[3] George was recruited at the beginning of 1906[2] and he made his VFL debut in round 3 of that year, going on to play 16 games in his first season.

While playing with Melbourne, George formed a "famous" and "powerful" ruck combination with Hedley Tomkins and Bill Hendrie.

Due to this background, he enlisted in the Railways Unit of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 10 January 1917.

[2] When George enrolled he was immediately given the rank of sergeant and left Australia, to fight on the Western Front, aboard HMAT A70 Ballarat.

His obituary in The Argus described him as a "champion footballer" who was a "well-known follower in the decade preceding the First World War".