“THE LIFE AND TIMES OF A FOOTBALL JOURNEYMAN……….”

The rain’s tumbling down in Rosebud ……..The temperature has barely nudged into double figures, but it feels two or three degrees chillier, with that icy breeze nipping in off Port Philip Bay…… ……..

Norm Hamill has called the Mornington Peninsula town home for the past 13 years……. eons away from the wide open spaces of the Mallee, where he first saw the light of day……or a few of the destinations around the nation at which he landed during his time as a journeyman footballer………

He was one of the real characters you come across in footy – boisterous, open as a book, loyal, the life of the Club, warm-hearted……….but underneath his ‘big-noting exterior’, as he calls it, lay a sensitive and introspective soul ………

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Normie quips that his ‘shit-house’ kicking style prevented him from being a star………

He was playing in Bendigo at one stage, when Hawthorn coach Graeme Arthur – an old Sandhurst boy – brought the Hawks up for a practice match……He marked everything….was best afield for the locals in what he terms ‘the game of his life’……

“Graeme came up to congratulate me after the game. He said: ‘Mate, if you could do something about your kicking you’d walk into the VFL…….”

I recall when he was making his way into senior football with the Rovers he became an instant fan-favourite due to his competitiveness, exhuberance, and ability to pull down a strong pack mark….. Then he’d line up a shot for goal, and they’d collectively utter a sigh of resignation: ‘Don’t put your house on this one………’

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His dad Les was a typical Mallee cockie……..Farmed 6,500 acres of Mallee scrub through years of drought, then had one good year……. Spurred by success he decided to sell out and move onto the irrigation at Pyramid Hill.

That’s where Norm first cut his teeth in footy, making his debut with the Reserves, aged 15, and graduating to the senior line-up.

He’d been making the daily 90-mile trek to-and-from school at Kerang ( 11 of them by pushbike ), but after gaining his Intermediate Certificate, joined Les on the land.

The family’s next move was to a property at Glenrowan West. When the surrounding O & M clubs heard of a likely-looking, 6’2” , blonde-haired youngster landing in their midst it prompted a flurry of activity.

One day, whilst on the tractor, he glanced across to see a pair of Collingwood officials sauntering across the paddock to have a yarn with him.

“The old man reckoned I wasn’t ready, so I spent the next season and a half with Greta……..then the Rovers got me in to play a few games on Match Permits,” he says.

Not that he was an instant success when he moved in permanently to the Findlay Oval…….He was in and out of the senior side for the next couple of years.

The turning-point came towards the end of 1964………..The Hawks, who had won 16 games on the trot, to be red-hot favourites for the flag, suffered an inexplicable drop in form, losing the next four.

A few regulars were chopped,……and big-man Hamill, was one of those who found their way into the Preliminary Final line-up……..

The Rovers stuttered in the early stages, then blew Myrtleford away. The following week after wresting control in the third-quarter, they out-pointed Wangaratta by 21 points, to win the Grand Final.

Normie Hamill was now a premiership player……

The Hawks also hung on in a dramatic finale’ in 1965, before eventually clinching the decider against the ‘Pies by three points…….Again, the big number 18 had played his part in the tense final stages of another famous premiership victory.

It was probably the acknowledgment that he was now a fully-fledged ruckman in his own right, rather than an understudy, that convinced coach Ken Boyd of Hamill’s importance to the side.

“ Boydy had a big influence on me……I couldn’t believe the aura that surrounded him……No wonder opposition players were cautious about him on the field – he frightened me, even though I was playing in the same side as him…….” Norm jokes.

In Boyd’s swansong season, Hamill played his finest football in the Brown and Gold. His good mate Neville Hogan took out the ‘66 Morris Medal with 19 votes………Normie polled 10 votes to finish equal sixth……….

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A WISE OLD BLOKE

‘But Dad !….I want to go to the Sale.

A big ‘NO’ was his very stern words,

“You’re not really interested in cattle, my boy,

You just want to check out the birds,”

He was right, of course, although I wouldn’t admit it,

I didn’t care much about cattle or sheep,

I was only interested in getting to town,

And some of the sheilas I’d meet,

“Grab the Mattoch and Waterback,

An’ go cut some shoots,

Make sure you dig deep and don’t miss the roots,”

So off I would go with a dent in my pride,

Swaggering along with my dog by my side,

But nevertheless, as you probably can guess, I lost

Most of my arguments with Dad.

If ever I won it was with help from my Mum,

To Mum I could do nothing bad.

It was there at Glenrowan, the seeds he was sowing

Had nothing to do with a crop,

But seeds of knowledge to help me cope

With all the problems I’d cop

For it was here that Dad taught me

What it was to be a worker

He said: ‘Always pull your weight son, and don’t be a shirker………..”

Norm says farm-life didn’t really suit him: “I’d be sitting out on the tractor for hours and hours, day after day, ploughing……nobody to talk to………..”

In his early years with the Rovers he decided to leave the farm and go picking tobacco at Everton with the Kneebone family……He says his Dad was not that impressed:

“I left home without a care in the world,

Not realising or worrying about the hurt I’d unfurled,

Then Dad, walking behind the bush with a tear in his eye,

Hell, I couldn’t see too much reason to cry………..”

In due course the Kneebone’s invited him to grow tobacco as a share-farmer.

“They were great to me, and we had two good years……..I bought a brand-new car and was the richest bloke in the footy club…….thought I was shit-hot……then in the third year they had the first floods in December for decades ……..flooded every plant down the river…..”

“We all walked off with the arse out of our pants………I’d been living in a tent nearby, with one of my Rovers team-mates, Frank Sargent, who was a teacher at Everton…….We got home after training one night….there’d been a huge storm….debris everywhere……and the old tent, and all our possessions had been blown away….”

Norm Hamill ‘cuddles’ up to team-mate Frank Sargent at a Rovers Player’s Revue.

