collingwood cult figures – Collingwood Forever https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au The complete history of Australia's greatest sporting club Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:13:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.21 A ’20s cult figure https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-george-clayden/ Wed, 17 Aug 2016 01:54:51 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10645 By: Michael Roberts, Collingwood Historian. Football in the late 1920s was a tough caper for tough men. And Collingwood was blessed throughout that time with a formidable array of uncompromising, rugged footballers who could not only match it with the best when it came to the physical side of the game, but who were also outstanding players. Men like Albert Collier, Percy Rowe, Ernie Wilson and Len Murphy knew how to play footy – and how to look after themselves. To that elite group you can add the name of George ‘Kitty’ Clayden. Big, strong, fast and fearless, Clayden was just about the complete package as a footballer, capable of playing either in the ruck or in key defensive posts. He was also one seriously tough hombre. All of which helped make him a fan favourite at Victoria Park. The Magpie supporters have always loved their players to be hard-at-it, and this seemed to be particularly true in the bleak Depression years. So Clayden’s approach to the game was always likely to win him friends in the Vic Park stands, but it was his brilliant play that made him an indispensable member of the Machine team. Even so, his “enthusiasm” for the physical contest very nearly derailed his career before it really began. Three times in his first three years at the club he was reported and suspended – four games for kicking in his otherwise stellar debut season of 1924, six weeks on another kicking charge in the 1925 seconds’ Grand Final and eight weeks for crashing into Melbourne’s Bob Johnson in the dying minutes of the Semi-Final in 1926. Fortunately for Collingwood, Jock McHale was able to temper Clayden’s aggression and school him into using it more selectively. The result was a player who remained feared by opponents but who scarcely missed a game when it counted during the club’s reign from 1927 to 1930. That was just as well, because Clayden’s ability to play back, forward or in the ruck made him a vitally important player in those Collingwood teams. He was magnificently built, just on 188cm tall and weighing over 80kg, and wonderfully fit, swimming and running competitively during the summer months and being fanatical about physical exercise even outside of official training (teammate Harry Collier was regularly woken on interstate trips by Clayden doing push-ups at 5.30 in the morning!). His height and strength gave him a huge advantage when following or in a key position, but he was also remarkably fast for a big man, having once won a 220-yard event at Kyneton. This combination of pace, strength and athleticism made him a fearsome opponent. He was wonderful in the air – with a prodigious leap and good hands. About the only thing his game lacked was good kicking. One critic described this aspect of his game as “execrable”, and he even managed a “fresh air shot” one day when kicking from a standing start. There are some who believe that it was only this deficiency that stopped Clayden from being regarded as one of the game’s all-time greats. Still, it didn’t stop him from steering through 79 goals in his 134 games – a reasonable return, given the amount of time he spent in defence. Clayden always seemed destined to succeed in at least one sport; the question was which one would it be? He was, as already noted, an excellent runner and a good swimmer. He captained both the football and cricket teams at the Spensley Street School in Clifton Hill, near where he was born and raised. And he even gave footy away for a couple of years after leaving school, preferring instead to concentrate on basketball with a team in Williamstown and also with the Melbourne YMCA. Luckily, he found that he missed football and so returned to the sport in the early 1920s, playing firstly with the local YMCA competition and then with the Abbotsford Cadets. From there he spent two years with Collingwood District, where he forged an outstanding reputation as a follower, and he was placed on Collingwood’s list for 1924. With a physique that was ready for the rigours of League football from day one, Clayden had an immediate impact; he acquitted himself well against Melbourne star Albert Chadwick in his first game and won a gold medal from the club for the most improved junior player in his debut season. Before long, the Magpies found themselves relying heavily on his electrifying mix of speed, strength and aggression. He became a protector of other players early in his career, relished the rugged exchanges more than most and could always be relied on to stand up when the team needed him. Clayden’s best year probably came the year after the fourth of Collingwood’s successive flags. He was chosen by Magpie fans as the most popular player of 1931 and awarded the Austral Cup. He also won a bottle of champagne as Victoria’s best player against South Australia that year, further underlining his credentials as a player of true class. However, he injured his knee on the eve of the 1932 season, missed eight weeks and never really recovered, being forced into retirement at the end of 1933. It was a bitter blow for the quietly spoken Clayden who, like so many of his fellow tough men, was shy and reserved off the field. He didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, attended church regularly and possessed what teammates have described as a wonderfully dry sense of humour. He was sorely missed in all ways at Victoria Park when he hung up his boots – though it’s a safe bet that many of his opponents were mighty relieved when he did so. This is an edited version of the profile that first appeared in the book, The Machine, by Glenn McFarlane and Michael Roberts.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Bob Heard https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-bob-heard/ Wed, 03 Aug 2016 02:10:16 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10615 By: Michael Roberts, Collingwood Historian. What is it that makes a player a cult figure? Sometimes it’s the way he plays, sometimes it’s his off-field personality, sometimes it’s just a freak of nature and the crowd perversely ‘adopting’ a player as a favourite. But a player’s physical dimensions can also have a lot to do with it. Often they’re mighty midgets like Ronnie Wearmouth and Micky Bone, or larger-than-life types such as Ray Gabelich and Graeme Jenkin. In Bob Heard‘s case, it had a lot to do with his height. Big Bob, or ‘Stretch’ or ‘Lurch’ as he was known, was the second tallest footballer in VFL history when he made his Magpie debut. This, combined with his slightly ungainly appearance and sometimes awkward movements, helped make him a fan favourite – especially once it was clear that he could play good football. Heard had been a star with Preston in the VFA, and whenever anyone talked about him crossing to the VFL, it was always his height that was mentioned. He really was exceptionally tall for his time. As a youngster, Bob hadn’t actually been much of a footballer at all: his twin brother, Charlie, made the school team at Preston Tech while Bob missed out. Bob was tall and skinny and didn’t think he was any good at the game so didn’t take it seriously. After he left school a couple of his mates talked him into playing with Wanderers in the Preston and District Association, and that’s where he discovered he had both an aptitude and passion for the game. 160803_heard600b Posing for a photo in the Victoria Park change rooms. He was ‘only’ around 6’3″ at that stage but kept growing after he joined Preston thirds the next year and quickly worked his way through the ranks to join the seniors. He first came to the attention of the wider football world when he starred in the 1968 VFA grand final as the Bullants beat Prahran. He played the best game of his career to that point that day, dominating the ruck and sealing his reputation as the most exciting young player in the VFA. Collingwood, which enjoyed a good relationship with Preston, got in touch with Heard almost immediately, but he decided to stay with Preston for 1969. He was even better that year (finishing runner-up in the best-and-fairest in another Preston Premiership side and being rated the best big man in the VFA), and the Pies went after the youngster aggressively for the 1970 season. They needed to be aggressive, too, as several interstate clubs dangled enticing offers in front of Heard. Even more worryingly, the Bullants were reluctant to let their young star go. The mild-mannered Heard soon found his name plastered over the back pages of newspapers as he became the central figure in