“ANDREW DALE……A FORTUNATE LIFE…..”

Calm has been restored to the Wangaratta Racecourse Complex on this balmy mid-March morning……. I chug down Cruise Street, wind around the Three Mile Creek …..past the planked white fences which delineate the Stables of local trainers……past the flash new Grandstand …….towards the entrance……

• 

The swish..swish..swishing of sprays freshens a Track which, hours earlier had been a hive of activity, with the thundering hooves of close on 200 thoroughbreds striding out on its lush surface.

Trainers, owners, jockeys, stable-hands and hangers-on converge here, daily at dawn….Numbered among them is an athletic-looking fellah in his late-fifties, sporting a neatly-trimmed grey beard……….

He’s Andrew Dale……….

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It’s a bit over four years since I last spotted him……..waving animatedly from the boundary-line at the Findlay Oval, as Myrtleford desperately tried to hang on in a goal-for-goal Elimination Final thriller against Wodonga Raiders. It was to no avail. The Saints went down by a couple of kicks. But his passion was obvious…….understandable too, given that his sons, Frazer and Lachlan were playing starring roles………..

As with most things in his life, he moved on quickly, but I’m keen to coax the now-Principal of Andrew Dale Racing to reflect on a colourful sporting career…………

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He was born in Stawell almost 59 years ago. His parents, both school-teachers, transferred to the ‘big smoke’ when he was 7 or 8, but his infatuation with football was already deeply-entrenched.

Eltham became Andrew’s home club. He graduated from junior ranks to play well over 150 senior games with the Panthers, including a 1982 Diamond Valley League flag, under the coaching of Melbourne great ‘Hassa’ Mann.

Interspersed with this were a couple of pre-seasons at Collingwood, and several Reserves appearances on match permits. But his bid to crack the ‘Pies final list fell short.

Instead, he headed off to North Adelaide for a year, and returned home to find that his luck had turned. Melbourne were keenly interested, and recruited him in 1986.

It was a brief sojourn at the top…….After some consistent Reserves performances, his senior opportunity came late in the season, lining up in defence against a rampaging Hawthorn, at Waverley Park.

I’d already checked the stats he accumulated that day – 11 kicks, 6 marks, 12 handballs……A more than handy debut, I would suggest:

“Yeah, but the Hawks were all over us, and the ball was down my way a fair bit ( across half back ),” Andrew recalls. “At different stages during the game I had to look after Brereton , Lester-Smith, Curran and Judge. The game was over at half-time, but I remember one of our blokes saying: ‘Just run on and keep trying….You’ll be okay.’ “

“Next game we played the Swans at the SCG…..It was the height of the Edelsten Era, and they were really flying. We got pumped. I was in the back half…..picked up Anthony Daniher and played on Capper for a while.”

“They took me off, and I spent a fair bit of the game on the bench…….I might have looked out of my depth…I dunno……Maybe our coach John Northey thought so, too…..Anyway, I came back on for a while in the last quarter, but that was it……It was all over……”

Andrew participated in the finals series for the Demons Reserves, then returned home to Eltham as coach, leading them to the finals. He stayed on as captain when his friend- and Melbourne team-mate – Peter Moore, succeeded him as non-playing coach in 1989.

“It was the right thing to do,” he says. “Pete had a high profile, and was returning to his home club. He generated great interest and we went on to win the flag that year………”

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He had done a bit of everything, work-wise, whilst pursuing his footy dream. In his late twenties he studied Teaching, which added another string to his bow.

Whilst he was still capable of picking up a few kicks, he and his wife Heather decided on a lifestyle change. Struggling Benalla appointed him playing-coach in 1993.

• 

“During the interview process they were pretty upfront,” he explained. “They said: ‘Look, we don’t have any money; we can’t chase players. You’re going to have to go with what you’ve got.”

But the Demons couldn’t complain about the coach’s contribution. He finished joint runner-up in the Morris Medal, represented the O & M as a dynamic mid-fielder, and oversaw strong development in a group of youngsters.

He missed almost three-quarters of the following season with a succession of soft-tissue injuries. Benalla remained near the foot of the ladder, and some officials were beginning to become impatient. They advised him that his position was going to be advertised.

“That basically means you’re gone. A few clubs showed interest and I thought I still had a bit of footy left in me.”

Myrtleford snapped him up in 1995, appointing him Playing-coach and part-time Administration Officer.

• 

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“It’s a tough gig coaching Myrtleford, with its small population, geographic location and reduced talent pool…But it was great to have the time and opportunity to put some strategies in place to improve the Club.”

“I felt we laid the groundwork and started to see some improvement.”

The Saints won 13 and a half games the following season, returning to the finals for the first time in 12 years. Andrew was still making a solid contribution despite approaching the mid-thirties. He had worn the Black and Gold of the O & M on four occasions.

“We had two lads, Guy Rigoni and Steve McKee move on to the AFL. I felt we had a good footy Club and were engaging with the community. The Saints, as you know, can get on a roll when that happens,” he says.

Besides coaching and doing some part-time teaching, he penned a footy column in both the Border Mail and Myrtleford Times.

• 

“It was pretty hectic, along with raising the four kids (Jaime, Frazer, Lachlan and Milly). But, after four years as coach of Myrtleford ( the last as non-playing leader), an opportunity came up to coach in Tasmania…………..”

