Wrecker Award – Collingwood Forever

Rupert Betheras

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:24 +0000

As Collingwood charted a pathway from easy beat to unlikely premiership contender in 2002, a new chant spread its way through the Black and White army on match days. The catchcry was ‘Ruuupppeee … Ruuupppeee” and it grew voice whenever the club’s industrious midfielder-forward Rupert Betheras went anywhere near the ball. It was unconventional, and out of the ordinary, just as Betheras was. Many Collingwood footballers who have had longer and more productive careers have not had the same sort of engagement with the fans as Betheras had in much of his 85 games across five AFL seasons. But somehow he seemed to touch not only the supporters who admired the way he embraced the contest, but also his teammates who respected his honesty and commitment to the cause. Even he couldn’t quite explain it: “I suppose if it can get everyone fired up, that’s good.” Nathan Buckley acknowledged in Betheras’ first AFL season, 1999, that the new player wearing the No.49 jumper “was always going to get him a bit of attention (because of his unusual name), if he got a kick.” Fortunately, for Collingwood, he could get a kick, even if his pathway into the AFL came from an alternative route. He had shown good potential as a junior at East Malvern, though he was a late developer, highlighted by the fact that X-rays when he was 15 showed that he had the bones of an 11-year-old. He had two seasons with De La Salle in the VAFA before heading off with a girlfriend on a surfing sabbatical to Western Australia. Betheras drove across the Nullarbor Plain – with no spare tyre, mind you – with football the furthest thing from his mind. But a chance meeting with a mate on the beach at Margaret River changed the direction of his life. That mate invited him down to train at East Perth, where former Magpie Kevin Worthington was coaching, and he impressed from the outset, and wound up playing every game of the 1996 WAFL season. Such was his form that he was rookie-listed by Fremantle, though he never won a senior call-up. A move back to Melbourne followed and he sent a video highlights package to a host of AFL clubs. One of them was Collingwood, and the Magpies reserved a spot for him on its supplementary list for 1998. By the end of that season he was almost part of the furniture, acting as the reserves captain and winning the best-and-fairest award. He shouted ‘Go Pies’ into the microphone when accepting the Joseph Wren Memorial Trophy on Copeland night. That further endeared him to the faithful, and saw him rewarded as pick 76 in the national draft. Betheras debuted for Collingwood against West Coast in round three, 1999, in the penultimate match at Victoria Park. He would play 16 games for the year as one of the few illuminating characters in a season of darkness. His first six games resulted in losses, including one to Adelaide that he almost secured off his own boot, only to be penalised for a push in the back in the dying moments. A week after that near-miss, he played “the game of his life”, according to one newspaper, against St Kilda, having 27 disposals, kicking the sealer goal 21 minutes into the final term and having Nathan Burke assigned to him. “When you haven’t played in a winning team before, you don’t look at those things (the goal) as sealers …. I’ve always had to fight pretty hard for my position,” Betheras said after the breakthrough win. He was happy to take on difficult roles, playing on seasoned midfielders Mark Bickley, Todd Viney and Daryn Cresswell in his first season. The more arduous the role; the more he seemed to thrive on it. “I always had the belief that once I got a go, I’d play all right,” he said. Betheras finished in the top 10 of the Copeland Trophy, winning the Harry Collier Trophy, as best first-year player, as well as highly-regarded ‘Wrecker Award’ in that debut season. He barely missed a beat the following year, under new coach Michael Malthouse, playing all 22 matches, finishing sixth in the best-and-fairest award and winning the Darren Millane Perpetual Trophy as Best Clubman. A blue-collar worker who was more of a pure footballer in a time where many clubs were chasing athletes, Betheras was described by Buckley as “very much team-orientated, (always) about doing the right thing, and working hard to earn your stripes.” A guernsey number change to 10 came in 2001, but he managed only 14 games that season, finding himself out of the senior side late in the year. But his most influential season was to follow, as he played all but one game of the 2002 season, contributing to Collingwood’s run through to a Grand Final appearance against Brisbane Lions. His impact gave life to the chant, notably in the round eight clash with a seemingly invincible Brisbane at Docklands, a game in which he kicked three goals and had 22 disposals. Asked after that breakthrough win over the Lions why he had rapidly become a Collingwood cult figure, Betheras shrugged his shoulders and said: “I don’t know”. But the real explanation was that Pies fans loved the way he attacked the ball and the way he had a capacity to provide a spark when it was required. They were also intrigued by his story off the field, and how this one-time street graffiti artist had taken to painting. For a time he had even taken up the disused press box in the Bob Rose Stand as his art studio. Betheras played a significant role in Collingwood’s spirited run through September, kicking two goals in both the qualifying final win over Port Adelaide and the preliminary final win over Adelaide. He had 14 disposals – including nine contested ones – in Collingwood’s nine-point loss to Brisbane in the 2002 Grand Final, throwing himself into every contest as if his life depended on it. In the rooms after the game, he spoke of how the pain of narrow defeat could hopefully lead to something better. “We thought we could win the game, showed we could, but we didn’t,” he said that night. “It’s an opportunity lost and it doesn’t come around every year.” Collingwood would get its chance the following year, but would fall short again. Betheras wasn’t there, having lost his spot in the senior team late in the season. Ever the team man, he did play in a premiership that year, with Williamstown – Collingwood’s aligned side at that time – in the VFL sharing the moment with a young Nick Maxwell and Dane Swan. Betheras was only 27 when he was delisted at the end of the 2003 season. He did pre-season training with Richmond one summer and with North Melbourne the next, but never got another shot at it. Sadly, his AFL playing career was over, but his influence on the game wasn’t. Betheras would go on to play a key role in unearthing Liam Jurrah and helping to put him on the pathway to becoming the first indigenous player from a remote community to play AFL football, albeit with Melbourne. He would continue to work with indigenous communities, assisting many young sportsmen and women and artists along the way. Betheras was a good footballer, but in many ways, he was never solely defined by the game that he played. Maybe that’s what endeared him to Collingwood fans so much when he was wearing the Black and White jumper.

