Larger than Life: MCG Sporting Statues

Bill Ponsford was a prolific runscorer and superb opening batsman for Australia in the 1920s and 1930s, who scored centuries in both his first and final Test matches. In his 14-year career in first-class cricket he scored 47 centuries. In 1934 he set a record-breaking second-wicket partnership of 451 with Sir Don Bradman at The Oval in London. Ponsford was the first person to twice score 400 in first-class cricket. The MCG’s 1967 Western Stand was renamed the W.H. Ponsford Stand in his honour in 1986.

One of the most well-known cricketers of all time, Don Bradman showed his extraordinary ability when playing at the MCG, scoring his first Test century in 1928-29, the youngest player to achieve the feat. Bradman went on to score 29 Test centuries in only 52 Tests. Such prolific run scoring and match-winning ability came at a time when the Australian public were profoundly dispirited by the great economic depression of the 1930s. The sight of Bradman, wielding his bat at the crease, was one of surety and certainty, when such where in short supply. Bradman later captained the Australian team known as 'The Invincibles' on their record breaking 1948 tour of England, a fitting end to an outstanding playing career. 

Betty Cuthbert’s emergence as a sporting icon is one of the enduring stories of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Australia's "Golden Girl" became the country's first athlete to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games, when she was just 18 years old, in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. Previously an unknown athlete, her feats at the Games propelled her to national fame and adulation. After a brief retirement in the 1960s, she returned to the track to win the gold medal in the inaugural women’s 400m event at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. Between 1956 and 1964 Cuthbert set ten individual and four team World Records.

Dick Reynolds was an Australian footballer whose mastery of the game earned him the nickname "King Richard". Reynolds played 320 games and kicked 442 goals across his 19 year career with the Essendon Football Club, winning three Brownlow Medals in 1934, 1937 and 1938, and seven club best and fairest awards. Reynolds captain-coached Essendon to four Premierships in 1942, 1946, 1949 and 1950, and remained as coach of the team until 1960. Reynolds also played 19 games for Victoria in interstate competition and captained the side six times.

Leigh Matthews was a brilliant and fierce competitor as both player and coach. One of Australian football’s most decorated, celebrated and feared players in his day, he earned the nickname "Lethal Leigh" for his hard and uncompromising playing style. Matthews played in four Premiership sides for the Hawthorn Football Club in a 17 year, 332 game career. In 1990 he coached the Collingwood Football Club to their first Premiership in 32 years. He coached the Brisbane Lions from 1999, taking a team that finished last in the league in 1998 to three consecutive Premierships, in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Norm Smith was a talented footballer and inspirational coach for the Melbourne Football Club. He played in four Premierships for the club between 1939 and 1948, before coaching Melbourne during its most successful era, winning six Premierships between 1955 and 1964. He later coached South Melbourne from 1969 to 1972.

Norm Smith was named full forward and coach in Melbourne’s Team of the Century, and named coach of the AFL Team of the Century. Since 1979, the best player in the VFL, now AFL, Grand Final is awarded the Norm Smith Medal.

Jim Stynes was an Irish-born Australian footballer who played 264 games for the Melbourne Football Club, and was the first non-Australian born player to win the Brownlow Medal. Stynes was recruited as part of the Melbourne Football Club's so-called "Irish Experiment", which targeted Gaelic footballers in Ireland for recruitment. He also served as President of the Melbourne Football Club from 2008, and was a driving force behind re-establishing the relationship between the Football Club and the Melbourne Cricket Club in 2009. While President he was diagnosed with cancer, continuing in the role until stepping down early in 2012, before passing away.

Cricketer Neil Harvey was one of the most prolific Test run-scorers and century-makers for Australia in the 1940s and 50s. In 79 Tests Harvey scored 6149 runs, including 21 centuries. His century during Bradman’s “Invincibles” tour of England in 1948, helped guide the team to victory in the Fourth Test. At the time of his retirement, Harvey was the second-highest Test run-scorer and century-maker for Australia. In 2000 he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and was also selected in the Australian Cricket Board Team of the 20th Century.

Commemorating one of the earliest games of Australian football, this statue features Tom Wills, an early sporting pioneer and foundation figure in football. One of the earliest recognised games of Australian football took place in Yarra Park, beside the MCG, on 7 August 1858, between two schools, Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College. The game was umpired by Thomas Wills, who with William Hammersley, Thomas Smith and James Thompson are acknowledged as the founders of the game.