Greenwood

An honest, hard-working ruckman recruited from South Bendigo after winning their Best and Fairest award, Ken Greenwood spent five years at Carlton as an understudy to John Nicholls.

In his first season for the Blues he was part of the 1962 Grand Final team beaten by Essendon, but battled to hold a regular place in the seniors from then on. During an end-of-season trip to New Zealand in 1966, Ken made local headlines when he saved Carlton captain-coach Ron Barassi's life whilst the pair were mountaineering 5000 feet up on Mt. Cook. The Blues’ coach slipped, and was hanging on for dear life when Ken risked his own life to save him.

This singular act of heroism was not enough however, to secure Ken’s long-term future with the Blues. Shortly afterward – with his consent - he was cleared to Footscray to resolve a long-running dispute between the two clubs over the eligibility of Carlton’s rising star, Ian Robertson.

Greenwood went on to have a fine career at the Bulldogs. He finished second (by just one vote) in their Best & Fairest award in his first season, and added another 73 games and seven goals to his name before a serious knee injury led to his retirement from League football in 1972. For most of that year, he was captain of the Footscray Reserves team.

After missing most of 1972 with a knee injury, Greenwood arrived at Preston carrying some baggage and it no surprise when the injury recurred preseason and a cartilage operation and restricted him to just six games for the year. In 1973, Greenwood was appointed captain-coach of VFA club Preston, but spent only one season with the Bullants before hanging his boots up for good.

Milestones

50 Games: Round 11, 1966 vs Collingwood