That was the end of his tobacco-growing episode. Instead, he took up Ray Thompson’s offer to work at the local Brickworks for a couple of years……..But he was developing itchy-feet and decided to use footy as his travelling passport………..

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He had a few relations in Bendigo, and decided to head over to renew acquaintances with them one week-end……..Invited for a training run with Sandhurst , he met a few people….. One thing led to another, and they offered him a few bob to play.

The Dragons teed up a job selling insurance with AMP and Norm starred in the ruck, alongside 6’8” man-mountain Carl Brewster, who was to become his best mate.

Together, they represented the Bendigo League against Sunraysia, and Norm’s original League, the Northern District.

At season’s end he and two mates drove over to the Golden West. It was his intention to strip with South Fremantle but – restless soul that he was – he popped down to Albany one week-end.

“We were sitting in the pub having a few beers and the bloke ‘behind the jump’ happened to be on the North Albany committee.”

“He raced upstairs, where they were having a meeting. Next thing 5 or 6 of them came down and offered me a few bob to play…….They arranged a job as a slaughterman with Borthwick’s – cutting sheep’s throats……1,000 a day…and hanging ‘em on a mobile chain.”

“I did that for three weeks, before I approached the boss – who was North Albany President…….I said: Listen, mate, unless you can put me up the line a bit I’m giving it the arse…..Anyway, that worked, and I ended up with a better job……….”

The next move was back east, to Albury.

Albury captain Norm Hamill. His future coach, Kevin Weule, awaits the crumbs.

“I don’t really know how I ended up there, to be honest…….They got me a job as a Slaughterman, then I had a Bread-Delivery run and was finally a Sales Rep for a Tyre company for 18 months.”

The Tigers were a middle-of-the-road side in ‘69 and finished bottom in 1970, with just four wins. Norm played consistently, though, under the coaching of Bob Spargo, and alongside Carl Brewster, who’d followed him over from Sandhurst.

“The biggest kick I got in that disappointing 1970 season, was to toss the coin, as Albury captain, with my old team-mate Neville Hogan, who was in his first year as coach of the Rovers.”

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The sunshine was beckoning………And North Albury star Kevin ‘Turkey’ Weule had been offered the coaching job with Queensland club, Coorparoo.

Norm Hamill (22) battles with his Sandgate opponent

“ They advised ‘Turk’ the job was his, on the proviso that he could bring a couple of ruckmen along. He arranged for Carl and I to meet their ‘money-man’, Barry Modini, in Wagga, to seal the deal.”

“I got a transfer in my job with the Tyre Company, went Car-detailing for a while and ended up selling cars for the remainder of our eight years, most of them on ‘The Mad Mile’, in Ipswich Road, Brisbane.”

Norm adapted well to the QAFL and, in his first season, was rated a strong chance of taking out the League’s Grogan Medal. He was selected in the State Squad for the National Division 2 Carnival, before a sprained ankle forced him out of the action.

And he was a crucial part of what was a hectic social life at Coorparoo, along with his ‘partner-in-crime’, Carl Brewster.

“We had some great times at Coorparoo, but gee, he was a bit of a wild bastard, Carl…….Got me into a bit of trouble over the years…….I even had a blue with him one night at a Club function…….He clobbered me…..I had blood all over my white jumper…..We were heading out to the middle of the ground to finish it off…..”

Norm Hamill, Coorparoo legend Wayne Stewart (centre) and the author.

“When he saw the blood on me he thought: ‘Oh shit. What am I doing, whacking my best mate.’ So we went back into the Club again…….”

“When we got home we told our wives a couple of Bikies had attacked us……..”

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Norm went on to receive an attractive offer from SQAFL club South Brisbane, where he proved a star in his debut season.

“The incumbent coach quit at the end of the year, and they asked me to take over……..I wasn’t that keen, but we actually rose from the bottom, into the four…..It was a great experience.”

Many years later, they invited him back for a function, and named him captain of South Brisbane’s ‘All Star Side’……

The final stanza in his football journey was penned when he returned home, in the late seventies, to spend part of a season with his old club, Greta…….

But the Hamill family had still not sated their wanderlust ……..He and Christine continued to traverse the nation – from Melbourne…. to Augusta (WA)….to Perth, with their growing family – Adrian, Tania and Daniel….

He got right into Scuba Diving and Absailing and crayfishing in Augusta. “Fair dinkum mate, the crayfish down there were two foot long,” Norm says.

He estimates that he had more than 30 jobs, as diverse as Barman-Cellarman, Tomato-Picker, Hotel Licensee, Caravan-Park Manager, Hay-Carter, Oil-Refinery worker, Shearer, Sales Representative, Solid-Waste Operator, Fruit-Juice Distributor, Florist and Club-Manager…………..After 30 years in W.A, he and Chris finally pulled up stumps and settled in Rosebud…….

You can sometimes get wisdom from a man in the gutter,

Not always the intellects and the words that they utter,

He was a wise old bloke that Dad of mine,

Because I took his advice and I’m feeling fine………...

“MR. OVENS AND MURRAY…….”

“It is most likely that I will die next to a pile of books I was meaning to read………” (Lemony Snickett)

I’m in the back room at home, with an hour or two to spare during this Covid Lockdown, re-acquainting myself with an overflowing Library of books.

They’re from all walks of life, but predominantly sport. The collection has mushroomed since the day I snapped up Don Bradman’s ‘Farewell to Cricket’ and ‘The History of the Marylebone Cricket Club’ at a Clearing Sale in my first week of work in the late-sixties.

Some have barely been opened; many long-forgotten. You realise you’re a chronic collector when you purchase an old Biography, or Cricket Tour Book, at St.Vinnie’s or the Salvos, then discover you’ve had a copy buried in a shelf at home for years.