He’d just finished an AFL Level-3 coaching course when he was approached by Michael Aird, a parliamentarian, and Chairman of State League Club, New Norfolk:

“I flew down to Tassie to meet with him.He laid it on the line; explaining that the Club was about to lose its Poker Machines and was in danger of closing its doors. He said: ‘We’re struggling in every aspect, on and off the field. But if you accept the non-playing coaching job, I guarantee you’ll get paid.’ “

Andrew coached the Club in the dying days of the financially-stricken State League competition, then transitioned to a post with AFL Tasmania. The role included coaching the State Under 16’s and assisting the Tassie Mariners U.18 team.

He spent another two years working on Special Events and Projects for the State Government after they consented to underwrite the costs of Hawthorn and North Melbourne playing their home games in Tasmania.

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In the meantime, he and Heather had bought the Motel on Alpine in Myrtleford and settled back in town.

He says he’d always been fascinated by the racing game. His initial involvement came with having small shares in a few horses….: ”Then I caught the the training bug from there…..It was something that really interested me…..”

“As a consequence, I studied, and had the qualifications to go into training from a theory point of view.”

“I just needed to get some practical skills, so I went and worked with an Albury trainer, Rob Wellington for a couple of years…..and got my Trainer’s licence in 2013.”

Eight years later, he’s well settled in an excellent facility on the perimeter of the Wangaratta Racecourse complex, which was built in conjunction with the Turf Club, and Racing Victoria.

“It’s fantastic here,” Andrew says. “We’ve built a good training operation with 40 horses on our books and about 25 in work. Of that 40 there might 4-5 getting broken in. We’re looking to expand, and possibly have 25-30 here.”

“Frazer (son) is hopefully going to take over one day. Ideally, he’ll want to grow the business to the next level; maybe buy a small farm and do some pre-training and spelling as well…….But, of course, he’s got to have the desire to do it.”

• 

Andrew and Frazer share the early starts, which means leaving Myrtleford at 4am, and getting to the course at 4.40. The early morning session goes through until 8.30 am.

Then they settle into administrative duties……Nominations, Acceptances, Jockeys, Race selection…..

The afternoon shift starts at around 2pm and the day’s work concludes at roughly 4.30pm.

“The whole day moves into different areas. We’re always talking to people about becoming involved in new horses.”

“As with all trainers we’re into buying yearlings. You syndicate them and keep a share yourself. So you’ve got that constant evolvement of horses coming into your Barn.”

“When you sell a horse to a client, they’ll hopefully stay with you for a fair period, because they go through the whole education – the breaking-in process… racing…spelling…racing….”

“Syndicating is a fine art. You have to pitch at the right price-point. Frazer does it well through Facebook and Twitter……We bought a cheap one the other day and sold it within 48 hours. Yet we bought three at the Classic Sale…..We sold one, a well-priced, well-bred filly, but haven’t done much with the other two yet…….”

• 

Andrew sees a correlation between coaching footballers and training horses.

“If you think about it, in footy you have the pre-season, pre-season games, Finals, have a break, then start that cycle all over again.”

“The same principles apply to horse-racing…..A horse works up in its preparation, gets fit, has a couple of jump-outs or trials, then goes into races……..Management, maintenance, well-being, diet……It’s the same with any athlete, human or equine……”

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Andrew and Heather’s family circumstances changed two years ago, when they took three of their grand-children into their care.

“Your whole life changes again, when you go back to parenting at our age,” he says. “They’re beautiful kids…One is on the Autism spectrum, another has ADHD….so there’s a lot of management with them. They were born in fairly harsh circumstances……”

“Spending time with them, though, reminds me that I didn’t do enough of that with our first four. I’m looking forward to helping out this time around.”

He remains vitally interested in footy – and naturally, Myrtleford, where his sons are key components of the Saints’ bid to snare their first flag in 51 years. Frazer, who played two games with Carlton as an 18 year-old in 2012, memorably kicked a goal after the siren to give the Blues victory in his debut appearance.

Lachie confirmed his status as an O & M top-liner in 2019, by representing the League, polling strongly in the Morris Medal, and booting 59 goals, to win the Doug Strang Medal.

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Andrew Dale reckons he’s had a fortunate life: “I’ve played some alright footy…. coached….seen some good and bad things happen with my family…..I’ve got involved in the racehorse industry….trained 90-odd winners so far…..”

“Maybe, when I die, my epitaph might read: ‘He achieved everything he wanted to do.’ “

• 

“REGRETS…….I’VE HAD A FEW……….”

I remember him all those years ago……..He was an emerging football prodigy……After a handful of scintillating performances talent-scouts hurriedly etched his name into their note-books……He was a long, lean, loping lad, destined for stardom…….

Thirty-five years later we re-connect. When I introduce myself he hesitates; wondering if I’m about to deliver bad tidings about something that’s happened in his old home town .

“No, just looking to re-trace your footy career.”…..“Not much to talk about there,” he jokes.

What follows, I think, proves somewhat cathartic, as my subject seems to appreciate exorcising a few old ‘demons’…………….

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Paul Bryce moved seamlessly through junior ranks. A product of the Imperials, he shone under the coaching of Darryl Smith in a season and a half with the Rovers Thirds.

