The Douglas Wilkie Medal was an award presented to those who did the least for Australian rules football in the best and fairest manner. An accolade presented by the Anti-Football League, it was named after Douglas Wilkie, a Sun News-Pictorial columnist active between 1946 and 1986. It was Douglas Wilkie who first suggested the notion of an Anti-Football League, which was brought into being by Keith Dunstan. The League existed as a response to the overwhelming obsession of football by the Melbourne public.
The award was the League's answer to the Australian Football League's Brownlow Medal, an honour bestowed on footballers who throughout the season play in a skilled and sportsmanlike fashion.
Following the suggestion of Wilkie's fellow writer Cyril Pearl, who wished to burn a football to express his disaffection for the game, the winner must destroy a football in a unique and creative manner on receiving their medal."Douglas Wilkie Medal". The Anti-Football League. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
Previous winners
1967 – Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia 1968 – Bob Skilton, football player 1969 – Ron Frazer, actor 1970 – Barry Oakley, author A Salute to the Great McCarthy: a Novel (1970) ; the book was filmed in 1975 under the same name. 1972 – Cyril Pearl, author 1973 – Doug McClelland, politician 1974 – Leon Hill, former General Manager of GTV-9 1975 – Barry Humphries, writer, actor and satirist 1977 – Kate Baillieu, former GTV-9 personality 1979 – Pete Smith, television announcer 1980 – Jack Elliot, racing writer 1981 – Lindsay Thompson, Premier of Victoria"Lindsay Thompson". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2011. 1983 – Julie Clarke, a suffering housewife 1985 – Shelley Dye, another suffering housewife 1986 – Sir Les Patterson, alter-ego of Barry Humphries 1987 – Peter Russell-Clarke, celebrity chef 1988 – Terry Lane, radio broadcaster 1989 – Raelene Boyle, athlete 1990 – Tim Bowden, ABC broadcaster and author 1991 - John Colwill, ABC broadcaster and plantsman 1992 – Wendy Harmer, broadcaster and comedian 1993 – Tim Bowden, broadcaster 1994 – Dennis Pryor, author and broadcaster 2007 – Barry Jones, former quiz champion, politician and author 2008 – Michael Leunig, cartoonist 2010 – Catherine Deveny, columnist 2011 – Brian Troy, a 74-year-old Melburnian who has never attended an Australian rules football match.
References