Hawthorn Football Club is proud to announce four exceptional inductees into the Hall of Fame in 2011 including the late W. Beau Wallace and Alec Albiston, along with Ian Law and Brendan Edwards.
W. Beau Wallace
Committed trainer for 46 years and Club leader1890-1970
Honorary Life Head Trainer: 1966-1969
Head trainer: VFA 1923-24 and VFL 1926-1965
Assistant Trainer: VFA 1919-1922 and VFL 1925
Hawthorn Football Club Life Member: 1936
Beau Wallace joined Hawthorn in 1919 after the Club had returned from recess due to the First World War. In 1923, he became Head Trainer, a position he held with great distinction, with the exception of a brief hiatus in 1925, until 1965.
Wallace served under the Club’s first 19 senior coaches and was a major figure in the daily Club life of that era. Such was his standing in the wider world of VFL football that his services were often sought for Victorian state representative teams.
After standing down as the serving Head Trainer in 1965, Wallace was appointed Honorary Head Trainer for life, to assist the new younger members of the Training Support Staff.
Wallace was considered one of the more public faces of Hawthorn and served the Club for 46 years. He was actively involved in fund raising committees and events and often offered additional advice and treatment to players. The Hawthorn Past Players and Officials Association (PP&OA) named their room the Beau Wallace Room to honour and respect the lifetime devotion Wallace gave the Club.
Alec Albiston
An outstanding leader and brilliant player1917-1998
Recruited from: Kew
Played: 1936-1942, 1945-1949
Games: 170
Goals: 383
Guernsey: 5 (1936-40), 17 (1941-42), 4 (1945), 5 (1946), 1 (1947-49)
Captain and Coach: 1947- 1949
Best and Fairest: 1941, 1946
Best and Fairest Runner-up: 1948
3rd Best and Fairest: 1939
Leading Goalkicker: 1939 (37), 1941 (57), 1942 (32), 1946 (66)
Most Brownlow votes: 1948
State captain: 1948
State games: 1
Hawthorn Football Club Life Member: 1945
When Albiston joined the Air Force to serve his country in the Second World War, he was nearing the peak of his football abilities and was one of the favorites to win the Brownlow Medal in 1942.
Albiston was a fitness fanatic and he took great pride in being able to run out a game. One of his personal aims was to run as fast in the last quarter as he had in the first and his remarkable durability ensured he never missed a game through injury. This fitness base saw him play many brilliant and tenacious games as a rover.
Although small in stature, Albiston took on any opponent to get to the ball first. He was very skilful and was constantly named in the press reports amongst the best players afield.
Albiston was the first Hawthorn player to kick 10 goals in a game, doing so in 1940 against North Melbourne.
His outstanding leadership saw him appointed Captain and Coach in his last three years at the Club.
Ian Law
A real impact player and instrumental in introducing Gaelic Football to AustraliaBorn: 27.09.1938
Recruited: Old Scotch
Played: 1960-1969
Games: 106
Goals: 115
Guernsey: 37 (1960), 7 (1961-67)
Premiership: 1961
Night Premiership: 1969
Best and Fairest: 1961, 1963, 1964
Most Brownlow Votes: 1961, 1963
3rd Brownlow Medal: 1961
State games: 6
Hawthorn Football Club Life Member: 1969
Hawthorn Football Club Team of the Century: 2001
Ian Law was a very competitive footballer and real impact player. He was very aggressive, had eyes only for the ball and didn’t care whom he knocked over to get it. Law was a rover who followed a coach’s direction without question, being very fast and a good kick on either foot.
In the space of less than 100 games, he was one of the most effective ever to play for the Hawks, winning three Best and Fairest awards and finishing third in the Brownlow the year the Club won its first premiership.
Law was also an outstanding sportsman, representing his state in both football and cricket. He established the Club’s magazine HawkTalk in 1968, and worked as its editor for the first two years.
Always interested in the development of sport, Law was instrumental in introducing Gaelic Football to the country, and the first hybrid game was played between Ireland and Australia in 1967, which is now known as International Rules.
Brendan Edwards
A fitness fanatic and responsible for devising the ‘Kennedy’s Commandos’ training methodsBorn: 18.03.1936
Recruited: Sandhurst
Played: 1956-1961, 1963
Games: 109
Goals: 29
Guernsey: 29 (1956), 9 (1957-61, 1963)
Premiership: 1961
Best and Fairest: 1960
Best and Fairest Runner-up: 1957, 1958, 1959
Most Brownlow Votes: 1958, 1960
Brownlow Medal Runner-up: 1958
State games: 8
Club Fitness Adviser: 1968-1970
Hawthorn Football Club Life Member: 1970
Hawthorn Football Club Team of the Century: 2001
Edwards was a fitness fanatic and ahead of his time in taking on his own extra training, performing press-ups and knee jumps that greatly strengthened his body. This impressed Captain John Kennedy and teammates Graham Arthur and Alf Hughes, who joined in extra training sessions with Edwards.
When Kennedy took over as coach in 1960 he adopted Edwards’ circuit training methods, which was the beginning of a creed of fitness that helped take the Club to its first Premiership in 1961.
As a player Edwards was brilliant; a ball magnet, who constantly drove the ball forward. Lining up in the centre he could go all day and he played a sensational game against Footscray in the 1961 Grand Final, amassing over 33 kicks in the Hawks’ triumph.
At the relatively young age of 25, he shocked the football world when he retired at the start of the 1962 season to concentrate on his physical fitness business. He was persuaded to return to play 1963, but a dislocated knee in a mid-season game against Richmond ended his career. .
In 1968 Coach John Kennedy approached Edwards to refine his earlier circuit training methods. This resulted in the infamous ‘Kennedy’s Commandos’ method of training, which lasted three years and was undoubtedly a major factor in the Hawks second premiership in 1971.
Be there to witness these men receive the highest Hawthorn honour at the Season Launch on Friday 18 March 2011, find out more.