His six goals for Wangaratta High in a Herald-Shield Final against Wagga’s Mount Austin High was noted by the North Melbourne hierarchy who were at VFL Park that evening, preparing for the Roos’ Night Series clash with Footscray.

They duly included him on a list of 50 youngsters to whom they had access in their zone, but deleted him when he bypassed the early part of the 1985 season to play for Vic Country at the National Under 18 Basketball Carnival.

You can imagine their approach: ‘Well, if the young prick wants to put basketball in front of footy there are plenty of other kids who are looking for an opportunity…….”

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But that soon changed when Paul burst onto the O & M scene. His arrival went something like this……..

The Rovers slot the 16 year-older in against Myrtleford in Round 8. Moments after coming onto the ground in the second quarter he soars above the pack in the goal-square to mark and convert.

• 

His six ‘sausages’ on debut are heralded, but a month later he lines up against the O & M’s premier backman Denis Sandral. Slotting four first-quarter goals, he sees off four opponents in snaring 10 for the day.

Three other ‘bags’ of five have the kid’s name on everybody’s lips, but on the eve of the finals he approaches his coach Merv Holmes and asks: “Can you give me a crack at centre half back ?”

The Hawks are facing North Albury in an Elimination Final and are rank outsiders, but Bryce excels, with 18 marks and 25 kicks in his first-ever game as a key defender.

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• 

“You would have to go a long way to see a more sensational marking exhibition,” raved the Border Morning Mail, as the youngster leads his side to a 27-point win.

The following week he completely outplays highly-touted ex-Collingwood big-man Mick Horsburgh. The Rovers hold off determined Benalla by five points.

Albury stitch up the Preliminary Final with a comprehensive 63-point win, but Bryce’s effort can’t be faulted. He’s thrown from defence, into attack and onto the ball in a bid to stem the tide, chalking up 20 kicks and 10 marks……….

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Paul cherishes the memories of those 14 senior games with the Hawks, and loved the ‘apprenticeship’ he served:

“I had a fantastic coach…… Holmesy was awesome…..I’d admired him for a long time. His knees were shot, and he really shouldn’t have been playing. But gee he was tough……”

As well as Bryce, the Rovers blooded skilful on-baller Nick Goodear and a pair of promising blonde-haired kids from Junior Magpies – Robert Walker and Matthew Allen – during 1985. Versatile Peter Tossol was another acquisition….The nucleus of a side – about to embark on a Golden Era – was being formed.

But Paul Bryce wouldn’t be sharing it with them. He was headed for Arden Street.

North Melbourne had arranged for him to complete his H.S.C at Trinity Grammar whilst playing Under 19’s. The ‘Joeys’, full of talent – a fair portion of it from their country zone – fell at the final hurdle, on Grand Final day.

Several of them found a spot on the senior list in 1987, where they came under the influence, the imposing figure and booming voice of the legendary John Kennedy.

“He reminded me a bit of Merv Holmes, actually,” Paul recalls. “When he spoke you listened. He was hard, but fair……… I just wish I’d appreciated then how lucky I was to be in his company.”

Progress was steady for the youngster, but his senior opportunity came in Round 13, against Collingwood at Waverley.

“It was pissing down, and I’ve held onto a mark up forward early in the game. I thought, Hell , this is alright…..a goal with my first kick…….I missed, but we ended up belting the Pies………”

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A positive senior debut…..a 54-point win against the old enemy……a dream fulfilled…….the sky’s the limit for an impetuous 18 year-old. Well, sometimes things aren’t as rosy as they look……..

North were light-on for big timber, and for the first couple of years Paul was shunted into different roles around the ground. But injuries – particularly twangy hammies – would regularly interrupt a run of games.

“I loved the on-field aspect of it, and was playing fair footy” he says, “….but I didn’t really feel an accepted part of the group.”

• 

“ I tried on a few different personalities, but felt like I never really fitted in. Eventually I developed a pretty ordinary attitude and acted like a bit of an arrogant ‘dick’, to be honest.”

• 

“It’s easier these days because Clubs have got people to help you deal with these matters…….I didn’t handle the whole League football thing very well……I had no real mates.”

He decided to throw himself headlong into summer training prior to the 1990 season.

“ I did a lot of work by myself and got super- fit…..the best I’d ever been. I even gave up the booze. The result was that I had a really good year.”

With tall, blossoming stars like Wayne Carey and John Longmire settling in up forward, and Ian Fairley down back, the Roos had the luxury of playing the 195cm Bryce as a ruck-rover, partnering ball-magnet Matthew Larkin.

• 

“I’d found my niche, but the trouble was, after having a good year, I started to cruise a bit…….And I didn’t fancy ‘Schimma’ (Wayne Schimmelbusch) who’d succeeded ‘Kanga’ Kennedy as coach. At the end of the day, he was a Club legend; I was just a young upstart…..So I decided to leave. We just didn’t get on.”

Paul went to North and advised them he ‘wanted out’.

“I approached a few clubs personally and liked the look of Melbourne, who seemed to be on the way up. They worked out a deal with North and I became a Demon,”

“John Northey was coach…..a great motivator, whom I related to.But I’d been a bit lazy over the summer. I was overweight and it cost me…..Another stupid decision on my part…….”

Thus, it was mid-way through the season before he’d established himself in the side. But once settled he played his part in the Demons’ surge towards the finals, which eventually saw them overpowered in the Semi, by West Coast at Waverley.

