BIO

Jack Kay came through the Norwood junior teams where he gained the reputation of being a strong marking centre half forward with great potential. He played well in the pre-season trials and was chosen to play up forward for the seconds in the early part of the season. 

Jack’s form was such that he was chosen as a reserve for the South Australian seconds side that played against a Yorke Peninsula team at Adelaide Oval. This led to him making his league debut against South Adelaide in mid-June. Norwood won and Kay received a number of outstanding reviews. One of them said, “He met and defeated his opponent at every turn. He marked above him and was too fast and clever.” Another predicted a great future by saying, “The brilliant junior from the B’s was seldom beaten on Saturday and should be one of the best finds Norwood has had for years.”

As often happens with young players inconsistency became a problem. Consequently, Jack dropped back to the seconds after three games but an outstanding game in the seconds against Glenelg saw him reinstated in the league side. 

It was in his fourth league game that an experiment was tried which failed for both Norwood and Jack. Having played all his football up forward he was chosen to play on the wing against South Adelaide.  One report of that game in reference to Kay said, “He had no chance being beaten in the air and in pace.” This was to be his last league game with Norwood.

Kay went on to play as a rover and wingman with South Adelaide and was selected in the 1921 South Australian team which played Victoria in Melbourne.  He was South Adelaide secretary for six years before resigning in 1932 because of pressure of business.

B Ridge April 2020