Footscray – Collingwood Forever

“I’ll spew up”

Luke — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 01:40:21 +0000

By: Glenn McFarlane of the Herald Sun The last time the Magpies and the Bulldogs met during an Olympics the teams fought out a thrilling finish made famous by Terry Wallace’s comments in a documentary that he would “spew up” if he heard any players receiving a pat on the back after just failing to run down Collingwood. That was back in 1996, and the Atlanta Olympics – the Games that Melbourne thought it was robbed of – captured the attention of the world. A week and a bit earlier, Muhammad Ali had produced one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history when he famously lit the cauldron, and just a day earlier Australian swimmer Kieren Perkins dragged himself off the canvas to claim back-to-back 1500m freestyle gold medals in spectacular fashion. As much as Melburnians were still hurting at missing out on hosting the Olympics 40 years on from the 1956 ‘Friendly Games’, they were still transfixed with what was happening on the other side of the world. Perhaps that’s why only 28,776 fans turned up to the MCG to see Collingwood take on Footscray, as the Western Bulldogs were then called. Perhaps that sparse crowd had more to do with the fact that the Pies were in 11^th place and the Bulldogs were 15^th. Both sides had struggled big time in what was the AFL’s Centenary Season. The Magpies, under first-year coach Tony Shaw, started the year with four wins from the first six games, but a string of eight consecutive losses put a massive dent in the season. It was worse for the Bulldogs. Allan Joyce had been sacked as coach after only two wins in the first half of the season, leaving Wallace as caretaker coach. Wallace had been given the rest of the season to prove himself, starting off with two losses, then scoring a win against Fremantle and a loss against the Brisbane Bears. The clash with Collingwood loomed as an important chance to push his case further, and an opportunity for his team to chase what would have been its fourth win of an otherwise depressing season. Making the Dogs’ season even more interesting was the fact that a documentary was being made about the club, filmed by director Michael Cordell, and given the happenings, there was little doubt it would make interesting viewing. On the eve of this clash, Wallace gave an interview to the Sunday Herald Sun – to a much younger version of the writer of this story – and detailed his belief that his young side was on the verge of going places. “Obviously, we have had a disappointing season. That’s probably the understatement of the year,” Wallace told me. “We had won two in 12 when I took over and we have now won one in four in my time. “But the important thing is I’m trying to teach the players to play to my style of coaching. “We have targeted the next month to have a real go against sides that are in the lower part of the draw. We’ve got Collingwood, Fitzroy, Hawthorn and St Kilda. This is very, very important for us.” It was important for Shaw, too. A big win would at least keep the club’s flickering finals hopes alive. Some of the players that day still resonate in today’s football, Nathan Buckley, who set up Collingwood’s play from half back early in the game, is the club’s coach, while then Bulldog Leon Cameron is coach of Greater Western Sydney. Scott Burns is now a Magpies’ assistant coach, while Rohan Smith is the same at the Bulldogs, and Chris Grant is now back at the Whitten Oval as the club’s director of football. Three Footscray players from that day also have sons at the club now – Mark Hunter (Lachie), Tony Liberatore (Tom) and Steven Wallis (Mitch). Twelve Magpie had played less than 50 AFL games going into that game – Robbie Ahmat (7^th game), Burns (37th), Scott Crow (30th), Brett James (39th), Chad Liddell (11th), Stephen Patterson (35th), Steven Pitt (8th), Simon Prestigiacomo (7th), Mark Richardson (47th), Andrew Schauble (20th), Lee Walker (13th) and Jason Wild (23rd). This was also Damian Monkhorst‘s 150th game. Only Gavin Crosisca and Gavin Brown (177 games each) had played more. It was Shaw’s 17th game as senior coach, just six days after his 36th birthday, and only Wallace’s fifth. Shaw’s team kicked 8.3 to the Dogs’ 1.1 in a near perfect opening quarter with fears that this could blow out to be a very one-sided encounter. Wallace would say later: “The first quarter was a coach’s worst nightmare, I suppose.” He would be even more cutting in the documentary, which did not air until the following season, telling his players: “We were a rabble in that first quarter, (it was) absolutely bloody disgraceful.” Buckley kicked the first goal of the game, a towering punt from almost 60m out, and it had set the scene for a blistering quarter of football. Incredibly, the Magpies led by 45 points before the Bulldogs kicked their first score – a behind. And instead of key forward Saverio Rocca doing the damage (he was relatively well held by Tony Campbell), it was left to 23-year-old Pitt. The young forward would kick three of those eight opening term goals and end with four for the match – his equal best return in a game. Pitt, recruited from Norwood, had been given an ultimatum from his coach leading into the