Career
Phillis was nicknamed "Fred" when his schoolmates likened him to the most famous English Test cricket pace bowler of the day, "Fiery" Fred Truman. The nickname stuck and to many SANFL fans he is only known as "Fred" Phillis rather than by his birth name of Dennis. Phillis is the brother of South Australian rules football player Wayne "Butch" Phillis, who also played his career at Glenelg, and for many years has run a successful chain of new and used car yards in Adelaide"s southern suburbs, primarily Wayne Phillis Ford and Wayne Phillis Kia.
Fred Phillis began his senior career with Glenelg in the SANFL in 1966 as a Centre half back under the coaching of Len Fitzgerald.
He was soon moved to Centre half-forward and later Full-forward by incoming 1967 coach Neil Kerley. This lateral thinking paid off with Phillis kicking a then SANFL record of 137 goals in 1969.
Fred kicked his 100th goal for the season during the match. Phillis is the highest goal scorer in the history of the Glenelg club, having kicked 853 in his 16-year career, an average of 53.3 goals per season.
This is all the more remarkable when considering that former league leading goal kickers Jack Owens (1927–1928, 1932) and Colin Churchett (1948–1951) are also Glenelg champions.
Owens sits 4th on the list with 817 goals, while Churchett is 15th with 555. After retiring as a player Phillis continued to pursue his chosen career as an architect.
