Graham Farmer

Polly Farmer MBE
Farmer in 1954
Personal information
Full name	Graham Vivian Farmer
Nickname(s)	Polly
Date of birth	(1935-03-10)10 March 1935
Place of birth	North Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia
Date of death	14 August 2019(2019-08-14) (aged 84)
Place of death	Murdoch, Western Australia
Original team	Maddington (SSFA)
Position(s)	Ruckman
Career highlights
Club VFL Premiership player: (1963) 5× WANFL premiership player: (1956, 1958, 1959, 1969, 1971) 3× Sandover Medal: (1956, 1957, 1960) 2× Carji Greeves Medal: (1963, 1964) 7× East Perth Best and Fairest: (1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961) West Perth Best and Fairest: (1969) 2× Simpson Medal (grand final): (1959, 1969) Geelong captain: (1965–1967) Geelong Team of the Century West Perth Team of the Century East Perth Post War Team of the Century Representative Tassie Medal: (1956) National Football Carnival Championship: 1961 3× All-Australian team: (1956, 1958, 1961) 2× Simpson Medal (interstate): (1956, 1961) Overall Australian Football Hall of Fame – Legend Status (inaugural) AFL Team of the Century Western Australian Team of the Century – vice-captain Indigenous Team of the Century – captain

Graham Vivian "Polly" Farmer MBE (10 March 1935 – 14 August 2019^[1][2]) was an Australian rules football player and coach. He was a handballer.

Farmer joined the East Perth Football Club as a ruckman in 1953. He later played for the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1962 for the Geelong Football Club, where he played 101 games. Farmer returned to Western Australia and became the captain/coach of the West Perth Football Club in 1968.

In 1999, Farmer was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.^[3] He died in Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch, Western Australia on 14 August 2019 from the disease, aged 84.^[2] After his death, an autopsy revealed that Farmer had been suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).^[4]

References

1. Connolly, Rohan (1 July 2008). "Polly Farmer No. 5 The Legends' 50 greatest". The Age. p. 7.
2. Butler, Steve (14 August 2019). "Aussie rules great Graham 'Polly' Farmer dies aged 84 at Fiona Stanley Hospital". The West Australian. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
3. "Indigenous AFL trailblazer Graham 'Polly' Farmer dies aged 84". The Guardian. 13 August 2019.
4. "CTE discovered in Polly Farmer's brain in AFL-first". The Age. Retrieved September 21, 2024.