game – convert his chances in front of goal or run the risk of going back to the reserves. He told the Herald Sun later: “When I first started I had a few shots at goals and missed a few goals, so `Shawy’ said to me `start kicking those goals and you stay in the side.” “I’d been down on my confidence, I wasn’t kicking well and when I came back up (from the reserves) I was told: `This is it. Do it now or lose it forever’. ” Fortunately, he took his chance on this day. Footscray coach Terry Wallace’s post-match address to his players enter football folklore. The margin at quarter-time was 44 points. The Collingwood faithful was delighted, but more than a few did a double-take at the margin, knowing it had a strangely ominous ring to it. Michael Horan, of the Herald Sun, who happened to be a Black and White fan with a long memory, explained: “Someone joked at quarter time that the Magpies had blown a 44-point (half-time) lead before, alluding to the famous 1970 Grand Final and the Carlton comeback which has long since passed into folklore.” Surely, this one wasn’t going to be the same. But Footscray did outplay the Magpies in the second term. Wallace’s team kicked 6.3 to 4.1, and the difference at half-time had been reduced to 30 points. Still, it was a significant margin, though the Dogs were rallying. However, they could not make any further scoreboard inroads during the third term. Each team kicked three goals, and when the three-quarter-time siren sounded, the Magpies still maintained a 29-point lead. The game, according to the Herald Sun, “appeared to be as good as over”, even though the Bulldogs had controlled much of the general play during the second and third terms. Brad Johnson, an important player in the Dogs’ revival, marked and goaled four minutes into the last quarter. The difference was back to 22 points, Then Luke Darcy twice had the chance to cut it back further. But he sprayed a ball out on the full from 10 metres out, and missed again from close in not long after. Ahmat nailed an important goal for the Magpies from 50m out, which seemed to settle the issue. After all, neither side advanced much on that almost five goal margin until around six minutes was left to play. A long bomb torpedo from well outside 50m from Daniel Hargraves appeared to spark the Bulldogs into action. Then Johnson nailed another on the run. And just as Dogs fans were considering heading towards the exit, Jason Watts kicked yet another. The difference was disappearing at a rate of knots and another goal to young Bulldog and future Pie Tyson Lane brought Wallace’s team to within reach of a remarkable victory or, the very least, a draw. All four late Bulldog goals had come within four minutes. There was still 51 seconds left on the clock. And with Jose Romero steaming in to the forward line, it seemed as if another major was in the offing. But, out of nowhere, Paul Williams launched a running tackle at full stretch on Romero and dragged him down. The momentum went down with Romero. It was inspiring stuff and precisely what Collingwood needed at that moment. The siren followed soon after, with Collingwood still clinging to a six-point lead. The Bulldogs had quite simply run out of time. Wallace slammed his hand on the old MCG coaches’ box open window. He knew his team had missed an important chance, and was determined to let them know. “Let’s get out there; I’m going to get right into them,” he told his support team as they headed to the rooms. And in the other coaches’ box, Tony Shaw was just as frustrated, albeit with a touch of relief. “That’s just unacceptable, the players know that,” Shaw said after the game. “We’ve got to do better than that. In the last four or five minutes it was a disgrace how easily they (Footscray) got the ball out of the centre. “We have this in-bred thing, which is unacceptable, that we can’t bury sides. “We allowed the pressure to let up, we fiddled with the ball and we were over-cocky with the ball. We’re not good enough to do that. ” Wallace’s reaction and his message to his players – on Cordell’s documentary – became a part of football folklore. Behind closed doors, he spoke passionately about the lost opportunity, and how his team had to stand for something better than what they had served up in the first quarter. Never mind the huge leap they had taken, it was a case of what might have been. “I don’t know about you blokes, but I can’t bear losing a game like that,” he said. “Look, fantastic effort, but what does a fantastic effort mean. We don’t get diddly squat.” Then he uttered the words remembered for as long as this game will be – “If I see one bloke walk out of here and getting a pat on the back from people out there for a good effort, I’ll spew up.” The Dogs would win the following week, spurred on by Wallace’s words. His caretaker role would become a permanent one. In fact, the Western Bulldogs – as they would become known later in the year – would make the 1997 and 1998 preliminary finals, coming agonisingly close to a Grand Final berth. Collingwood would drop the next three games after that Round 17, 1996 game, which cost the club any chance of playing finals that season. Sadly, there would be no more appearances in the finals for the rest of a decade that had started out so successfully.

