Jack Mueller

Jack Mueller
Personal information
Full name	John Ernest Arthur Mueller
Date of birth	9 September 1915
Place of birth	Echuca, Victoria, Australia
Date of death	14 June 2001(2001-06-14) (aged 85)
Original team(s)	Echuca (Bendigo FL)
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	89 kg (196 lb)
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1934–1950[1]	Melbourne	216 (378)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
1936–1941	Victoria	4 (4)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1950.
Career highlights
4× VFL premierships: 1939, 1940, 1941, 1948 3× Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist: 1937, 1939, 1946 2× Melbourne leading goalkicker: 1934, 1946 Melbourne Team of the Century–Forward-pocket Australian Football Hall of Fame Melbourne Hall of Fame
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

John Ernest Arthur Mueller (9 September 1915 – 14 June 2001) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of Francis Carl Mueller (1880-1945),^[2][3][4] and Eliza Mary "Cissie" Mueller (1887-1960), née O'Brien, John Ernest Arthur Mueller was born on 9 September 1915.

He married Margaret Rose "Greta" Toohey on 14 April 1942.^[5]

Football

Mueller was famous for having only eight fingers, after losing two when he caught his hand in a machine at work.^[6][7]

He was an inspirational player who contributed significantly to the success of the Melbourne sides in which he played during the 1930s, '40s and '50s. He was notable as the primary instigator of Melbourne's 1948 flag victory after being recalled from retirement (with the reserves) for that year's Preliminary Final in which he kicked eight of his team's 25 goals against Collingwood. He followed this up with six out of 10 in the drawn Grand Final with Essendon and another six out of 13 the following week when Melbourne won the replay.

War Service

After initially being rejected in 1941 due to his missing fingers, Mueller served in the Australian Army from 1943 to 1945,^[8] playing very few games for Melbourne in these three seasons.

Post-football career

In the late 1940s and 1950s, Mueller was a football commentator on 3KZ, working first with Norman Banks and later Philip Gibbs. Mueller also worked with Gibbs on the program Football Inquest, which was later simulcast on 3KZ and GTV-9.

Death

Jack Mueller died on 14 June 2001^[9] and is buried at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.

Footnotes

1. The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, 2007 Edition
2. Deaths: Mueller, The Argus, (Saturday, 24 November 1945), p.20.
3. Echuca Solicitor Dies in Street, The Argus, (Thursday, 22 November 1945), p.3.
4. The Champion Runners: Shrubb in Good Form: Duffy Beaten by Mueller, The (Adelaide) Advertiser, (Monday, 20 February 1905), p.9.
5. Orange Blossom: Football Star Married at Middle Park: Mueller Toohey Wedding, The (Emerald Hill) Record,Saturday, 18 April 1942), p.4.
6. The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers, 2007 Edition
7. Taylor, Percy, "Melbourne are Proud of their Great War Record", The Australasian, (Saturday, 24 June 1944), p.23.
8. "World War II Roll: John Ernest Arthur Mueller". Department of Veterans Affairs.
9. Obituary, The Riverine Herald, (Friday, 29 June 2001), p.13.

References

• Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers (7th ed.). Australia: Bas Publishing. p. 884. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
• Minchin, James, "Echuca's Greatest", The Riverine Herald, (Friday, 30 June 2000), p.28.
• Ross, John (1999). The Australian Football Hall of Fame. Australia: HarperCollinsPublishers. p. 103. ISBN 0-7322-6426-X.
• AFL site: Australian Football Hall of Fame

External links

• Jack Mueller's playing statistics from AFL Tables
• Jack Mueller at AustralianFootball.com
• Jack Mueller, at Boyles Football photos.