a clearance war. Luckily for Collingwood, the VFA was facing expulsion from the Australasian National Football Council for having regularly played players without clearances (which would have meant that Heard could cross to Victoria Park without a permit), so Preston caved in at the last minute and approved his transfer. At 6’7 ½” in the old language (his twin brother had stopped growing at around 6’1″), Heard was hard to miss when he made his debut against Footscray in the opening round of 1970. He also had the biggest feet that anyone at Victoria Park could remember – he needed size 14 boots. After all the buzz surrounding his VFA performances and clearance wrangle, there was plenty of hype surrounding Heard’s arrival at Collingwood. And he let nobody down. He starred in the practice matches and was named on the bench for the opening game of the season, coming onto the ground late in the game and taking a spectacular mark. He started on the ground for his second, against Richmond, and kicked three goals to immediately endear himself to Magpie fans. Over time, Heard developed into a wonderful tap ruckman. He had lovely ‘soft’ hands that could direct the ball seemingly at will into the hands of his rovers. He never really filled out his frame and remained lanky throughout his career, but he was durable nonetheless. He was also a good mark and an accurate kick for goal, a combination that made him a dangerous opponent when resting in a forward pocket (he averaged more than a goal a game during his Collingwood career). Heard initially struggled to hold down a regular place, and was on the bench for the infamous 1970 Grand Final. In 1971 he tied for the Gardiner Medal, a poisoned chalice awarded to the best player in the VFL’s reserves competition – a sure sign that a player was spending more time in the seconds than he would like. But from 1972 onwards he was a regular alongside fellow big men Len Thompson, Graeme Jenkin and ‘Twiggy’ Dunne. Heard was an affable, popular teammate with a dry, laconic sense of humour. But after 106 games in six seasons at Victoria Park, Heard left for Richmond in 1976, where he played a further 54 games in four seasons before finishing up his career back where it began, at Preston. It’s scary to think that a bloke who was once the second tallest to play VFL football was the same height as a number of current players who aren’t even ruckmen – they’re mobile marking forwards. That’s the evolution of football. But Bob Heard has a career record to be proud of – more than 150 games and more than 150 goals is proof that he was much more than just a physical oddity on the football scene. 160803_heard600c Warming up out on Victoria Park.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Phil Manassa https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-phil-manassa/ Tue, 19 Jul 2016 23:23:45 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10594 By: Michael Roberts, Collingwood Historian. Thirteen and a half seconds. That is all Phil Manassa took to transform his standing in the hearts of Collingwood supporters from one of honest battler to one of cult hero. Halfway through the final quarter of the 1977 Grand Final Replay Collingwood was heading for defeat and Phil Manassa seemed destined never to be regarded as anything more than a gutsy, determined, aggressive utility player. Then Wayne Gordon tapped the ball across to the running Manassa on the half-back flank. He tucked the ball under one arm and charged up field like a rampaging bull. He bounced the ball once, twice, three times, faked a handball to elude a North Melbourne opponent, bounced once more then slotted home an angled shot from more than 50 metres. It was one of the greatest individual goals ever seen, and it so exhausted Manassa that he could barely make it back to his position in defence. In the short time it took him to charge from half-back to half-forward Phil Manassa secured himself a permanent place in Collingwood’s history. Manassa was already something of a fan favourite, largely the result of his ‘full-speed ahead’ approach to footy. But his grand final run – even though, like Ray Gabelich‘s run in 1964, it was ultimately in a losing cause – took that popularity to a new level. Ironically though, it took some time for the significance of Manassa’s achievement to dawn on the man himself. “I was just buggered,” he said later. “All I could think was that we had a chance to win and that I had to get back on (Malcolm) Blighty. After the game everyone was walking past and patting me on the back, saying it was fantastic, but I couldn’t comprehend it — I just didn’t think it was anything special. It’s like taking a big ‘specky’ mark — you never know how good it is until you see it yourself.” Still, that’s exactly the kind of mark many people thought Phil Manassa would leave on League football, for he was an incredibly successful junior footballer. Born and raised in Ivanhoe, he had been a junior star since he first pulled on the boots as a nine-year old. As a centreman with an eye for goals, he racked up numerous club and competition best and fairest awards — one season picking up 149 votes out of a possible 162! He represented Victoria at under-16 level for two years, the second as the vice-captain. At each of those junior carnivals he won Victoria’s best player award, ran second in the competition voting and was chosen in the All-Australian team. He also excelled in other sports, representing his school in everything from volleyball, baseball and soccer to hockey, basketball and cricket. 160720_forever600 Phil Manassa returns to Victoria Park for an AFL Media photoshoot in 1998. When Manassa started attending Heidelberg High School, he found that two of his teachers were Collingwood players Lee Adamson and Ted Potter. They would soon be teammates. Indeed Manassa had a way of making many of his teammates feel a little old; both Wayne Richardson and Barry Price had conducted primary school football clinics a few years earlier in which Phil took part. He never missed a chance to remind them of the fact. Manassa made it to the supplementary list in 1972, kicking 37 goals in 14 games with the under-19s, including one haul of six, and also playing a few games with the reserves. Early in 1973, aged only 17, he made it into the senior team as a reserve against Geelong, and a couple of weeks later earned himself a place in the starting 18. In all he played 13 games that year, but started on the bench in nine of them. By 1974 Phil was an established part of the starting line-up and took part in all 24 games, one of only three players to do so. He played most of those in the back pocket, but through his career he proved extremely versatile, playing everywhere but in the ruck (he once even kicked 1.8 from full-forward against Hawthorn). The word ‘utility’ was rarely more apt than when applied to Manassa, and Collingwood knew it would get good value from him wherever he was placed. Ironically for one who always fancied himself as a goalkicker, and who admits he was never really “turned on” by playing in defence, Manassa spent much of his career in the defensive half of the field. His dashing, straight-ahead style of play was perhaps at its most effective when running off the back line. But no matter where he lined up you could be sure Manassa would approach his football the same way — at full throttle. He was not a graceful footballer by any means, but he was effective. Burly of build but possessed of fair pace, Manassa was a hard man to stop when he built up a head of steam. He approached the ball aggressively and did not shirk physical confrontations, believing if the ball was there to be won then nothing else mattered. He had a fanatical will-to-win and a desperation in his play that was twice rewarded with the club’s “most determined player” award. A booming kick and a safe mark, he was always creating options for his teammates. Even in defence his was an aggressive, attacking approach, and he was never content with merely playing safe. Although he became a Collingwood regular, Manassa never quite took the game by the scruff of the neck in the way that his junior career had led some to expect. Nonetheless, by the end of 1978 he had strung together more than 100 games and was one of the most experienced players in the team. But 1979 turned out to be a poor year for him. He played only 10 games, spent time in the reserves and generally seemed to fall from favour. There are some who believe that Manassa’s love of a drink and a smoke (he did like to enjoy life), did not go down well with the dedicated Tom Hafey. Whatever the reasons, the club did not stand in his way when a business opportunity tempted him to Tasmania at the end of 1979. Incredibly, he was only 23 when he played his last League game. Collingwood leased him to Devonport for two years, and he then spent four years coaching and playing in Sydney, then three more in New Guinea after he was transferred there by his employers, Rothmans. In 1989 he returned to Sydney, and in 1990 came home to play with St Leo’s in a church comp — still of an age less than some playing VFL football. Wherever he went through that nomadic phase of his life, people always wanted to talk about “The Run”. When Collingwood left Victoria Park in 1999, it was one of the highlights recreated one final time. Even today, the winner of the AFL’s Goal of the Year is awarded the Phil Manassa Medal. In a game renowned for its spectacular individual moments, Phil Manassa’s 1977 run-and-goal will always stand as one of the most memorable of them all. This is an edited version of the biography that appeared in the club’s centenary book, A Century of the Best.