Geoff Austen is a former Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played for Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 and Collingwood

Collingwood Football Club

The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

Austen, who was the son of league footballer Cecil

Cecil Austen

Victor Cecil "Cec" Austen is a former Australian sportsman who played first-class cricket for South Australia and Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League with Hawthorn....

, spent most of the 1970s in a struggling Fitzroy team. He got his change to play at a stronger club in 1979 when he crossed to Collingwood but wasn't able to cement a place in the side and missed out on three Grand Finals.

At Preston

Northern Bullants

Northern Blues Football Club is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston and currently playing in the Victorian Football League representing the central and outer areas of Melbourne...

 in 1982, Austen immediately made his mark by winning the J. J. Liston Trophy

J. J. Liston Trophy

The J. J. Liston Trophy is awarded to the best and fairest senior player in the Victorian Football League .-History:The VFA awarded the Recorder Cup from 1923 to 1941, and also ran a different award known as the VFA Medal .After a hiatus in 1942 to 1944 due to World War II, a best and fairest award...

. The following season he played in their Victorian Football Association premiership and he won the Norm Goss Memorial Medal

Norm Goss Memorial Medal

The Norm Goss Memorial Medal is awarded to the player judged to be the best afield in the Victorian Football League grand final.It is named after former player and administrator Norm Goss, Sr....

as best afield in the Grand Final.