The last of Paul’s 26 games with Melbourne came when he dislocated a shoulder the following season. He now knew he was skating on thin ice.

“I carried a shitty attitude into 1993 Pre-Season, and ended up getting the sack…….. Next thing is I find myself drafted to Sydney.”

The Swans were in turmoil. A few games into the season coach Gary Buckenara was sacked and Ron Barassi installed as his replacement . Even the great Barassi was unable to turn their fortunes around.

“I liked ‘Barass’,” Paul says. “I think I frustrated him, but we got along pretty well. It’s just that I hated Sydney.”

Their only win for the season came against Melbourne. And with 18 kicks, 7 marks and 7 handballs Paul played his best game against his old side.

He says he can remember packing up the van carrying all of his possessions, going to the Swans’ Best & Fairest count, leaving about 10.30pm, and driving straight back to Melbourne.

“I sent a letter telling ‘em I was finished. I had a pretty good year, but wasn’t particularly popular, and had an ordinary attitude……. At 25 I was ‘done’……I’d had enough of League football………..”

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In fact his AFL career, which comprised 91 games ( 48 with North Melbourne, 26 with Melbourne, and 17 with Sydney) was shut to the back of his mind.

It was only when an old North Melbourne team-mate, Kenny Rainsford, began pestering him that he began to have second thoughts about playing again.

Rainsford had taken on the coaching job at Moe.

“ ‘Come down. Play one game and see whether you like it ’, he said. “I’d completely lost my love for footy, but I had a run and really enjoyed it. I had two fun years. We played finals and I was lucky enough to play in the Latrobe Valley League’s Country Championship win at Swan Hill.”

“Kenny then went down to Tassie. I didn’t have a great job in Melbourne, so I followed him down, and played with Launceston in the Statewide League, for two years.”

When the Statewide League was disbanded, Launceston reverted to the NTFL and appointed Paul as playing-coach.

“I enjoyed it, and learned a lot of lessons. But I found it difficult dealing with different personalities when I was still a kid myself,” he says.

After relinquishing the coaching job he played another season, then, at the tender age of 30, Paul Bryce called time on his football career.

With work now occupying more of his time, he took up fly-fishing. It became his hobby, developing into an obsession, sometimes taking him out 3-4 times a week.

Fishing the streams of Tasmania, with the birds chirping and the sun shining, was, I suppose, eons away from the manic pressure and screaming crowds of AFL footy.

Paul accepted a work transfer back to Melbourne in 2001, but that failed to rekindle his love of the game.

He’s involved in the golf industry, and handles all the Victorian on-line sales of the Golf Clearance Outlet which, he says, has developed into a thriving business.

Paul and his wife Rebecca ( who is a lecturer in Exercise Physiology ) and kids Lucy (11) and Mitch (9) are firmly entrenched in Melbourne, but he sometimes harks back to the days when his football journey began.

“I often think I’d like to stand in front of kids,” he says,”…and tell ‘em what it’s like to have ability and not fulfil that……..and then live with some regret……It’s hard…it’s bloody hard…..Bloody hell, what a waste…….”

• 

‘FROM KING VALLEY, TO MOONEE VALLEY…AND BEYOND…’

Leigh Newton’s father Laurie, grandad Aub and great-grandad Jack, are all legends of the King Valley United Football Club.

So when Leigh, a lanky, blonde-haired 14-year old ruckman, shared the 1992 O & K Thirds’ Fred Jensen Medal, there was a bullet beside his name.

The Club’s ardent fans salivated that the lad had the breeding and talent to lead them out of the wilderness; maybe to Premiership glory, in years to come.

Furthermore, they dared to dream, with his mate ‘Marty’ Porter alongside him, they’ll be a near-unbeatable ruck combination………..

It wasn’t to be…. By 1997 both were playing League football…….They had to acknowledge that this pair of 6’6” beanstalks would, in all likelihood, never wear the Valley’s Blue and White stripes again………………….

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I catch up with Leigh during a break in his hectic schedule as the Regional Services Manager of Country Racing Victoria. He’s been involved in the racing game for more than nine years; loves it, he says. It’s the only sport that’s been able to soldier on throughout the Coronavirus Crisis, albeit, of course, minus the crowds.

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The sight of his gigantic frame towering over all and sundry at Race-courses is a far cry from the slight youngster tagging along behind his old man at the Whitfield Reserve back in the eighties…..

I suggest that he inherited the wonky Newton limbs. Laurie was a star, and had two stints as Valley coach, but his crook knees – and assorted other body parts – played havoc with him. He fitted a famous flag (1976) into his five years with Wangaratta, and was a member of King Valley’s two premierships, in 1970 and ‘81.

He’d retired early in that ‘81 season. His back was giving him hell, but someone came up with the idea of fitting him with a brace. It allowed him to play out the season – and be a dominant ruckman in the Valley’s last flag.

Even after that, he would still fill in with the Reserves, up to the ripe old age of 42.

Leigh recalls playing with him at Bright. “You were always short when you travelled up there in mid-winter. I kicked a few goals in the Thirds this day, lined up in the Two’s with dad, who was just about best afield. Then they named me at centre half back in the Seniors. I think I’d just turned 15………..”

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He reckons he totalled no more than 20 senior games with the Roos. “A few from our 1993 Thirds Premiership team moved up the following year, but I spent a fair bit of that season with the Murray Bushrangers,” he says.