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Athas Hrysoulakis https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-athas-hhrysoulakis/ Tue, 12 Jul 2016 23:44:41 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10582 Lou Richards loved him; Jack Dyer wasn’t as enamoured for pronunciation reasons, but there was no doubting Athas Hrysoulakis‘ popularity with Collingwood fans during his relatively short stint at Victoria Park. Hrysoulakis had undeniable talent, even if his final tally amounted to only 19 games and 15 goals. The kid from Lalor with the cosmopolitan name that Dyer stumbled over with an almost guaranteed radio regularity, and the Greek background that Richards could relate to, had been an outstanding teenage footballer. For a time, it seemed as if he might parlay that into a highly successful league career. Hrysoulakis gave more than a few flashes of his ability as forward, kicked five goals in his 13th senior game, and he was one of 32 players to don the Black and White jumper during that remarkable 1990 season before his career at Collingwood ended prematurely. Described by the Herald Sun as an “elusive quick forward with a keen goal-sense and a fair share of skill”, he first came to notice through the club’s under-age talent squads and in elite state junior teams. In 1986, Hrysoulakis was a member of the Victorian Teal Cup side – along with a raw young ruckman called Damian Monkhorst – that won the title against Western Australia at Football Park by 125 points. His form was even good enough to see him named in the under 17s All Australian team that included the likes of future AFL players Nathan Burke, John Barnes, Glenn Lovett and Shaun Smith. That same season he played a significant role in Collingwood’s under-19s premiership side, a team that boasted future stars Gavin Brown, Monkhorst, Mick McGuane and Gavin Crosisca. On Grand Final day 1986, that young group of Magpies defeated North Melbourne, and it was seen as part of the building blocks required for the club to chase that elusive 14th league flag. Hrysoulakis was named by the Sun newspaper as the best player in that 1986 victory, kicking two goals in the win. That sort of promise displayed, his solid work in the next preseason, and a significant injury list leading into Collingwood’s round one, 1987 season opener saw him named as one of nine fresh faces named to take on Sydney at Victoria Park. It was hardly a debut to remember, even if Hrysoulakis was one of the high points of a very bleak afternoon for the new-look Magpies. The Swans won the match by 91 points, and coach Leigh Matthews admitted post-game that there were very few positives to take out of the game, other than the debut of Hrysoulakis, and the first performance in Black and White of 19-year-old West Australian Craig Starcevich. Wearing the No. 37 jumper, Hrysoulakis had 12 touches in his first game, but managed only five in his second, against Carlton, the following week, having suffered ankle ligament damage in the loss. He wouldn’t return to the seniors until round 11 against Geelong, and in his first season, played nine matches. In keeping with the frustrating season the club had, he played in only one win from those first nine games. Hrysoulakis did not play a senior game in 1988, and for a time looked destined to leave the club. Collingwood’s eagerness to chase Tony McGuinness meant that he was linked to a trade along with Wes Fellowes and Ron McKeown for the Footscray rover. But it never eventuated. After one game early in the season, Hrysoulakis was relegated back to the reserves for much of 1989 before being afforded another chance in the round 16 clash with Hawthorn. That was the start of a string of games where he grasped the opportunities presented to him, and he locked in a forward spot late in the season. His best performance that season – indeed of his entire VFL-AFL career – came in the round 18 clash against Sydney at Victoria Park. While the Magpies went down by four points, he played a significant role, kicking five goals and having 16 possessions. Lou Richards, who had a Greek heritage courtesy of his great-grandfather, took great delight in talking Hrysoulakis up, just as his old media mate Jack Dyer was battling to pronounce his name. In the Sun News-Pictorial, Richards wrote: “Boy, is he a real find? … I love him. My great-grandfather was Greek, but his name wasn’t quite Athas Hrysoulakis. What a name, what a player. The (five) goals ‘Souvlaki’ kicked were a football gourmet’s delight.” The Age’s Patrick Smithers summed up the mood in the Victoria Park crowd when Hrysoulakis was slotting through the goals: “Halfway through the first quarter at Victoria Park on Saturday the Sherrin Stand had a new hero. Three times they cried out: ‘Athas’ as Collingwood’s skinny half-forward Athas Hrysoulakis booted his side’s first three goals.” He even regained the lead for Collingwood with a goal at the 11-minute-mark of the last quarter, even though the Swans overran the Magpies. The performance was the high point of his cult status at Victoria Park. Part of that came from his multicultural name, which resonated with many supporters, and part of it came from his livewire antics in the forward line. One former teammate described Hrysoulakis as being quick for his size (he stood at 184cm and weighed 83kg) with a light frame. But he said much of the fanfare came from his ability to bring the crowd to his feet with his strong marking abilities. He didn’t necessary ride on the back of opponents, but had a knack of sliding across the side of packs and dragging down powerful marks. Twice, he did that against the Swans, and a cult hero was born. 160713_hrysoulakis600a Seated next to the great Darren Millane in Collingwood’s 1987 team photo. Teammates remembered him as being a relatively quiet player off the field, but more than capable of being vocal on the ground. Hrysoulakis kicked 13 goals in a five-week period near the end of the 1989 home and away season before being a late withdrawal for the last round with a sore knee. But the impact that he made in attack during that late stretch of games saw Matthews bring Hrysoulakis back for the 1989 Elimination Final against Melbourne at Waverley Park. And he backed up the coach’s faith, having 22 disposals and kicking a goal in a strong performance on what was a disappointing day for his team. As the Magpies built towards 1990 – off the back of two unsuccessful finals campaigns – one sports journalist said of Hrysoulakis: “If he builds up … he could snaffle one of the half-forward flanks.” Such was the belief that he was ready to take the next step that he was even rewarded with his own Scanlens Stimorol football card, No.57 of 168, in the 1990 season. But instead of consolidating his position within the team, Hrysoulakis went back to being a bit player, only called upon sporadically to fill a few gaps. There were varying reasons for this. For a start, the Magpies had built such a handy list that it was harder to get a regular game, but Hrysoulakis’ teammate Brian Taylor would later say that he didn’t work hard enough. He played two games in 1990, against Geelong (with four disposals) in round 12, and against Carlton (with no disposals) in round 15, and was never seriously considered a serious chance of breaking into the side that would ultimately break the club’s 32-year premiership hoodoo in October. But, 25 years later, the fact that he was on the playing list that season would see him honoured along with other players and staff and board members in the Magpies’ Hall of Fame. By the start of the 1991 season, Hrysoulakis was gone. The club’s football manager, Graeme Allan, said he had been delisted for “list management reasons”. Allan didn’t say it, but the Herald Sun suggested the decision came about because the Magpies were dissatisfied with “his general attitude to fitness and training.” But the 22-year-old insisted he wasn’t getting the opportunities he deserved. He would say: “I’m not disappointed, I wanted to leave the club … In a way I’m relieved.” “I’ve wanted a change for a while now. I’ve had no motivation.” Hrysoulakis joined Prahran for a period, playing under Taylor, but he was provided with an AFL lifeline in the 1991 mid-season draft, being chosen by Richmond as pick 5. He vowed: “I’ve really got no excuses now. I’ll give it everything. I’ll work on my fitness and I don’t think I’ll have any trouble fitting in.” “I was in and out of the team (Collingwood) for a while. It’s not news that I think I should have been in more often. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a regular game and prove them wrong.” Tiger coach Kevin Bartlett said: “I remember one day he killed us in the reserves. I suppose the acid test is on him to work harder than ever before to realise that talent with our help and encouragement.” However, it was not to be, and Hrysoulakis never added to the 19 games he played at Collingwood, though he would later play with success in the Diamond Valley Football League, including topping the league goal kicking for Lalor in a premiership year in 1998. But to Collingwood fans, he will always be remembered for the promise he showed, that five-goal haul against Sydney in 1989, and the name that remains instantly recognisable to this day.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Alan Didak https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-alan-didak/ Wed, 22 Jun 2016 08:42:04 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10546 GLENN McFARLANE, of the Herald Sun Footballers who own the clutch moments – those who almost crave it – are so often the ones that resonate the most with the fans. Alan Didak was a perfect case in point. A football showman, the man the fans dubbed ‘Dids’ always seemed to be able to back up his bravado with the sort of brilliance at precisely the right time that set him apart from so many of his contemporaries. On the field, he was sublimely skilled, with a raking left foot, deadly in its accuracy and dynamic in its impact. At times he was compared to the incomparable Peter Daicos, which only served to show just how good the ‘Macedonian Marvel’ actually was. For Didak, the kid with Croatian heritage was some player. The fact that there were similarities between the two Magpies of different generations was good enough, even if few could have ever hoped to reach the lofty status that Daicos has in the Collingwood pantheon. Off the field, Didak’s sense of confidence, some might say cockiness, sometimes landed him in trouble. Through it all, his breathtakingly moments in Black and White always seemed to overshadow the negatives. As The Age’s Greg Baum so perfectly put it: “What Alan Didak had, he flaunted. A shimmy here, a waggle of his forefinger there, a cocky, mouthguardy grin; Didak didn’t just kick goals, he made a production of them.” And those productions made him one of the most popular players of his generation, and the passion for you from the fans stretched from the start to the finish of his 218-game career. That swagger was there almost from the start. Didak was brought up in Whyalla, on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, and he cut his teeth with Port Adelaide in the SANFL, making his senior debut at 17. In that same season he captained an under 18s side to Ireland. Collingwood liked what it saw in the talented forward/midfielder and had no hesitation taking him with pick 3 in the 2000 national draft. Fittingly, Didak scored a goal with his first kick in AFL football, in the Round 7 match against North Melbourne in 2001. That was the first of 274 goals kicked in black and white, and so many of them are on automatic recall for Collingwood fans lucky enough to have witnessed some of his finest moments. 160622_didak1 A young Didak celebrates kicking a goal with his first kick in AFL football. Where do you start? There was the sealer he kicked in the 2003 qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions, when he was on the wrong side for a left-footer, tucked up against the boundary line 50m out. With the crowd roaring, and a goal required to sink the Lions, his captain, Nathan Buckley, ran over to ask him: ‘Are you going to kick it, or are you going to pass it off.” Didak’s answer was simple. “I’m going to kick it”, and he did. There was the scissor-kick goal he managed against Geelong in the 2007 preliminary final that almost defied logic, and another failed attempt against Melbourne that proved that audacity doesn’t always pay. There was the clutch goal he kicked in the dying seconds of the game against Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium in 2006, to win the match. Collectively, there were the highlights of the 2010 season, in which Didak won the club goalkicking award with 41 majors, producing some of the most special moments in that remarkable season for the club. Three goals came in the space of one minute (yes, one minute) against West Coast in Round 14. The first was a beautifully measured snap that he bounced through from the boundary line. Thirty seconds later, he soccered the ball off the ground from 25 metres, and from the restart of play, he took the ball from Jarryd Blair and slotted it through a third from 40 metres. Fans, and even Didak himself, barely had time to draw a breath. 160622_didak2 Didak celebrates a remarkable game against West Coast in round 14, 2010. Three weeks later came what would be his trademark shimmy. He goaled against Richmond after using his footwork and evasive skills to baulk two hapless Tigers before closing the deal, as he so often did. That moment prompted the great Malcolm Blight to say that Didak had been “born with a footy in his mind.” Then, in the Grand Final Replay against St Kilda, he produced the second most famous smother of that game, when he stopped Jason Blake in his tracks during the third quarter, and turned around a right-foot snap that effectively snuffed out the Saints’ hopes. It was vintage Didak, and all the more memorable because he was doing it under sufferance. He had badly damaged his pectoral muscle late in the season, but kept playing. Collingwood supporters loved him from the outset, even if there was a fear early that he might be a part of a trade with Port Adelaide for Nick Stevens. Fortunately, it never happened. By the time he had turned 21, he was a bona fide Collingwood cult hero, having a supporters’ group create a website in his honour, as well as strike the ‘Alan Didak Medal’, for their own best-and-fairest award. It wasn’t just his goalkicking nous that attracted support; for a time a rat’s tail haircut did the trick. Sure, Didak had a few moments where he tested the patience of the club, not to mention the fans. In 2007, a year after he won the 2006 Copeland Trophy, he was embroiled in controversy regarding the company that kept away from football, and then a year later he and Heath Shaw were suspended by the club for the remainder of the 2008 season after Shaw crashed his car and lied to protect Didak, by saying he wasn’t a passenger. Both worked to regain the respect of their teammates and their club. 160622_didak3 CEO Gary Pert and then-football manager Geoff Walsh announce the suspension of Heath Shaw and Alan Didak in 2008. Statistically, Didak’s best season was in the 2010 premiership year. He had a career-best 590 disposals and kicked 41.21 – just two behinds fewer than his 2006 tally – and won a second All-Australian jumper that season. He played 20 games in 2011, but unfortunately his body was starting to fail him. His return in 2012 and 2013 – his last two years in black and white – meant he only played 16 games across those two seasons. When he returned to the senior team against West Coast in Round 22, 2013 – almost as much by persuasive powers of his teammates as anything else – he kicked his penultimate goal in black and white. And when he did, the entire Collingwood team left their stations, and rushed to him. It was a measure of what he meant to them. If the fans could have done the same, they would have. His 218th and last game came in the elimination final loss to Port Adelaide. And when he was delisted a few weeks later, it wasn’t the farewell that anyone wanted. He briefly flirted with the idea of trying to reprise his magic for another season at Greater Western Sydney, but the deal fell though. Collingwood fans were happy about that. For just as Daicos remained a one-club player after the club called an end to his career almost two decades earlier, Didak would forever be associated with the Magpie Army. As he said at the time, “I’ve always had great support, and this year it was really overwhelming. At times it was a bit embarrassing, but it is something I’ll always be grateful for. “I am going to miss playing in front of them because it has been such a big part of my life. And they were definitely on my side, which was great.” 160622_didak4 Didak after becoming a premiership player in 2010.