Initially hailed as the successor to champion full forward John Coleman, John Towner became a star full back in two States.

A combination of injury and recruitment policy at the time resulted in the transformation of a budding full forward to an accomplished fullback.

John Towner began his league career at Essendon early in the 1953 season as nineteenth man  against South Melbourne. He was selected for the following match against St Kilda, when he lined up on Keith Drinan and gave an impressive performance. Two weeks later, in a game against Richmond, Towner suffered cuts to his hand when he fell onto a bottle inside the boundary fence which sidelined him for a month. In a return game against South Melbourne later in the season he kicked five goals from centre half forward. Essendon made the finals that season, only to be outed by Footscray.

In 1954 the injury to Coleman that caused his retirement from the game saw Towner move to the goal square. He kicked twenty three goals from nine games, with his kicking for goal letting him down.

The chain of events that resulted in the move of Towner to defence began in Melbourne in 1955 and ended in Adelaide a year later.

“Right on the opening of the 1955 season the full forward position was line ball between Hughie Mitchell and myself,” Towner said. “Then I fell in another bloody gutter and wrenched my knee, damaging a cartilage, which resulted in surgery to remove it and a loss of a season’s football.”

“On my return I found that the club suddenly had a welter of forwards, the recruitment of Rob Fox resulting in me having a trial on a half back flank in the second eighteen.” On a midseason trip to Adelaide in 1956 Essendon played a game against a combined South Australian side and Towner was voted best on ground in that game, after which he became a permanent fixture in the Dons defence. Fox went on to kick twenty four goals from nineteen matches, including three in the 1957 grand final against the unstoppable Melbourne, who won five premierships in seven years. Ron Barassi booted four goals in the first quarter as the Demons raced to a sixty one point win.

An injury to full back Jack Knowles saw Towner switched to the custodian position, and he did his job by holding full forward Athol Webb to three goals.

Much of John’s game was centred on his ability to judge and understand the manner in which his full-forward opponent went for the ball; and much of his value to Essendon was his ability to consistently punch the ball out of the hands of a full-forward attempting to mark over his head.

In particular, he always had "the wood" over South Melbourne's Brownlow Medallist Fred Goldsmith, holding him goal-less on occasions; and it was enthralling as a spectator, to see the tussle between the two — in particular, to see the highly skilled full-back-turned-full-forward Goldsmith getting more and more frustrated each time that the fist of the highly skilled full-forward-turned-full-back Towner came between his own outstretched hands and, yet again, punched the ball twenty metres towards the Essendon goals.

John was also very proficient as a high mark, his aerial feats sometimes comparable to those of Coleman, but he knew when to play the marking game or go for the spoil. Possessing a lanky frame, he lacked a little in physical size but made up for that with his pace over a hundred metres. Towner won Essendon's best clubman award in 1957 and 1959.

Melbourne were far too good in the 1959 grand final, winning by thirty seven points, in front of a crowd of a hundred and three thousand, with Ron Evans now playing at full forward for the Dons and booting seventy eight goals in his second season, winning the Coleman Medal. West Australians Alec Epis and Colin Hebbard occupied half back flanks in the Essendon line up, while at full back  Towner had his hands full with the amount of supply going opponent Alan Rowarth’s way, but held him to four goals.

It was to be the final game of John’s career at Essendon.

“The Insurance Company I was working with offered me the position of Secretary of their Perth office,” he explained. “At the age of twenty seven I saw this as an opportunity to consolidate my family’s future. I had already been to Perth in 1955 on a football trip and loved the place.”

Towner couldn’t have picked a worse time to ask for a clearance.

“Bob Shearman’s parents had moved to South Australia, and Bob was adamant that he was joining them, threatening to stand out of the game if need be,” he went on. “The club responded by slapping a blanket ban on clearances.”

“I showed the letter from my employer to the committee, who were having a meeting the next night. In the morning when I got to work there was the West Perth Secretary, Les Day, waiting on the front step. He had caught the “red eye” flight at midnight to arrive in Melbourne that next morning. After meeting with him for probably an hour or so he left with my signature – no further negotiations necessary. Les Day had a great personality and my admiration for him in his role as Club Secretary grew even more during my time at West Perth. His son Barry came to play at Essendon during 1979 and 1980.”

With a new coach in ex Footscray player Arthur Olliver, West Perth swept to a premiership in 1960, with Towner playing a big part. He was selected in the initial squad for the legendary Brisbane Carnival the following season, but the selectors went for East Perth’s Mal Atwell in the touring party, and John played against his old side, Essendon, with a Western Australian second side. 

West Perth rover Joe Fanchi told a story about a clash between Towner and South Fremantle aerialist John Gerovich.        

“ I recall one day at Leederville, when Gero was overheard saying to West Perth’s Victorian full back, John Towner, “I’ll show you Vics how to play football.” He duly climbed all over Towner all day, taking mark after mark. At half time, John had sprig marks all over his back. Towner complained: “How the hell can I beat the bloke when I’ve got hold of his arm and he’s still flying over my head.” Gero kicked nine goals that day.

The financial recession in early 1962 caused John’s employers to close their Perth office, and he was offered a position in South Australia. Towner requested a leave of absence to complete that season with West Perth and this was agreed to.  Instead of taking the South Australian position, he returned to Victoria, where he was immediately inundated with coaching offers, but decided on a retirement from football in the pursuit of a new career in the hospitality industry.

In 1965 an offer to manage a motel at Surfers Paradise arrived.  “It was too good to be true, and then came the crunch,” John said. “The new boss said: “I forgot to tell you that you have to captain coach the local footy team.” 

Towner did what was asked, and stayed for eighteen months. In the process he took the footy team to a grand final, before accepting a three and a half year hotel lease at Murwillumbah, in New South Wales.

These days, John Towner and wife Eve are contented in retirement at Anglesea, south of Geelong. He goes to the local footy, has an involvement in his daughter Sherwood’s business, and is interested in family history. A knee replacement is a legacy of his football days.

Towner played on many top full forwards, and considers Gerovich and Collingwood star Murray Weideman the hardest to counter. “Gero had the skills like Coleman, while Weideman was also a great player who provided me with my most embarrassing quarter of football one day when he kicked six in the last quarter.”

Three Essendon players..Coleman, Jack Clarke, and Bill Hutchison..were his choices as best he played with.

“John Towner gave a perfect exhibition of how a defence man should play. On the half back flank he repeatedly stopped many of South’s forward drives with his high marking and fearless go-through clearing dashes.”

“John Towner worked himself into a permanent niche in the side as a full back. He brought to bear his splendid high marking ability, and playing with dash and determination, he proved the ideal custodian. Reliable kicking-off also added to his efficiency.”

The above press reports provide an insight into the impact John Towner had on the VFL competition when moved to play in defence. He is recognised as one of the Essendon club’s most talented players, and at West Perth is still held in high esteem.