Australian Football

In a very short and quite unremarkable career at Essendon, Max Smith played just seven games, the first of which in 1940 was alongside his brother Ron, but it is for his tragic death in late 1941, as the result of an accident involving another brother, that he sadly best remembered.

Having impressed in several practice matches in April 1940, Smith made his debut as a defender against Footscray in round two, 1940. The Dons went down by 45 points and Smith was immediately dropped. However, he returned in round six and from there made sporadic appearances in that season, culminating in a Semi-Final win over Geelong.

That match had seen Smith moved from defence to a wing to cover for Ernie Coward, who had dislocated his shoulder in the opening minutes. Despite Essendon's win, the move did not appear to go well, the Sporting Globe of the following Wednesday reporting that Smith was "a man who had never played anywhere but in defence". Smith did not hold his place in the side that took on (and lost to) Melbourne in the preliminary final, and he made no further appearances in the red and black. 

In 1941, Max Smith turned out for Werribee South and was awarded the prize for best and fairest player in the Grand Final of the Werribee District Association. In October of that year, Smith was playing cricket for Werribee South when he was struck on the temple by a ball delivered by his brother Clive¹ (who was playing for the opposition team I.O.R.) that had ricocheted off his bat. Smith left the field but appeared to be okay until he collapsed while talking to a teammate. He was rushed to hospital where he died two days later.² He was only 23 years old.

Author - Andrew Gigacz