Peter Reville

1925-1934
156 games
207 goals
Premiership Player 1933

Bio

Affectionately known as “The old warhorse” by South Melbourne supporters, Henry James Reville preferred to be called Peter. It was his father’s name. Although in his teenage playing days he was also known as “The Champion of the Brown Coal Mine”.

Early in 1925, the highly talented Reville looked like he’d travel from Moe to Fitzroy to embark on his VFL journey. For some reason, the Lions delayed, and according to Jim Main, “The tardiness of the Fitzroy FC gave South Melbourne a player of rare quality.”

After one of South’s pre-season matches, The Age reported, “Reville was a raw recruit from Moe, but on the last kick of the day in the Easter practice match, he sent a ball through the goals, after which he was promptly asked to sign on the dotted line.” He did, debuting for South in Round 2 against Footscray.

During his second season in 1926, the 21-year-old Reville gained selection in the Victorian team to play against New South Wales and Tasmania. Predominantly a ruckman who rested at centre half-forward, he was renowned as one of the game’s finest exponents of the running drop-kick. Reville’s rise to prominence was a key element to a much-improved season, with South missing the finals only by percentage.

In 1927, Reville joined Bloods champion Roy Cazaly and South teammate Arthur Hando in winning a premiership for the Waterside Workers in the rugged Wednesday Football League. The competition comprised workplace-based teams, and players had to hold memberships of their relevant union. In the Grand Final played at the MCG, Reville and Cazaly were named among the best players as the Watersiders beat the Railways by 12 points.

Across the following two seasons, the Southerners slid down the table, and in 1929, Reville began taking on a more senior role within the team. He finished with 35 goals, delighting the club’s supporters with his ability to fly for the ball in the centre-bounce, take possession and line up the goals. One report described him as “an inspiring player, refusing to admit defeat until the last kick.”

Ahead of the 1930 season, with a young Bob Pratt joining the team, an unnamed South Melbourne player told The Football Record that he promised to ‘eat his hat’ if the Southerners missed out on the final four.

They missed the finals, and the fate of said hat is unknown, but in the Round 16 match against Geelong at the Lake Oval, Reville played what W.S. Sharland described in The Sporting Globe as “the best individual game of the season”. Playing in the ruck, he dominated in the centre and around the ground, with countless well-judged marks, while getting forward to kick five goals.

Such was his superiority; after the match, the highly respected Geelong captain Arthur Coughlan shook his hand and told him, “You played a wonderful game, Peter—one of the best that I have ever seen a footballer give.” The quality of Reville’s season later recognised with a runner-up finish in the Brownlow Medal.

By 1931, the Great Depression had hit hard. Federal and state governments met to resolve the crisis, but by 1932, unemployment had reached an unprecedented 32 per cent, with thousands of Australians out of work. For South supporters, the decline of their beloved team since its last premiership in 1918 only added to their woes.

However, local magnate Archie Crofts, who employed 700 people in his chain of grocery stores, joined South in an official capacity as vice president. To improve the team, Crofts wanted to spend. Still, the introduction of the Coulter Law, which restricted player earnings and prohibited payment of transfer fees, meant shopping for players in Melbourne became almost an impossibility.

In Bloodstained Angels: The Rise and Fall of The Foreign Legion, Mark Branagan and Mike Lefebvre highlighted that South was well short of becoming finals material. A young Bob Pratt began to shine, but Reville, Terry Brain, Len Thomas and Austin Robertson were the clear standouts. They needed support, and Crofts looked far and wide, compiling a team known as The Foreign Legion. In 1932, they won their first 10 games before finishing the season in fourth place.

Ahead of the 1933 season, the club promoted Reville to vice-captain. In a team that included fellow Swans Hall of Famers Jack Bisset, Terry Brain, Harry Clarke, Bill Faul, Ron Hillis and Len Thomas, as well as Bloods champion Laurie Nash and Bloods Legends Bob Pratt and Herbie J. Matthews, his appointment brought a great source of pride.

He played like a leader.

South started the year slowly before building cohesion as the season progressed. Reville’s form on the ball was first-class, while also kicking 39 goals. Lion-hearted and fearless, Reville’s never-say-die approach proved critical in the second semi-final against Richmond, as he inspired a second-half turnaround that earned the Southerners a place in the Grand Final.

In the decider, South ran onto the MCG to face the Tigers again in front of an Australian record crowd of 75,754, filled with confidence courtesy of their 10-game winning streak. South displayed skill and speed in romping to a seven-goal victory, claiming the 1933 VFL premiership. Despite the influx of interstate stars, The Record said of Reville, “There is not a footballer on South’s team who appeals more to the supporters.”

Sadly, the following year’s Grand Final would be Reville’s final game in red and white. Richmond exacted revenge in 1934, defeating South by 39 points. Late in the match, Reville was reported for three separate incidents, with even his teammates unable to restrain him.

After the match, in a hugely disappointing finish to the year, Reville and Bob Pratt confronted teammates rumoured to have taken bribes. Soon after, Reville was shattered by a 12-month suspension for his Grand Final misdemeanours, ultimately ending his career at South Melbourne. Branagan and Lefebvre said, “He would prove to be an irreplaceable loss.”

After hoping to rejoin South after his suspension concluded, Reville was left brokenhearted when club officials advised him to apply for an open clearance. He returned to League football in 1938 for two seasons with Fitzroy, and in a match against the Southerners, he kicked seven goals. Later, he said, “It broke my heart having to do it, but I had to let South selectors realise they’d made a bad mistake in dropping me!”

Tragedy struck the Reville family in 1935 when Peter and Lillian’s second of seven children, Peter, fell victim to a drowning accident on the Yarra – the eight-year-old boy died trying to save his cousin, who also passed away. The Herald subsequently founded the Peter Reville Scholarship to perpetuate the memory of young Peter’s bravery.

In 1939, Reville enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, becoming one of the best-known personalities in the 6^th division. He saw action in the Middle East and New Guinea, and at one stage, he had control of a mobile canteen in Syria. Reville then transferred to the famous Beirut canteen, a renowned meeting place for Australian sportsmen known affectionately as “Peter’s Pub.”

He was discharged in 1943, and in 1970, aged 65, Reville passed away after a long battle with illness. A much-loved husband, father of seven and grandfather of 13, the South Melbourne community felt his loss deeply. Up until his passing, Reville was renowned as one of the club’s most vociferous supporters, and a regular and passionate attendee at Lake Oval matches.

The Record described him as “One of the greatest footballers ever to wear a South guernsey.”