbourne Cricket Club while waiting for his transfer to South Melbourne Football Club to be processed.

Laurie starred in practice matches for South Melbourne but Robert Junior struggled and left the club prior to the start of the season to successfully play firstly for VFA club Coburg and then play and coach in country Victoria, Wearing guernsey number 25, Nash made his VFL debut for South Melbourne against Carlton Football Club at Princes Park on 29 April 1933, aged 22 years and 362 days.

Laurie Nash caused the South Melbourne coaching staff concern when he fractured two fingers in a match against Hawthorn two weeks before the final series.

Normally this type of injury would require a player to miss six weeks of football but Laurie Nash, who kicked six goals in the match, missed just one week, returned for South's Semi-Final win against Richmond and was considered Best on Ground in South Melbourne's 1933 premiership win.

Laurie Nash was adjudged the finest defender since World War I by The Sporting Globe and was runner-up in the Best and Fairest at South Melbourne.

Mindful of the upcoming Test tour of England, Laurie Nash thought he could impress Woodfull by bowling him a series of short pitched deliveries, eventually hitting him over the heart.

Laurie Nash dismissed Woodfull caught and bowled later that over for 15 but did not realise that "there was no way in the world Woodfull would take this wild and slightly uncouth cricketer with him to England in the current political climate " and was not chosen for the subsequent tour of England.

Laurie Nash continued to play district cricket and was considered a strong possibility for the 1934 tour of England.

Laurie Nash showed superb marking, good ground play, and accurate kicking.

Constable Laurie Nash served in the South Melbourne area for two years before resigning, having made no arrests in that time.

Laurie Nash continued to cement his reputation as one of the top footballers in the country, being called "the most versatile player in Australia", as, in addition to playing at centre half-back and centre half-forward, he successfully played in the ruck.

Laurie Nash kicked one goal in the Grand Final and was adjudged one of South's best players but Collingwood's Jack Ross's dogged tagging of Laurie Nash throughout the match was considered the decisive factor in Collingwood's win.

South Melbourne did not enjoy the same level of success it had in the past four seasons, dropping to ninth position as retirements of some its key players from the previous four seasons, as well as injuries meant Laurie Nash was forced to play a lone hand for much of the year.

Laurie Nash won the club goal kicking award with 37 goals.

Laurie Nash spent five years out of the cricketing spotlight.

Laurie Nash remains one of only three players to do so.

Laurie Nash's selection invoked complaints from the touring English side, where it was reported that a "feeling bordering on panic" had arisen at the thought of facing Nash during the Test.

Bradman refused to omit Laurie Nash, believing "his presence in the team would be a psychological threat to England whether he bowled bouncers or underarm grubbers".

Finally, Allen informed the umpires that if Laurie Nash was to bowl one ball aimed at the body, he would immediately bring his batsmen off the ground.

Laurie Nash took a number of catches, including Wally Hammond off Bill O'Reilly and a spectacular catch to dismiss Ken Farnes, the last England batsman, pocketing the ball and a stump as souvenirs.

The media was full of praise for Laurie Nash's performance in the Test, claiming that Laurie Nash was a much more reliable fast bowler than his "erratic" opening partner Ernie McCormick.

Laurie Nash was praised for his stamina, his ability to keep his footing and his direction during long bowling stints and his vicious yorker, which he used to dismiss Leslie Ames in the first innings and Joe Hardstaff junior in the second.

Bradman later wrote that Laurie Nash's bowling was scrupulously fair and that any bouncers were few and adhered to the spirit of cricket.

However, Laurie Nash was forced to withdraw and fly to Tasmania following his wife Irene's sudden collapse in Hobart with peritonitis.

The reasons given for the administrators' disinclination towards Laurie Nash include his reputation for blunt speech, his abrasive personality, which included sledging, and even the fact that he wore cut off sleeves, which was considered a serious faux pas in the 1930s.

Laurie Nash was immediately appointed captain of Camberwell and quickly became one of the most popular figures in the VFA, drawing large crowds to even practice matches.

Laurie Nash spent four seasons at Camberwell, where he played 74 games and kicked 418 goals, including 100 in 1939 and 141 in 1941.

At the start of the 1940 season Laurie Nash was still considered amongst the best footballers in the country and, with the transfer of former South Melbourne teammate Bob Pratt and Collingwood full-forward Ron Todd to rival VFA sides Coburg and Williamstown respectively, there was talk that the VFA would now match the VFL for crowds.

Laurie Nash did not rush to enlist in the Australian armed forces on the outbreak of war in 1939.

However, following the commencement of the war against Japan, Laurie Nash enlisted on 2 February 1942.

Laurie Nash refused, stating that he did not wish to be treated differently from ordinary recruits, and enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force, gaining the rank of Trooper.

Laurie Nash sought to return to South Melbourne, rather than Camberwell, but Camberwell declined Nash's transfer application and both clubs stated that they would be naming Nash in their respective sides for Round 1.