Four of the best

Luke — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 06:21:03 +0000

By: Glenn McFarlane of the Herald Sun Collingwood won its 1500th game against Fremantle in round 14, 2016. But would it surprise you to know that, statistically, the Magpies’ most productive quarter came against Carlton? That came with a blistering 12.5 (77) in the third quarter against the Blues in Round 4, 1969 at Princes Park, bringing about the first defeat of the reigning premiers. It was also a bruising game that resulted in four reports (including two Magpies), coach Bob Rose rated it as one of the most complete victories in his time at the club, and it also featured a fine performance from a shooting Magpie star. Here is a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of Collingwood’s highest scoring terms from its first 1500 wins, including that famous victory over Carlton. FIRST QUARTER 11.2 (68) V Footscray, Round 1 1971 at Victoria Park Was it any wonder that Collingwood took the field with a point to prove in the round one game against Footscray in 1971? The previous game had been the 1970 Grand Final, a game that could have – and should have – been one of the crowing glories of Bob Rose‘s tenure as coach of a star-studded team. Instead, after leading the premiership decider by 44 points at half-time, the Magpies were overrun by the Blues. What had looked as an unlosable situation became another embarrassing chapter in the club’s quest for its 13th VFL premiership. So, as The Age described it, “the Magpies burst all their pent up 1970 Grand Final frustrations into a 30-minute mauling that left Footscray a beaten side at quarter-time.”

Captain Des Tuddenham, playing his 148th game, set the scene by kicking the opening goal of the game, and he slammed home five of his team’s 11 goals of the first quarter. By game’s end, Tuddy had nine goals.

The Magpies had kicked an accurate 11.2 (68) by quarter-time, to lead by 42 points, and they extended that even further to 69 points to sit at 16,.6 (102) at half-time. It was described as “some of the most devastating of football seen at Victoria Park in a long time” with Tuddenham clearly the best man afield. Mike Smith, from The Age, said of 28-year-old Tuddenham that “his ruthless, marauding play around the packs … set the example which was followed by every other Collingwood player.” He had 40 disposals, and kicked 9.1. Wayne Richardson and Len Thompson each kicked four goals. So, too, did Peter McKenna, but it was said that his opponent Dave Darcy held him relatively in check. The half-time margin of 69 points was extended to 83 by the end of the game, but all anyone wanted to talk about was the devastating first-term that remains the Magpies’ best start to a game in history. Coach Bob Rose said after the match: “I was happy with the game, apart from a natural lapse after we built up a big lead … I thought we had Footscray well covered.” SECOND QUARTER 12.3 (75) V Essendon, Round 3 1977 at Victoria Park Collingwood went to the quarter-time break of its round three clash with Essendon five points in front after a hard-fought first term. Tom Hafey asked for something extra from his team. It was his third game in charge of the club, and he knew his team could do better after a solid but unspectacular opening half hour. He could hardly have believed what came next. In a second term that would go into the club’s record books, the Magpies piled on 12.3 (75) to the Bombers’ 3.4, to open up a half-time lead of 58 points. The Age described the second quarter as a moment in which the Magpies – who had finished last the previous year – proved “to all its fanatic followers that season ’76 is a forgotten nightmare.” Twenty-four-year-old Graeme Anderson, playing his 32nd game, was the dominant player that day. He excelled in that “dream” second term, kicking 8.2 in his best performance with the club. Ross Dunne booted four goals for the game, while four others – Murrie Batt, Peter McCormack (a future full-back), Max Richardson and Len Thompson – each kicked two goals. But if Hafey was so pleased with the second term, he would be less than impressed with the second half. The Bombers came out and kicked seven goals to one in the third term, and the final margin was 51, The coach expressed his frustration after the game, saying: “Yes, we won today, but I warned the boys at half-time not to relax, but it just didn’t sink in.” He warned a four-quarter effort would be required for the next game, against his old side, Richmond, on ANZAC Day, and this time around, he would get what he was after. Des Tuddenham played a key role in Collingwood’s twelve-goal third quarter against Carlton in round four, 1969. THIRD QUARTER 12.5 (77) V Carlton, Round 4 1969 at Princes Park Reigning premiers Carlton held onto a five-point