In between some of the gargantuan publications that crowd the space, you can easily overlook some tiny gems wedged in between……

Like this ‘ripper’ that I pull out – ‘A Memorable Life’ – the historical ramblings of Cleaver Bunton…………

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The first memory I have of ‘Old Cleaver’ was tuning in to his deep, monotone voice delivering the District footy scores on radio station 2AY every winter Saturday, around 6pm during the fifties.

Some labelled him the ‘Voice of Local Football ’. No, others insisted, he was ‘Mr. Ovens and Murray.’

Many years later, I had just retired from footy and been talked into becoming the Rovers’ Secretary in the late seventies…….Included among the many duties was attending O & M Delegates meetings.

One of the blokes sitting on the Head Table was tall, emotionless, ancient, and appeared to doze off occasionally………Until some contentious matter cropped up……..He would command the floor, and state his opinion forcefully……..

It was ‘Old Cleaver’.

He was League Treasurer at the time, and would travel to Finals with one of his ‘cronies’, Did Simpson, to ensure that all of the gate-takings were being correctly funnelled into the O & M’s coffers. They were aware of the tricks that hosting Clubs could pull, to extract a sly ‘quid on the side’.

The pair kept an iron-like grip on the League’s finances, and you needed to be aware of exactly where Cleaver and Did were, if you were trying to ‘put one over them’.

Of course, by this stage, the old fellah had been one of the League’s mainstays for more than half a century………….

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Cleaver Bunton could hardly have been accused of lacking enterprise. At the age of six he’d been making money by selling horse manure from a small billy-cart which his father had constructed .

Inscribed on the side of the cart were the words: ‘C.Bunton – Manure Carter’. He’d visit Albury’s hotels, collect the manure from their stables and on-sell it at three-pence a load, also collecting bottles, rags and bones, which he distributed to a lucrative market.

By the age of 11 he was organising a Saturday morning boys’ competition involving six teams around South Albury.

“We played in paddocks, using mobile goal posts….I played in a team called the Rosebuds, and another team was called the ‘Mud-Punchers’.”

He told of his first inter-action with O & M football at around the same time. He and several mates watched the 1913 Grand Final between Albury and Rutherglen from a vantage spot; a mulberry tree at the Gardens end of the Albury Sportsground.

“With three seconds to go Rutherglen was in front by three points and Adamson, Albury’s captain, marked just before the siren sounded. A renowned place-kick, he put the ball on the ground and kicked the winning goal….”

“I marked it and the branches waved, as excited boys shared my luck……The umpire asked me to give it back….I handed it to him when he said he would request the officials to give it to me….There was great joy in the Bunton household when I took it home………”

• 

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Cleaver was 17 when he became vice-captain and Secretary of the Albury Football Club, which then competed in the A & B.F.A. Upon the Tigers’ re-entry to the Ovens and Murray League in 1924, he was their Secretary and Delegate:

“The town of Albury now had two teams in the O & M – Albury and St.Patrick’s. There was keen rivalry between the players of both clubs, but it was civil war between the so-called supporters.”

“When the Clubs were opposed, the gate-takings were the answer to a Treasurer’s dream. The boycotting of certain businesses was rampant, citizens being physically and verbally assaulted; in short a society being torn apart by bigotry in its worst form.”

“In a way it was too bad that I fell in love with a Catholic – in that era. This earned for me a whack over the head whilst I was keeping company with my future wife – a nursing sister at the Albury Nursing Hospital – Eileen Bridget O’Malley.”

“Despite the fact that I was the only footballer she knew, her support was for St.Patrick’s and her abuse for me. There were two camps among the staff at the Base Hospital, depending on the church you belonged to.”

“ Whilst I was passing by the Albion Hotel on an evening following a match between Albury and St.Patrick’s, a lady supporter ran from the entrance, gave me an almighty hit over the head and said: ‘Take that you mongrel, for what you did this afternoon’.”

“What I did was play the game of my life – much to the disappointment of that person.”

“Given the heat of the situation and the insane hatred between some Catholics and some Protestants at the time, Eileen and I had to devise secret plans to get married.”

“We tossed a coin to decide which Church we would marry in. I won the toss, but in deference to Eileen, decided we would marry quietly in a Catholic Presbytery…..I contacted the priest at Balldale, Father Percy, who was a friend of mine and a champion footballer, and arranged the wedding. In the presence of two witnesses and no one else, we were married……”

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The menace of bigotry had become such a blot on the town and the League, that Cleaver decided the scourge must be abated:

“Soon after the 1928 Grand Final, when Albury defeated St.Patrick’s, I met Father Pat Slattery, the President of St.Patrick’s, and he also expressed his concern……We agreed that the remedy was to disband both Clubs. “

“Both committees concurred, and a perfect solution was evolved by forming East Albury and West Albury Football Clubs. Those living east of Olive Street were bound to East Albury, and those living to the west would play with West Albury……..”

The four Bunton brothers, Cleaver, George, Wally, and the youngest – Haydn – were key players in a West Albury side which swept to a 17.16 to 15.14 win over East Albury in the 1929 O & M Grand Final.

• 

  West Albury’s 1929 Premiership Team. Cleaver Bunton is far left, back row. His brother Haydn is third from left, middle row.

Of the 36 players on the field that day, 34 of them were ex-Albury and St.Patrick’s players. The transition had worked seamlessly.

Cleaver was secretary of West Albury, until his appointment as O & M Secretary the following year – a stint that was to last for forty years. He was also O & M Treasurer from 1953 to 1993.

His playing days with Albury – who reverted back to their original name in 1933 – continued until the age of 36.

“I’d had a twenty-year career in Australian Rules football and represented the Ovens and Murray League in representative matches on several occasions. The promise of bright lights and football fame were not sufficient to lure me away from Albury, and my chosen vocation.”

On a footy trip that he’d organised to Tasmania many years earlier, he’d been impressed by the local League’s match booklet. Thus, in 1924, ‘ The Critic’ was born , and he began editing – and producing – the official organ of the Ovens and Murray League, which he continued to do until the late-eighties.

