Collingwood Forever

Biography

Many top-line defenders have started out as wannabe forwards. It’s a footy maxim almost as old as the game itself.

Collingwood has had its share over the years, including a schoolboy prodigy who transformed from a forward of promise into one of the most reliable defenders of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

His name was Peter McCormack. And while he might not have been as flashy as some of those stars he played on, he was more than competitive in some memorable engagements with the best forwards in the VFL.

In many ways, the skills he boasted in schoolboy football suited him even more so at the other end of the ground. The Herald once described McCormack as “loyal, honest and hardworking.” But those weren’t the only noteworthy traits of the player who would represent the Magpies in 160 games from 1976-1985.

He was a prodigious kick, with his accurate punts from kick-ins and in general play predominantly hitting his targets. He was also a fine mark in his own right. The Football Recorddescribed him as “a disciplined and reliable full back … (who) backs his own judgement and his telling marks have repelled many opposition attacks.”

McCormack played his junior football with Kingsbury in the Preston and District Junior Football League, having been brought up in the suburb of the same name. He first came to the note of league scouts when he kicked more than 300 goals across three seasons as a schoolboy at Kilmore’s Assumption College. As a full-forward, his best performance came when he kicked 24.7 against Yarra Valley Grammar one day. In that game, as recorded by Brother Xavier, McCormack had 26 marks, 32 kicks and 10 handballs in his team’s 46.26 (302) to 1.2 (8) victory.

“Pull up your socks, Peter McKenna” came the opening of a Sunnewspaper story on 17-year-old McCormack at the time. “There is a lad at Assumption College, Kilmore, who appears tailor made for Collingwood’s full forward spot in the future.”

Brother Xavier said of his young sharpshooter and captain: “(McCormack) is a complete footballer and most unselfish. He has a strong mark and an accurate kick, he has good balance and recovery and fights when the ball is on the ground. Although he likes to play well himself, Peter would rather the team win than kick a lot of goals himself.”

Given his residential zone, he was always going to end up at Collingwood. And the Magpies couldn’t be happier when he arrived at the club, thinking they had found the next gun forward.

The Sun said in the lead-up to the 1976 season: “Every time a league coach hears a new recruit comes from Assumption his eyes light up. That could be the reason Collingwood coach Murray Weideman was wearing dark glasses at training last night – he’s playing it cool about his new find from the college. The new hope is Peter McCormack … and (we’ll) make a prediction right now. Peter will be filling the full-forward position for the Magpies in the first game.”

The prediction came true.

The young forward debuted in the Round 1 clash with Carlton, but it wasn’t a happy initiation. He could manage only two kicks for one goal, before being dropped back to the reserves. He wouldn’t play in the seniors again until Round 10, keeping his spot for four weeks, booting seven goals in that mid-year month of VFL football.

But the club was beset by internal bickering and divisions that season, as the Magpies finished on the bottom of the ladder for the first time in their history. McCormack would recall years later: “I lost all confidence and just couldn’t do a thing right. The whole team was down and it was a pretty unhappy time all round.” He did, however, play in the Magpies’ reserves premiership side in 1976, after kicking more than 50 goals in the seconds that season.

But while the Magpies bounced back the following year, McCormack suffered a serious knee injury that ended his season after only three senior games and a handful in the seconds. His knee was in plaster for six weeks, as he watched on as the club came within a whisker of winning the 1977 flag.

He set himself for “a make or break” year in 1978. Playing the early part of the year in the reserves in the unfamiliar centre half-back role, he won his way back into the senior side by Round 7 against Carlton (although he didn’t win a possession). However, Magpies coach Tom Hafey found a senior role for him at full-back, and McCormack discovered his niche amongst an experienced and tough defensive set up, where his coolness under pressure became one of his trademarks, along with his luxuriant mane of hair, his exceptional kicking and his strong marks.

He played 15 games in 1978 – including three finals – and earned himself an interview with The Sun’sLou Richards, who described him as having played some “crackerjack” games. McCormack would say: “I didn’t mind playing in the backline. You got used to it after a while. I enjoyed playing there with some good guys – Billy (Picken), Stan (Magro), ‘Wortho’ (Kevin Worthington) and Andrew Ireland. We formed a pretty good unit back there. It’s great having top players around you … if that doesn’t build your confidence, then nothing will.”

His next three seasons – 1979-1981 – resulted in 24 games each year, establishing himself as one of the VFL’s most dependable defenders. Frustratingly, they also resulted in a trio of Grand Final losses. But he did have some success – as a member of Collingwood’s night premiership team in 1979, where he was judged to be man of the match, winning a Thorn 14-inch portable television.

McCormack’s outwardly cool demeanour was something he had to work at. He tried not to let nerves get in the way of his performances, saying: “The mental pressure on a full-back is unbelievable. You try to pick up a few of their weaknesses, but you never start worrying about how many goals you might think they will kick.”

Collingwood missed the finals in 1982-83, as McCormack endured some battles with his body across those frustrating seasons. He was back in favour in 1984, and his body allowed him to have a big season, playing 25 games including three finals, before going on to play 16 more games in 1985. His 160th – and last – game for Collingwood came in Round 22, 1985, against Carlton, though he didn’t know it at the time.

Having been a loyal servant across 10 seasons, the 29-year-old was cruelly told on the eve of the 1986 season that was no longer required by a financially-crippled Collingwood. “I am the first victim of the financial mismanagement at the club,” he said back then. “I signed a new contract for three years with the club last year. It was conditional I made the final list each year.”

He signed a three-year deal with Richmond, but lasted only four games of the 1986 season before joining Fitzroy for one game in Round 11 – against Collingwood, of all clubs. It wasn’t the way McCormack’s VFL career deserved to end. But, thankfully, he returned to the Collingwood fold in 1987 to accept a well-deserved life membership award for services to the club.

Peter McCormack came to Collingwood as an exciting forward who was expected to kick bags of goals. Instead he stopped them, and in the process became a poster boy for what a solid, reliable, no-frills full-back should look like. He was a huge part of the Hafey’s Heroes era.