lead at half-time of the round four clash with Collingwood in 1969. The Blues hadn’t lost since round 16, 1968, and as evenly matched as the two teams had been during the first two terms, most people expected the home side to win the points on the resumption of play. That was far from the case. The match was turned on its head in the most unlikely of scenarios – a blistering third term that would be the most prolific in the club’s long and proud history. As The Age’s Ron Carter described it, “the third quarter … was the best 25 minutes play a Collingwood team has put together for many a day. To score 12.5 to Carlton’s two behinds in that one term revived memories of Collingwood’s great teams of the past.” The turnaround seemingly came from nowhere, with Carter saying: “the first half was just like any other game of football … tough, hard and close scoring.” “As the teams came out for the start of the second half, there was nothing to indicate Carlton was about to have its big reputation well and truly rubbed into the Princes Park mud. “The speed and method by which Collingwood took control of the game so completely came as a shock to everyone.” Coach Bob Rose compared the performance to when Collingwood overcame Geelong in the 1953 Grand Final, after earlier knocking the Cats off at Kardinia Park. “We had Carlton tabbed after a big meeting last Thursday night,” Rose said after the game. “All our players knew exactly what was wanted and what we had to do.” He acknowledged it was clearly the best team effort of his coaching career to that date. Of Collingwood’s 12 goals kicked in the third term, one came in the first minute, four within nine minutes, eight in the first 17 minutes, 10 goals came in 20 minutes and 12 goals were on the board by three-quarter-time. The difference at the last change was 70 points – incredibly, a 75-point turnaround in a quarter. And while the Blues outscored the Magpies marginally in the last term, the final margin was 64 points. Collingwood’s 23.15 (153) was – at that time – the highest score Carlton had conceded. In the rooms after the game, Magpies President Tom Sherrin told the players: “I’ve never been prouder of a Collingwood side … I’ve never seen the Magpies play better.” Eighteen-year-old John Greening, in his 19th game, showed a sign of his enormous potential, kicking 7.3 in the same jumper that his coach had made famous. Greening kicked three goals in that third term, as did Des Tuddenham and Wayne Richardson. Richardson’s treble of goals came within a three-minute period. There were more than a few fights to go with the goals, and four players, including Magpies Len Thompson and Ted Potter, had their numbers taken by the umpire in charge. But the third quarter was the only thing that mattered. FOURTH QUARTER 11.5 (71) V North Melbourne, Round 9 1990 at Victoria Park Seven goals to Peter Daicos; seven goals to Gavin Brown in one of his first significant moves from the wing to full-forward; and 11 goals in one remarkable final term. That was a day to remember in a year to remember for Collingwood fans. The Magpies held sway at three-quarter-time against North Melbourne in round nine, 1990, leading at the last change by 29 points. But the game was far from done, with Magpie fans still on edge at the break. Daicos explained later: “When you go out there at three-quarter time two or three goals up, you never know what’s going to happen.” The fans need not have worried, thanks to Daicos’ magic, and an extraordinary 11-goal final term that pushed the final margin out to 80 points. Daicos almost didn’t play in the game. He had been crook the previous day, spending it in bed with the flu. But he dragged himself out of his sick bed and helped the Magpies to their best last quarter-ever. Two minutes into the final term, the star forward set the scene for what was to come. He swooped on the ball near the boundary line and slotted it through the middle with a banana from the pocket. The Sun’s Michael Davis said: “It should have been worth two goals.” Incredibly, the feat won what appeared to be a standing ovation, and was the highlight of a day full of them. Coach Leigh Matthews could barely believe it: “I wasn’t quite sure what I saw. I’m still not quite sure. It was unbelievable, wasn’t it?” But just as significant in the long-term was the fact that Brown was played deep in attack, instead of on the wing, and he was unstoppable, kicking 7.0. It was a template for the rest of the season. Daicos’ goal at the two-minute-mark was followed by further goals at the five, eight, seven, 15, 18, 20, 22, 26, 27 and 29 minute marks. Following on from 10 goals in the final term the previous week against Fitzroy, Matthews’ team stormed home with 11 in the clash with the Kangaroos, showing just how exciting this team was when at its best.