Scott Burns

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:02:05 +0000

A strong and fearless defender from SA club Norwood. Collingwood had to wait two years after they drafted Burns for the determined backman to move to Victoria. While the Magpies drafted seven players ahead of him, Burns turned out to be the best of the batch by a long way. The underrated Burns was runner-up in the best and fairest award of 1996 and there were few players who could match his work ethic. Surprisingly for a player standing just 181 cm, he was second (to Nathan Buckley) on Collingwood’s 2000 marks list. A determined backman who never gave an inch on the field and was remorseless in applying pressure. By 1996 he broadened his role from being purely a defender to taking a hand in midfield and pushing forward. In that year he represented South Australia for the first time. The Magpies missed him when he injured his groin in the latter part of 1997 and the bad luck with injuries continued when he broke his arm in the first round of 1998. Two weeks after his return he was suspended for two games then to continue a horror season he was knocked out when he received the full force of a kick by Nathan Buckley. As a measure of his stature in the club the gritty all-rounder was appointed joint vice-captain in 1999. He was a fine example for the younger players in the team. Burns missed four games with a hamstring injury late in the year, but still polled well enough in the club best and fairest to run fourth. He had a solid 2000, but hamstring problems restricted him to eight games in 2001. He returned to fitness in 2002 and his hardness made him a leading light in Collingwood’s great year. He played in the Magpies’ losing grand final side and was runner-up in the best and fairest. He was again a constant driving force in 2003 when he came third in the best and fairest. As he reached veteran stage Burns was still able to make a significant impact coming off the bench and spending concentrated periods in the midfield. He was a fine captain for his final year in 2008.

Paul Williams

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:51 +0000

One of the fastest players of his era, Williams had the exceptional knack of being able to kick long goals when running at breakneck pace. His breakaway speed made him a match-winner – his trademark was a dash out of the centre and a long bomb goal from 50 metres. Great stamina also made him a quality centreman. Serious ankle injuries hampered his preparation for 1995 and 1996 but he was still a fine player and at Collingwood he was regarded as the consummate professional. He had a shock introduction to League football in his first game when he was wrestled to the ground by John Worsfold in retaliation for Craig Kelly’s attempts to rough up Peter Sumich further afield. At the end of 1994 ,Collingwood paid big dollars to keep him out of the clutches of Fremantle and while some doubted the investment at first in the long run they were won over by his exciting style. Recruited from North Hobart, he seemed unsettled at Collingwood in 2000 and was traded to Sydney at the end of that season. Although he started slowly with the Swans, he found top form mid-season and won the club’s best and fairest award in his debut season in the red and white. He followed up with another best and fairest win with the Swans the following year to justify the club’s faith in him and capped a fine year with All-Australian selection. Williams had another fine season in 2003 and was once more productive in 2004. Although he fractured a collarbone in 2005 he capped off the year on the highest note as part of a premiership team. In 2006 he re-injured the collarbone late in the season and decided to retire. A career as a coach followed, peaking when he was anointed interim coach at the Western Bulldogs after Rodney Eade’s departure at the tail end of 2011.