He also told of founding the Albury Umpire’s League, and of the strenuous efforts that he and O & M President Clem Hill undertook to have Aussie Rules established in Albury schools in the early days.

“There was a time when the Public Schools didn’t play football. It was because the majority of the teachers hailed from the Sydney area. They were all rugby-oriented.”

One of his assignments at 2AY, besides reading the news and delivering the footy results, was to produce concerts restricted to sportsmen, on Saturday nights during the football season.

“A star player, ‘Bing’ Connole arrived at the studio one night, having had one or two too many, and demanded that he be allowed to sing ‘Mother Machree’. It was Mother’s Day the next day. I appealed to him to leave it until the next week, but to no avail.”

“He assured me that all he wanted to do was sing ‘Mother Machree’ to his mother and he would do nothing wrong.”

“ ‘Bing’ didn’t sing, but he cried ‘Mother Machree’, with tears streaming down his face. The phone rang continuously: ‘Put Bing back on’…..’. I had a long and satisfactory association with the ABC for thirty years…….”

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Cleaver was also an early-starter in his professional career:

“I went to school one day at the age of 13, not knowing that the next day I would be a junior clerk in a Solicitor’s office. An appeal to my parents to leave school appeared to be abortive, but eventually they agreed after I promised to attend night school………..”

“So off I went to start work the next morning at a wage of seven shillings and sixpence per week. Four and a half years later Albury was experiencing a property boom, and I set up in business as a property agent.”

“By 1924 I had built up a sizeable clientele, and my practice made considerable headway. I held the Secretaryship of 40 organisations and I was grateful to the many people who provided the nucleus of the Accountancy section of my business………”

“My entry to Local Government began in 1925, when I was elected as an alderman on the Albury City Council ( at the age of 22 )…….

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Cleaver retired from the Council in 1931, then returned as an alderman in 1937. He served as Mayor of Albury from 1946 – 1976 ( with brief breaks in 1961 and ‘72/73 ).

He advocated regionalism and is credited with helping transform Albury from a country town to a modern metropolis.

• 

His civic duty had earned him recognition throughout the Riverina and North-East Victoria, but it was his move to Canberra to fill a vacancy in the Senate in 1975, which came to the attention of the nation.

Whilst still an Alderman and Mayor of Albury, the New South Wales Liberal Party nominated him for the Senate. He defied expectations by acting as an Independent, resisting the urging of the Liberals to side with them during the tumultuous 1975 Constitutional Crisis.

“I entered the Senate amid controversy, and left ( nine months later ) on 11th November 1975 amid a far bigger controversy, (when the Whitlam Labor Government was dismissed.). Police abounded on the crowded steps leading from King’s Hall to the front door of Parliament House. The atmosphere was electric…..I was surrounded by reporters anxious to hear my views.”

“I remember the remarks of one reporter, who said: ‘We are aware of your wonderful contribution in an effort to save the day. What do you think of the future ?’…..I said: ‘Your guess is as good as mine…..’ Then it was back to Albury and a much happier environment……”

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He was awarded an OBE in 1954 and an Order of Australia in 1975. It is said that a Knighthood was in the wings, except that he’d refused to side with the Liberals, to block supply to the Government.

He continued to serve his beloved Ovens and Murray League as Treasurer until 1990 and is arguably the longest-serving administrator in Australian Rules history.

‘Old Cleaver’ passed away in 1999, aged 96. He was inducted as an O & M Legend in 2005…………

• 

‘TOMMY ( THE TERRIBLE TURK ) TAKES TIGERS TO THE TOP…..’

The fortunes of Ovens and Murray football have ebbed and flowed in its 127-year existence. The only impediments to its continuity have been two World Wars and, dare I say it, the Pandemic which has rudely interrupted this season.

It’s significant, though, that after the previous interludes, the League quickly dusted itself off and gathered momentum. ‘Transmission’ will hopefully resume as normal, when the dreaded Covid-19 dissipates.

…….Just as it did in 1946…..After a five-year break, a seven-team competition battled its way through 12 rounds, culminating in an epic Grand Final. Wangaratta’s nail-biting 5-point win over Albury had O & M fans salivating for more…………..

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Season 1947 saw the debut of a new club, North Albury, and the arrival of some big names. The most celebrated of these was Bob Chitty, the gladiatorial, swashbuckling Carlton hard-man, who had played a key role in the Blues’ win over South Melbourne in the notorious 1945 ‘Bloodbath’ Grand Final.

Chitty was lured to Benalla as captain-coach. Favourite son, ruckman Jack Eames returned to lead Wodonga after a season at Richmond, whilst Albury, hunting for a replacement for the legendary Doug Strang, opted for a tireless, talkative 36 year-old ball of energy from Port Melbourne. His name was Tommy Lahiff……….

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Lahiff, born in 1910, grew up with an insatiable appetite for sport. At the age of 19 he’d made his District cricket debut with St.Kilda, alongside Test players Bill Ponsford, Leslie Fleetwood-Smith, Don Blackie and Bert Ironmonger.

The following year, after a brief, ill-fated sojourn with VFA club Brighton, he transferred to the love of his football life, Port Melbourne.

Tommy once spoke of the build-up to his debut with ‘The Borough’:

“Bobby Skilton’s father, who I was a great admirer of, had captained Port the previous season. I asked his advice : ‘What have I gotta do, Mr.Skilton ?’ He replied: ‘Well, when you play with Port son, there’s always going to be a fight. It’ll break out somewhere. Don’t waste your time running to where it is; just belt the bloke who’s next to you……’ “

“Which I did……That’s how they played at Port…..If a fight started and you weren’t in it they didn’t forgive you……”

He recalled some of his team-mates ‘winding him up before one game:

“They had a bloke playing for Northcote called Ernie Wilson. He was tough; he’d played for Collingwood. I was a cheeky little bloke and some of the Port fellahs said: ‘Ernie Wilson’ll be minding you today. He’s as weak as water; give him a biff behind the ear and he won’t come near you.’ “

“So I did that and the next thing I’m flat on my back. And every time I gave him a biff he gave me two back. When we went in at half-time I said: ‘I thought you said this Wilson was weak.’ They said: ‘Oh, you didn’t hit him hard enough.’ “

“All right, I thought, I’ll hit him harder. So I went out in the second half and the same thing happened. It got to about three-quarter time and Ernie Wilson said to me: ‘Look son, I don’t know what your idea is, but I’m getting tired of knocking you down.’ ……And I said: ‘And I’m getting tired of getting up again.’

