Bill Nolan was recruited to Richmond from the Brighton Juniors Football Club, and he made his senior debut with the Tigers, wearing the No. 7 Yellow and Black guernsey,  in the opening round of the 1914 season, against St Kilda at the Junction Oval.

Nolan had an instant impact at VFL level, playing 17 games all-up that season, and a further 13 in 1915, before heading to Egypt and then France to serve his country in what originally was known as the “Great War”.

He was a strongly-built ruckman, who knew how to apply tough (but fair) physical pressure to opponents.

‘Barney’, as he was affectionately known, was a great protector of his smaller teammates, who always walked taller when he was around.

A tram driver in Melbourne, he reached the rank of Sergeant in the Australian Imperial Force (as it was known back then).

But on July 23, 1916 tragedy struck, when Nolan died of wounds he received at Fleurbaix in France.

His death shocked the football world, as he was not only regarded as a top player with Richmond, but a man of wonderful character.

The ‘Richmond Guardian’ correspondent, H.R., subsequently paid a moving tribute to Nolan (as recorded in Jim Main and David Allen’s book, “Fallen:  The Ultimate Heroes:  Footballers Who Never Returned From War”) . . .

“Big, brave Bill Nolan is reported to have been killed in action. It does not need any superfluous words here to paint his splendid qualities. He was 25 years of age (27, actually), but as I knew him first, only a few years ago, he was just a big, shy, innocent boy. It was after his last season with a junior team, and he had signed on to play with Richmond.

“He would stand around at times and listen to the talk, but it was seldom that Bill ever put an extra word in. But he was by no means unsociable. Once launched into conversation, he could tell, in his own quiet way, some droll stories, and no man that ever had him for a friend ever wished for a better one.

“His career as a League footballer was spread over only two years, but right from the beginning, he was phenomenally successful. In his very first game he showed persistency and pluck that are essentials in a follower, and it was seen that he was going to be a tremendous help to the Richmond side.

“As the games went on he continued to demonstrate his abilities and before the season had gone very far was one of the fixtures on the Richmond board. He played in every game (sic). In the following year he was better than ever, and he was considered one of the best followers in the League.

“There is little doubt that with no war and with football going on as usual, Nolan, with the experience that he gained would have been the champion of them all this season. But when the war broke out Bill Nolan heard the call. He played in most of the football games last year, getting special leave from camp to do so towards the end, and soon after that came, he sailed for the front.

“Nolan soon won his way in the ranks and was made a sergeant. But in Egypt his abilities and popularity with the men won him further recognition, and he was in command of a section.

“Before me, as I write, are letters from Richmond boys who served with Nolan in Egypt. In them are such tributes that few men have ever had.

“Every member of the Richmond football team had a respect for Nolan. So did every supporter of the team. So did the supporters of the other side. The smaller players admired the splendid physical strength of the hefty young giant, and turned to him naturally as their protector. They knew that Bill Nolan would never see a big man bump a little man without himself giving one back.

“But he was a pre-eminently fair player. As fair a footballer as ever went on the field. He was so fair that it affected his game, and often the voice of the crowd has called, 'Too fair, Bill Nolan.' That was his characteristic.

“Those brave boys under him in the training camp on the burning desert in Egypt found out the same qualities in him -- and they loved him for them.

“Physically, Nolan was a grand specimen of the Australian. Well over six feet in his socks, built in proportion, with blue eyes laughing out from his fresh-complexioned face, he looked every inch a leader, and men turned intuitively for him to command. He has played his part and in the Heaven that is all our hopes it is such real men as he will find their best reward.”

Sergeant William Nolan is buried at the Boulogne Eastern Cemetry, Pas de Calais, France.

Ahead of the weekend's ANZAC Day commemorations, we pay special tribute to the following Richmond players who fought for Australia in World War 1 and World War 2...

VFL Era – World War 1

ARBREW, John Luke
BANNISTER, Horace Powell
BIRTLES, Arthur Albert Rowden
BRISTOW, John Mountsteven
BURCHILL, James Freeman
CARTER, Ernest
CORFIELD, Joseph Michael
CORFIELD, Joseph Michael
DANKS, Arthur Beethoven
DERRICK, Edward John
EASON, Alexander
ELLIN, Percy
FELL, Claude Allen
FELL, Claud Allen
FISHER, Edward Edgar
FOX, Arthur Henry
GIBSON, Stormouth George Henry
GODFREY, Bruce Maitland
GRIFFITHS, David
HARRISON, Arthur Charles
HAYES, Douglas Leo
HOOD, Edmund Gerald Martin
HUGGARD, James Francis
HUGHES, Francis Vane
IRWIN, Leslie George
JAMES, John
KEGGIN, Edward
KIERNAN, Basil Stanley
KIRKPATRICK, Lyster Adam
LEE, Edward Leslie
LYNCH, William David
MacGREGOR, John Murray
MAXFIELD, James
MAY, Frederick
MAYNARD, Henry Verney
MINOGUE, Daniel Thomas
MOORE, Edward Vernon
MORGAN, Frederick Harold
MORRIS, Melville Arthur Leslie
MURRAY, Alexander James
McCASKILL, Robert James
McDONALD, James Alexander
McLEAR, George
NOLAN, William
PARKINSON, Walter George
POLLOCK, Henry Clyde
PRICE, Richard Lewis
PRICE, Sydney Alexander
ROBINSON, Arch
ROSS, George Edward
RUDD, William Victor James
RYAN, Ignatius Emmett Francis
SALVADO, Alexander Panteleon
SCOTT, Robert William
SHEEHAN, John Joseph
STOKESBURY, Albert Hamilton
STOTT, Wilfred
THORPE, William Francis
THRELFALL, George Sylvester
TWOMEY, Francis Peterick
VALENTINE, George Heinrich
WEATHERILL, Henry Francis
WEEKS, Horace Leslie
WOOTTON, Stanley Eli