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Ray Gabelich https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-ray-gabelich/ Wed, 15 Jun 2016 10:42:31 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10519 That journey began in WA. His father was born in Australia but taken back to Yugoslavia as a baby and raised there. When he returned to Australia as a young man he soon found himself in love with the local brand of football, and son Ray played from an early age. By the time he was 18 Ray was a promising ruckman playing with the Mt Hawthorn team, the ‘feeder’ club for West Perth. In 1951, when Collingwood travelled to South Fremantle at the end of the year for some exhibition matches, the locals organised a couple of combined junior teams to play the curtain-raiser. Gabbo was among those selected. In 1953 he again won selection in a WA combined junior team that visited Melbourne and played Collingwood thirds and a Preston District team. Gabbo starred and the Magpies invited him across, but he decided to stay in WA and have a crack at playing with West Perth, the team he’d supported as a kid. But a residential dispute erupted (he’d spent time living in both West Perth and East Perth territory), which the WAFL ‘solved’ by making the bizarre ruling that he couldn’t play for either club in 1953! When the League repeated its ruling in 1954, a disillusioned Gabelich headed east and tried to play with Collingwood, but was stymied by residential qualification criteria which meant he could only suit up with Parkside Amateurs. Finally, after two frustrating years, Gabbo debuted with Collingwood early in 1955 (having survived a work accident where he lost the top joint of his right middle finger). At this stage the young Gabbo possessed a strapping physique that was the envy of all his teammates. He stood 193cm (6ft 4in) and tipped the scales at about 92kg (14st 7 lb), with not an ounce of superfluous body tissue to be seen. Bob Rose said that, in those days, Gabelich was “as fine a specimen of physical athlete as you would see”. He was a magnificent athlete who was surprisingly agile and skilful for a man of his size. He was also a marvellous tap ruckman and, as might be expected, a fine mark with a big leap. His size was always the dominant factor in his play. He was big, immensely strong and powerful – and very difficult for opposing rucks to combat. His courage was never in question – he once walked off the ground after breaking his leg – but he perhaps lacked the ‘mongrel’ many big men possess. But Gabbo was a gentle giant who could change neither his game nor his nature. 160615_gabelichCF_1 There was no sign of Gabelich the ‘gentle giant’ during this game against St Kilda. That says much about Gabelich the man. His uncomplicated, placid nature, easy-going approach to life, and his love of living, made him great company and one of the most popular blokes in football. As Herald writer Alf Brown once noted: “Gabbo has always been a lovable character — even the opposition liked him”. He was even more popular with Collingwood supporters, who warmed to him from the very beginning and whose affection seemed to grow in step with his waistline. He became a regular in 1956, and topped off a great year with selection in one of the teams that played an exhibition match at the Melbourne Olympics. The broken leg saw him miss most of 1957, but consistent football in the next two seasons brought interstate selection and second place in the 1959 Copeland Trophy. For a placid character, Gabbo seemed to have an uncanny ability to draw headlines. In the summer of 1959-60, he jeopardised his entire football future by playing in an unauthorised local competition in Darwin, prompting threats of a 12-month suspension and loss of provident fund money. He returned to Melbourne, won the Copeland Trophy – then sensationally decided that he would return to WA to fulfil his dream of playing with West Perth. So well did he perform that he was chosen to represent his home State in the 1961 carnival, winning an all-Australian blazer and the Simpson Medal for best WA player. Late that year police charged him with resisting arrest and using indecent language after a Christmas party in Footscray. Gabelich in turn countercharged the police with assault. In the end the court found only that he had used indecent language but imposed no penalty, saying police had magnified a minor matter into a major incident. 160615_gabelichCF_2 ‘The Bear’s Den’. Gabelich stands in front of his locker. “The Bear” was nothing if not unpredictable. After one year in WA he returned to the VFL. He was named captain of the Pies in 1964, the year of his legendary grand final run. The sight of the man-mountain charging the 50 metres towards goal, bouncing the ball, losing it, reclaiming it and finally kicking the goal from the square before almost collapsing on to one knee was one of the most inspirational in football history. If there was any justice in football that goal would have won the game. In 1965 he was again appointed captain but the season turned into a disaster even before it started. A nasal operation interfered with his pre-season, then he had his appendix removed. By the time he returned to the fray mid-season he had put on a bit too much “condition”, even for Gabbo. Although he tried to regain fitness and form, a back injury retarded his progress even further. Eventually he handed the captaincy to John Henderson. Gabbo’s weight had always been a contentious point. Over the years it had ballooned to an official 17 stone (108kg). By the end of 1966, aged 33 and conceding a playing weight of more than 120kg, he decided to hang up the boots. “Football,” said one newspaper, “won’t be the same without him”. Over the years, many players have come to the VFL from interstate with big reputations, and returned with reputations in tatters. Ray Gabelich was the reverse. He arrived under his own steam as an unheralded recruit who had not played senior football in his home State. By the time he retired with a distinguished career behind him, he was a true Collingwood favourite, and one of football’s best known and most loved personalities.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Mick Gayfer https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-mick-gayfer/ Tue, 07 Jun 2016 23:36:39 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10497 Mick Gayfer, the club’s ever-reliable, close-checking defender of the late 1980s and early 1990s. That shouldn’t been taken as a slight. Quite the contrary, it is a compliment of the highest order. By his own admission, Gayfer wasn’t blessed with the sharpest of skills, or the pure aesthetic talent others may have possessed. But he was a competitor, first and foremost, and he was a fitness fanatic who prepared himself – and his body – like few others in a time before full-time professionalism. Combining his competitive edge and his fitness edge, he transformed himself into one of the most effective defensive stoppers of his time. “I understand I was never the most naturally talented player, in terms of skills or speed or that sort of thing,” he acknowledged. “I had to work pretty hard to get the most out of my career, so I’m pretty happy with everything I achieved.” Gayfer may not have won a trophy cabinet of awards, but he did win something more valuable – a premiership medal. And he won the absolute admiration of his teammates like few others. Those who played with him loved him, even if his opponents didn’t. And across eight seasons, his 142 games, and his solitary goal, Gayfer won the hearts of the Collingwood fans who backed him to the hilt, even if at times he gave them heartburn, and the close-checking cult hero was loved even more so because opposition fans had little time for him or his niggling tactics. The Magpie players had a saying during the Leigh Matthews era, and it was perhaps a greater compliment than any of the individual award or honours on offer. Tony Shaw used it in his book, A Shaw Thing, published after the club’s drought-breaking premiership in 1990. It was: “No one is safer than Micky Gayfer.” 