Australian Football

Arguably the most talented, and certainly the most successful, of three brothers to play for Collingwood in the period between 1945 and 1961, Bill Twomey junior combined great power and physical strength with tremendous pace and skill - a truly potent mixture, which frequently gave rise to a highly spectacular end product. Like many champions, however, Twomey sometimes gave the impression that he was coasting, and on one notorious occasion he fell foul of veteran coach Jock McHale who was of the school which maintained that a player could not be genuinely trying unless manifestly sweating blood in the Magpie cause.

McHale's impressions notwithstanding, Twomey was certainly no slacker, as he proved repeatedly in an auspicious 14-season, 189-game league career that spawned a Copeland Trophy in 1956, membership of Collingwood's 1953 premiership side, and regular interstate selection for the VFL. Had he not been inhibited by injury problems late in his career he might easily have won a Brownlow.

Bill Twomey's brother Michael played 157 games for the Woods between 1951 and 1961, while Pat had two brief stints with the club which amounted to 55 games. The three brothers' nephew David later also played with the Magpies while their father Bill Twomey senior played for both Collingwood and Hawthorn.

Author - John Devaney