“He replied: ‘Well, forget about it and play the ball. Someone’s given you the wrong impression……’ “

He learned quickly, and in 1931 finished runner-up in the VFA’s Best & Fairest Award named, at that time, The Recorder Cup.

But he took time to fully establish himself as a top-notch player. The aggressive edge that marked Lahiff’s play was emphasised when he was ‘rubbed out’ for a total of 12 weeks in 1932- four weeks for charging a Northcote player and eight weeks for striking in a match against Sandringham.

The two disqualifications earned him a nickname, handed down by team-mates, which he would carry for life – ‘The Terrible Turk – after a wrestler of the 30’s who displayed the same ruthless streak.

• 

By 1935 the 5’6” rover/forward had landed at Essendon, where he was to play 49 games and boot 67 goals in three seasons, before returning to his beloved Port.

They appointed him captain-coach ( he was also captain-coach of Port’s Sub-District cricket side) and he concentrated on rekindling interest in the Club by working hard with the young local players.

“The wharfies (who exerted a powerful influence on the Club ) came to see me when I got the job,” Tommy recalled. They said: ‘We’ll support you, Tommy, but there is one rule. No cops ! If you have any problems, we’ll sort them out for you. But we don’t need any cops !‘ “

He reflected: “There wouldn’t have been a boy who played footy or cricket at Port that I didn’t get involved with in some way….. I had a great interest in kids. I watched ‘em all grow up….. Some of them became champions….This endeared everybody to Port…..We became so close that people thought we were all related…..”

After coaching for two years, he was replaced by a League star, Frank Kelly, who led Port to the 1940 flag. On the eve of the finals, the following year, Kelly was ousted, and Lahiff, who had been the ‘acting’ coach for the majority of the season, was re-instated.

He promptly guided the ‘Borough’ to another title. Tommy was a hero. They crowned him the ‘ ‘Unofficial Mayor’ of Port.

• 

When VFA footy was suspended two months later because of World War 2, he resumed his League career, firstly at South Melbourne, then at Hawthorn.

Again, Lahiff’s charisma endeared him to team-mates, and he proved a popular figure at Glenferrie Oval. He was approached to coach the Hawks in 1944, following the retirement of the incumbent, Roy Cazaly, and was handed the job – as a non-playing leader.

The resumption of the V.F.A. competition in 1946 saw Tommy resume the reins at Port – as non-playing coach. He led them into the finals, and at season’s end, let it be known that he’d again be an applicant for the job in 1947.

This time, though, they opted for the ex-North Melbourne small man Billy Findlay, much to the chagrin of the dyed-in-the-wool Lahiff………………..

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Tommy Lahiff nursed his wounded feelings and weighed up his choices. With 175 V.F.A. and 74 VFL matches to his name he was one of the most experienced footballers around……..And his appetite for coaching and faith in his ability was as strong as ever.

Despite his age ( 36 ) he knew he’d be able to knock himself back into playing shape, despite not having graced the field for three seasons. He was appointed to both of the coaching positions he applied for – at Albury and Tocumwal – but chose Albury…….. For the princely sum of eight pounds per week the Tigers had got their man.

Tommy, with his wife Freda, and young son Graham, made the trip up the highway to their new life. He soon ingratiated himself into his new Club and, with a doctrine of hard work on the training track, Albury began to loom as a premiership threat.

The Tigers had won three of the last four Pre-War flags, in 1937, ‘39 and 1940, and were accustomed to success. But a few other Clubs had begun to stamp their credentials.

Tommy knew it would take time to adapt to a different standard of footy, but soon hit top form. He proved ever-dangerous in his role as a rover/forward, relishing the silver service provided by champion left-foot on-baller, Jimmy ‘The Master’ Matthews.

With 60 goals Lahiff was runner-up to Bob Chitty ( 86 ) in the League’s goal-kicking Award, as Albury dropped just two games – to Benalla and Border-United, to finish on top of the ladder.

The Tigers were always in control in the Second Semi-Final, leading from go to whoa to thrash Benalla by 52 points. Matthews and Leon Power, with four goals apiece, were irresistible, whilst Chitty was held to just the one major.

But Chitty, the ‘Wild Man of Football’, ominously hit the target in the Prelim. His haul of nine helped the Demons to a 44-point win over Border-United, to set up a mouth-watering clash at the Wangaratta Showgrounds.

He was also on fire in a riveting first quarter of the Grand Final, nailing three early goals. Benalla, showing their supremacy in the air, had jumped the Tigers and led 6.2 to 2.4. Poor kicking continued to dog Albury’s attempt to climb back into the game, but at three quarter-time they had reduced the margin to one point – 6.16 to 8.5.

Jimmy Matthews reflected on the turning-point of the game years later: “Tommy Lahiff was a super coach and had the ability to pull the winning move at the right time. He made several positional changes in the last quarter, which helped make the difference.”

The principal of these was shifting spearhead Loy Stewart into the ruck, whilst backman/follower Tom Davey moved to full forward. Regarded as a notoriously inaccurate kick, Davey drop-kicked three telling goals in the final term to be a major factor in the 15-point Tiger triumph – 11.18 (84) to 10.9 (69).