160608_gayferforever01 Gayfer prepares to rebound from tight in the back pocket at the Sherrin Stand end of Victoria Park. Shaw played on him just once, in a practice match at Victoria Park, but it was one time too many. He would recall: “He didn’t have to, but he just tagged me. He was pulling my jumper, and I said: ‘Get fair dinkum this isn’t right’.” All Gayfer did was to shoot back a big grin to his captain. The man who came to be known as ‘the human blanket’ had claimed another victim. Gayfer had to do things the hard way to make it at VFL-AFL level. The eldest of eight children – seven sons and a daughter – he came from Rutherglen, not far from the Victoria-New South Wales border. For a time, he played with Corowa-Rutherglen in the now-defunct Coreen and District League, playing as a 15-year-old with the club’s under 18’s side. Interestingly enough, that link with the other side of the Murray would come in handy in the years down the track, when he represented New South Wales in state-of-origin against what his home state of Victoria. Gayfer attracted the attention of North Melbourne recruiting scouts after impressing with Caulfield, a VFA second division side, playing mainly as a centre half-back. Just a month after his 19th birthday, Gayfer was a member of the Kangaroos’ under 19s premiership side and played eight games in the reserves the following season, before being delisted. He returned to Caulfield, but fate, and a good Collingwood supporter, intervened to change his pathway. He would recall: “North gave me the flick. In their opinion I couldn’t make it, so I went back to Caulfield. My coach at Caulfield, Mick Robinson, is a mad keen Collingwood supporter and he rang them about me.” Gayfer had actually represented Collingwood in cricket before football. In his days with the Kangaroos, he spent two seasons with the Magpies seconds’ side – fittingly as the backstop, the wicketkeeper. He made his debut in a Collingwood jumper – wearing the No. 51 jumper – against reigning premiers Essendon at Victoria Park in round one, 1986. He wouldn’t miss a game that season, finding his niche in defence. Lou Richards interviewed him in The Sun in 1986, saying: “Just look at the roll-call of big-name opponents who have been smothered by this quiet, unassuming country lad who looks more like a choirboy than a backline bogeyman. Tony Morwood, Mark Harvey, Richard Osborne and Michael Pickering have been covered effectively … even Bulldog champion Doug Hawkins was stitched up after half-time when Gayfer was swung to the wing.” In his second season, the club thought so much of him – as a player but just as critically as a person – he moved to the No. 3 jumper. But stress fractures restricted him to only 13 games. He kicked his only goal in his 44th game, against Fitzroy, at Princes Park, in round 15, 1988. He wouldn’t kick another in almost 100 subsequent games, but more importantly, he saved plenty. Gayfer played on some of the game’s biggest players, including Jason Dunstall and Tony Lockett, but could just as easily adapt on smaller forwards, always happy to play his role for the team. His niggling tactics, pulling of opponents’ jumpers and capacity to annoy the hell out of the opposition attracted more attention and criticism followed. In 1989, his fourth season, his role on Dunstall prompted Hawthorn’s Dermott Brereton to pen a newspaper article, saying: “I couldn’t believe how crude some of Gayfer’s tactics were. At one stage you could see Jason’s jumper being stretched and I was 100 metres away in the stand.” Collingwood reacted immediately in defending him, saying he had been singled out and unfairly victimised. Gayfer didn’t worry about the criticism, saying: “I didn’t think there was a real lot in it.” “It happens all over the field. I’m quite sure there’s Hawthorn backs who do it … to Peter Daicos. Forwards hang on, too, when you run out. “If you’re touching them, you know where they are and you know where the ball is, too. But that upsets a lot of people.” As he became more entrenched in the side, and more confident in his own ability, Gayfer understood that he could back his judgment against certain players, and developed a slightly more attacking style. Still, he handballed more than he kicked the ball; and that was fine with the coach. “My ability is to play close and concentrate,” he said. “Over the last (few) years I’ve learned to run off them as well and get more kicks myself. “You tend to just work players out. Some players you’ve got to man up really tight and play really close, and then some you’ve got to give a yard, be on the forward side and just keep between them and the ball.” 160608_gayferforever02 Handballing out of trouble at Victoria Park during the early 1990s. His biggest reward came in 1990 when he played a critical role in Collingwood’s premiership season. After missing the first round, he played every other game for the season, including the Grand Final. A funny incident occurred at the Grand Final parade the day before the biggest game of his career. He was ready to head off on the motorcade when someone yelled out from the crowd: “Gayfer, you *%?&”. Annoyed, he turned around and he was confronted … by one of his brothers with a massive grin on his face. In the 1990 Grand Final, Gayfer played on Tim Watson then kept Essendon’s resting rovers quiet. Afterwards, he said proudly: “It’s just a sensational feeling to work so hard as a group and have it come off is just great.” Hard work was the secret to his success; he would work tirelessly on his fitness. Teammates marvelled about how much he put into being the best he could be. He swam every day before training as part of it all. He maintained his durability in 1991-92, but faced some issues with his body in 1993. He suffered a strained adductor in the second game of the year, had other injury problems and spent some time in the reserves. And Mike Sheahan admitted at the time he was being targeted by the men in white, explaining that the “whistle-blowers are engaged in Operation Gayfer, with a crackdown on what have been classic Gayfer tactics.” But Sheahan also had undoubted admiration for the Magpie backman. He wrote: “The thing about Mickey Gayfer is that you know if your man gets a kick against him, it’s a kick he’s bloody well earned, and that’s healthy for the game. We have champions because an elite group rises above all the obstacles put in their path by Gayfer.” The end for Gayfer came quickly, and unexpectedly, in the 1994 pre-season, and in keeping with his career, his exit was overshadowed by the club’s decision to sack club great Peter Daicos on the same day. He was only 28. When he was called into a meeting at the club with Matthews one March afternoon, the decision to delist him had come as a complete shock. But as the media outlets focused on the Daicos dumping, Gayfer’s departure didn’t make the same sort of headlines. His teammates responded in the only manner they knew how, most of them left training that night and called into Gayfer’s home on the way home. He tried to put his name forward for the pre-season draft, but he was overlooked. His time in the AFL was over, but not his time in football. He played for a number of years in country and local levels – winning a flag with Tatura in 1995. And he even returned to Victoria Park as the team’s runner and fitness assistant from 1998-2001. Matthews, the man who had backed him throughout his career, but who had ultimately sack him, saw him go from a “very raw player” in the 1986 preseason into a Collingwood premiership player. “He’s a player who has played in a premiership side when most people thought that he would not make it,” he said. “That’s more a reward for his hard work and persistence rather than anything he was actually born with. “You have to admire him. He’s one of the most admired players … for his determination and his ability to work hard.” That’s why Collingwood supporters loved him.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Stan Magro https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-stan-magro/ Tue, 31 May 2016 22:37:39 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10485 By: Michael Roberts, Collingwood Historian. Collingwood fans have always loved their hard-as-nails defenders. And in Stan Magro they had one of the best to take to their hearts. Magro, who came to Collingwood from Western Australia in 1977, was ahead of his time in his approach to doing the hard things on the football field. His ferocious tackling, in particular, became famous. Few players hit their opponents with such force, and an air of expectancy would rise whenever it looked like he had someone in his sights. His tackling was more like that seen on rugby fields than on football grounds. But it wasn’t just his tackling. His whole approach to the game was based on a mad-dog determination that saw him win a thoroughly deserved reputation as one of the real “hard men” of the Collingwood teams of the Hafey era. Everyone who saw it remembers the shuddering hip-and-shoulder with which he ironed out Carlton’s Alex Jesaulenko in 1979 – an act that instantly made Magro a hero of the Magpie fans for life. Former skipper Ray Shaw says that was typical of what Magro brought to the table. “How could you play against someone like that? You just wouldn’t know what he might do to you,” he said. Former teammate Peter Daicos wrote in his book that: “Sometimes you weren’t sure if he had all his marbles he was so hard.” Opposition forwards must have wondered the same thing. There wasa sense of fanaticism in the way Magro approached both the game and the ball. He was not tall, only standing about 177cm (5ft 9.5in), but he had a robust, muscular frame, and legs that were especially strong. There was nothing fancy about his game, but he would let nothing, or no one, stand in his way when it came to winning possession. Ray Shaw says he has not met a more fierce competitor than the rugged West Australian. If an opponent had the ball, Magro would launch himself at him and bury him in the turf. If it was a 50-50 ball, then there were few players Collingwood would rather have had battling for it. Magro is the first to admit he was not quick (those who saw Kevin Bartlett elude and outpace him in the 1980 Grand Final would not argue) so he had to rely on other aspects of his game to survive in the VFL. It was here that his judgement, reading of the game, aggression and willingness to chase, tackle and harass became so vital. In the end, the fact that he was able to play nearly 100 VFL games, most of them in the back pocket on small, speedy types, shows how well he was able to counter his lack of natural pace. In other areas of the game Magro was good without being outstanding. But talk about Magro and it is always things like his competitiveness, his commitment and his aggression that come to mind. He may not have been dashing or stylish, but he was good value. Collingwood got 110 per cent from Magro every time he went on to the field. And he was good enough to finish third in the club’s best and fairest in both his second and third seasons. 