Then he began studying at Charles Sturt University, embarking on a Marketing and Accounting Degree. Rather than making the difficult choice between the Wang Rovers and Wangaratta, who were both on his hammer, he decided to play with Albury. Besides, he was living within walking distance of their headquarters, the Albury Sportsground.

The Tigers had assembled a crackerjack side. Their ruck duties were in the hands of Ken Howe, another ‘blonde bombshell’, who enjoyed the season of his life, taking out the O & M’s Morris Medal and guiding them to a flag.

Leigh made a few spasmodic senior appearances, but Howe then moved on to Canberra club Ainslie, and he grasped his opportunity.

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During the course of the 1996 season he became the League’s pre-eminent big man. He represented the O & M, figured in Albury’s premiership triumph and, with 25 votes, ‘bolted’ to the Morris Medal, a massive eight votes in front of another ruck star, Wodonga’s Paul Nugent.

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His dramatic rise to centre-stage had, naturally, attracted the attention of the recruiters. Leigh has a feeling it was a relative of Melbourne assistant-coach Greg Hutchinson who first alerted the Demons to his potential.

By January 1997 they’d nabbed him with the third pick in the Pre-Season draft. It had been a meteoric rise to A.F.L ranks………..

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But the climate in the Demons’ camp at the time was, to say the least, unsettled. Volatile ‘Diamond’ Joe Gutnick, who had rapidly ascended to the Club Presidency the previous season, was becoming increasingly agitated with the on-field performances, and demanded improvement.

The affable Neil Balme, highly-regarded by the players, was unable to wave the magic wand. After defeating eventual Preliminary Finalists North Melbourne in the opening game, they proceeded to lose the next eight.

Leigh played in a handful of those, which included kicking two of their three goals in a 51-point Friday night thrashing at the hands of Port Adelaide.

That was enough for ‘Diamond Joe’. His off-the-cuff comment was that: ‘Blood will flow……….’. Sure enough, on the following Tuesday evening, Balme was sacked and Greg Hutchinson installed as the interim coach.

With a few games under his belt Leigh began to settle into the rhythm of League footy. His debut against the Sydney Swans had been highlighted by a booming 50m goal with his first kick….. He had a big influence in an encouraging win over Carlton and produced snippets of class in a few others.

• 

But the dreaded Osteitis Pubis had begun to take hold of his body. “These days, the medical people would immediately order you to have a break; to let the groin heal. But I was determined to play through the pain. I’d have an anti-inflammatory injection, then could hardly move after a game and it would be early the next week before I was able to run again.”

Finally, he had to admit that he couldn’t go on. He’d played 13 games in what was regarded as a highly-promising season……One ray of light in a litany of disasters for the wooden-spooners.

His rehab was slow and steady. Mid-way through the following year he’d got back to somewhere approaching full-fitness. But deep down he knew that, if he played, he wouldn’t be able to come up the next week. So Melbourne’s medicos suggested he take the rest of the year off.

By early 1999, Leigh felt he was right to go. He booted four goals in a promising return to the Reserves, but was laid up for a month after a hernia operation. The resultant comeback was halted by a dislocated shoulder. That put paid to another season for the luckless big man.

Melbourne had given an indication that he’d be offered another contract in 2000, but his groin began to flare up again. He had to face the reality that his AFL career was over.

Leigh rued his misfortune, as Neale Daniher’s line-up went on a rollicking ride from third-last to the Grand Final. He took on the role as Opposition Analyst, watching three to four games a week.

Melbourne utilised his Professional qualifications by seconding him to their Marketing and Sponsorship Department in 2001. On match days he was Neale Daniher’s ‘Board-Man.’

The following year they appointed him as their Media and Communications Manager, a position he was to hold for seven years: “It was a tremendous experience…..so diverse. Whenever any news broke about the Demons, I was the man the media got in touch with. It meant I was on hand, virtually from 6am to 10pm, either promoting the Club or putting out spot-fires.”

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  Leigh Newton, with sporting luminaries Ron Barassi and Max Walker, on a promotional trip to China
  

Additionally, Neale Daniher asked if he’d take on the job as ruck coach.

When he decided to take a break from footy, he stepped into a position in Marketing and Public Relations with the Moonee Valley Racing Club. Hawthorn, fresh from winning the 2008 AFL flag, also nabbed him as their ruck coach.

“I was flat-out combining the two jobs,” says Leigh.

“I’d be up at 4am analysing and cutting tape to show to the players…….and then head off to my job in P.R and Communications at Moonee Valley.”

“Something had to give, so I eventually passed up the ruck-coaching – much and all as I loved it.”

But he did manage to fit in one last fling as a player. “Dad was a bit crook at one stage, and I was coming up regularly to keep tabs on he and mum. My brother Michael, who was coaching Milawa, said: ‘You may as well have a run, seeing as you’re here most weeks’.”

“I played about eight games, including the 2009 O & K Grand Final. We played Tarrawingee, who’d been unbeaten in 39 games. It was a terrific clash, and we held on to win by nine points.”

• 

Leigh moved on to become Moonee Valley’s Marketing Manager for three years, and had a sojourn in Local Government and Real Estate, before an opportunity came up to return to the racing industry.

He accepted the position as Manager of the Echuca Race Club and threw himself headlong into building it into one of country racing’s showpieces.