The brilliant Matthews, one-armed ruckman Ossie Bownds, backmen Reggie Gard and John Briggs, and coach Lahiff with four goals, also starred for Albury.

“It was an extra-hard game and I congratulate all you players for fighting it out,” said Lahiff in the jubilant, raucous Tiger rooms after the win………….

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Many Albury fans predicted that, under Tommy Lahiff’s coaching, Albury would enjoy an extended reign at the top. But it wasn’t to be. The official reason given for the parting of the ways was that they had rejected his request for an increase from eight, to ten pounds a week in his salary.

But his wife Freda was also eager to return to Melbourne. Tommy played, and coached, in the city for the next three years, then bobbed up again in the O & M as captain-coach of Corowa in 1951.

They threw a handsome salary ( 15 pounds per week ) at him and he took on a job as a painter during his two-year spell at the John Foord Oval.

Despite initially electing to coach from the sidelines in 1952, Tommy decided that his young side desperately needed on-field guidance. He again pulled on the boots at the age of 42, and quickly regained form.

But success eluded the Spiders and, by mutual consent, Tommy parted ways with them at season’s end and returned home. His days as a player, much to his sorrow, were now over…….

He remained deeply involved in sport, and had further coaching stints, with Sandringham, a fourth term at Port Melbourne in 1962, and as assistant-coach to Bob Skilton at South Melbourne for two years.

The remainder of his sporting involvement was as a popular media indentity, alongside his mate Harry Beitzel, with a succession of radio stations.

• 

When Tommy Lahiff passed away, aged 86, he was mourned as a much-loved character who had touched countless sporting lives, not least in two Ovens and Murray border towns……………….

(With help from Ken Linnett, author of “Game for Anything”)

‘A CHAMP OF FOOTBALL’S GOLDEN ERA……’

Fifty-nine years after he last graced the Albury Sportsground, Jack Jones is still a revered figure at Tigerland.

He’s remembered for the part he played in a Golden Era of Ovens and Murray football …..when VFL champions in their prime, were lured by attractive financial packages and the opportunity to coach in the best country competition in the land.

Billy Stephen vacated the job as Fitzroy’s playing-coach to take over at Yarrawonga;  Bobby Rose (“Mr.Football”) rejected a rich offer from East Perth, preferring instead to throw in his lot with Wangaratta Rovers. His Collingwood team-mate Des Healey headed to Wodonga; Sturt’s dual Magarey Medallist and All-Australian, Len Fitzgerald opted to take charge at Benalla. The brilliant Jimmy Deane, also a dual winner of the Magarey, shocked South Adelaide when he moved to Myrtleford…………

And Jones, who had been a key figure in a decade of Essendon dominance, was persuaded to ‘pull up stumps’ in the big smoke and bring his growing family to the relative serenity of Albury.

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You may have heard the yarn about Jack passing through Albury one week-end late in 1954. As they hunted around for somewhere to prop for the night, he noticed a vacancy at a small  Bed & Breakfast, and suggested to his wife Mary that it might might suit them.

“It belonged to Jack Adams, who was tied up with the Albury Football Club, and recognised me straight away. Instead of staying at the B & B, he invited us to share the hospitality of  his family home.”

“The conversation naturally turned to footy, and Jack happened to mention that there was a coaching position available.”

A couple of weeks later, back home in Melbourne, he received a deputation from a couple of Albury officials. He’d already been approached by Moe, but, thanks to the contact he’d had with Jack Adams, was leaning towards Albury.

“I’d been getting the standard rate for a League player, which was, if I remember rightly, 8 quid a game. The Tigers’ offered 25 pounds per week.”

“I decided to take the job on.”…………….

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Jack Jones was just eight when he tagged along with his dad, a fervent Essendon supporter, to watch Dick Reynolds make his debut against Footscray in 1934.

The dream of wearing the Red and Black was, if not already embedded in the youngster’s psyche, re-inforced from that moment on.

He played his junior footy with Ascot Vale CYMS. Perfectly-built and with plenty of pace for a lad who was a touch over 6 foot, the next step would naturally have been to Windy Hill.

But at 19 he was called up to serve in the Army, and was to spend the next 22 months exposed to the atrocities of World War II, in the jungles of New Guinea and Bougainville.

“It was outrageous, the war,” he once said. “No-one wins a bloody war. “ Of his company, 91 were killed, 197 wounded. “I was just lucky. The bullet or shrapnel just didn’t have my name on it.”

Jack had to wait another four months for a boat to take him home after peace had been declared.

He walked straight into Essendon’s senior line-up in 1946 and was never dropped. Versatility was his greatest asset.

In the early days he’d line up on a forward flank, then take an occasional ‘chop-out’ in the ruck. But he could be swung into key positions and shine with his high marking and long kicking. And with his pace, he was even used on a wing.

So the dream that began to form all those years ago, came to fruition when he ran out behind his coach, hero and triple Brownlow Medallist Dick Reynolds, in the 1946 Grand Final.

Jack was a reserve in that Premiership side, but was in the familiar role of centre half forward when Carlton’s Brownlow Medallist Bert Deacon picked him up in the 1947 decider.

The Bombers had 30 shots to the Blues’ 21, and were pipped by a point.

Essendon famously kicked 7.27 in the 1948 Grand Final, to dramatically tie with Melbourne (10.9). Spearhead Bill Brittingham, with 2.12, shouldered some of the blame for their woeful inaccuracy, but the Bombers just couldn’t find the big sticks.

The Demons comfortably won the replay.

Jack had a front row seat to the ‘John Coleman Show’ for the next few years. The arrival of the champion full forward put the icing on the cake, as the brilliant Bombers clinched the 1949 and ‘50 flags. And his absence, through suspension, for the ‘51 Grand Final, is blamed for their 11-point loss to Geelong.