Recognising Robert Rose

Luke — Wed, 25 May 2016 05:24:13 +0000

By: Glenn McFarlane, Herald Sun journalist So much of the focus on Robert Rose‘s life centres on the tragic turn of events that followed one night in February 1974, but what should never be lost was what came before it, and what fine young sportsman he was. For a moment, forget about what might have been, and think about what was. Robert Rose was born to be a sportsman. He had that natural aptitude from the start; that passionate competitiveness; and that determination of spirit. He even had the pedigree. The eldest son of Collingwood champion Bob Rose and his wife Elsie always seemed destined to wear the Black and White. But he had to earn those stripes as much as anyone else, as well as endure the endless comparisons with his father that he could never hope to live up to. He even had to put up with conjecture about whether he had had an easier passage than others because his father was his coach – even though he hadn’t. He was almost a natural from the start. One of the earliest photos of Robert with a football in his hands – detailed in his brother Peter’s remarkable book, Rose Boys – shows him at full stretch kicking the ball, his technique already crafted by endless practice, his face etched in endeavour. He is not yet three years of age. Behind him, his father watches on with careful attention, and, one senses, more than a little pride. This wasn’t just a shot for the camera. It was part of a bond they would share forever, one that would be tested over time, but never weaken. Years later, in an interview the pair did for The Age in 1971, they spoke of the countless hours put into honing those skills. Bob would recall his “unobtrusive grooming” of Robert in the backyard in the early 1960s, when he was coach of Wangaratta Rovers, just ahead of his return to Victoria Park in 1964 to coach the Magpies. “(But) I never had to teach him how to kick,” Rose said. “He could kick without effort, either foot, since he was able to handle a ball.” Robert Rose was always destined to play for Collingwood. Father and son used to play kick-to-kick “in the backyard for hours” during those formative years, but only once did they play in the same match. That was a game for charity, and Robert, then a 15-year-old student at Haileybury College, recalled the moment he lined up alongside Bob, who was then almost 40. When asked about that match much later, he recalled: “We probably looked for each other a bit with kicks.” Robert joined Collingwood in 1968, playing in the under 19s, and made the supplementary list the following season. In that year, 1969, he began training with the seniors, and with that came even more attention. The Herald ran a headline “Another Rose Blooms for Collingwood” after one of his first practice matches. It detailed how he was likely to carry on the family tradition, following on from his father, and his uncles Kevin, Bill and Ralph in playing senior football with the Magpies. Another uncle, Colin, had played with the reserves. “The old timers could not believe their eyes,” the article read. “It’s incredible that it could happen all over again. But when 17-year-old Robert Rose snapped up the first kick of the practice game on Saturday then seconds later kicked the first goal, they were convinced. By now, it’s common knowledge that the sixth Rose had bloomed at Collingwood.” Rose was only 18 years and 114 days old when he made his VFL debut, in round nine, 1970, in the same game that West Australian recruit Peter Eakins played his first game with the club. That news came with the headline: “Magpies select Coach’s son.” But there was little doubt Rose had earned his spot. In an interview with Lou Richards, his father’s former teammate, he said he wasn’t fazed by the famous name he shared with his father. He explained: “Well, it’s just like any other, and at least it’s a lot better than being called Marmaduke or Archibald. But I don’t like being called Bob – that’s too close to home. Robert is the name.” Later, he said: “When I first started at Collingwood, I’d often hear people yell out that I was only getting a game because my father was the coach. It used to upset me. Now I don’t take any notice of it.” Rose was named as one of the reserves in that first game and he only came onto the Windy Hill ground late in the last quarter, recording two kicks and one mark in the six-point loss. Four games came in that debut season of 1970, none of them after round 14, and he was a spectator when his father’s team gave up a 44-point half-time lead to lose to Carlton in that remarkable 1970 Grand Final. Playing mainly as a utility/half-forward, Rose found a more