Bluey Adams

Bluey Adams
Personal information
Date of birth	(1935-06-12)12 June 1935
Date of death	11 August 2019(2019-08-11) (aged 84)
Debut	1953, Melbourne vs. North Melbourne, at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1953–1964	Melbourne	164 (180)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1964.
Career highlights
6× VFL premierships: 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1964 Melbourne Team of the Century–interchange Melbourne Hall of Fame
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Frank Adams (12 June 1935 – 11 August 2019), known as Bluey Adams, was an Australian rules football player, who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for the Melbourne Football Club.

Football

His prime positions were in the forward pocket, where he was a regular, damaging goal-kicker, and as a rover and a wing-man, where he was able to use his great pace to advantage in the open spaces of the MCG. He was one of the fortunate few Melbourne players to be part of all six premierships the club gained during its ten 'golden years' from 1955 to 1964.

Statistics

^[1]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks
#	Played in that season's  premiership team

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
1953	Melbourne	41	4	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.3	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
1954	Melbourne	6	18	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.1	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
1955^#	Melbourne	6	16	9	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.6	—	—	—	—	—	—	1
1956^#	Melbourne	6	7	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.4	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
1957^#	Melbourne	6	14	17	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.2	—	—	—	—	—	—	6
1958	Melbourne	6,17	13	13	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
1959^#	Melbourne	6	17	25	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.5	—	—	—	—	—	—	0
1960^#	Melbourne	6	13	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.2	—	—	—	—	—	—	3
1961	Melbourne	6	13	23	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.8	—	—	—	—	—	—	4
1962	Melbourne	6	16	30	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.9	—	—	—	—	—	—	3
1963	Melbourne	6	18	18	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	2
1964^#	Melbourne	6	15	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.1	—	—	—	—	—	—	3
Career			164	180	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.1	—	—	—	—	—	—	23

Athletics

Adams was a national champion professional sprinter. Adams won the 1957, 75 yards/130 yards Gift double at Cobram then a week later won the Lilydale Gift^[2] (130 yds) before running second in the 1957 Bendigo Thousand (130 yds).

After running second in the Maryborough Gift, Adams won the 1958 Ararat Gift off a handicap of 3 yards in 12.3 seconds. He rounded off the year winning the South Melbourne and 1958 Canberra Gifts.^[3][4]

In November 1958, Adams ran a superb time of 43.8 seconds for 400 yards on a wet grass track at South Melbourne,^[5]

Adams won the 1959 Australian sprint title before losing the title in 1960 to Terry Clarke, before retiring from athletics at the age of 25.^[6]

Death

Adams died age 84 on 11 August 2019 from cancer.^[7]

Notes

1. "Frank Adams". AFL Tables. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
2. Lilydale Gift – The Age 4 March 1957
3. "1958 - Canberra Gift". Canberra Times. The Canberra Times Newspaper. 3 March 1958.
4. Bluey Adams Runs Nine "In", The Age, (Monday, 3 March 1958), p.18.
5. "The Age - Google News Archive Search".
6. Professional Athletics in Australia, Percy Mason, Rigby publishers (1985) page 113.
7. Man behind game's 'most brutal collision' loses battle with cancer

References

• Mason, Percy (1985). Professional Athletics in Australia. Adelaide: Rigby Publishers, p 113. ISBN 0-7270-2040-4

External links

• Bluey Adams's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Bluey Adams at AustralianFootball.com
• DemonWiki profile