Bencraft, a rover originally from Sandringham, played briefly for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League during the 1944 season, playing a total of two senior games.
[1] He was a notable member of the club's inaugural premiership in 1946, kicking the winning goal in the club's one-point preliminary final against Williamstown (in which it had come back from a 40-point three-quarter time deficit), then kicking the last goal in its seven-point Grand Final win against Camberwell.
He led the club to two Grand Finals, including the 1962 premiership – in which the club came from behind to win the Grand Final by one point, after trailing Moorabbin by 44 points at three quarter time.
[1] Bencraft also had great success as Sandringham's Thirds coach, leading the team to five premierships in twelve seasons; he retired at the end of 1983, frustrated by the fact that the Thirds had been altered from an Under-19s competition to an Under-18s competition that season.
[3] Both the main grandstand at Trevor Barker Beach Oval[4] and the Sandringham Best and Fairest award are named after Bencraft, and he is a member of the club's Hall of Fame.