permanent position within the Collingwood team in 1971, even if the early part of the season he was primarily used as either 19th or 20th man. Five of his first six VFL games were as a reserve, which, as he explained, “you could hardly call special treatment.” But the confidence derived from his first full game – round nine, 1971 against South Melbourne at Victoria Park – seemed to further validate his worth to the team. He had 21 disposals, took eight marks and kicked two goals. “I knew I had to play well to stay in, and I went reasonably well against (South Melbourne) Eric Sarich,” he said. “And I remember my first goal in league football. (Graeme) Jenkin handballed and I shot it through. It helped the tight feeling to fall off, and you could breathe easier. “I realise I am in the hot seat at the moment as other players recover from injury. But I am in the side and they have to force me out. I will fight every inch of the way to stay in the side.” His coach was just as pleased that his son’s hard work was starting to pay off – “I’ll vote for him if he’s good enough.” Rose was slightly taller than his father, yet a little leaner. One newspaper said: “Young Rose is different. Certainly, he has all the courage of his father, but … it would be stupid for him to throw himself at bigger players. He must depend on his pace, understanding and ball handling for kicks. He is probably a more skilled player than his father.” But even Robert conceded that no matter what happened, he could never reach the lofty heights that Bob achieved. Into the fray in the No. 35. Like his father, Rose excelled at dual sports. Bob had been a talented boxer as well as an exceptional footballer. Robert was a good footballer, and seemingly had even more talent as a cricketer. He would come to play in two Collingwood district premierships, as well as represent Victoria as a right-handed middle order batsman. If things had turned out differently, Keith Stackpole Jr., among many others, was certain he would have played Test cricket. Stackpole said years later: “Robert would have only got better – he would have played for Australia, no doubt about it.” Perhaps Rose’s best VFL game came in round 20, 1971, when he kicked 4.3 and had 29 disposals the next time the Magpies took on the Swans. But the season ended in disappointment when the Magpies bowed out of the finals with a Semi-Final loss to Richmond. That would be his father’s last game as Collingwood coach in that tenure. Bob resigned and he took on the Footscray coaching job in 1972. Robert remained a Magpie for another season, but managed only six games that year. His 26th and last game for Collingwood came in the 1972 first Semi-Final loss to St Kilda. Seeking a change, he tried to join his father at the Bulldogs, but a transfer was initially refused. He didn’t want to fuel the fire by saying that he no longer wanted to play under Collingwood coach Neil Mann, but that was the case. So he played for a time for his uncle Kevin at Prahran in the VFA before the Magpies finally gave their permission for him to cross to Footscray. He was married by that stage, and had a young daughter, Salli. Nine more games came with the Bulldogs – wearing his father old No.22 for the first time – in the second half of the 1973 season, including a career-best 30 disposals in his first match with the club. That summer produced his best return for Victoria, including scoring an unbeaten 118 runs against Queensland at the Gabba, and playing an important role in helping Victoria to secure another Sheffield Shield title. Rose turned 22 on February 5, 1974. Nine days later, he and two friends had enjoyed a day at the Ballarat races, but on their return, the car in which they were travelling flipped over on the Western Highway. His mates walked away from the wreckage, but tragically Rose’s spinal cord was severed. There were initial fears he would not survive. But the same determination he showed in his sporting pursuits crossed over into his recovery and stayed with him for the remainder of this life, despite his quadriplegia. Robert Rose remained a fixture around the Collingwood Football Club for the rest of his life, with his devoted father religiously taking him to football games and cricket matches across Melbourne. His family supported him throughout his battle, which ended in 1999, when he was aged only 47. Bob said of Robert after he died: “Quite simply, he was the bravest man I’ve ever known.” The Robert Rose Foundation, which provides support to those with spinal cord injuries and their families, was founded in his honour, and Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs still play for the Robert Rose Cup.

