Northern Tasmania is mourning the loss of one of its most colourful characters.
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Lerrel 'Sharpy' Sharp died last week at the age of 87 after a long battle with dementia, but memories of his character are survived by the many lucky enough to know him.
There wasn't a time where Sharp wouldn't try and inject humour into a situation.
Whether you were speaking to him on the field, in the commentator's box or on the street, Scottsdale-raised 'Sharpy' had a joke or two for you.
Daughter Kim Richardson said it was the father-of-three, grandfather-of-five and great-grandfather-of-two's quick wit that would always be remembered.
"Anything he'd say, he'd make it funny," she said.
After finding a skill other than his sharp tongue in footy, he soon found himself recruited by Collingwood, after a quick detour up the north-east via an unsuccessful bid for North Launceston legend Jack Hawksley.
He'd win a premiership with the Pies in 1953. Fellow Tasmanian VFL player, Carlton's Berkley Cox said he was a forced to be reckoned with on the field.
"He was a good bloke and very tough on the field ... he was a very, very hard player," he said. Sharp would move back to the Apple Isle in 1960 to play for the Bombers.
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He'd join the side along with Port Melbourne's Bob Withers - together they steered the black and red back to glory after a decade-long flag drought. North Launceston stalwart Kerry Scurrah said their addition to the club altered its trajectory.
"The club always looked at it on the basis that it was the regeneration of the club," he said.
Withers said having Sharp join with him was a blessing, given his skill.
"He had very good speed across the first five yards, which is very important," he said.
"I don't ever remember him getting caught holding the ball, he always got his kick in. Opposing rovers were terrified to play on Lerrel."
One such rover was City South forward Paul 'badger' Luttrell. He recalled an occasion when he and Sharp collided during the 1960 NTFA grand final attempting to avoid who else, but 'killer' Hawksley.
"I got whacked you see, and Stan Morcom picked me up ... I looked over, and there's Sharp down too," he said.
"When we revived him, I said 'what happened?' And he said 'I was unlucky, killer had you in his gunsight and you stepped in front of me and we both got knocked out'.
"After the game Sharpy couldn't see out of his left eye and I couldn't lift my left shoulder. We had a beer together, that's how it was back in those days ... he was a wonderful player."
Scurrah described Sharp as a 'raconteur' who was particularly popular during his commentating days on 7LA in the 1960s and '70s.
"He came from the Ted Whitten school of broadcasting ... he'd put a huge amount of colour into a game," Scurrah said. A keen golfer, Sharp would mentor grandson Kalem Richardson, sticking around once the latter ended up going pro.
"Kalem would ring him [Sharp] up after every round and go through all the stats, and dad would listen to him for an hour ... they'd go through each hole together," Kim said.