‘A freak’: champion Port Melbourne VFA ruckman Vic ‘Stretch’ Aanensen dies at 72

Aanensen died on Friday after a long illness.

He grew up in Ross St, Port Melbourne, supported the Borough from an early age and became one of their most formidable and respected footballers.

Aanensen won the 1979 and 1981 JJ Liston Trophies, three best and fairests and figured in the 1977, 1980 and 1981 flags.

He was presumably among the first players picked when Port Melbourne selected its team of the century in 2004.

Aanensen’s career at Port began in 1970 and finished in 1982. In between he spent four seasons with South Melbourne, playing 40 matches and kicking 30 goals.

“He should have played 100 games of league footy,’’ his Port teammate Kevin Goss said this morning.

“Fred Cook kicked 1200 goals for Port Melbourne and I reckon half of them would have come from ‘Stretch’s’ play out of the centre.

“He was so dominant and so agile. He was a freak.’’

Goss noted that Aanensen played against some fine ruckmen in Harold Martin, Lou Pepe and Warwick Yates, and invariably came out on top.

“Don’t get me wrong, they were great players in their own right, but they’d be the first to say how good he was and how tough he was to beat,’’ he said.

“Just a lovely, knockabout bloke too. Liked a drink, liked a punt.’’

South Melbourne Brownlow Medal champion Peter Bedford also said Aanensen should have played more matches for the Swans.

He called him a “fantastic tap ruckman’’.

Another former teammate, star Port centreman Billy Swan, said Aanensen was superbly skilled and probably ahead of his time.

“He was a gun. He was a 6’6 ruckman who could kick with both feet and run. In his era not many blokes at that height could do those things,’’ Swan said.

“He was a fair player too, not the type to run around belting players. But he wasn’t afraid to have a go if he had to.’’

As for his nickname, Aanensen said in 2013 that one day he was walking down Bay St in Port Melbourne when a passer-by, noting his height, called him “Stretch’’. It stuck like mud and in time was one of the most well-known handles in Victorian football.

After finishing in the VFA, Aanensen played at Maffra and Sale in the old Latrobe Valley league and coached South Melbourne Districts.

He was also a leading cricketer at Victorian Sub-District club Port Melbourne, appearing in two flags as a fast bowler who could hit hard down the order. He was a life member of the club and also the Subbies.

Later, Aanensen played in three consecutive premierships at Middle Park and was also named in its team of the century.

Port Melbourne wore black armbands on Saturday to recognise one of its greatest players.