Banks robbed of Mark of the Year

Jonathon — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 01:57:46 +0000

By: Glenn McFarlane Denis Banks was upstaged – not once, but twice – when he soared through the sky to take one of the most spectacular marks dragged down by a Collingwood player in round 10, 1984. Collingwood was playing Footscray at what was then known as the Western Oval in a game that transformed from an ordinary mid-season home-and-away match into a dramatic conclusion few would forget. Banks was almost 25 at the time and playing his 57th game that afternoon. Little did he know that his spring-heeled leap would one day be used in a Tourism Victoria advertisement. It happened in the second quarter of the clash. Tony Shaw, who would be adjudged best afield by the Sun News-Pictorial that day, was at the front of the contest and Brian Cordy – father of current Bulldog Ayce – was also in the frame when a flash in Black and White rose and rose and rose. Banks was able to launch himself through the air and somehow was able to bring down the best mark of his football career. “It was probably as high as I ever got,” said Banks. “But I never got the car…that went to someone else. “When I took the mark, I thought I might have been a bit of a chance (to win the Mark of the Year award). It’s not something you think about too much, but it would have been nice to win the car.” The modest Banks, who would play a role in a memorable, drought breaking premiership six years later, did win the weekly Mark of the Round on Channel Seven’s World Of Sport the next day. He would get $100 for this and an automatic nomination for the major season prize of a Nissan Bluebird TRX. That would have been “nice” for a bloke driving an old Ute at the time. But the Channel Seven experts bypassed Banks’ beauty for Sydney’s Wayne Carroll at the end of the season for Mark of the Year honours, even though a close examination of both marks three decades on shows just how stiff the Collingwood footballer was. His consolation was that he won the ABC’s Mark of the Year. In keeping with the public broadcaster’s austerity, the prize wasn’t a car, but a pewter mug to commemorate his memorable mark. “I’m not sure whether I ever got that mug, either,” Banks said this week. Banks’ amazing solo aerial effort would also be overshadowed by the conclusion of the game as well – his mark barely mentioned in match reports because of the way in which the game finished, and due to the drama that the final minutes would reveal. The drama involved Graeme ‘Gubby’ Allan, who would go onto become one of the game’s great football administrators at Collingwood, Brisbane and now Greater Western Sydney, and it centred around his last kick of the day. “Gubby took a bit of the gloss off what I did,” Banks laughed. There is little doubt that Allan did that, even though his miskick came on a day in which he had been an outstanding performer for Collingwood. More of that later…for now, let’s concentrate on the build up to the Collingwood-Footscray game that afternoon, and how controversy was there before the game even started. These were the days when curtain-raisers took place before the main event – how footy fans would love to see that today – and the Magpies produced a shock when the reserves kicked off the winter dew. Collingwood opted to play Melbourne ruckman Glenn McLean without a clearance in the early game, with the club’s board voting at a late night meeting to defy the VFL rules and get him to don the Black and White. The reason why he was not immediately selected in the seniors was that no one wanted to see the club potentially lose premiership points for playing an ineligible player. The seconds didn’t matter so much. President of the New Magpies at the time, media proprietor Ranald Macdonald, said the club had been prepared to lose reserves premiership points, but insisted they would “challenge it to the ultimate.” Melbourne chief executive Dick Seddon fired back: “It’s a pity Collingwood has turned this into a public brawl”, with the bad blood between the clubs stretching back a year to when Peter Moore had switched to the Demons. The battle between the Magpies and Demons would eventually be resolved, yet only after Collingwood’s reserves had been docked points for playing McLean when he should not have been played. McLean, who would later be cleared for Tony Keenan and an exchange of money, would only get to play two senior matches with the Magpies in late 1984, before being discarded within two years. But that was in the future, and the Collingwood-Footscray clash would have enough tension of its own for the day. The Magpies went into the game as favourites, though the Bulldogs had a strong, improving side that included the likes of Doug Hawkins, Simon Beasley, Jim Edmond, Brian Royal and Andrew Purser. And former Magpie Allan Edwards was brought back into the Footscray side. Their coach was only 30 – less than 150 days older than Collingwood’s oldest player that day, Michael Taylor – and he was coaching in his first season and only his 10th game. Collingwood’s coach was John Cahill, one of the most famous names in South Australian football, who was in the midst of his second season in Black and White. One of the more unusual things about the Magpie team that day was the fact that there were four Shaws in the one side, though only two of them were related. Siblings Tony and Neville Shaw – a 19-year-old playing his eighth game – though their other brother Ray was no longer there. But Derek Shaw, recruited from the Diamond Valley, and Gary Shaw, a Queenslander who had performed well in the West Australian Football League and had cost a small mint in transfer fees, were also playing. The experienced Collingwood team who would later play off in a Preliminary Final against the eventual premiers Essendon included the likes of David Cloke, Mark Williams, Geoff Raines, Ricky Barham and Peter McCormack. Allan was 29 and