On this day 48 years ago the Bulldogs had a solid win over South Melbourne to keep their 1972 finals hopes alive. The Dogs led from start to finish, pushing their lead out to 31 points at three-quarter time before coasting home to win by 17.
Footscray's stars of the day played big roles in the win, with Gary Dempsey, who pulled in 15 marks and had 13 hitouts, awarded best on ground by both the Channel 9 commentators and The Age's Glenn Lester.
Rover George Bisset made the most of the armchair ride he was given by Dempsey, with 28 possessions and a goal, while Bernie Quinlan had a day out at centre half-forward, picking up 27 touches and kicking two goals.
Another player to kick two goals was first-gamer Robert Fox. The 192-centimetre forward from Braybrook also took three marks and had eight possessions. A pretty good effort from a 19-year-old debutant, especially when considering that the Dogs kicked only 12 goals for the match.
And yet Robert Fox's first VFL match was also his last. He was dropped the following week, never to be given a second chance.
A possible clue as to why Fox didn't retain his place in the team appears in the following Monday's edition of The Age. In a column named "From the Games..." Fox is described as looking in experienced and "appeared anxious to get out of the way of teammates".
Hardly surprising for a debutant surrounded by established stars, but the article goes on to further say the Fox "came in for further criticism for looking rather untidy with his socks down".
Perhaps if Fox had pulled his socks up he might have been given a second game.
Bob Fox stayed with the Dogs, playing reserves until the end of 1974 before he moved to VFA side Williamstown — coached by Ted Whitten — in 1975, where he kicked 40 goals to be the Seagulls' leading goalkicker.
Bob Fox is one of three players of that surname to pull on the boots for the Bulldogs. The trio are not related, but amazingly, all three played just the one VFL game, all in the 1970s.
Recruited from Glenorchy in Tasmania, Wayne Fox played his one game for the Dogs in Round 8, 1978, a heartbreaking four-point loss to Collingwood. Fox was named on the interchange bench. In the days when coaches made very few moves, probably spent little, if any, time on the ground, and he recorded no stats.
The Bulldog selectors might have been well-advised to give Wayne Fox a second chance, as he returned to Tasmania in 1979 to become a star full-forward, kicking a record 1049 goals for several sides in the Tasmanian Football League. He was inducted into the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2007.
Later that year, in the final round of 1978, a third Fox — Tony — made his debut for Footscray. Recruited locally from Brooklyn, Fox had three kicks and three handballs, not enough for him to get another game when the 1975 season commenced seven months later.
The lesson from Wayne, Tony and especially Robert, appears to be, if you are looking to play more than one AFL match as a Fox in socks, make sure you pull them up!
