The sun has begun its descent on this sweltering, late-seventies January afternoon……………..
A silver-haired, sharp-eyed, shoeless veteran supervises the rotation of the cumbersome aluminium sprays…….They spurt into action, refreshing the grassy sward at the venue many describe as his ‘second home’.
It’s the lead-up to the Wangaratta Carnival……For this stalwart and his support-staff, countless hours – day and night -are being devoted to bringing the Gift Track and its surrounds to mint condition……
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Old-timers recall his on-field deeds here 30-odd years earlier……as a champion, quadruple-premiership-winning footballer, and a grimly-determined upper-order batsman…..
His fascination for sport knew no bounds………when he retired from active involvement, he regarded it as his obligation to nurture up-and-coming sportsmen of all types…..and footballers, from Midgets….to Juniors….. to those in the talent pathway…
Was it any wonder that they honoured him by naming his favourite patch of dirt – The Norm Minns Oval……
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A visitor, drawn to Wangaratta’s sporting ‘Mecca’, would at first be taken aback by the conglomeration of timber and corrugated iron structures, dotted around its perimeter …..
For half a century the principal occupant of the venue was the local Show Society, which has now been in residence for in excess of 160 years.
Hence, upon arrival, you pass the Poultry Shed… Sheep Pens…. Animal Nursery….. Horse Stables……Craft, Cookery and Needlework Pavilion ……
The town’s major sporting events during the mid-to-late eighteen hundreds were conducted at the adjoining Cricket Ground….It was only in the 1920’s, when a dirt cycle track and a Turf wicket were installed, that the ‘Showgrounds’ was fashioned as a multi-purpose sports venue .
I’m old enough to recall the elegant timber Grandstand at the northern end….. We’d scamper across the rickety steps of its breadth, and 110 foot length – whilst Dad was engaged in centre-wicket ‘warfare’ against the likes of the home team’s Clem Fisher, Max Bussell and ‘Cappy’ Ritchens……
And the stately Peppercorn trees ringing the banks of the Oval, provided ideal shelter for those following the on-field action……
An antiquated construction on the eastern side of the ground, dimly-lit and with minimal conveniences, served as the Visitor’s Dressing Room…..located nearby was the manual scoreboard, which, I still maintain, was as effective as the current, swish electronic operation……
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Improvements were implemented at regular intervals….
A brand-new 650-seat replacement Grandstand, named after a Show Society stalwart, W.B.Richardson, was constructed in 1958…..the plush Wangaratta Football Clubrooms, a double-storey brick building, sprang up in 1980…..
A Past Players’ Shelter was added……the delapidated Footy Clubrooms at the Evans Street which had morphed into the Umpie’s Pavilion, disappeared….. and, in recent years, the Wangaratta Sports Development Centre, funded by Football Victoria, also became the spiritual home of the Murray Bushrangers…..
You’d hardly label ‘The Showies’ mind-blowingly pretty, or charming, but the venue exudes atmosphere…..Many of the district’s iconic sporting events have unfolded on its surface………
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The most magical of them came every ANA-holiday Monday evening, when the lights circling the Oval would be dimmed, and the focus of the packed crowd would be trained on the floodlit Gift track………
You could hear a pin drop, as dulcet-voiced commentator Eddie Bush launched into his call:
“…..And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the running of the Wangaratta Gift……”
If a fancied local had won his way through to the Final there’d be an extra buzz……. and a roar would reverberate around the ground when a Greg O’Keeffe, Wally Pasquali, Jason Boulton ( or, in earlier days, Jimmy Doolan, Frank Seymour, A.W.Whittaker or Maurice Maroney ) breasted the tape….
There are countless recollections of this famous event, but the sensational run of charismatic American negro Barney Ewell in 1950 still sticks in the mind of some old-timers…….
He’d been heavily promoted as the feature attraction of the Carnival and was an unbackable favourite, off scratch, after winning his way through to the Final.
The hushed crowd sighed when Barney and Frank Banner appeared to break, the cause of which was later revealed as a ‘snapped cap’ in the starter’s pistol……
‘The Ebony Flash’ as Ewell was known, got away perfectly in the re-run, to edge out Carlton centreman Laurie Kerr by inches, in a time of 12.1 seconds – one of the quickest-ever recorded on the Gift track……
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The Carnival began in 1919 and has thrown up a legion of personalities…….. none bigger than four-time world cycling champion Sid Patterson.
A huge lump of a man, who made his bike look like a miniature when he scaled the saddle, ‘Patto’ was the ultimate crowd-pleaser. He’d often yield huge distances to the front-markers and sweep to the narrowest of victories.
He provided a sensation in 1965 when, despite puncturing in his heat, kept pedalling and qualified for the Final. He was chasing his second Wang Wheelrace and fans gave him only a slender chance of streeting a quality field.
But the 37 year-old rode magnificently to get up and pip Tasmania’s ‘wonder-boy’ Graeme Gilmore in a spectacular finish.
The feats of Enzo Sacci, Russell Mockridge, John Toleman, Austin Robertson, Lynch Cooper, Hec Sutherland, Harry Downes, Robert Ballard, Glenn Clarke and Dean Woods have been woven into the rich tapestry of the famous Carnival……..
Woods and Clarke, as enthusiastic juvenile cyclists, would single-mindedly circle the concrete track hour after hour, night after night, spurred by the dream that it might take them to another level……
It was no surprise when both went on to represent Australia at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics…….
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The Turf wicket, which was first installed at the Showgrounds in 1929, has been the centrepiece of a myriad of cricketing highlights……
Excitement gripped the town when Wangaratta was announced as the venue for a match against the MCC in 1959……….
