The Brisbane Lions are mourning the loss of former Fitzroy player, Tony Ongarello, who passed away last weekend at the age of 89.

‘Onga’ – as he was often known – played 131 matches and kicked 247 goals in a career with Fitzroy that spanned nine years (1952-60).

A traditional high-flying full-forward, he was a three-time season-leading goal-kicker at the Club (1952, 1956 and 1958) and ranks 13^th on Fitzroy’s all-time goal-kicking tally.

Ongarello could potentially have ranked higher among Fitzroy’s leading goal-kickers if not for his noted inaccuracy in front of goal, which he famously attempted to rectify by replacing his regular punt kick with the now defunct place kick. In fact, he is widely remembered as being the last footballer in V/AFL history to register a goal using the old place kick.

“In 1955 we were playing against Geelong at Brunswick Street and I had kicked three early but things started to go wrong,” Ongarello once recalled.

“I had kicked four to six points in a row and it just wasn’t working for me. The game was tight and it was in the last five or so minutes of the last quarter when I took a mark.

“When I was a young Richmond supporter I would head down to watch the Tigers play. One day, I went to watch them at South Melbourne and Jack Graham, the South captain, put the ball down and kicked a place kick goal right in front of me. I’d never seen it before, so the next day I went down to the park with my football and tried it.

“I never attempted it again until I took that mark against Geelong in the last quarter in 1955. I just remembered it and thought I’d try it. I dug a little spot, put the ball in it, went back and kicked the goal. A couple of minutes later I kicked another with the place kick to put us in front. I finished with five for the day, but unfortunately they came back and beat us.

“I tried a couple of times again that year. Big John Kennedy, the Hawthorn ruckman, touched one on the line that was going to go through, and another didn’t go near it. And then that was it.”

He retired at the end 1959 but was coaxed back to playing with Fitzroy midway through the next season, only to hang up his boots for good at the end of 1960.

Ongarello remained involved in VFL football for a number of years following his retirements as a player, both as a committeeman at Fitzroy and as a radio and TV commentator.

A Life Member of Fitzroy and the Brisbane Lions whose name is still immortalised on the current #5 locker at the Lions (currently occupied by Mitch Robinson), Ongarello’s enormous contribution to the Club will never be forgotten.

The Brisbane Lions will wear black armbands this Saturday night against Gold Coast at the Gabba as a mark of respect for Fitzroy’s former full-forward.    

The entire Club extends its sincerest condolences to his loved ones at this difficult time.