cult figures – Collingwood Forever

Collingwood Cult Figures

Michael Roberts — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 06:00:04 +0000

There are some footballers who, for whatever reason, form a special connection with their club’s fans. They might not always be the best players in the team, but there is something about them that makes them a favourite of those who cheer from the stands each week. It might be their hair, or their physique, or their temperament, or something about the way they play – the reasons are many and varied. And you can’t force it: it has to happen naturally. These are a football club’s cult heroes. And Collingwood has had plenty of them over the years, especially in the decades since TV and media coverage has boomed. Some have been great players, some have been battlers, some have flattered to deceive. But all have enjoyed a special place in the affections of the black-and-white army. COLLINGWOOD CULT FIGURES

Here comes Billy

Luke — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 01:23:02 +0000

By: Glenn McFarlane of the Herald Sun The true measure of a footballer’s worth has always come during the heat of the finals. Some melt under the pressure; others learn to deal with it over time; and a precious few seem to thrive on the big moments. On that score alone, Bill Picken must rank highly as far as his contribution to the Collingwood Football Club goes across 11 seasons and 212 games. For as good as he was in the home-and-away season, he always seemed to rise to the occasion when the stakes were at their highest. No player who endured Collingwood’s string of Grand Final losses through the late 1970s and early 1980s was entitled to feel as frustrated by the absence of a premiership medal as Picken. He was the club’s best player in two of his five Grand Finals (1979 and 1981) and among the best in two others (1977 drawn game and 1980). But there was a lot more to Picken – affectionately known as ‘Bustling Billy’ to the Magpies fans who adored him and ‘Wilbur’ to his teammates – than a footballer with an enviable finals record. For he was, after all, a dual Copeland Trophy winner, a runner-up in three further best-and-fairest counts, and a constant on the ‘Mark of the Week’ segment on World Of Sport each Sunday, with his spring-heeled skills on show from his debut game in 1974 onwards. Picken was a dashing defender, capable of turning defence into attack in an instant at a time when many back men still favoured safety first techniques. Yes, his awkward kicking style, and its lack of penetration, could sometimes frustrate the fans, but they loved him all the same. And, importantly, he was a character when the game still coveted them. He often drove opponents – and more than a few of his teammates – to the point of distraction with his incessant banter on the field. One teammate told Michael Roberts in A Century of the Best, “He was a fantastic bloke and a great player, but a raving lunatic … if you tried to tell him to pick up his man he would just call out ‘I’m concussed and I don’t know what I am doing’, and keep going.” On the fly against Hawthorn in the late 1970s. “Look out, here comes Billy” was his most favoured expression as he charged through like an unstoppable force in pursuit of, or with, the ball. His commentary was the same whether the Sherrin was in the air or on the ground, and his passion and personality endeared himself to the faithful. Picken started his football in the tiny western district town of Macarthur. He was always a youngster playing against older players, and that continued when he ran out for Heywood as a 16-year-old in 1973, winning the club’s best and fairest and finishing second in the league award. He came under Collingwood’s notice when he played in a Western Border Football League combined side against Collingwood’s under 19s side at Victoria Park that year. He won the best player honours – as a forward – and it led to his invitation to Victoria Park the following season. Picken made his debut against Carlton in round five, 1974, wearing the No.25 that would soon find itself on the backs of countless Black and White jumpers and duffle coats. He kicked two goals with his first two kicks, and dragged down what looked like being the first of his spectacular marks – a one-handed grab on the back of fellow first-gamer Graeme Robertson. But