Always in the thick of the action, Bill Corner was central to the success of Rushworth Football Club in the 1930s. Bill was born in Rushworth in 1907, just before the club entered the GVFA at the start of the 1908 season. He was to have a significant impact in the golden years of the club’s GVFL history.
Apparently Bill fronted up at the club to watch training as a strapping young teenager. He was invited out to have a run with the players, and in his enthusiasm to participate "took out" one of the club’s important players in Bill Colliver (brother of 1930s full forward Keith. Bill was a great player who later went on to coach Warracknabeal in the Wimmera League).
None too popular as a result, it was a couple more years before Bill became a regular member of the team in the mid 1920s. Starting out on the half back flank as a teenager (playing alongside the legendary Tim Hawking at CHB), Bill’s football abilities developed quickly. He won a gold medal for the most improved player in the club in 1929, followed by one for the most consistent player in 1930. From then until he retired in 1938 (the same year Tim Hawking) Bill was always one of the first picked players in what were exceptionally strong teams.
When he had matured as a player, Bill was the first choice ruckman for the Rushworth team. The position required great strength and stamina in an era when there were plenty of stoppages in play around the ground – and plenty of hard men as opponents. He was also expected to run hard to keep behind the ball and add to the team’s defence.
His playing abilities did not go unnoticed by VFL teams, and apparently there were approaches from at least two clubs – Fitzroy and Carlton. Bill was careful not to advertise the fact locally, and only he and Tim Hawking were aware of the approaches at the time. Being a Rushy lad through and through, it seems that Bill never seriously entertained the thought of playing in the big league.
Bill played in all five 1930s Rushworth premierships, a feat only emulated by Keith Kane and Tim Hawking. He played in 7 consecutive grand finals from
1929 to 1935, winning five. His name featured in the best players in many finals matches, including 4 of those 5 premiership teams. The Rushworth Chronicle, reporting on the best players in the 1935 grand final said "Bill Corner put up a wonderful performance, carrying the whole of the ruck for the four quarters, with two rovers running; Rushworth’s ruck won all day and Corner’s performance was a tribute to his stamina and outstanding skill as a follower."
Bill’s loyalty to Rushworth was an inspiration. Despite many offers to play elsewhere, he spent his entire career – from 1924 through to 1938 - with the Tigers. Like many Rushy lads of the era, he had at least one tryout with a VFL team. In Bill’s case, he chose to stick with Rushworth, making the number 10 guernsey famous. After Keith Colliver died in 1936, Bill was given the ultimate accolade by the club – taking over Keith’s number 5 guernsey. He regarded this as a great privilege, and it was something that was a great source of pride in later years.
Bill Corner’s early life story reads something like the Australian classic A Fortunate Life, by Bert Facey. Born Alfred Charles Corner, Bill left school at ten to work in the gold mines. At the time, labour was scarce, with many men still away at the Great War. He was a whip boy at the Humbug (or West
Growler’s) mine – coincidentally overlooking the recreation reserve where Bill would later play many fine games for the Tigers. As the whip boy, Bill worked his horse Kate all day, drawing up buckets of gold bearing quartz from deep under Growler’s Hill. The mine had originally been opened up in 1855, and was successfully reopened about this time to follow a "show left untried".
Later Bill obtained a contract to supply five foot lengths of wood for the boiler which powered the pump supplying water to the town of Rushworth.
This relatively small contract was the beginning of a 36 year long career working in the Rushworth forest, cutting and carting firewood to the Stanhope Butter Factory and Girgarre Cheese Factory.
The son of Frederick (born in Rushworth in 1875) and Ellen Alice (nee Poulsen – the correct spelling, later changed to Poulson), Bill married Doris Duke at the All Saints Anglican church in Tatura in April 1941. Their only child, daughter Gail, was born in 1951.
Bill was renowned as a raconteur, in later years telling many stories about his football career, working life and the characters of Rushworth and district. For his 80th birthday, rather than having a big celebration, Bill requested a reunion with one of his best mates from the 1930s, fellow player Lou Tuckett. He spent a happy few days in Leeton reminiscing with Lou about the old days. After spending all his life in Rushworth, Bill died there in
1998 at the grand age of 90. Bill was a humble man who sought no accolades or rewards for his enormous contribution to Rushworth Football Club. He just loved the game.