Tony Francis

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:50 +0000

A cheeky rover with great acceleration, Francis enshrined himself in Collingwood history when he tied with Scott Russell for the club’s Best First Year Player Award in the premiership year of 1990. Francis crossed to Collingwood after two years with the Norwood seniors in the SANFL, and it proved a fairytale end to a season that began disastrously when he copped a six week suspension for kicking West Coast’s Murray Rance in his first game. He gave Collingwood much needed bite around the packs and his great breakaway pace made him a menace to the opposition. In 1991 he was Collingwood’s best and fairest and was chosen in the All-Australian team. A classy footballer and a regular selection in the SA State of Origin side, Achilles problems affected him in 1992, but his willingness to tear into packs meant he was always dangerous. His fearless style of boring in for the ball led to injuries in later years and his pace was dulled. Thigh and knee injuries restricted him in 1995 then he regained some of his old form in 1996 when he ran third in the club’s best and fairest. But a pre-season groin injury destroyed his 1997 campaign and after a similarly limited campaign in 1998 he was released by Collingwood. He had a solid season under Tim Watson at St Kilda in 1999, kicking the winning goal against the Western Bulldogs at Waverley Park in round four, but then retired and returned to South Australia.

Gavin Crosisca

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:35 +0000

Gavin Crosisca was the kind of player teammates love to have on their side: tough, unrelenting, a guy who left everything out on the field every time he played. He was a Premiership player at 22, and an under-19s flag-winner before that. He placed in the Copeland three times, and won three “Wrecker” awards for his bone-jarring tackles and penchant for the one-percenters. His final tally of 246 games tally puts him among the club’s elite. Yet for all those achievements, it may well prove to be that his most important contributions to the Collingwood Football Club – and to his teammates – came years after he finished playing. Crosisca was born in Brisbane and played his junior footy with the Moorooka Roosters. By the age of 16 he had starred in the 1984 Teal Cup competition (making the all-Australian team alongside names such as Garry Lyon, Darren Bewick, Steve Silvagni, Ron McKeown and Craig Starcevich), had played senior football for Western Districts, and represented his native Queensland. It was former defender and later gun footballing administrator Andrew Ireland who saw the talent and first recommended him to the Magpies. Gavin moved to Melbourne in 1986 and started with our under-19s under coach Keith Burns. His mother Kay packed up her own life when he moved to Melbourne, coming with him and taking her support beyond simply watching all his games by taking charge of the club’s Coventry House, where a host of Magpies from interstate and country Victoria nested.

Gavin and his mum Kay at Coventry House with Brett Gloury, Mark Orval, Mick McGuane and Greg Faull.

That year produced a flag for the thirds, and Burns’ post-season notes on his young charge proved prescient: “Powerfully built young player shows a determination to succeed. Excellent running player, reasonable skills on both sides of his body (kicking needs further work), straight lines the ball well, takes a strong overhead mark, is a very good team man and is tough. Needs to gain in speed and improve concentration.” Crosisca went straight from that under-19s flag into the senior team for Round 1 of the following season. He played seven senior games in 1987 – a promising start. But in 1988, Gavin’s world was turned upside down when Kay passed away suddenly just before the start of the season. He flew to Brisbane twice in the space of a week – once for her funeral, and six days later for the season opener against Brisbane. From that moment on, he resolved to honour her memory by doing everything he could to play in a Magpies’ Premiership side. Despite his grief, Crosisca cemented his place within Leigh Matthews’ revamped side in 1988, and again represented his native state in the Bicentennial Carnival. Incredibly, given the changing eligibility of state football, he would have the distinction of representing Victoria, Queensland and The Allies over the course of his career. He was third in the Copeland Trophy in his third season (1989), and was a key member of the side that broke the club’s 32-year Premiership drought in 1990. (For a brief moment, he feared he might have missed the Grand Final after he suffered a corkie sliding down the bannister at the Peninsula Golf Course during a moment of “high jinx” on a club retreat the week before the match, as revealed in Michael Gleeson’sCakewalk). Crosisca’s two goals in the second quarter of that 1990 Grand Final were significant in a game-defining term. The first was a trademark long, left-footer on the run from 45m out and the second came after he floated across a pack to take a contested grab. By the time the game ended he was among our very best players.