while Picken had a sense of the occasion, the umpires did not. He was deemed to have infringed on his opponent and was not paid the mark. Picken played 17 games and kicked 25 goals in his debut season. He took a remarkable specky against Richmond in round nine, in John Greening’s comeback match. Fittingly, Greening is in the foreground of the image. And he kicked a career-high six goals against Melbourne in round 17. That mark against the Tigers was among two of his favourites. The other was a brilliant ride on the back of St Kilda’s Barry Breen in round 16, 1976, and both were considered marks of the year. But there are countless others worth recalling, including his launch on the shoulders of Mark Maclure in the mud of the 1979 Grand Final. Typically, his tongue is sticking out, like a Picken trademark. Picken’s career stalled for a period in his second season, as he spent the first of 1975 in the reserves, albeit kicking 11 goals in one seconds game. But he re-established himself in the second half of that year, and this one-time forward would soon come to relish a new role in defence, holding down the centre half-back position. Incredibly, he won the reserves best and fairest in 1975, and still finished third in the Copeland Trophy. Picken soon became one of the best defenders in the game, with his passion, his courageous, straight-ahead approach and his endeavour noted within and outside the club. A look at his club laurels tell of his on-field achievements. He won the Copeland Trophy in 1978 (he lost on countback to Ray Shaw, but was later awarded a medal retrospectively) and again 1983. He was runner-up in 1977, ‘79 and ‘81, and was best finals player in 1975, ‘78, ‘79 and ‘81. He was also named at half-back in Collingwood’s Team of the Century when it was announced in 1997, holding down a half-back line with Albert Collier and Nathan Buckley. His best recognition outside the club came in 1977 when he finished third in the Brownlow Medal. Only Graham Teasdale and Kevin Bartlett finished ahead of him. Teammate Tony Shaw rated Picken among the best 10 Magpies he had seen, saying: “As all football judges say, top players perform in the presser-cooker atmosphere of finals. This is where Billy stood out. He just had a sensational record in finals.” And Shaw described him “one of the best marks I’ve ever seen. He could take them from any position – in front, running back into packs, and over the top.” Holding the fort at half back against Essendon at Windy Hill. In his book, A Shaw Thing, Shaw said the only negatives were Picken’s kicking and when his penchant for attack sometimes overrode the need to lock down on a player – “I always believe the one chink in his armour was that he wasn’t very defensive.” Peter Daicos called him “undoubtedly, the best finals player (at the club)” and “a superb big-occasion player who played his best football when it counted.” Picken’s ability extended to the cricket pitch as well, with the Collingwood district side, performing as always when it counted, making 88 runs in a grand final. Sadly, a pay dispute after winning the 1983 Copeland Trophy resulted in one of the club’s most popular players moving to Sydney, much to the disappointment and frustration of Collingwood fans. He played 28 games across two seasons with the Swans, but injuries began to bite for the first time. No one was unhappy when he came home to Victoria Park for the 1986 season, and, although he wore the unfamiliar No.2, he played five more senior games. Sadly, there would be no fairytale premiership end to his time at Collingwood. Two of his sons would show considerable talent, with Marcus playing 21 games with Brisbane, and Liam having a long and successful career with the Western Bulldogs. Liam had come under Collingwood’s attention with its then VFL affiliate Williamstown in 2008, but the Bulldogs took him as a rookie. He’s a very different player to his father, and playing in a very different era, as he explained in 2013: “Dad was working full-time – he’d go to training after work and play on the weekends. They had heaps of fun when they were playing. “When Dad played, the game was full of characters.” But there weren’t many characters like Billy Picken. Collingwood fans who will always remember his spectacular leaps, his dashing displays across half back and his extraordinary finals record can attest to that.

