to name him in the side instead of Robert Smith, who was a top reserves full-forward: who was fit and ready to take his place. However, in the 1975 Grand Final, Wade's experience proved to be an essential part of North's huge win over Hawthorn. The tactic of staying behind the pack worked and Wade scored a few goals doing this. He even missed an easy shot as the pack of players missed the ball and an open goal was for the taking. Wade's miss was a shock to the crowd and himself. However, his inspirational gestures to the North Melbourne forwards can be seen in the 1975 Grand final, especially the last quarter, when he hurriedly and unselfishly passes the ball to team mates. Wade finished his career on a high note (another Premiership) where many experts could not have predicted, proving that Wade was true champion player for both Geelong and North Melbourne. In 1996 Wade was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. VFL statistics |- |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1961 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 16 || 51 || || || || || || || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 3.2 || || || || || || |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1962 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 17 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 68 || || || || || || || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 4.0 || || || || || || |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1963 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 16 || 48 || || || || || || || 3.0 || || || || || || |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1964 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 13 || 41 || || || || || || || 3.2 || || || || || || |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1965 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 10 || 29 || 28 || 80 || 8 || 88 || 46 || || 2.9 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 2.8 || 8.0 || 0.8 || 8.8 || 4.6 || |- ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1966 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 17 || 52 || 43 || 150 || 41 || 191 || 76 || || 3.1 || 2.5 || 8.8 || 2.4 || 11.2 || 4.5 || |- style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1967 |style="text-align:center;"| | 23 || 20 || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 96 || bgcolor="b7e718"| 60 || 197 || 36 || 233 || 118 || || bgcolor="DD6E81"| 4.8 || 3.0 || 9.9 || 1.8 ||