Royce Hart’s VFL premiership trophy

In 1969, Royce Hart was conscripted under the National Service Scheme. He spent much of the year training with the army in Sydney and Adelaide, returning to Melbourne on the weekend to play football.

In an interview in 2013, Hart recalled that he was told he was about to be transferred from the North Head Artillery Base in Sydney to Townsville, before being deployed to Vietnam.

He immediately called the Secretary of the Richmond Football Club, Alan Schwab, and with the reputed intervention of an unnamed senior federal politician, Hart’s orders were rescinded. He was transferred to Woodside in South Australia for the remainder of the year.

During the week, Hart trained with local football club, Glenelg, and continued to fly back to Melbourne on the weekend. Despite a disrupted year, he remained a regular in the Richmond team and played in the grand final, winning Richmond’s second premiership in two years and the club’s best and fairest award.

The following week, Hart was paid $2000 to play for Glenelg in the final in the South Australian Football League. The opposition team, Sturt, were unhappy with the situation but the league allowed Hart to play. He was rendered unconscious in the first quarter.