Jim Cleary
1934 - 1948
222 games
Six goals
Best & Fairest 1942, 1944

It all started for Jim Cleary at his junior club, Thornbury CYMS, and one day, he decided to walk to Carlton and ask them for a game. While en route, a car pulled up, and the driver told him to hop in. It was South Melbourne coach Jack Bisset, who then convinced Cleary to join the Bloods for 10 shillings a week.

He joined a team stacked with talent amid ‘The Foreign Legion’ period. After an early appearance in the reserves, one loyal and vocal South supporter claimed he had just seen the next Vic Belcher.

One of his earliest matches in 1934 was a two-point loss to Richmond at Punt Road. Asked to speak at the after-match function, Cleary praised the Tigers for their superior play. During the Depression years, such grace from a beaten footballer was unheard of, leaving the Richmond property steward staggered; he announced, "The boy we just heard from should be known as Gentleman Jim."

And so, Gentleman Jim, it was.

Missing out on the Grand Final sides of 1934 and '35 drove Cleary's ambition, and he lined up in the South team for the 1936 decider against Collingwood. After a lacklustre first half, the Bloods regained ascendency, with Cleary playing a leading role across the half-back line. Eventually, though, the Magpies prevailed by 11 points.

Cleary shared South's best player award with fellow defender Ron Hillis. The Record declared, “Cleary showed rare pluck and tenacity in the manner in which he stuck to his task throughout. There may have been more brilliant players on the field, but for effectiveness, Cleary was without a peer.” His day’s work not done, though, Cleary rushed to North Melbourne after the match, to perform best man duties at his brother’s wedding.

After reaching four successive Grand Finals, South claimed just one premiership, and the team underwent significant change. Bloods Champion Roy Cazaly was appointed coach in 1937, introducing a focus on greater work ethic and team play. However, by the end of the '38 season, South had claimed the wooden spoon.

"We had a team of champions in those years, but rarely did we have a champion team," Cleary later told The Sporting Globe. "There was too much individual play; too many men played for themselves and not for South."

Cleary continued his impressive development throughout the slide, and in 1940, the club leveraged his growing popularity to grow membership numbers. South's committee engaged its fullback to canvass the district, hoping a personal visit might increase patronage from the area's more prominent citizens and business figures.

On the field, Cleary excelled in his strong, well-timed marking and long, accurate kicking. An expert exponent of the drop-kick, he offered the following advice to young players: "Good boots give you an advantage in accuracy and distance. Don't hold the ball too close to the body; give yourself room to kick. The ball should be dropped on its nose just under the side, and when it hits the ground should be at an angle of about 45 degrees."

His skilled and determined approach won him selection in the Victorian team for the first time in 1941. A report from that match in The Record said Cleary "outmarked, outplayed and outmaneuvered his giant opponent to such an extent he was shifted during the third quarter."

Just as Cleary hit top form, the effects of World War II took hold. By 1942, he had joined the Royal Australian Air Force, based in Melbourne, with the R.A.A.F Welfare Section. He trained and played with his R.A.A.F team on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays were dedicated to South.

For four years, Cleary trained or played every day, and the volume of work paid dividends. In 1942, despite missing the final four games with a broken shoulder, he claimed South's best and fairest award. In 1944, he won again, becoming the first name etched on a new honour board placed in the Lake Oval club rooms in honour of longtime South Melbourne treasurer Frank Killingworth, who passed away that year.

Nine years after his previous Grand Final experience, Cleary and his teammates returned to the game's biggest stage. The 1945 decider—played just six weeks after the war had ended—is known as the Bloodbath, regarded as the most violent in history. Defying pre-game predictions, Carlton defeated South by 28 points.

Rule changes mixed with wartime tensions meant football had changed during the war. The game now possessed a dangerous dimension, and during the Bloodbath, nine players were reported, including Gentleman Jim Cleary. South's squeaky-clean fullback was reported for striking the Blues' young centre half-forward Ken Hands and suspended for eight matches, in an incident teammate Laurie Nash later described as "one of the few honest accidents in the game".

"We had the courage to meet the challenge, but we did not have enough sense to know when to stop," Cleary said of that day.

Early in Cleary's married life with wife Frances, a fire destroyed the couple's home, with their personal and financial recovery taking a toll. Earlier in the 1945 season, VFA club Camberwell offered Cleary a substantial contract to play and coach, and when news broke of the potential move, South supporters couldn't bear the thought of losing a favourite son.

The local South Melbourne newspaper, The Record, reasoned, "As a family man, however, he has his dependents to consider, and the next few days will be weighted with anxiety for him."

One week later, the same paper happily reported, "Camberwell's £400 bid to entice Jim Cleary to leave South without a clearance has failed. During the week, Cleary met South officials and informed them of his intention to finish his playing career with the Red and Whites. As Cleary is equally popular with officials, players and supporters, his decision will be hailed with delight by all."

Cleary delighted for a further three years, retiring as the third South Melbourne player to have played 200 VFL games. The Weekly Times said, "His coolness, judgment, and fairness made him an example to all players."

Such was Cleary's reputation that a Carlton supporter once sent £2 to The Record with the request that it be forwarded to him as a token of the sender’s appreciation for a "fine and gallant sportsman who has always been an ornament to the game."

Knowing when to give the game away is impossible for many footballers. Cleary had some assistance. One evening in 1948, he made a hospital appearance to lift the spirits of its patients. When he arrived, a well-meaning nurse took his arm and said, "Take your time, dear. I'll direct you to the office, and we'll find you a nice room and a bed." He retired the following week.

A glorious career that spanned 15 seasons in the red and white had ended, but Cleary stayed in the game. After coaching stints at Port Melbourne, Brunswick and Dandenong, he became a regular panellist on the iconic Victorian Sunday morning sports program, World of Sport.

In 1993, at the age of 78, Cleary passed away after a lifetime in football. He is remembered as an extremely popular figure within the game and one of the finest defenders in Swans history.