After 175 games  (133 of those consecutive), Jack Jones pulled down the curtain on his storied VFL career at the end of the 1954 season. He’d played in seven Grand Finals, for three flags, was adjudged Essendon’s best utility player in 1946, ‘47, ‘49 and ‘54, and the Best Clubman of 1953.

He had, one report said ‘….thrilled supporters with his marking and  open play on the half forward line, and had been one of the fastest big men in the game, as well as taking a fair share of the ruckwork………..’

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Jack shifted his family to Albury early in 1955, and landed a job at Rupert Hines’ Butchery, opposite the Albion Hotel.

The Tigers, under their new leader (wearing the number 24 that he’d made famous at Essendon, and the number of his army battalion) were tipped to be the big improvers. But after a solid opening-round win, they dropped their next five matches, to be in dire straits.

“I’d been playing at centre half back, but the selectors suggested I shift to centre half forward,” Jack recalls. “It was one of the moves that worked. We won 10 of the next 12 games.”

“We needed to win the last game and rely on another couple of results going our way to sneak into the finals, but it wasn’t to be.”  ( Albury belted eventual runners-up, Wangaratta by 65 points, yet finished outside the ‘four’, with a percentage of 146.3, by far the best in the competition.)

“We had a very good side. I reckon we could have won it had we got in,” he says.

But there were to be no hiccups the following year. They lost just two games, en route to dismantling North Albury in both the second-semi and Grand Final.

It was a side that contained stars of the calibre of Lance Mann (who’d returned from Essendon), Dr.John Stoney ( a Bendigo 10,000 winner), ex-State rep Jimmy Robison, Leon Pain, Keith Thomas, and big ruckmen Barry Takle and John Ziebarth.

At 18, David Tighe was in his football infancy, and lined up on the flank, alongside Jones. He witnessed at first-hand the influence that he could have on a game.

“He was a prolific mark – nearly unbeatable in the air up here. I saw Jack mark six consecutive kick-outs from Neil Currie (the long-kicking Myrtleford full back), one day. He sent each one of them over his head. I think he ended up with seven goals for the game.”

“Jack was not only a big playing influence . He was a great leader; an outstanding  person,” David recalls.

Jones saved some of his finest football for the big occasions, and was the Tigers’ best in the two lead-up finals which preceded their 1957 Grand Final clash with Wangaratta.

It was a flag they should have won. Leading by 27 points at three quarter-time, the margin had been whittled down to less than a kick with a minute remaining.

“The fellah we had tagging Lance Oswald had done a great job – had kept him to three kicks for the day. Suddenly Oswald broke free and bobbed up in the pocket. He’s snapped the winning goal in the dying seconds,” Jack recalls.

Jones’s four goals in the Grand Final gave him 59 for the year. He followed up with another 49 in 1958, also finishing fifth in the Morris Medal. The season finished in disappointment, however, when Albury lost a gripping, sodden Prelim Final to Wodonga by four points.

He suffered a broken jaw mid-way through his final season with the Tigers (1959). “I wanted to get back out on the ground after a couple of weeks, but (Dr.John) Stoney wouldn’t have a bar of it, “ he says.

Jack had played 75 games and booted 171 goals in his five seasons at Albury. He played in O & M Country Championship-winning teams of 1955 and ’57.

He coached Kergunyah in 1960, then joined the Albury Umpires Board for a couple of years, before he and Mary and their growing family returned to Melbourne.

He spent 35 years with Gilbertson’s Meats, managing and doing financial planning for some of their 85 shops. That, and raising their six kids – Lynne, Peter, Brian, Tony, John and Anne-Marie – kept Jack and Mary busy.

Sons Tony and John both made an impact in football. John’s a member of the VAFA Hall of Fame, captained the Vic Amateurs and he and Tony also represented the VCFL in rep fixtures.

Jack, of course, became a familiar figure at Windy Hill during his retirement years, conducting guided tours for supporters and acting as an Ambassador for the Club.

He doesn’t do so much of that now. After all, he turned 93 on Cup Day last year, but he still attends all of the Bombers’ matches in Melbourne. And he wouldn’t dream of missing an Anzac Day march, to honour his fallen, and long departed Army comrades.

He and Mary celebrated their 70^th wedding anniversary last week, and were doted on by their 11 grandkids and 6 (soon to be 8) great-grandkids.

Colin Joss, he says, offered to fly him up for an Albury function a couple of years ago, but it clashed with something he’d been helping out with at Essendon.

“Albury still holds a special place in my heart,” says this  Tiger Team of the Century captain, Bomber Hall of Famer and true Legend of the game…………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL………’

You’ve heard the story about the kid who used to plonk a rubbish-bin in a forward pocket at the Showgrounds. He’d drill 70 or 80 kicks at it, then drag it over to the other pocket and repeat the exercise.

Became a triple Geelong Premiership hero,  Norm Smith Medallist and media darling. They dubbed him ‘Stevie J’.

………. And the larrikin with loads of talent and spunk. North Melbourne officials lobbed at Myrtleford’s McNamara Reserve one night, whisked him off the training track and named him in their side the following Saturday.

Lou Richards was a fan and handed him a moniker that stuck. From then on he was ‘Slammin’ Sam’ Kekovich.

…………Sam played in the ‘Roos’ first Premiership with a hulking fellah from Tarrawingee, who made his name at the Wangaratta Rovers.  North’s talent scouts came up to a Grand Final to cast an eye over another lad- Johnny Byrne –  but were so impressed with the ruckwork of Michael Nolan that they signed the pair of them.

‘The Galloping Gasometer’ was to become a VFL cult hero.

………….Richmond recruiters took an immediate shine to Doug Strang when they saw him playing for East Albury in 1930. They thought they may as well invite his likely-looking brother Gordon down as well. In just his second game Doug kicked a lazy 14 goals and Gordon (‘Cocker’) dominated at the other end.

They figured in the Tigers’ Premiership victory the following year, alongside another O & M champ Maurie Hunter, who was by now a star of the game.

