Mark Lee

Mark Lee (born 29 March 1959 in Mildura, Victoria), father to Alice Springs Netball great Tahlia Lee, is known affectionately as "The General" and is a former Australian rules football player for the Richmond Football Club. Recruited from Richmond's country zone in Mildura, Lee played a couple of games in 1977 but took off the following year as the team's regular ruckman, allowing David Cloke to become a centre-half-forward and solving a problem the team had had since the loss of Michael Green and Brian Roberts a few years beforehand. He remained static in 1979, but the following year Lee moved into the elite of Australian Rules as his ability as a knock ruckman combined with the running power of fellow Mildura recruit Dale Weightman, Robert Wiley, Geoff Raines and Bryan Wood to give one of the most potent forward lines in Australian Rules history an abundance of ball. The Tigers won eleven successive matches early in the 1980 VFL season and, after a slump as injuries took toll late on the home-and-away rounds, returned to their most devastating form in the finals. They easily beat in the Qualifying Final, withstood a powerful defence in the Second Semi, and set a record winning margin against a jaded side in the Grand Final. Although Kevin Bartlett unanimously won the Norm Smith Medal, Lee's form in annihilating reigning Brownlow Medallist Peter Moore in the ruck was widely praised and Lee was seen as a "superstar" for the 1980s. However, as it turned out Lee never lived up to what was expected of him during the 1980s. 1981 was a mediocre season, and 1982 began with Lee hit by a succession of injuries. He broke his wrist in a practice match and did not play until the eighth round, then hamstring trouble kept him idle after one match until the thirteenth round. When Lee did return for good, Michael Roach had been so successful in the ruck that Lee was used initially at full forward; but though he kicked nine goals against in Round 17 that experiment did not last. In the 1982 VFL Grand Final against Carlton Lee's nullification by Warren "Wow" Jones was a decisive factor in Richmond's loss. 1983 and 1984 saw Lee back to his 1980 form as unchallenged Number One ruckman for the Tigers, in spite of the club declining to near the bottom of the ladder with only seven wins in 1983 and ten in 1984.