ruckman Bert Foster (11) and in front of full-back
Maurie Sheahan (4) at the Lake Oval on 9 June 1934.
1929 Recruited from Mitcham, Pratt played his first game for the South Melbourne
seconds against Hawthorn on 15 June 1929. He was one of the best on the ground in a team that won 15.16 (106) to 4.9 (33), scoring four goals. Pratt played in the
forward pocket for the seconds in the 1929 first semi-final against , and was one of the best players for South Melbourne. He was replaced in the team for the preliminary final match against by
Jack Richardson, most likely because Richardson had played 10 senior matches that year, rather than due to any disappointment in Pratt's performance (it was the prevailing wisdom that it was always better to play experienced senior players in seconds finals matches); Geelong won the match.
1930 Pratt's senior VFL career began in the
first round of the 1930 season, when—aged 17 years, 245 days—he played at centre half-forward for South Melbourne against
Melbourne at South Melbourne's home ground,
Lake Oval. He played the entire season of 18
home-and-away matches, kicking 43 goals for the season—his best score was five goals in round 10 against
Fitzroy—and was second on South Melbourne's goalkicking list to full-forward
Austin Robertson. Pratt was thus considered to have "immense promise". Leading VFL footballer turned journalist
Wallace Sharland complimented Pratt on his pace, stating that he had plenty of "toe". Selleck was not a success (in fact, he only played three senior VFL games), and he was moved to the forward flank for the second match, while Pratt was moved to full-forward for the first time. In his first game as full-forward, Pratt kicked seven goals and one behind. Pratt topped South Melbourne's goalkicking for the first time in
1932 with 71 goals, 50 of them coming by round nine. His tally broke the previous record for goals scored in a season by a South Melbourne player, held by
Ted Johnson, who kicked 60 goals in each of the
1924,
1925 and
1928 seasons.
On 2 July 1932, in the round nine match against Fitzroy, playing at full-forward, Pratt kicked seven goals in a more accurate South Melbourne's 12.10 (82) win over Fitzroy 10.15 (75).
The Argus noted that "Pratt was keen and accurate [up] forward", whilst
The Age remarked on Pratt's "extraordinary marking and kicking". After the match, Pratt was reported by goal umpire Greenwood and boundary umpire Treloar for striking Fitzroy's back-pocket
Frank Curcio in the back, near the right kidney, in the third quarter. At the
VFL tribunal hearing on Thursday, 7 July 1932, the charge against Pratt was not sustained, as Curcio said that he had no recollection of having been struck. This was the only occasion that Pratt was reported in his entire VFL career.
1933 South Melbourne underwent a massive recruiting drive prior to the
1933 VFL season, recruiting
Laurie Nash and
Frank Davies from
Tasmania,
Wilbur Harris and
Ossie Bertram from South Australia and Western Australians
Joe O'Meara and
John Bowe. After a slow start, the team melded well together to win the 1933 premiership. Pratt, who kicked 109 goals for the season from eighteen matches, was "idolised by all South fans ... (who) flocked to the Lake Oval and other grounds to see him in action." Pratt kicked three goals in the
grand final to overtake
Gordon Coventry as the VFL's leading goalkicker for the season (however,
the medal was presented based on regular season tallies only).
1934 Pratt had a disrupted pre-season, barely training and playing only one practice match, yet he kicked eight goals in the first round against
Collingwood. At the age of just 20, Pratt had already become a fan favourite at South Melbourne. Local newspaper the
South Melbourne Record wrote of his performances, "Nothing gave South fans greater delight than to see Pratt soaring above the packs. The fruits of victory would not taste so sweet if Pratt failed to reap a bag of half a dozen majors." On 19 May, in the round 3 match against at
Lake Oval, Pratt set a new club record for the most goals kicked in a game by an individual player, registering 15 goals and three behinds in a 42-point win. Eight of those goals came in a ten-minute spell, a club record only broken since by
Tony Lockett in 1995 (kicking 16.0). Pratt also kicked 12 goals against
Footscray (including seven in a quarter) and 11 against
Carlton and Essendon. He reached 100 goals for the season in the third quarter of the round 13 match against Carlton, the fewest games ever required to reach 100 goals in a season. Pratt would eventually finish the regular season with 138 goals, winning his first VFL
Leading Goalkicker Medal. South Melbourne dominated the competition throughout the season and were considered the clear favourite to win the 1934 premiership. However, in the
grand final, South were outplayed by
Richmond, losing by 39 points, with Pratt kicking two goals to take his season tally to 150 goals. Post-match rumours of South Melbourne players accepting bribes to play poorly were so strong that Pratt and teammate
Peter Reville confronted several players they suspected of playing poorly. Pratt had his best
Brownlow Medal result in
1934, polling 14 votes to finish eighth, six votes behind the winner,
Essendon's
Dick Reynolds. He did, however, receive the 2021 equivalent of A$1,133 from South Melbourne in recognition of his feat. Pratt injured an ankle and lacerated both legs due to the accident and was unable to play. In response to the accident, the
South Melbourne Record wrote: The initial attack on the inhabitants of
Adowa by
Benito Mussolini's invading army upon Emperor
Haile Selassie, is no greater shock than that received by SMFC officials when they learned on Thursday afternoon, through the press, that Bob Pratt had been involved in a collision with a motor truck. In Pratt's absence, Collingwood won the grand final by 20 points.