Gavin celebrates after the siren in 1990 with James Manson, Peter Daicos and Denis Banks

At the start of his career, he initially played off half-back, where his ferocious tackling and attack on the football seemed a natural fit. He was a hard, uncompromising player whose flint-edged honesty earned him the nickname ‘Bagger’, and whose appetite for the contest always won the admiration of his teammates. He was strong above his head, moved well across the ground and his kicking developed to the point where it became a weapon. In short he seemed like an ideal half-back. But as his confidence grew his attacking forays out of defence convinced coach Leigh Matthews to use him more consistently in the middle of the ground, with his creativity an asset. During this time Tony Shaw described him as “the best half-back in the league and (he) is now one of the best ruck-rovers”. The years after the flag were trickier. He would later admit that his own standards of professionalism dropped in the early 1990s, and he was plagued by ongoing back, groin and hamstring issues. But his determination to overcome the obstacles saw him regain his status within the team, finishing third in the 1995 Copeland Trophy. Two years later, he became only the third Queensland-born player to reach 200 games. And he enjoyed his most consistent season – as a 29-year-old – when second to Nathan Buckley in the 1998 best-and-fairest award. A persistent foot injury and the club’s youth policy in Mick Malthouse’s first season as coach counted against Crosisca in 2000, his final year. But fittingly, he made his way back into the senior team late in the season – on merit, not sentiment. His final game came against Essendon in Round 22, when he and fellow under-19s alumnus Gavin Brown bade farewell together. Crosisca immediately moved into coaching. He was an assistant coach at North Melbourne under Denis Pagan, then shifted to Hawthorn before becoming the head coach at North Ballarat in the VFL. He served as an assistant at Carlton in 2007 and then moved into suburban football. But in the early 2010s he shocked the football world when he revealed the alcohol and drug dependence he had endured throughout his playing career – and beyond. He admitted he had been addicted to alcohol and cannabis during his playing career, adding speed once retired, and that those addictions had nearly destroyed his life. But newly clean after his wife Nicole forced him into rehab, Gavin came out the other side determined to use his own experiences to help others. “I want to make this my life,” he said at the time. “I will tell this story every day for the rest of my life if it makes a difference.” And true to his word, that’s what he has done. He helped set up Sober Living Rehab, which provides drug and alcohol addiction treatment services, and has told his story to many different audiences in many different settings, inspiring and educating others in equal measure. Then he dramatically increased his involvement in the Collingwood Past Players Association, his enthusiasm and drive helping to re-energise the organisation. A particular focus for him has been in the player welfare area, improving support for former players struggling with injuries, mental health or other issues once their playing careers have finished. More than 20 years after his own career ended, he’s still looking out for not just his own teammates, but all former Magpies. It’s that kind of selflessness and commitment that made Gavin Crosisca such a respected and loved member of the teams he played in. And it’s helped turn him into a significant figure in the ongoing community battle against drug and alcohol addiction, and also in the fight to help former players who might be doing it tough. As wonderful as his playing career was – and it really was wonderful – these feel like even more meaningful accomplishments.

Gavin Brown

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:01:34 +0000

Brown’s commitment to the Collingwood cause made him a favorite at the club. He started as a winger when he came from Templestowe and showed himself to be an absolutely fearless player in all situations. Alongside Gavin Crosisca, Damian Monkhorst and Mick McGuane, he played in the Collingwood under-19s premiership side of 1986 and that was the launching pad for the team that would eventually win the 1990 senior Grand Final. Off the field he was extremely quiet in his early years and thus earned the nickname of “Rowdy”. Brown was a popular and integral part of the 1990 flag team and when he was felled at quarter time it precipitated a huge brawl. He was made skipper in 1994, but struggled in 1995 and 1996 as hamstring injuries restricted him. Talk was rife of other clubs chasing him, but he stayed with the Magpies and continued to serve the club nobly. Just when many were writing him off he made a brilliant response in 1997 and led the Victorian team in his best season for years. In the state game he showed the way to his teammates by totally negating the dangerous Darren Jarman. Over the years much of Brown’s work was not reflected in statistics. His fierce tackling and tenacious work at ground level paved the way for others, and he was considered the ultimate team man. He wasn’t keen on meekly handing over the Collingwood captaincy at the end of 1998, but the club considered it was time to pass the baton to Nathan Buckley. Even Buckley said in mid-season that he had not thought the change necessary and was afraid that change had been made for change’s sake. His performances in 1999 showed that he still had plenty to offer when many thought that his battered body had absorbed enough punishment over the years. He came third in the club best and fairest voting and turned in a year of consistent high quality football. In 1999, despite the side’s struggle at the foot of the ladder, he seemed to thrive on the enthusiasm that was generated by the youngsters around him. His five seasons as captain from 1994 to 1998 would be enough on its own to ensure a place in Collingwood’s Hall of Fame, but he also won the Copeland Trophy as best and fairest on three occasions – 1989, 1994 and 1997- and was twice an All-Australian selection. Ever the ultimate clubman, Brown was a conditioning assistant in 2001 before taking an assistant coaching post from 2002 until the end of 2007. He then led the rebirth of the club’s stand alone VFL team, where he oversaw the development of several 2010 premiership stars before moving to Carlton at the end of the flag campaign. After three years at Princes Park, Brown took up a role as a development coach at North Melbourne ahead of the 2014 season.