playing his 46th game for Collingwood – and his 133rd overall after transferring from Fitzroy. When the game started, both sides traded goals, with each kicking six goals in the opening term. While the visitors held a narrow sway of two points at the first change, it looked more promising for the home side, as it had been kicking against a slight breeze. Each of Collingwood’s six goals came from a different player, with Gary Shaw, Greg Phillips, Banks, Michael Richardson, Barham and Queenslander Dale Woodhall all scoring majors. Woodhall, 23, was playing his eighth game for Collingwood. He had been a champion goal kicker in the Queensland competition, but could not quite translate that dominance to the VFL, though he did kick seven goals in a game against Sydney. He kicked two goals in the second term, while Gary Shaw scored another major and Cloke added his first. By half-time, it seemed as if order had been restored as the Magpies had managed four goals against the wind, keeping the Bulldogs without a goal. The difference was 29 points at the long interval. Midway through the third term, the margin was still 26 points, and it appeared as if Collingwood was about to record a routine victory. But Collingwood would only add one goal in that third term, through Banks, who was having a memorable day. The Bulldogs added four goals in the third term – two from Beasley, who was slowly getting on top of McCormack, who had barely given him a look-in, and two from Edmond, who had been brought back in the senior team after a week in the reserves. At three-quarter-time, Collingwood led by only 11 points. Shane Morwood and Derek Shaw kicked Collingwood’s only last quarter goals. The Herald said: “Even in the final term it always looked as though Collingwood was going to hang on despite Footscray’s determination.” But the Bulldogs kept coming, and Cahill watched helpless as majors to Michael McLean, Rick Kennedy and veteran Bruce Duperouzel put the home side right back into the contest. Then came the defining moment of the match, and Banks’ second term mark was all but a distant memory. It came as the seconds ticked down desperately and the ball was locked deep in the Footscray forward line at the city end of the ground. Collingwood fans breathed a sigh of relief when Allan was awarded a free kick against Edmond. The Magpies held on grimly by a solitary point. Just a little earlier, Allan had cleared with a near-perfect pass to Barham. This time he had the ball about 15 metres out from the Bulldogs’ goal. Allan’s eyes looked immediately across goal, and when he made a movement in that direction, the fans’ heartbeats skipped a few beats. The kick was intended for Phillips, but it lacked the penetration to make it and Beasley lunged at it. The Bulldog forward grabbed hold of the ball before Phillips could get his hands on it. Adding insult into injury, Beasley landed heavily on Phillips’ knee, causing an injury. The pain for Allan was so much more, though. It was so intense that later he could not even remember that Edmond had placed his hand to his head and uttered an expletive, suggesting he must have had rocks in his head to attempt such a move. Tim Lane, on the ABC, had said: “Graeme Allan is hanging his head, but he did what I think his coach would expect…It was a super effort by Beasley. He could write a new chapter in the Boys’ Own Annual.” Beasley did not miss and put the Bulldogs in front by five points, with Collingwood’s 13.17 (95) to the opposition’s 15.10 (100) leaving them short when the siren rang soon after his kick. Allan would later break his silence in an interview with the Sun’s chief football writer Peter Simunovich, who must have been sharing his subject’s pain, given he was a Collingwood supporter. Allan “accepted the blame” for his “now famous” miskick. He said: “It’s all my fault; it was just a bad kick. That’s all there is to it. “I saw Greg running in. It was a play we normally do; I just kicked it too soft. I didn’t see Beasley. I just went numb and I didn’t see him kick the goal. I just turned my back and started to walk to the rooms.” Cahill was shattered, as much by the fact that the Magpies had struggled in the second half, as with Allan’s kick. “We should never have been in that position in the first place,” Cahill said after the game. “Our second half was disgraceful. “Our players wanted to play it nice, and soft and wide instead of crashing in and being physical. We’ve just let so many people down today. Footscray was more desperate for us in the closing stages.” Malthouse was disappointed with those who suggested his team had stolen the game. ““I don’t think we stole it, for one minute,” he said. “To say Collingwood was robbed of victory would be quite incorrect.” Banks recalled this week that switching from defence was not something that Collingwood did all that often in those days, with Leigh Matthews’ arrival two years later making that tactic more prevalent than in the past. But Allan said: “I should have played percentage football and kicked it long around the boundary. For a bloke of my experience, I shouldn’t have done it. “I felt like digging a hole and burying myself in it. I still do. “I went home after the game and cried.” While the rest of the Collingwood team went out to drown their sorrows, Allan could not face a night on the town. He was in bed early before a phone call roused him around 10.30pm. It came from a Magpie teammate who told him he better get up because “a group of about 14 or 16 were coming around for a drink…an impromptu party.” Allan did not have any alcohol in the house at the time, but that was easily fixed. His teammates were happy to make it a BYO. Banks recalled: “It ended up being a bit of a late night…we ended up having a few drinks with Gubby, which was good.” The pain was shared together. And Banks gave no thoughts to being upstaged as he and his teammates tried to get around a mate who had made the mistake of his footy life.