lit a candle 4h agoI don't really follow Aussie rules, just saw this come up and it stopped me. 191 games, nine short of 200 because he went to Vietnam. I don't know what to say to that, honestly.
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Wayne Closter was an Australian rules footballer who played 191 senior games for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League between 1964 and 1975, and a Vietnam War veteran whose national service cost him the chance to reach 200 games during his playing days. Born on 26 February…
Wayne Closter was an Australian rules footballer who played 191 senior games for the Geelong Football Club in the Victorian Football League between 1964 and 1975, and a Vietnam War veteran whose national service cost him the chance to reach 200 games during his playing days.
Born on 26 February 1945, he was recruited by Geelong from the Darley Football Club, near Bacchus Marsh in Victoria. He made his VFL debut for the Cats in 1964 as a wingman, and over the following seasons developed into one of the game's most poised and versatile centremen. Across his career he kicked 72 goals for the club.
In 1965 he was conscripted under Australia's National Service scheme. He undertook military training at Puckapunyal and at the jungle training centre at Canungra, and in 1969 deployed to South Vietnam. There he served with the 2nd Ordnance Depot at Vung Tau, working in ordnance procurement and supply. Football followed him to the war: he captained the 2AOD Australian Rules team and led it to victory in the 1969 competition grand final, recovering from a heavy early knock to kick 11 goals, several of them in the final quarter. He was promoted to lance corporal and later to corporal.
Closter came home in 1970 and resumed his VFL career with Geelong. He was awarded Geelong Football Club life membership in 1971 and played on until 1975. He later coached at the club, and was pictured leading the Geelong reserves against Footscray at the Western Oval in July 1979.
The games he lost to military service left him nine short of the 200 milestone. In 2007 the AFL recognised that sacrifice by inducting him into its 200 Game Club, alongside his former Geelong teammate Joe Sellwood and Essendon's Jack Jones, who had also lost games to service.
Throughout his life he stayed closely connected to Geelong, and took part in club and community Anzac Day commemorations at Kardinia Park, honouring the servicemen and women he had served alongside.
Wayne Closter died on 7 November 2026, aged 81. In announcing his death, the Geelong Football Club remembered him as a distinguished player, a respected veteran and a much admired member of the football community, recalling his humility, resilience, loyalty and commitment to his community.
Biography adapted from Geelong Football Club (Vale Wayne Closter, Nov 2026), Wikipedia (Wayne Closter, CC BY-SA 4.0), Geelong Advertiser (2007). Wikipedia ↗
Photos
1Wayne Closter kicks for Geelong against Richmond at Punt Road, 15 August 1964
by People Forever
he never made a big deal of it either, that was Wayne