1936 (pictured) preferential treatment. Pratt's son
Bob junior was born on 24 March 1936, and Pratt suddenly found himself unemployed when the newspaper he worked for,
The Star, unexpectedly folded. Annoyed at what he considered unfair treatment by club management towards him compared to interstate recruits, Pratt first sought to leave South Melbourne for another club in June 1936, stating that he was unemployed and believed another club could find him employment. Pratt relented when local politician
Robert Williams MLC found him a job in a brewery.
The Age described that "of [that 39] Bob Pratt is the only one who has played in every engagement, and on occasions he has had to nurse injuries certain to have kept most other players out of the game". In the first-round match against Melbourne, Pratt was well held by his opponent,
Harry Long, who was the best Melbourne player on the day. Pratt kicked five goals and five behinds for the match; his first goal for the day came from an "amazing mark" which he took "almost on the goal line". That first goal of the 1936 season brought his VFL career total to 500 goals (in 106 matches).
1937 Injuries—including a split nerve that had gone undiagnosed—restricted Pratt to just six games for twelve goals in
1937, leading him to consider retirement on a number of occasions. Carlton attempted to recruit Pratt, offering to pay him to stand out of football while waiting for a transfer from South Melbourne. South Melbourne, however, refused to transfer him.
1938 Pratt abandoned plans to join Carlton but continual injury problems delayed the start of his year. In April, Pratt announced he was considering a transfer to
Victorian Football Association (VFA) club
Preston, who were offering him £6 per week. He advised South Melbourne that, if they would continue to pay him the usual rate of £3 a week and take the risk of his breaking down, he would not consider any other offer. If, on the other hand, South Melbourne was reluctant, he announced that he would transfer to Preston and take the risk of his leg keeping him out of the game. Mullaly explained that Pratt had sustained an ankle injury three years earlier during the exhibition match South Melbourne had played against Collingwood, in Sydney, on 3 August 1935, and that his injury in that match was so severe that he was unable to return to the field after the half-time break. Although he received immediate treatment, he was unable to play in South Melbourne's next match,
against Carlton on 10 August 1935; but he was fit enough to play
against North Melbourne on 17 August 1935, two weeks later (he kicked five goals in the match). He continued to play for the rest of the season. Then, just two days before the 1935 grand final, Pratt was hit by a truck, badly injuring the same ankle. Pratt received immediate medical attention, including intensive massage treatment, and was later taken, by South Melbourne, to a leading surgeon. As a consequence of the treatment he received, Pratt was able to play in all of the 21 games that South Melbourne played in 1936, scoring 64 goals for the season. Then, in 1937, after the match against North Melbourne on 14 June 1937, Pratt complained of pain in his badly jarred ankle; his ankle was x-rayed, and South Melbourne took him to "the best bone specialist in Melbourne", who diagnosed "
arthritis". They sought a second opinion; and Pratt also continued to receive extensive massage treatment as well. Pratt did not play again in 1937. According to Mullaly, Pratt had begun training some two months before the 1938 season had started, and had played well in some of the club's practice games, only to have complained, once again, of ankle problems. He was appointed vice-captain to
Herbie Matthews two weeks before the season began. Although not playing, he was retained on South Melbourne's training list and, as a consequence, was receiving £1 a week – and only seemed to become anxious about the condition of his ankle as the closing date for clearances had approached, and had asked for the club to arrange another x-ray. Mullaly thought that it was "absurd" for Pratt to contemplate gaining a clearance to another club if, in fact, he was not fit to play for South Melbourne. The two medical men consulted by South Melbourne reported, on Friday 24 June, that Pratt had arthritis and that he must retire. Pratt went on to play seven matches in 1938 (his first, against Collingwood, was in round 11, on 2 July 1938), kicking 32 goals, including nine goals against Geelong in the final round. South finished last on the ladder that season with two wins and sixteen losses.
1939 In 1939, Pratt played 16 games with South Melbourne, scoring 72 goals for the season. Towards the end of the season, there were many rumours that he would retire from football and, when asked, he said that he would play the last match of the season, and implied that he would be returning to South Melbourne in 1940. ==Move to Coburg==