Collingwood Cult Figures: Bob Heard

Luke — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 02:10:16 +0000

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. 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. Warming up out on Victoria Park.

Collingwood Cult Figures: Kevin Worthington

Luke — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 08:35:13 +0000

GLENN McFARLANE, of the Herald Sun Kevin Worthington was precisely what Collingwood needed after a disastrous 1976 season – a tough uncompromising defender and a loyal teammate who knew no other way than playing hard on and off the field. Fittingly, he joined the Magpies in the same year as the man who would become his great mate, Stan Magro, who also came from Western Australia. Collingwood was in the midst of significant change when the pair decided in 1977 to chase VFL careers on the other side of the country. The previous year had brought about an unwanted first wooden spoon, but newly appointed coach Tom Hafey was confident the club had the nucleus of a very good side, and with recruits such as Worthington, Magro and a kid called Ricky Barham, the future was looking brighter. Worthington, a thick-set defender who was rarely beaten one-on-one, came from the fertile football region of Geraldton, before graduating to Claremont in the WAFL over six seasons, from 1971 to 1976. Hafey wrote a letter to Worthington explaining how he would fit into the club, and he knew he had to make the move across the Nullarbor – with or without a clearance. Worthington recalled: “Tommy said he would like me to come over”, and the club’s solid relationship with Claremont – who had recruited former Magpie Barry Price a year earlier – meant a deal could be arranged. An article in The Age in March, 1977, the week after Worthington had impressed in a practice match against St Kilda and Kevin ‘Cowboy’ Neale, suggested the 189cm, 88kg backman had “adapted to Collingwood’s training under coach Tom Hafey quickly”. It was even forecast that he and Magro, who were already tight mates, were “set to make big names for themselves here.” Almost seamlessly, Worthington slotted into the Collingwood back half, playing in the back pocket or full back, and making such an impression that he played every game of the 1977 season, a remarkable year when the Magpies started the year as wooden spooners and finished the home-and-away season as minor premiers. His form was such that he was a member of the Western Australian team that took on – and beat – Victoria in the first State of Origin clash in 1977. It would remain one of Worthington’s three biggest career highlights, alongside playing his first game for Claremont and playing in Grand Finals for Collingwood. The Magpies played out a remarkable draw with North Melbourne in the 1977 premiership playoff, after Ross ‘Twiggy’ Dunne slotted through a late goal to level the scores. Worthington and others were confused about what the draw actually meant before it finally dawned on them that they would have to go through it all again the following Saturday. He recalled heavy rain early the next week “churned up” Victoria Park and he could barely raise his legs after a particularly tough training session on the Thursday before the replay. “We found out (North) were playing table tennis and billiards and just having get-togethers to talk about the game, while we were busting our backsides,” he reflected later. “I think some of the senior blokes tried to tell Tommy he wasn’t going to get us any fitter and we needed to freshen up. But he was going to do it his way.” The Magpies lost the replay by 27 points, the same margin they had led by at three-quarter-time the previous week. Worthington’s ferocious attack on the ball endeared himself to Collingwood supporters who admired his passion. And his love of a good time away from football also made him one of the club’s most popular players. He was rated by many teammates as among the toughest players they played well. Ray Byrne called him “fearless … it wouldn’t matter where the ball was, he would go and get it.” Worthington joked years later that he liked to keep Monday nights free – particularly after Carlton games – just in case he had to front the tribunal. He would say: “You knew you’d get done (reported) for whacking someone or being hit yourself. It got to the stage where a bunch of blokes would appear before the tribunal after every match. “We’d toss a coin to see who went and got the carton of tinnies to sip while waiting to be called.” Worthington loved having good time off the field, with Barham saying: “I was a new boy at the club along with Stan Magro and Kevin Worthington. We all got on well, but they did teach me some terrible things.” Tony Shaw recalled how at his first after-match functions he happened to be in a drinking school with the pair. “(We) all downed our drinks, but instead of handing me their glasses and saying ‘Your hook’, Stan bit the top of his glass and ‘Wortho’ smashed his on his head. I was absolutely stunned. Handing me the remains of their glasses, they said: ‘Now it’s your shout’.” Their good humour saw them fool Hafey during one running session around the Boulevard in Kew. They clearly broke their personal best time, sweat pouring off them as they ran back into Victoria Park. It wasn’t until a week later that Worthington revealed they had sat underneath the Johnston St bridge and wet their clothes before sneaking back to the ground. He wasn’t a regular goalkicker, but managed to score a major in his 50th game, in the round four clash with St Kilda. That game, which marked Peter Daicos‘ first game, brought about a 178-point victory and it remains the biggest in the club’s history. His best return was four goals when he was sent forward in a game against Fitzroy in 1978. Collingwood came agonising close again to a premiership in 1979, but fell five points short against Carlton in the Grand Final. That could well have been the end of Worthington’s career in Black and White. Knee trouble brought about a return to Perth in 1980. He said: “I came back (to WA) in 1980 because I had a knee operation and there were doubts whether I’d play again.” But he stepped out for Claremont and that gave him the confidence to return to Victoria Park in 1981 in the chase for that elusive premiership. He managed 18 games in 1981, yet missed Collingwood’s last two finals, including the Grand Final loss to Carlton. And while he hadn’t played in that game, he was still a part of the folklore surrounding a story in the time after the Grand Final, involving Blues premiership star Wayne Johnston. Johnston would reveal how he was in the cubicle of a toilet in a Caulfield nightclub when he heard Worthington and Magro planning their retribution for what he had done in the game. Johnston said on radio decades later: “I didn’t come out of the toilet for about 30 minutes because I thought they were still out the front, that they saw me walk in. But it turned out it was just pure coincidence that I was in there at the time. They were talking about assassinating me before the 48 hours were up. (Finally) I stuck my head out around the corner and bolted home.” Worthington’s body was failing him by the time of the 1982 season, his last for Collingwood. He managed only eight games in that fractured year, and he and Magro chose to return to WA after the New Magpies reform group came to power and promised significant change. The two mates played two seasons with East Perth, taking his WAFL tally to 129 games, to match his 95 games (and 19 goals) in his five seasons at Collingwood. Magro signed on to coach WA country side Wagin after that, and he talked Worthington to join him. Fittingly, the two mates who desperately craved a premiership managed that in a team that wore black and white, and went by the Magpies moniker. That was a suitable end to Worthington’s playing career. He was an assistant coach to Magro at East Perth in 1992-93, and coached that same club from 1996-99, leading them to a Grand Final in his first season, losing to his old side, East Perth, by two points. One of his players from that Grand Final – Rupert Betheras – would later become a Collingwood cult figure across his five seasons of playing with the Magpies.