The extent of the Club’s development was recognised in 2017/18 when it was selected as the Country Racing Club of the Year.

“The things that have been achieved since Leigh arrived have been significant and he has set us, the Club, the trainers, the other people who use the track, the punters and our wider community with an exciting and solid future,” remarked the Club’s President, Troy Murphy.

He did such a good job that Country Racing Victoria hand-picked him, mid-way through last year, to take on the role of Regional Services Manager.

Leigh and Aingela and their two boys Lachlan and Taylor returned to the city, where he’s based at racing’s headquarters, Flemington.

His all-encompassing job entails keeping an eye on all country racing, including Governance, Marketing, Administration, Trainers, Race-dates – and offering advice to Clubs.

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Sport has virtually been Leigh Newton’s life. He wouldn’t have it any other way……..well, maybe the footy gods could have been a little kinder to him on the injury-front …………….

• 

‘THE GAME – CHANGER……….”

Michael Newton is blessed with the rare ability to change the course of a sporting contest.

In recent years his feats as a high-marking, long-kicking, goal-scoring forward with Wangaratta, have made him the most eye-catching player in Ovens and Murray football.

But last Saturday he reproduced that unique trait on the cricket field, to rescue his WDCA side Ovens Valley from a precarious situation.

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It was a sweltering 39 degrees at the W.J.Findlay Oval – home of their opponents, Rovers-United-Bruck. Obviously the side winning the toss held the aces. Ovens Valley grasped the opportunity to bat, and so avoid the discomfort of an afternoon in the field under under a blazing sun.

But things didn’t quite go to plan. Their progress was snail-like. The oppressive heat intoxicated both batsmen and bowlers, as just 31 runs came in the first 23 overs.
Then, as so often happens in modern-day club cricket, a clatter of wickets brought the game to life.

Ovens Valley slumped from 1/31 to 6/34 in a jiffy. Newton, who had strolled to the crease at the fall of the fourth wicket, could merely spectate at the other end, as a couple of team-mates played indiscreet shots, with inevitable consequences.

The consensus of a few onlookers in my vicinity was that they’d possibly scramble to a total of 60 or 70 – if they were lucky.

‘Juice’ had other ideas. He was a touch rusty early on. Talk was that a tender calf was causing him grief and may hinder him at the crease .

But once he hit his straps, the Hawk bowlers were at his mercy.

He was circumspect for a period, and defended sternly, for a fellow with a reputation as a sporting ‘dasher’. Then he’d unleash the odd off or straight drive which would skelter to the boundary.

Suddenly, he was set; and motoring through the thirties and forties, whilst doing his utmost to protect numbers eight, nine and ten, who nevertheless, lent good support.
The heat – and a lack of success – took their toll on the Hawk bowlers, who had lost their vim. The big fellah was in total control.

A ton was staring him in the face until he injudiciously propped his lanky left foot in front, and was adjudged LBW to part-time medium-pacer Jordan Blades.

He had scored 96 of the 127 runs which came whilst he was at the crease – a knock which had been peppered with 13 boundaries and a hefty hoik over the mid-wicket boundary. His side had advanced to a rather more healthy, competitive 161.

The runs are on the board, and now Newton must don his other cap – as an express opening bowler, to protect that total on Saturday……….
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Michael Newton was a childhood prodigy.

From renowned sporting stock which had faithfully served the the township of Whorouly for generations, he took the usual career path of a gifted country football talent.

He was spotted by the Murray Bushrangers, then recruited by Melbourne, who took him at Pick 43 in the 2004 AFL Pre-Season Draft.

The stand-out characteristic of his game was his height ( 6’4”) and agility, and, of course, that freakish ability which could drop the jaw of the most-judgemental recruiting scout.

But that was no ‘free pass’ to League football. He laboured for for almost three years with Sandringham – the Demons’ VFL ‘feeder’ club, before being handed his AFL debut in Neale Daniher’s final game as coach – Round 13, 2007.

Three games later, he sprung to the attention of the wider football public when he pulled down a ‘screamer’ against North Melbourne; soaring high above the pack to pluck a Colin Sylvia ‘long bomb’ from the clouds.

It was almost an exclamation mark in the youngster’s football journey, signifying that he had ‘arrived’. He was awarded the AFL’s Mark of the Year and the accolade as an ‘up and comer’.

But footy’s never that easy. He was plagued by a series of injuries, and made only six (2008), five (2009), and four (2010) appearances in the following three seasons.

Newton was delisted at the end of 2011, after 28 senior games over seven seasons……….
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Famous Adelaide club Norwood snapped him up, but he was again at the mercy of the ‘injury stick’ which had played havoc with his stop-start career.

After settling in well at The Parade he damaged an ACL, which required a full knee reconstruction and put paid to his efforts to make an impact on the SANFL for more than a season and a half.

Having played just 10 games in his first two years at Norwood, he came back in style, to boot 57 goals, and play an important role in their 2014 premiership – the club’s third straight title.

In front of 38,000 fans, Norwood held off a powerful Port Adelaide – comprising 19 AFL-listed players, to win by four points, in a classic encounter.