160601_magro600a Magro fights for the hard ball as teammate Peter McCormack arrives to lend support. Magro had always played his football the same way, even in his earliest days with junior sides in South Fremantle. He was an outstanding schoolboy footballer who twice represented his State in under-15 carnivals (the second year as captain), on each occasion winning selection in the all-Australian team. The year after the second of those carnivals he made it to senior ranks at South Fremantle, making his debut in the firsts at the age of 15. In all he played 115 games with South, mainly in the centre, was an interstate player several times and in 1975 won the Simpson Medal in WA’s game against Victoria. That performance, and his others in WA domestic football, soon brought Magro under notice in Victoria. He was approached by both Richmond and Geelong before settling on Collingwood. The Cats actually offered him more money, but Magro had always been a Magpie barracker, following the club’s fortunes via TV and the newspapers. So Magro, aged only 22, arrived at Collingwood in 1977 to join a team that had finished last the previous year. He, fellow Sandgroper Kevin Worthington, Ricky Barham and coach Tom Hafey were the only recruits of note, but the difference was remarkable. Collingwood went from being wooden spooners in 1976 to ladder-leaders in 1977, and then three more grand finals in the four years that followed.

Magro v Jezza: The day the earth shook.

Magro, like so many of his former teammates, attributed that success to the amazing team spirit that Hafey generated during his first few years at the club. Magro played a valuable role in that too. He was renowned for tackling his social activities with the same gusto as his footy, and he quickly became an important influence around the club and to the spirit within the playing group. Ultimately though, spirit wasn’t enough to get Collingwood over the line in the grand finals. After a 1982 season that was disastrous for the club both on and off the field, and not much better for Magro, he began to think about returning home. When the New Magpies came to power, the decision became an easy one. “I have never believed that buying a premiership was the way to go,” he said. “I had always wanted to finish my career back home and I was tossing up whether to leave or play another year in Victoria. When the New Magpies came in it put the nail in the coffin.” Magro returned home and played with East Perth for two years, and later coached South Fremantle for four seasons. In between he took up the position as captain-coach of a WA country team, leading them to a Premiership with good mate Worthington alongside. Magro’s Collingwood career wasn’t massive – only six seasons and fewer than a hundred games. But every Magpie fan of that era remembers the hit on Jezza, and the fierce desperation he showed every time he pulled on the Collingwood jumper. They loved him for both.]]> Collingwood Cult Figure: James Manson https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figure-james-manson/ Wed, 25 May 2016 08:29:31 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10478 James Manson – premiership player, hardworking ruckman/forward, inspirational teammate, and Collingwood cult hero of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Part of that came from his laid-back personality off the field which sometimes seemed at odds with his passionate, aggressive attack on the ball on the ground. It may also have come from his capacity to work himself up before games, which sometimes included crashing into the lockers to fire himself up. But undoubtedly much of the love came from Manson’s awkward kicking style that more often than not had those in the crowd wincing, yet cheering doubly hard whenever he managed to slot through a goal. Manson, by his own admission, wasn’t a great kick. That may be one of football’s great understatements. Asked late in his career what was the funniest thing he had seen on the field, he said with a smile: “Well, it usually involves me. I find it funny to hear people laughing when I kick for goal. Usually, people applaud players who score goals, but they always laugh at me because of the way I kick the ball. I actually don’t think my kicking is that bad! “Technique is something you can’t really change. But you can get more effective.” 160525_manson600b Punching from behind during his early days. That he kicked 106 goals in his 120 games in black and white showed that maybe his technique looked worse than it was. Famously, in a game against Geelong at Waverley in 1992, Manson grimaced in pain after taking a great mark 20m out near the boundary line. He was attended by two trainers and looked “down for the count” when teammate Ron McKeown was granted the shot instead by the umpire. McKeown’s goal brought about Magpie cheers, but there were jeers from opposition fans as Manson sprang up, offered up a beaming grin and sprinted back to the middle for the next ruck hit-out. After the game, he said: “I’ve had some back trouble, and (the physio) might have thought I’d aggravated it. “I was trying to get my breath back. The umpire asked me if I could take the kick and I asked him to give me a couple of seconds to recover. “But Ronnie grabbed the ball and took kick. I’m spewing about it. I would have loved the chance to kick the goal. I would have backed myself to kick it.” Ever the showman, Manson stuck to his story, even if most people didn’t buy it. But whatever anyone ever said about his kicking, no one could ever question his importance to the Collingwood Football Club at time when the club was desperately chasing that elusive 14th VFL-AFL premiership, nor the pain he went through to achieve the ultimate in football. He became an important part of the jigsaw puzzle the club was piecing together through the mid-to-late 1980s, and he played a role in what unfolded on a memorable October afternoon in 1990. 160525_manson600a On the charge along the Victoria Park flank. That seemed fitting as Manson had grown up with a stout Tasmanian football pedigree, while always bleeding Black and White. The son of ‘Gentleman Jim’ Manson, a star footballer with Glenorchy, James loved his footy. But much of his focus was on his favourite club, Collingwood, across Bass Strait. One of Manson’s earliest memories was waking one morning in 1977 and heading to the shops as early as they opened to buy Black and White balloons to decorate the family house. It was Grand Final day, 1977, and the 10-year-old watched on television as Collingwood drew with North Melbourne before losing the replay the following week. As a young footballer, he came under notice of the Magpies, and was recruited to play in the Under 19s and the reserves, where he made an immediate impression due to his willingness to work and his desperation. It was a dream-come-true for the Magpie fan, who once said he would “go and stand in the players’ room for hours and look at the photos and talk to the old players.” Wearing the No.30 jumper that his hero Peter Moore had worn only a few years earlier, Manson graduated to the seniors along with fellow debutants Russell Dickson and Tony Burgess in the round one, 1985 clash with North Melbourne at the MCG. It was a historic match of sorts – the first Friday night game played at the MCG. Brian Taylor kicked seven goals that night; Manson managed one behind and nine possessions. He would kick five goals – 5.0, at that – in only his seventh game on a day in which Collingwood kicked only eight for the game, and Hawthorn scored six. “I was on the bench the next week, for the entire game, and the week after I was dropped,” Manson recalled. Still, he played 18 games in that debut season. But in the following two years he could manage only 10 games, due to chronic groin issues. He had several operations, to the point