John McIntosh may be better known these days as former West Coast star Ashley’s dad, but he was a star in his own right. A ruckman-forward with Claremont, he was part of two dominant ruck combinations in two States.At Claremont his partnership with Alan Mycock was a hard combination to counter , then later at St Kilda the Ditterich-McIntosh duo was awesome.Starting his football at Beverley, where at the age of seventeen he shared in that club’s first premiership, John McIntosh joined Claremont in 1962, after a stint at Pinjarra. East Perth had high hopes he would wear blue and black, as he was eligible for the Royals, his father Dave having been an East Perth league player.At 6 ft 3(190cm) and 15 stone(95kg), he was a mobile ruckman who was a telling influence around the ground, and was equally effective at centre half forward or centre half back. As a matter of fact, he played in most positions on the ground during his career, such was his versatility. During his eight years with the Tigers McIntosh won Claremont’s Fairest and Best Award twice(1966 and 69). In both of those seasons he received All Australian selection, plus a Simpson Medal in 1966. Saint Kilda had been in touch with McIntosh for some years, and in 1970 he made the move. He hit the ground running at Moorabbin, and with Ditterich sharing ruck duties, the Saints became a force in the VFL. A barnstorming season in 1971 was to end in bitter disappointment for both McIntosh and the Saints, after he suffered a knee injury in the second semi final. Without the big man St Kilda lost the grand final.His form in that year did not go unrecognised. Runner up in the Brownlow Medal, McIntosh was also named ABC Footballer Of The Year.The following season another knee injury effectively ended his career. He had played 146 games with Claremont and 53 at St Kilda, with eighteen appearances for WA and one wearing the Big V.WA have had some absolute champion ruckmen grace the game over the years..Farmer, Merv McIntosh(no relation), Clarke, Michael, Moss, to name a few , but one of the nice guys of the game, John McIntosh, deserves to go down as another in the highest echelon.Since his football days ended, John became a top exponent of another sport, and was a Premier League player with Dalkeith-Nedlands in the WA Bowling Association.
