FRASER, Don (jnr) "Mopsy"
At a height of 6 feet and weighing 13½ stone, Fraser was not a big man - even by the standards of those days, mid-1940s to early 1950s. He was nicknamed "Mopsy" because of his shock of red hair, which was considered too long in an era of short back and sides. He normally brushed his hair straight back, but once he was in the heat of battle it became as unruly as its owner.
More than the colour of his hair, I remember his florid complexion. I was to gain first-hand knowledge of his complexion. Towards the end of a game, it was a common practice for the young to collect at the fence right by the players' race and, as the game finished, it was over the fence to pat the team on the back or arm as they left the ground ... that was more important even than the kick-to-kick with paper footies that followed the close of play. Once, while chasing the ball, Mopsy cannoned into the fence in front of the grandstand at Punt Road, right where I happened to be. Anyhow, one minute all the players were out there where they are supposed to be, and the next, this sweaty beetroot-red face was within inches of my schoolboy face. My dad used to laugh about the time Mopsy scared the life out of me, but I can tell you, although he was one of my heroes, I shall never forget that grimacing gaelic face glaring at me. His eyes were wild, his teeth bared. I thought for a moment he was going to bite a piece out of me. I swear there was a growl bubbling away somewhere in his throat. I was poised for flight, I can tell you.
Of course, he had been trying to put an opponent into the fence, and I think if he had connected, he would have actually sent whoever it was over the roof of the grandstand. As it was, I swear those pickets rattled for a full minute afterwards. The history books tell of the day he took on the three Twomey brothers of Collingwood, and lived to tell the tale - no small feat as it was at Victoria Park [more of that later] but I recall a day at Punt Road when he tangled with at least two of the Twomeys and sundry other black and white striped opponents. In those days I think half the Collingwood team were related to each other and they didn't hang back when their cousins or brothers were threatened. All I remember is a swaying, writhing mass of bodies as Magpie after Magpie hurled themselves at Mopsy only to be cuffed, back-handed or swept aside, with Mopsy still on his feet at the end of the fracas. He was a one-man dynamo when it came to stirring things up, a melee waiting to happen.
He was once described as having "red hair, a matching complexion coupled with an uncontrollable temper..." More than once, we were to see him in the middle of a donnybrook, which like as not, he probably caused. From the record books, it appears he only served 16 weeks suspension in total while he was at Richmond, whereas he served 14 weeks when he moved across to Port Melbourne in the VFA, and then at Prahran he received a 16 match suspension for misconduct and abusing the umpire! I think he also received further suspension when he shifted over to East Launceston. Anyhow, he officially served a total of 51 weeks in his career.
Tiger supporters used to love him and despair of his unstable temper. He could fly like a bird for a mark, and it seemed he hovered above the pack until the ball reached him. I have only encountered one other Tiger player who appeared to do that, Ray Poulter, and he also played CHF and was a booming kick...but was also very inaccurate when shooting for goal. Fraser was moved to CHB and once away from the dreaded goals, he came into his own. He regularly put the ball into the goal square from his allotted defence position.
One account of him said he was invariably the centre of attention on the football field, both for his football ability, and his football antics. He was described as being hot-headed and doing some amazing things, good and bad, in the turmoil of physical contact - which is one way of putting it. The Richmond supporters loved him, the article continued, because despite his tough-man faults, he breathed life and devil into the Richmond line-up. When he kept cool, Fraser was one of the greatest full backs or centre half-backs to play for Richmond.
Jack Dyer penned the following on Fraser under the heading, "Suspended For 84 Games":
Don (Mopsy) Fraser was the wildest man in football. He could make strong men quake, yet he was one of the most brilliant and dashing players ever to pull on a boot. If only I could have controlled him, I would have won a string of Brownlows for this fabulous player.
He was one of the greatest ever Tiger players, but when he went red in the face my insides used to crawl. Some fellows have the cheek to say I was a badman. Me! I served four weeks' suspension in my entire career and I was entirely innocent. Believe it or not, Mopsy served a total of 84 weeks.
Mopsy always delights in one highlight of his career - the day he took the Twomeys of Collingwood on in one epic battle. He started off by splitting Bill down the middle with a shoulder, and then he fixed Pat up for saying things that no redhead like Mopsy could tolerate. Finally, Mick went sailing into a fence. The story injures the pride of the Twomeys and they deny they were all involved , but I remember the match vividly and they all looked like Twomeys.
What a place to do it - at Collingwood.
The crowd went berserk, they jumped the fence and ran onto the field. A Richmond official, the late Scotty McDonald, jobbed the reserve umpire. We had to have a mounted police escort to get off the field after the match. It was always a nice feeling to get the Collingwood crowd riled up but I think Mopsy overdid it a bit that day.
As we left the ground for my car, the crowd had waited and followed, shouting and heckling. Suddenly Mopsy started to laugh. "What are you laughing at, this is serious," I snarled at him.
Mopsy wouldn't stop: "Why should I worry? They reckon they'll turn the car over. It's your car." They tried to turn it over and as I tried to drive off they lifted the back wheels off the ground. Somehow we escaped. I've lost count of the times I made a similar escape with Mopsy.
Fire must have run in his family. His father (Don Senior, who also played with RFC) topped the Oakleigh goal kicking for three years (finishing with a career total of 949 goals from 254 games) and then got rubbed out for sitting on the ball and refusing to give it up.
...Mopsy originally was a forward for Richmond and in one brilliant quarter he scored 14 times - one goal and 13 behinds! "Ratbags to the backline," I snapped and put him into defence. He never looked back.
Umpires chased Mopsy out of the VFL into the VFA. Then they chased him out of the VFA across Bass Strait to Tasmania. I wouldn't say he didn't bring a lot of it on himself but on his credit side, the umpires were too hard on him. Often he was goaded by players who knew his temperament. To me he will always rate as one of the greatest footballers I have seen.
Dyer also told the story of a nervous, slightly built youngster facing up to his first match in League football in 1951 - and it was a match to make or break any player. The nervous kid had to play against the ferocious Mopsy Fraser. Mopsy gave him the full treatment. That was enough to break any kid's spirit and make him turn off football. But this kid took the lot and came back for more. He decided to get off to a good start and offered to shake hands with Mopsy. CRASH, and he was hobbling. There was a lot more to come.
But after the match Mopsy was the first to shake hands. Mopsy fronted me and declared, "That kid's got it. We won't handle him so easily again." How right he was. The kid was to become the greatest Bulldogs of them all - Ted Whitten. Ted admits today that his first game was his most frightening in football. "Mopsy looked like a mad gorilla. He was smothered in oil." Whitten said he can still remember the C-R-U-N-C-H that flattened him. "I didn't know what had hit me, and I was soon off the ground."
Epilogue
There is a photo of Mopsy accompanying Dyer's article. He appears to be running full-tilt at the camera, his hair is flying, his shoulders hunched and his muscly arms half reaching out. His eyes are slitted, there appears to be mayhem on his mind. The caption reads: "Mopsy Fraser struck terror into the hearts of even the roughest, toughest League players." Is that his perspiration splashing me, his breath on my cheek? I swear those pickets are still rattling.
