Lahiff, a small rover who could play forward, started his career at Brighton before moving to Port Melbourne.

The VFA competition was suspended during the war so Lahiff had another spell in the VFL, joining South Melbourne.

After just six games he crossed to Hawthorn mid season and in 1944 was appointed coach of the Hawks for the year but could only register two wins.

The rover finished up at Port Melbourne as a player in 1945, having played 178 games from his VFA debut in 1930.

Lahiff was also a cricketer, and at his peak he played 68 district First XI matches as a batsman for St Kilda between 1929/30 and 1935/36.

[11][12] In 1999, author Ken Linnett released a book, Game for Anything: The Tommy Lahiff Story.