At last, it seemed, the football public would see an unrestrained Michael Newton, as he moved into his late twenties.
Alas, he was again frustrated by injuries, which restricted him to just nine games in 2015. Compounding that was a falling-out with Redlegs coach Ben Warren, which prompted his decision to return home to the family dairy farm……..
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Naturally, when footy clubs get wind of a giant, goal-scoring forward with a considerable reputation returning to their midst, there’s a flurry of activity. Four clubs were in the hunt for him, and the Rovers who felt they held a strong family affiliation with him, stood at the front of the queue.

His dad Rod, a classy half-forward, had played 49 games with the Hawks in the eighties; sister Kristy had won a Netball B & F; twin cousins Josh and Andy were both wearing Brown and Gold. The stars certainly seemed aligned…….

But, in a shock announcement, he chose to join arch rivals, Wangaratta.

The touchy Newton soft tissues restricted him to just nine games in 2016. One of those was the much-awaited opening stanza of the ‘Local Derby’, when he limped from the field early on.

To the delight of Hawk fans, the Pies struggled to recover from the loss of their star recruit and were over-run late in the game. But, with 42 goals in his other eight games, there was proof that, if Wang could keep ‘Juice’ on the field, he’d hold the key to their success.

No doubt his most memorable performance – and probably the finest of his career – came in the 2017 Grand Final, when he provided the inspiration for one of Wang’s finest flag wins.

Red-hot favourites Albury – chasing their fourth straight title – were caught on the hop, as the Pies continually attacked in the first quarter. With 7.0 to 2.2, they built a ‘bridge too far’ for the shocked Tigers, who were unable to contain the champion skipper.

He kicked four of his eight goals in that first term and provided a master-class, on the way to being awarded the Did Simpson Medal as best-afield.

He has the knack of polarising opinion amongst opposition fans. I witnessed it in a clash against Yarrawonga at the Minns Oval last season, when the Pies were beginning to lose touch during the third term.

In an blatant piece of gamesmanship, ‘Juice’ started to niggle his opponent, who could take no more, and retaliated, in full vision of the ump. It resulted in successive goals to the big number 3 . Pigeon fans cried blue murder, but too late, the game had swung Wang’s way and they went on to a comfortable win.

He’s now booted 197 goals in his 47 games in Black and White. His tally of 81 in 2018 was enough to clinch his first Doug Strang Medal.

He’s nudging 32, and it’s debatable how long Michael Newton can pamper those unpredictable hamstrings, calves and thighs. Obviously, those fly-in fly-out trips to the Far North where he’s occasionally strutted his stuff with NTFL club Waratahs in the off-season, will have to go on the back-burner.

But you’d think he still may be able to change the course of a few more sporting contests……….”

LOCAL BOY FIRES IN CROWEATER COUNTRY

When I first spotted Luke Norman, he was performing acrobatics behind the wicket.

As an up-and-coming ‘keeper in Wangaratta, he had a bullet beside his name. The experts predicted that he was undoubtedly destined for higher honours.

He possessed all the attributes of a top gloveman – agility, an eye like a dead fish, clean hands – and an abundance of confidence. Medium-pacers who had the knack of troubling the batsman by way of swing and guile, had an ally in Luke. He took them up on the stumps – and would have the bails off in a jiffy.

Like so many of his era, though, he drifted away from cricket – seduced by his first sporting love…………….

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He was born to be a Magpie. An uncle, Basil Schubert, patrolled the wing in their 1961 Premiership team. His dad Tom was a tough-as-nails back flanker who played 150-odd games in some fine Wangaratta sides of the sixties, including three losing Grand Finals.

It would have been four, only for Tommy, in a moment of madness, smacking Rovers hard-man Ken Boyd during a frenzied third quarter of the 1966 Preliminary Final.

There was an element of Tom’s toughness, and well-muscled physique, about Luke when he first arrived on the scene.

He’d played his junior football with Tigers, and graduated to the Magpies’ Thirds, providing a glimpse of his promise during an outstanding 1989 season. But he probably still reflects, with bewilderment, on what transpired at Morris Medal night that year .

Luke was one of six players who had finished equal top in the voting for the Thirds’ Award. The O & M opted for a count-back to decide the winner, and the young Pie was declared the Leo Dean Medallist.

Acting on advice from Wodonga Raiders the following day, League officials re-checked the team sheets and found that votes in one game had been allocated to the wrong players. Philip Partington, of the Raiders was handed three extra votes, to move him one vote ahead of the unfortunate Norman.

But that was a mere hiccup. He had debuted with the seniors that year, and was regarded as a star of the future. His first senior coach, Ray Card, saw his rapid improvement from one season to the next.

“All of a sudden, he developed from promising, to a player with the X-Factor about him……. Strong overhead, rather impetuous, dynamic and adept on both sides of his body……I could see he had the potential to be a star,” Card recalls.

Norman was part of a Wangaratta side which scraped into the finals in 1993. Pumped up by hot-gospeller Brian Walsh, they comfortably accounted for Corowa-Rutherglen in the Elimination Final, then survived a thrilling First Semi against Yarrawonga.

“Walshy had us really convinced we were on the march to the flag,” Luke recalls. “It should have been a Rovers-Wang Grand Final. We had most of the play in the last quarter of the Preliminary Final against Wodonga, but couldn’t put them away. Jon Henry had a shot for goal with the last kick of the game, but it went out on the full. Wodonga had held on to beat us by four points.”