Extensive preparations were undertaken, the new Grandstand was unveiled and an expectant crowd of 7,000 flocked to watch household names such as May, Trueman, Loader, Cowdrey, Laker and Lock do battle with the locals.
The Poms unceremoniously dismantled the Country XI for 32, then entertained the spectators with some swashbuckling batting, to amass 8/308.
The West Indies, numbering among its ranks flamboyant greats, Garfield Sobers, Wesley Hall, Lance Gibbs, Seymour Nurse and Clive Lloyd entranced the audience in 1969……Sixteen years later the boys from the Caribbean returned again, to strut their stuff.
In late November the following year (1986) the WDCA was afforded the opportunity to host Victoria and Queensland in a four-day Sheffield Shield match at the Showgrounds – its maiden first-class encounter.
Preparations for the big game were initially thrown into disarray when equestrian events at the Show, which had been held six weeks earlier, caused considerable damage.
After extensive re-turfing, the ground gained grudging approval from VCA administrators…….and the centre wicket area was rated perfect:
“For the players, this rural tranquility was in total contrast to the MCG or ‘Gabba’ settings to which they’d become accustomed…..” one scribe reported.
“Disturbances’ at the Showgrounds Oval came mainly from cackling kookaburras in gum trees along the riverbank, or from the occasional rumble of a train crossing the river………Apart from the rough playing surface both teams seemed quite satisfied with conditions…..”.
A total attendance of 8,010 was deemed ‘outstanding’ and was regarded as a compelling argument for taking Shield cricket to the country.
Queensland skipper Alan Border said: “If the facilities are as good as what they are here in Wangaratta, each State should host one country match a season…..”
In December 1996, Victoria and the West Indies clashed, in a resoundingly successful four-dayer watched by 10,663, in which the Windies triumphed by six wickets:
“The Wangaratta Showgrounds is no Adelaide Oval….. there are no famous gates, but there is a Richardson Stand……” it was stated.
“It is no fancy velodrome, but the concrete cycling track that encircles the Oval is where the career of Olympic Gold Medallist Dean Woods, still a local, was launched…..”
“Spectators ranged from shrieking schoolchildren…..to the young man urinating next to his car…….to the old lady marvelling at how well players can throw from the outfield these days ….” .
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The Oval has hosted just nine Ovens and Murray Grand Finals in the League’s 130-year history….
Wangaratta contested two of them – in 2018 and ‘19 – but by far the largest crowds – around 15,000 – were attracted to the Myrtleford-Wang Rovers decider in 1970, and Benalla’s clash with North Albury three years later.
There’s no doubt, though, that the ‘derbies’ between the Hawks and Magpies bring the emotions of local fans to the boil. Many of the ‘Showies’ fiercest, most controversial encounters have been held between the arch rivals………
Charlie Heavey is one of the cavalcade of champion sportsmen who called the Showgrounds home……
A Shepparton boy, he was recruited by Wangaratta to play football in the thirties and became a prodigious goal-kicker, and premiership player.
But he’s best remembered for his deeds on the cricket field…..
In one match, against Eldorado, he scored 299 of Footballers’ 388….The next highest-score was 34, then 12. He hit 34 fours and 11 sixes – some of which sailed over the Women’s Industries Stand, into Evans Street…….
He belted 32 off one over and 29 off another, and completed the match by taking 6/54 and 2/38 the following week.
Heavey’s 299 bettered the previous-highest WDCA record, which he created in the 1935/36 Grand Final the previous year – 187 out of a team total of 8/634……..
Earlier in his career, Heavey had been involved in a car accident, which cost him the sight in one eye, and possibly limited his opportunities to reach his sporting zenith…..
John Gannon has fond memories of the Showgrounds including his time as a Carnival competitor, and a stint as coach of the Wangaratta Football Club…..
He often recalls a young kid at the Ground, tramping around with a rubbish bin; having 70-80 shots at goal from one forward pocket, then doing the same thing in the other pocket.
Years later, the lad, Steve Johnson, destined to become a League champion, would win the 2007 Norm Smith Medal, and feature in three flags, among his 293-game career.
‘Johnno’ is just one of the legends who have worn Wangaratta’s Black and White guernsey……
The first of the ‘Pies’ 16 Ovens and Murray premierships came in 1925; 32 years after their stop-start association with the League began.
A former Collingwood ruckman, fearless Percy ‘Oily’ Rowe was lured to the club as playing-coach and provided the leadership that would help them overcome the formidable St.Patrick’s outfit, who were chasing their fifth successive flag.
Tough times lay ahead, and it took until the thirties for the club to restore their fortunes. A versatile utility player, Fred Carey, who was awarded the League’s first Morris Medal, coached them to titles in ‘33 and ‘36.
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Mac Holten was another Collingwood star who was recruited to coach the Black and Whites.
He arrived in Wangaratta in 1949 and introduced a playing-style which was readily accepted by his charges…. a shrewd tactician and people-manager, he led Wang to four successive flags (1949-‘52) and received great acclaim for his eight years in charge.
Holten’s impact on the Club – and town – was substantial…..After being introduced to the political sphere he served as the Federal Member for Indi from 1958-‘77.
Was he the Magpies’ most famous figure ?
He’d certainly be in good company, as names such as Bert Mills, Norm McGuffie, Dinny Kelleher, Graeme Woods, Jon Henry, Lance Oswald, the McCormick family, Timmy Lowe, Jack Ferguson, Lionel Wallace, Kevin Mack, Philip Nolan and Joe Richards come to mind.
After all, they’re just part of the kaleidoscope of greats who have flitted across this famous sporting arena…………
ON REFLECTION 
Merles IPad
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