The amendment was made the day before the commencement of the 1945 season, allowing Laurie Nash to take his place for South Melbourne in their Round 1.

Laurie Nash was slower and more portly than he was in the 1930s, short of match practice and forced to spend most Sundays in hospital having fluid drained from his injured knees swollen from the exertions of the day before, forcing South Melbourne coach Bull Adams to nurse Laurie Nash through the season.

Additionally, in the Round 5 match against Footscray, he tore the webbing between his fingers which later became infected, causing him to miss the Round 6 match against North Melbourne and although Laurie Nash wore a special leather glove to protect his hand, the injury would trouble him for the rest of the season.

Laurie Nash was generally ineffective on the day, and his opponent Vin Brown was a consensus pick for best player on ground.

Laurie Nash's body was no longer capable of performing the feats that a decade earlier had seen him feted as the finest footballer to ever play the game.

Laurie Nash played 17 games for South in 1945, kicking 56 goals.

On 18 February 1944, the day he was discharged from the Army, Laurie Nash played an internal trial cricket match for South Melbourne, although he had not played competitive cricket for four years.

The high wage meant that Laurie Nash was not required to find additional employment to cover his family's expenses, and in so doing, became one of the first fully professional Australian rules football players.

Laurie Nash is still remembered in Greta for placing a football in a cowpat and placekicking it over a tall gum tree.

Laurie Nash took Casterton to a grand final that season, losing by a point.

Laurie Nash had signed a two-year contract, yet the South Melbourne committee re-advertised the position of coach following the end of the 1953 season and while Laurie Nash applied, he was not reappointed.

Fellow South Melbourne champion Bob Skilton claimed that had Laurie Nash been given time, he "would have become one of the all-time great coaches".

Laurie Nash wrote a column for the Sporting Globe newspaper, spoke at sportsmans' nights and made regular television appearances, including on World of Sport, to comment on Australian rules football and point out that there had not been a player of his ability in the VFL since his retirement.

An altercation with a drunken patron resulted in a broken left hip and forced Laurie Nash to sell his hotel, the Prince Alfred in Port Melbourne and gain employment as a clerk in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, a position he held until his mandatory retirement at 65.

Laurie Nash turned his interest to fishing, stating that he felt "edgy" if he did not go fishing a couple of times a week.

Laurie Nash strongly opposed the relocation of South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney in 1981, considering it a repudiation of the proud South Melbourne he had helped create.

Laurie Nash stated that he had given fifty years to South Melbourne but due to the relocation they had now lost him forever and refused to attend Swans matches for many years, relenting only shortly before his death to attend a match between Sydney and Footscray.

Laurie Nash was forced to have a pin and plate inserted in his broken left hip and as a result walked with a profound limp.

Laurie Nash began to drink and eat more and stopped his exercise routine, leading him to become bloated, "like an old, red balloon that had been slightly let down".

Laurie Nash later said that it would have been the perfect way for his father to die.

In 1980, Laurie Nash met twice widowed Doreen Hutchison and eventually moved in with her.

Visitors to Laurie Nash's bedside remarked that Laurie Nash could not believe his own mortality.

Laurie Nash's great sporting success can be partly attributed to his self-confidence.

Once, when asked who was the greatest footballer he had ever seen, Laurie Nash replied "I see him in the mirror every morning when I shave".

Yet, whilst Laurie Nash tended to sound arrogant in public, he was very modest about his success in private; in fact, his daughter Noelene was not aware of her father's sporting success until aged 12 when a friend's father told her.

Laurie Nash was a superbly fit athlete who never smoked, drank rarely, and dedicated himself to a punishing exercise regime; something rare in 1930s sports circles.

Laurie Nash is fast, has great control of the ball, kicks with either foot and has that little bit of "devil" so essential in the makeup of a champion of to-day.

In retirement, Laurie Nash was asked why he never won a Brownlow Medal.

Laurie Nash was complimented on his control, stamina and "an ever present confidence in his ability", which, combined with his speed, made him a formidable bowler.

Additionally, Laurie Nash was praised for his fielding in almost any position, with one scribe referring to his "amazingly athletic ability".

Laurie Nash ignored this advice and promptly scored 93 in the second innings of the match.

Laurie Nash excelled in other sports, winning awards in golf, tennis and quoits, including the Australian cricket team's 1932 deck quoits championship at the Oriental Hotel in Melbourne, defeating Clarrie Grimmett in the final.

The central place Laurie Nash held at the Swans was illustrated in 2005, when following Sydney's grand final win, a cartoon appeared in the Melbourne Herald Sun, featuring Swans players surrounding Laurie Nash, who was wearing his South Melbourne guernsey and was drinking from the premiership cup.

In 1987 Laurie Nash was made a foundation member of the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame and named at centre-half-back in the Tasmanian Australian rules "Team of the Century".