A mate of Walsh’s put Melbourne in touch with Norman. They added him to their Supplementary List, and in 1994 he played 15 games with their Reserves, interspersed with occasional appearances back with Wangaratta.

The Demons had liked the look of him, and decided to give the bullocking utility his opportunity. Selected at pick 68 in the National Draft later that year, Luke Norman’s prayers had been answered.

He made 16 AFL appearances over the next two seasons. “I certainly wasn’t a standout,” he says. “I played some handy games, I suppose, and it was an enormous experience, but there were too many of my type of player on the list.”

The highlight, in Luke’s opinion, was his final game – the so-called ‘Merger-clash’ between Hawthorn and Melbourne. “It was billed as a dress-rehearsal for the ill-conceived marriage of the two clubs, and there was a fair bit of hype surrounding it. Hawthorn got up in the dying stages, to beat us by a point, in front of 60-odd thousand.”

Flicked by Melbourne at season’s end, he was enticed over to Adelaide by a team-mate, Clay Sampson, who was heading back home, to play with the Crows.

Luke signed with Sampson’s SANFL club, South Adelaide, and played 38 games with the Panthers. Standing 6’0 and weighing a touch over 13 stone, he proved adaptable, and well-suited to the South Australian game.

Then came the call of home. Wangaratta had fallen on hard times, winning just the one game in two seasons. They pleaded with one of their favourite sons to help extricate them from the mire.

He gave them good value. Now nearing his thirties, Norman probably played his best footy in the Black and White guernsey. A far more-rounded player, explosive, and difficult to contain, he was Best and Fairest in 2000 and ‘01, represented the Ovens and Murray League five times and won VCFL selection. And in 2001, he finished fourth, behind Robbie Walker, in the Morris Medal.

But unfortunately, in his three years back at the Norm Minns Oval, the Pies remained entrenched on the bottom of the ladder; seemingly eons away from the glory that was to await them seven years later.

After chalking up 140 games with Wang, he and his now-wife Mardi ( a South Australian ) decided to head back across the border. A good mate, Ian Borchard, had taken on the West Adelaide coaching job, and was keen for Luke to join him.

It proved an handy decision. Borchard was succeeded by Sean Rehn in 2003, and Norman, now in the veteran stage, hit it off well with the big ex-Crow.

“He introduced an AFL touch to his coaching, and the players loved him. Opportunities were provided to a few young kids, like Adam Cooney, Sean Tuck and Beau Waters. There were 11 players drafted from his three years as coach. We improved to the extent that we were a genuine challenger for the flag,” he says.

‘Westies’ nipped at the heels of the dominant Central Districts in the Second Semi, before going down by 18 points. Having earned the right to have another crack at them in the Grand Final, they weren’t quite strong enough. Districts controlled most of the game, to win the flag by 34 points.

Rehn appointed Norman captain in 2004, and he responded with a fine season, taking out the club Best and Fairest and Best Team Player awards.

He was again voted the Best Team Player the following year, but at the age of 34, knew that the end was nigh.

He retired at season’s end, after 67 games with Wests and a total 105 SANFL games under his belt. Sean Rehn, in farewelling him, said that : “……Norman was a player who extracted 100% effort from himself every time he played. As captain of West Adelaide, he typified the best qualities in a footballer and a person………..”

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Luke took on a role as Assistant and Forwards coach at Woodville-West Torrens in 2006. The SANFL colossus of the 2000’s that was Central Districts, were chasing their fourth straight flag. But WWT dismantled them by 76 points in a boil-over of a Grand Final, that shocked the large crowd.

Rick McGowan, who had been a fellow Assistant at Torrens, was appointed coach of Sturt in 2007, and snavelled Luke as Reserves and Assistant-Coach of the Two Blues.

Then, when McGowan was lured to Hawthorn in 2009, Sturt opted for Norman as senior coach.

“There are only nine people who can coach League footy in South Australia, so it was a privilege, and a great opportunity,” he says.

He took Sturt to the Grand Final in his first year, with a young, talented side, but found Central Districts too strong. It was Centrals’ eighth SANFL flag in ten years.

“We reached the finals again in 2010, despite missing a bunch of kids who’d been drafted. Then we had to deal with the loss of 18 players at the end of the year. It put a hell of a whole in the list, and in 2011, I played 24 first-gamers. We finished equal-bottom.”

“I’d been busy recruiting for six or seven weeks when I was called in early in November and told  I was being replaced. There was still a year to go on my contract.”

“But that’s footy. I was a bit hurt, but pretty philosophical about it. Coaches come and go…..and the club’s bigger than the individual.”

“It gives me a bit of satisfaction that Sturt have won the last two premierships with many of those 24 kids we introduced in 2011 playing an influential role.”

“I loved coaching. It’s an emotional roller-coaster. There are a lot of negatives, of course, like telling a player he’s been dropped……..But I enjoyed playing my part in educating kids about footy……and life.”

Luke stayed in touch with coaching during another two-year stint as Midfield Coach at Woodville-West Torrens in 2014-15, before moving over to Glenelg as Assistant, and forward coach last year.

He’s been running his own business – Norman Family Transports – since he retired from footy. It involves plenty of interstate travel and long hours, and Luke and Mardi have been contemplating re-locating back to Wangaratta with the kids – son Carter and the girls, Tommi and Milla.

The ‘welcome mat’ would certainly be rolled out for this local boy made good………….