where Tony Shaw once said “Jimmy has got more lines on his groin than in a Melways.” He re-established himself in the Collingwood team in 1988, and although he stood only 194cm, he became the club’s first choice ruckman for a period, keeping other big men out of the side. One of the biggest compliments came from his coach Leigh Matthews who said Manson “plays the way I like ruckman to play”. He even said Manson reminded him a bit of a young Don Scott. Manson never worried about his size when going up against the huge ruckmen: “I’ve got a pretty good leap. I think I can beat most ruckmen.” He also had a strong mark for someone of his size, and a scan of YouTube today still provides a good example of this. He played 17 games in 1988 and a further 18 the following year. All of this led to Manson’s most productive season, in 1990, which included a strong performance for Tasmania in their win over a Victorian B side. He called that Tassie victory “a dream come true … that probably rates as the biggest game I’ve played in.” Manson had to reassess that statement a few months later as Collingwood charged on towards the 1990 finals series. He didn’t miss a game in that season, kicked 33 goals for the season, and shared the ruck position with a young Damian Monkhorst. He was critical in the drawn Qualifying Final against West Coast, thumping the ball forward on many occasions. For the first part of the finals, he was the No.1 man in that role. But Matthews went with Monkhorst in the first ruck against Simon Madden in the Grand Final, although Manson assisted him ably throughout the game. His captain, Tony Shaw, recalled: “No other bloke his size attacks the ball better. “He has no inhibitions about what he wants to do to the opposition side and the boys get into him about his ‘I want to kill them comment’. He always yells it out. “In the premiership season, he showed a lot of controlled aggression, running at the ball. I say to him every game: ‘If you run hard at the ball, you hurt people’. He’s that bloody boney and strong that he hurts buggers.” 160525_manson600c Let’s pretend this never happened… But Shaw also highlighted after 1990 that his injuries might one day cost him: “It will be a year by year thing with him because of what he has gone through.” Manson played 20 matches the following year, including kicking a bag of five goals against Adelaide – five straight again – at Victoria Park. But he struggled in 1992 as Monkhorst clearly bedded down the No.1 ruck slot. Starved of senior opportunities at Victoria Park, Manson was traded to Fitzroy at the end of the 1992 season, and went on to play three seasons and further 47 games with the Lions. But his heart always remained at Collingwood, where he would eventually become a life member. That’s the way Magpie fans prefer to remain the man they affectionately called ‘Charlie’ and whom his teammates used to call “Killer”. Shaw said of Manson: “What can I say about him? I love him.” Collingwood fans will forever say the same.]]> Collingwood Cult Figures: Ron Wearmouth https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwood-cult-figures-ron-wearmouth/ Wed, 11 May 2016 00:08:11 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=10441 By: Glenn McFarlane, Herald Sun journalist and Collingwood historian. Think Ron Wearmouth, and the Collingwood rover’s trademark features immediately spring to mind for those Magpie fans who remember him fondly. His blond, flowing locks; his energetic bursts from contests; his cheeky on-field manner that could sometimes get him into trouble; and a knockabout nature that endeared him to teammates and those in the terraces. If a measure of a footballer’s popularity comes from such trademarks, Wearmouth was surely one of the club’s great characters, not to mention a player of serious note. He could well have played his league football elsewhere. His father, Dick, played 100 games for Footscray in the 1940s and early 1950s, and his son could have followed him under the father-son rule. Fitzroy was also an option for a young Ronnie Wearmouth, as it controlled the zone around Terang, where he played some senior football in 1968. But Dick was happy for his son to play with Collingwood, the club controlling the zone for Noorat, the tiny town where Ronnie played his first senior football, and where his family ran a dairy farm. Part of the reason for choosing Collingwood was that the club’s vice-president and 1936 premiership player Jim Crowe had coached Wearmouth’s father at Footscray. “Dad suggested I play at Victoria Park because of its stronger and more stable administration,” Ron would recall. He joined Collingwood in 1969, and it is no surprise his hairstyle drew as much attention as his football ability in first year. As detailed in Michael Roberts’ A Century of the Best, one night at training Magpies coach Bob Rose “came out, pinned him to the ground and gave him ‘one of the best basin cuts you’ve ever seen'”. Des Tuddenham recalled saying to the teenager from Noorat: “You can’t look like a girl, son, if you’re going to play a man’s game.” Wearmouth wouldn’t listen. He grew his locks back as soon as he could. Wearmouth made his VFL debut in round 14, 1969, against Melbourne, wearing the No. 48 jumper, having 11 disposals. Doug Gott was the other debutant in the Magpies’ two-point victory over the Demons. It would be his only senior match that season. He wasn’t surprised, saying later: “To be honest, I was a little out of my depth. I wasn’t conditioned and I was skinny and not ready for a game of senior football.” Wearmouth was demoted to the supplementary list for a period in 1970, with concerns over his capacity for hard work and training. But, now wearing the No.35 jumper, he won his way back into the seniors for six games in the second half of the season, though he lost his place for the finals. Inconsistency and a lack of discipline at times cost him in his early years at Collingwood. A few suspensions earned him the reputation of being a “hothead”, but he was at least elevated to the No. 5 jumper for the 1972 season when Neil Mann took over as coach. He rejected the advances of other clubs, with his father urging him to stay. Wearmouth decided to knuckle down as best as he could. The arrival of Murray Weideman as coach brought another transformation for Wearmouth. In some ways, he was a kindred spirit to the coach, and he was given more time on the ball as rover, and less time in the forward pocket. While the two seasons Weideman coached Collingwood proved to be a tumultuous time, Wearmouth established himself as one of the club’s most consistent and determined players. He played 11 games in Weideman’s first year in 1975, but flourished the following year as one of the few highlights in what was a gloomy season. He finished third in the Copeland Trophy in that wooden spoon year. Wearmouth took his game to a new level when Tom Hafey joined the club as coach in 1977. He said: “Hafey put consistency into my game and under him I played something like 70 to 80 games in a row.” He became fitter and seemingly more explosive under the strict training regimen. He may not have had the aesthetics of some of his more gifted teammates, but he more than made up for it with grit and determination. He missed only one game in 1977, with one of his finest performances coming with 31 disposals and a goal in the Second Semi-Final win over Hawthorn. He was a solid performer in the two Grand Finals that season, but the fairytale that Collingwood fans had been hoping for sadly didn’t eventuate. After a drawn Grand Final, the Magpies were no match for North Melbourne in the replay. Sadly, for Wearmouth, and his team, there would be more heartache to follow. The 1978 season ended in the Preliminary Final; and two more Grand Final losses followed in 1979 (by five points) and 1980 (81 points). Injuries cost him the chance to make a play for another Grand Final slot in 1981. He played only eight games in his final AFL season, with his final game coming against Richmond in round 20. It was his 186th and last VFL match, with his career closing only a month after his 30th birthday, and after 13 seasons in Black and White. His greatest regret, as expected, was never winning a premiership: “We came close that many times but could never manage to win one.” He played for and coached a number of clubs in country Victoria and Queensland, losing further grand finals for Port Fairy and Western Districts. “For a while I thought it was me who was jinxed. But I finally broke the drought when I played for Caloundra in Queensland,” he said in 1990. No one would have begrudged him finally tasting premiership success, even if it was at a local level. For everyone seemed to love Ronnie Wearmouth. He has remained in touch with some of his Magpies teammates, who adored his personality and love of a good time. Just as strong has been his bond with the Collingwood army, who still fondly recall him to this day.]]>