Many Rushworth footballers had their careers interrupted by the second world war. Perhaps the most notable was Dick Abikhair, a member of the famous family whose older brother Henry "Roots" Abikhair was a stalwart in the great teams of the 1930s. "Roots" played in 4 of the five premiership teams of that era.
Born in 1914, Dick played in Rushworth’s 1933 premiership team as a 19 year old, before he started playing for Hawthorn in 1934. He played a total of 60 games for the Hawks between 1934 and 1938. There is then a gap of two seasons before he reappeared with North Melbourne in 1941, playing another 60 games up to 1945. Unlike the GVFL, the Victorian Football League played on throughout WW2. With 120 VFL/AFL games, Dick is probably the best credentialled product of Rushworth to play in the big league, although Daniel Harris (Kangaroos) is rapidly closing in on that record. 1977 premiership coach Bernie McCarthy had played 148 games for the Kangaroos before he came to the club, so Rushworth has quite strong connections with that club.
Another great of the 1930s and 1940s, who in his case appears to have played all of his career with Rushworth, was Gordon Kinsman. Gordon first appears in match reports in 1939, so was perhaps robbed of the best years of his football career by the intervention of the war. The GVFL was in recess during that time. Gordon resumed playing with the club in 1946, winning the Colliver Cup for best and fairest in 1947.
One of the more interesting inclusions in the GVFL in 1946 was POW Camp 13, located on the south-east side of Waranga Basin. The team, made up of members of the garrison at Camp 13, included some excellent players, and they were runners-up to Nagambie in their only year in the competition.
Slim Perry tells the story that Gordon Kinsman started working for the PMG (a government department). His work often took him away from Rushworth.
Gordon was so keen to play football for the Tigers that he would ride his bicycle (no gears in those days) from wherever he was working to be part of the team. On one occasion, he rode overnight from Beechworth (about 160 km), had a bit of a sleep in the morning when he arrived, then went out to play footy in the afternoon. That is the definition of keenness…not to mention fitness! What is more, he loved his footy so much he did it without any thought of compensation.