RFC Armed Forces Personnel  World War 2

ALBISTON, Kenneth Ian
ARBREW, John Luke
AUSTEN, Colin Edward
BAGGOTT, John Henry
BATES, George William Henry
BAXTER, David James
BENTON, William Joseph
BICE, Percy John
BOUCH, Alan Douglas
BOURKE, Francis Michael
BRETT, Stanley Herbert
BROADSTOCK, Jon Harman
BROMAN, Albert Ryno
BROOKS, Keith William
BURKE, Cyril Ignatius
CAHILL, Lawrence William Denmon
CARTWRIGHT, Stuart Albert
CLARK, George Leslie
COLLINSON, Edward John
COLLS, Kevin John
CONNORS, Matthew Thomas
COOK, Frederick George
COOK, Keith Eric
COSGROVE, William Nicholas Pax  (Killed In Action)
COTTER, John Francis
CRANE, John Edward
CRAPPER, Thomas Frederick
CURRIE, John Francis Robert
DAVEY, Patrick Joseph
DEAGAN, Kevin
DICKSON, Norman Mons
DOCKENDORF, Sydney Christopher
DOHERTY, Noel Wilson
DURHAM, Ronald James
EAMES, Jack
EDMONDS, Horace Stephens
EDWARDS, Edward Albert
EVANS, Francis Maxwell
FARMER, Horace Charles
FINCHER, John Alexander
FITZPATRICK, James Neilson
FRASER, Donald William James
GARVIE, William Henry  (Killed In Action)
GILES, Leonard George
GISLINGHAM, Robert Arthur
GODFREY, Bruce Maitland
GODING, Frederick Arthur
GRANT, Geoffrey Norman
HANLEY, Edward
HARRIS, Donald William James
HARRIS, Stanley William
HAY, Robert Arthur
HINSON, Joseph Ford
HISLOP, David Gordon
HODGES, Albert Mosely
HOOD, Maxwell William
HOWARD, Francis Joseph
HUGHES, Francis
HULL, Ian Goodman
HUNT, Raymond Gilbert
JAMES, Albert Thomas
JONES, Leslie William
JORDON, Clarence Charles Lewis
JUDKINS, Stanley Lucas
KEGGIN, Edward
KEMP, Arthur Lionel
KENNEY, Vincent Paul
KIGHT, Francis James
LEWIS, Allan James
MacBETH, Roderick John
MARTIN, Norman Desmond
MAYNARD, Henry Verney
MORGAN, Frederick Harold
MORRIS, James William McLaren
MURRAY, Norman Selwyn
McCASKILL, Robert James
McCORMACK, Basil Milton
McCORMICK, John Alexander
McDONALD, Alan Joseph
McEWAN, Thomas Henry
McILVEEN, Robert
McLEAR, George
NAGLE, Phillip Daniel
NELSON, George Anthony
NOTT, Cyril Edwin Henry
NUTTER, Alan John
OAKLEY, Alan Spencer
O’BRIEN, Cyril James
O’CONNELL, Maurice Michael
OGDEN, Stanley Gordon
OGILVIE, Leslie George Colin
O’NEILL, Edward Kevin
PANNAM, Albert Constantine
PARKINSON, Walter George
PATTON, William Leslie
POLLOCK, Henry Clyde
PRICE, Richard Lewis
QUINN, Jack Alban
QUINN, Royston Duggan
RAE, Keith Stanley
RANDALL, Brian Thomas
RIPPER, William Dudley
ROSS, Albert Noel
ROSS, Raymond Robert
RUDOLPH, George Ernest
RUSSELL, Walter Ivan
RYAN, Stanislaus
SCHMIDT, Louis William
SCOTT, Robert
SCRIVEN, Raymond Kirk
SHERMAN, Peter Seaton
SIER, Kenneth Vincent
SMEATON, George Frederick
SMITH, Laird Morton
STAINSBY, Leslie Arthur
STAMMERS, Frederick Nolan
STEELE, Raymond Charles
STEWART, Robert Lee
STREET, Charles Ackroyd
STYLES, Gordon Graham
SULLIVAN, John Desmond
SYMONS, John Sutton
TAYLOR, Laurence William
TOMLINS, Stanley Crawford George
VANDERSLUYS, Stanley Ernest
WALDREN, Bernard
WALLIKER, Robert Arthur
WATSON, Clive Thomas Edward
WESTERN, Albert
WHITE, William Ernest
WHITEHEAD, Joseph Reginald
WIGGINS, Robert
WILSON, Robert John
YATES, Stanley Lancelot
ZSCHECH, Eric Leslie