…………..A tall, blonde lad from Corowa-Rutherglen was just 16 when he booted 12 goals against Myrtleford in 1987. He was destined for the top, the experts proclaimed.

John Longmire had a striking physique, athleticism and an attitude beyond his tender years. Three seasons after his O & M debut he won the Coleman Medal and North Melbourne’s best and fairest. Subsequent coaching success with Sydney has added further lustre to ‘Horse’s’ burgeoning  resume’.

………….Fitzroy lured a star forward from Albury in the mid-thirties. Exasperated by his wayward kicking, they experimented with him at centre half back. Such was his dominance in the new position that Denis ‘Dinny’ Ryan took out the 1936 Brownlow Medal…………..

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It’s O & M  Hall of Fame time. Since its introduction in 2005 more than 60 champions have been duly honoured.

But who is the greatest home-grown product of them all ?

I’ve touched on a few, but the list of stars is as long as your arm. For argument’s sake, I’ll throw in a few more of the 350-odd who have ventured to the ‘big time’………Lance Oswald, Bert Mills, Don Ross, Daniel Cross, Percy ‘Oily’ Rowe, Fred Hiskins, Brett Kirk, Joel Smith, Daniel Bradshaw, Dennis Carroll, Fraser Gehrig, Dinny Kelleher, Ben Matthews, Lance Mann, Les (Salty) Parish, Norm Bussell and Jimmy Sandral.

And some, like Robbie Walker, Stan Sargeant, Brian Gilchrist,  Neville Hogan, ‘Curly’ Hanlon and Dennis Sandral  didn’t find the urge to leave home, yet are right up there when the experts compile a list of the ‘Best from the Bush’……….

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But there’ll be no argument about the Best-Ever.

Haydn Bunton won Brownlow Medals in his first and second years at Fitzroy – and  another, three years later.  Scribes of the thirties lauded the precocious talent of the lad from Albury, who had been forced to stand out of the game for a year. It was alleged that Fitzroy had paid him an illegal sign-on fee and thereby flouted the Coulter Law.

His brilliance had originally come to the attention of talent scouts when he starred for the O & M against a combined VFL team in 1928. He was still 16, but already exhibited wondrous skills.

Some years after his retirement, Haydn reflected on his early days and his entry to senior football:

“…..By the time I was 13, my two elder brothers George and Cleaver were playing for Albury and my younger brother Wally was already showing promise of doing the same.

That year – 1924 – I played football for the Albury School on Fridays and for Albury in the Ovens and Murray League on Saturdays.

In my last year at school I captained the school cricket team and hit 805 runs at an average of 201 and took 43 wickets. I’ve often been asked why I gave up cricket after only one District season with Fitzroy.

At times I wonder myself. I could get runs, but I was always a pretty stodgy bat. I had the chance. In 1927 I was chosen in the Riverina team to play Country Week in Sydney and made 3 centuries.

The next season I again got among the runs with 4 more centuries. Bill Ponsford came to see me at Albury and asked me to play for St.Kilda. I would have gone, but my mother was against my doing so.

In fact, when I did leave Albury to go to Melbourne to play football in 1930 it was still against my mother’s wishes. My father only agreed when he saw how keen I was.

It was around 1928 that the turmoil in my life began. For four years I’d been playing football with Albury………Four Buntons were in the Albury team. George was centre half forward and Wally centre half back. Cleaver took the knocks and the coach Bobbie Barnes, and I picked them up.

When I’d won the Best & Fairest for the team for three years -1926,’27 and ’28 – we played against a visiting Essendon side. Frank Maher, the State rover, was opposed to me. I had the better of him all day. At the time I thought I was king of the world. When I look back, though, I realise Frank was near the end of his time after a brilliant career. His legs weren’t as youthful as mine.

In 1929 the pressure was really on. Eleven Victorian clubs – all except Collingwood – came after me. They sent their men with all sorts of propositions, and they laid on the charm with a trowel.

It was pretty flattering and mighty bewildering. It would have been a game son who got a big head with my dad. In fact, his stern advice to me when I eventually left to play in Melbourne, was: “If you get swollen-headed don’t come back to this house. I want no son of mine to become too big for his boots.”

Looking back now, I almost blush with embarrassment when I think of how I arrived in Melbourne – a typical hick from the sticks’. My felt hat was dinted in four places, I wore a navy blue suit, the coat cut high at the back, the trousers almost bell-bottomed, cut-away double-breasted waistcoat, butcher blue shirt – and 4 shillings in my pocket when I stepped on to Spencer Street station.

Carlton officials were supposed to meet me. They were never at the station -although they claimed they were. I went straight to the head office of New Zealand Loan and asked for the manager. “Has my transfer been arranged to here from Albury, sir?” I asked. “What transfer, Bunton ?” was his staggering reply. I told him that Carlton had arranged it.

He rocked me again with his reply: ” I know nothing of any transfer, Bunton. In any case, we don’t transfer professional footballers.”

That was that. I was out of a job. I went out and immediately rang Tom Coles, the Fitzroy secretary. He got me a job straight away, working with Chandler’s, the hardware merchants. I signed there and then with Fitzroy…….”

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Because he was forced out of League football for a year, Haydn caught a train back to Albury each week-end of the 1930 season, to play for West Albury.

Then, almost from the time of his League debut, he became a celebrity.  In 119 games with Fitzroy, he kicked 307 goals, was twice their leading goal-kicker, twice club captain and was captain-coach for a year.

In 1938 he transferred to Subiaco, where he dominated the WAFL, winning three Sandover Medals in his four years in the west.

Haydn settled in Adelaide in 1945 and played his final season with Port Adelaide. He then went on to become a League umpire and, finally, a League coach with North Adelaide in 1947 and ’48.

He suffered serious injuries when his car veered off a road near Adelaide and hit a tree in 1955. The colourful life of the legendary Haydn Bunton was over at just 44 years of age………….