Wally Lock

Wally Lock
Personal information
Full name	Walter Albert Lock
Date of birth	(1917-01-22)22 January 1917
Place of birth	Maryborough, Victoria
Date of death	17 June 1992(1992-06-17) (aged 75)
Original team(s)	Maryborough
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s)	Half back flank
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1936–41, 1946–49	Melbourne	140 (14)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1949.
Career highlights
VFL premiership: 1941 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist: 1947 Melbourne Team of the Century–interchange Melbourne Hall of Fame
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Walter Albert Lock (22 January 1917 – 17 June 1992)^[1] was an Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

The son of Walter "Paddy" Lock (1882–1951),^[2] and Mabel Rebecca Lock (1891–1965), née Eastman,^[3] Walter Albert Lock was born at Maryborough, Victoria on 22 January 1917.^[4]

He married Margaret Greenough Day (1921–2005) on 14 October 1944.^[5] They had four children.

He was a talented cricketer in the Maryborough and District Cricket Association.^[6][7]

Recruited from Maryborough, and granted a permit on 23 April 1936,^[8] Lock began his career with Melbourne as half forward flanker — according to Percy Beames, he was known as Melbourne's "Bunton" in his early years.^[9] — and went on to later play in the backline as a valuable defender.

"He was restricted to 13 games in his second season [1937] by a series of ankle injuries, as well as being bitten [in the back] by a horse while at work. In the 1939 pre-season he needed a tetanus injection after the nails of a boot stop punctured his skin." — Demonwiki".

Due to suspension, Lock did not play in Melbourne's 1939 premiership team. Due to an injury sustained in the 1940 preliminary final, he was unable to play in Melbourne's 1940 premiership. He played (at half-back flank) in Melbourne's 1941 premiership side — as one of the team's best players, with a performance described as "outstanding".^[10]

On his discharge from the Army in 1946, and aged 29, Lock resumed his football career.

He was Melbourne's best and fairest,^[11] and was named in the Sporting Life "Team of the Year" in 1947. Due to an injury sustained in the 1948 semi final,^[9] he did not play in Melbourne's premiership match that year, and was only able to play four games in 1949. He retired in the 1950 pre-season when he discovered that his knee was "not likely to respond to treatment".^[12]

In 1942, Lock enlisted in the Australian Army to serve in World War II.^[13] He held the rank of corporal, served overseas in the 4th Field Ambulance, and was discharged on 4 January 1946.^[14]

Lock was a boyhood hero of Ron Barassi.^[15] Barassi described Lock as someone who "combined strength with guile and football intelligence" and "was dashing and played with flair".^[16]

Lock was made a life member of the Melbourne Football Club in 1946.^[17]

In 2000, he was named on the interchange bench in Melbourne's official "Team of the Century".^[18]

In 2008, during the Melbourne Football Club's 150th anniversary celebrations, Lock's name was included in the list of the club's "150 heroes".

In 2013, he was inducted into Melbourne's "Hall of Fame".

• De Bolfo, Tony (14 March 2017). "200 Club push for 'Mulga', Baxter and Bob". Carlton Football Club.
• Hobbs, Greg (1984). 125 yrs of the Melbourne Demons. Jolimont: Progress Press Group. ISBN 0-9590694-0-2.
• World War Two Nominal Roll: Corporal Walter Albert Lock (VX106529, V132513), Department of Veterans' Affairs.
• World War Two Service Record: Corporal Walter Albert Lock (VX106529, V132513), National Archives of Australia.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wally Lock.

• Wally Lock's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Wally Lock at AustralianFootball.com
• Wally Lock, at Demonwiki.
• Wally Lock, at Boyles Football Photos.