Footballer
Recruited from Merbein as a ruckman, he worked at the MCG as a groundsman.
He played his first senior VFL game for Melbourne, aged 18, in the first ruck against Jack Dyer and Percy Bentley of Richmond at their peak, at the MCG, on Saturday 22 April 1939 (round one). Ball marked and rucked well in a side that lost by 37 points to Richmond, 11.18 (84) to 17.19 (121).
He played in all of Melbourne's 20 VFL matches in 1939, kicked 30 goals, received three Brownlow Medal votes, was voted best first-year player at Melbourne, and played in the second ruck for the team that won the 1939 Grand-Final by 53 points.
He played in 13 of the possible 21 senior VFL games for Melbourne in 1940.
On Saturday, 21 September 1940, in the Preliminary Final match against Essendon, which Melbourne won by 5 points, 12.18 (90) to 12.13 (85), Ball was the resting forward pocket ruckman. However, in the third quarter, due to injuries to his team-mates, Melbourne was forced to shift Ball to full-back. At full-back, on a wet, muddy ground, Ball played what was probably the best game of his career — "Melbourne's best player was Ball, who had no superior on the ground"; "Ball gave such a superlative exhibition at full back that he seems sure to be stationed there against Richmond " — marking the greasy ball time and time again in torrential rain (some say he took 15 marks), and was single-handedly responsible for Melbourne beating an Essendon team thought a certainty to win.
He played his last VFL game in Melbourne's 1940 Grand Final team, as a back-pocket resting ruckman. He was one of the best players on the ground for the Melbourne team, which unexpectedly beat Richmond by 39 points, 15.17 (107) to 10.8 (68).
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