THE LANGUAGE of sport in South Australia during the 1930s was centuries.
In the summer months, Don Bradman would peel off tons for South Australia and Australia at a rate not seen before, and never since, by anyone wearing flannels.
HALL OF FAME Check out the inductees, Legends and more
Equally, in winter, when it was the domain of footballers and Adelaide Oval would occasionally be heavy with mud, Ken Farmer tallied centuries in the SANFL like no one since.
In 11 consecutive years from 1930-40, he kicked the ton in every single year, was held goalless only once at senior level when injured early and, in all, averaged more than 6.3 goals a game across a career with North Adelaide that yielded a still-SANFL record of 1417 goals.
Only in his first and final seasons, before enlisting in the Air Force for the Second World War effort that brought an end to his senior career, did he fail to kick 100 goals in a season.
Four footballing statues stand on the public concourse outside Adelaide Oval, and all are now are official Legends, with Farmer standing alongside fellow greats Barrie Robran, Russell Ebert and Malcolm Blight. That is the company he keeps in football in South Australia.
He last played way back in 1941 for his beloved Roosters, who he also coached to two premiership victories after the war, and while he passed away more than four decades ago in 1982, the long-awaited honour is greatly appreciated by his family.
Son Milton, now in his mid-80s, cherishes the knowledge that his father now sits nationally among the very highest echelon at Legend status, when that same status has been unquestioned in South Australia for decades.
"My father was a champion as a player and a coach," Milton said.
"It's an extremely great honour for me and my wife and my children for him to be named with this honour.
"He was far ahead of his time as a coach, and we are very proud that he's been recognised as a Legend."
A product of his time and the need to earn a living, Farmer left school at 14 and while he'd been a talented junior sportsman at both soccer and Australian football, he played no real organised sport for two years in his mid-teens as he settled into working life.
Drawn back to the game at park level initially as he approached adulthood, he quickly impressed as a standout who should be in League ranks and, upon being recruited to North Adelaide, was placed in the goalsquare for the opening to the 1929 season, where he started an unmatched reign.
He was a good quick lead and an immensely strong mark who was almost impossible to spoil, and deadly accurate with his right foot.
In the tribute to him on the club website, teammate Don McInnes said Farmer had incredible strength in his hands and was driven for success in the way of all champions.
In the days before the drop punt became the most reliable kick in the game, he was the master of the screw punt and the flat punt. He was tough and could cope with the rough-house tactics of the day. But he was never one to retaliate, and often finished games with welts across his legs from stop marks as opponents tried to curtail him.
He rarely used his left leg to snap, due to a weaker ankle, and his output at state level, then the pinnacle of the game, was just as impressive with 50 goals from 10 matches against the Big V.
A non-drinker and non-smoker, Farmer's preparation was way ahead of his time with notes and tips for how he should be ready for games ahead.
At the time of his retirement, former Port Adelaide opponent Vic Johnson, a member of the SANFL Hall of Fame, wrote that Farmer had no peer.
"When the bell rings for the Norwood v North match on September 6, followers of football will have had their last opportunity of seeing one of the finest footballers and the greatest goal-getter the game has ever known – Ken Farmer," Johnson wrote.
"No one has ever played the game in a fairer spirit. I have had the pleasure of playing against him and … he has been an ornament to the game and an inspiration which any young player would do well to copy.
"I know how good Farmer was. On many occasions when playing against North, we thought that if we could defeat Farmer we would win."
The numbers Farmer produced in red and white for North Adelaide are mind-boggling for any younger fan whose reference these days is one player alone in the past 20 years (Lance Franklin in 2008) to kick a century at AFL level.
Think 11 (consecutive) seasons with a century, as against the VFL/AFL mark jointly held by fellow Legends Tony Lockett and Jason Dunstall at six centuries apiece. Only Western Australia's George Doig, with nine centuries in his career for East Fremantle, can be near a conversation with Farmer when it comes to relentless goal production.
A bag of 10 or more in 35 separate games (22 times for Lockett and 18 for Dunstall) and a career century of goals against every one of the seven opposition SANFL clubs who had the misfortune to come up against him through the 1930s.
A single best day of 23 (of his team's 26 goals) was bagged in one afternoon against West Torrens.
His first century in 1930 – the first in SA history by any player – came with a rush with 44 goals in four games from rounds 13-16 to take him to 101 majors but was shrouded in tragedy late in the season on the way to the premiership.
He was a passenger with younger brother Elliot when riding their motorbike not far from Adelaide Oval and it collided with a truck. Elliot died from his injuries and, while he returned after break of several weeks to be part of the flag, and another in 1931, Farmer carried the grief through his playing days.
Through the 1930s, the goals just kept coming and coming. He led the Roosters in five separate seasons and his time at the top came to an end with enlistment for the Second World War. He met his son, Milton, for the first time when returning home from active service after nearly four years and, as was the way still with working life in the times of the day, coached North Adelaide only for a few years (incredibly successfully) as he settled back to working life.
It is now nearly a century since Farmer made his League debut, but it can be argued his numbers will stand unchallenged for decades to come.
Legend status will keep his name in front of the fans who look to the game's history while the gates at Prospect Oval, home of North Adelaide, carry his name and the leading goalkicker in the SANFL has been annually awarded the Farmer Medal since 1981.
In the most basic requirement of football, to be able to kick a winning score, Farmer stood among the greats and now resides as a Legend of the Game.
KEN FARMER
- North Adelaide (1929-41): 224 games, 1417 goals (averaged 6.33 goals a game)
- South Australia: 17 games, 71 goals
- Premierships: 1930, 1931
- Best and fairest: 1936
- SANFL leading goalkicker: 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940 (kicked a century every year)
- North Adelaide leading goalkicker: 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941
- Captain: 1934-35, 1937-38, 1941
- North Adelaide Team of the Century
- North Adelaide premiership coach: 1949, 1952