Collingwood Cult Figures: Alan Didak

Jonathon — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 08:42:04 +0000

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. 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. 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. 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.” Didak after becoming a premiership player in 2010.

Collingwood Cult Figures: Ray Gabelich

Jonathon — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 10:42:31 +0000

Collingwood has known no bigger – in all senses of the word – or more loved character than the man known as ‘the Bear’, Ray Gabelich. In a colourful and controversial career he played more than 150 games, won a Copeland Trophy, played interstate football for both Victoria and WA, was threatened with banning from the VFL, faced court on charges of assaulting police, won the Collingwood captaincy and then lost it because of concerns over his weight. In anyone’s language, that’s a hell of a footballing journey. 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. 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. ‘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 Figure: James Manson

Luke — Wed, 25 May 2016 08:29:31 +0000

Sometimes the thing that makes a footballer vulnerable becomes the very trait that endears him to the fans. There are few better examples of this than the love Collingwood supporters have always reserved for 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.” 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. 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.” 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: Kevin Grose

Luke — Wed, 18 May 2016 00:51:01 +0000

By: Michael Roberts, Collingwood Historian. Hard as it is to believe, there was a time when not just about every footballer covered his body with tattoos. Indeed, when Kevin Grose pulled on the Black and White jumper for the first time in the mid-1970s, tatts on footballers were a relative rarity. Kevin Murray of Fitzroy and Richmond’s Robert McGhie had been famous for theirs, but they were very much in the minority. So when the heavily tattooed Grose made his debut in 1975, his body art quickly became a real talking point. But that was just one of the things that made Grose stand out to the Magpie fans (and also to the media). The other was his fierce attack on the football and his ‘no-holds barred’ approach to the game. Both the tattoos and his style of play quickly endeared him to the Collingwood faithful. He arrived at Victoria Park from Reservoir Old Boys to play a couple of reserves games in 1974 as a 20-year-old, having won a state guernsey with the Victorian Amateur Football Association that same year. He won the VAFA’s best player award against South Australia and was chosen on the half-forward flank in the all-Australian amateur team. The next year he returned to play eight more games with the Magpie reserves, and his performances there were so good that he also managed a dozen with the seniors.

Grose paddles the ball ahead of North Melbourne’s Barry Cable.

Even in those early games he showed the characteristics that would come to define his football – speed, aggression, and a ferocious approach to every contest. He was strong, a good tackler and a really good overhead mark, despite not being particularly tall. And he cared not a jot for big reputations: his first game was against Footscray, and he was named to line up against expensive recruit Peter Featherby. But the night before his debut he told The Sun: “I know nothing about him so what’s the good worrying? My only plan at the moment is to get a good night’s sleep.” Grose proved quite a handy goalkicker in the reserves (he kicked 20 in his eight games in ’75) and played most of his early senior football as a half-forward flanker. But coach Murray Weideman moved him to the half-back line, where his run could be particularly damaging. He also had more licence there to throw his weight around, and before long even the club was playing up on his tatts-driven image. “Grose is strong, tough and mean,” said a club publication in 1976. By 1976 he was tipped as one of VFL’s most likely improvers of the season. And so it proved to be. The 1976 season was a disastrous one for Collingwood, marked by infighting, instability and the club’s first-ever wooden spoon. But Grose was a shining light, never giving up despite the team’s increasingly shambolic performances. “Collingwood supporters have been heartened by Grose’s endeavour even when the side has been hopelessly placed,” noted the magazine Football Life. “While the Magpies have generally spluttered this year there has been one man out at Victoria Park who has matured and given his all.” The fans could see his effort, and loved him for it. And they, like everyone else, were a bit intrigued by the tattoos, too (he told Lou Richards in The Sun during that year that he’d “lost count” of how many he had after 50, including a pirate ship on one bicep, a cobra on the other and Buddha on his belly). His teammates were so taken by his artworks they nicknamed him ‘Disney’.

Kevin Grose features on a Scanlens footy card in 1976.

But Kevin Grose was also colourful in other ways. He won $200 early in 1976 as the club’s ‘Player of the Month’ and promptly spent most of it on a party for his teammates. He managed 15 senior games in all that year, and would have played a couple more but for a season-ending broken hand suffered in round 20. Everything looked bright for Grose heading into 1977. He even got to appear on his first Scanlen’s footy card, with his tattoos on display in full colour. It was a sign of just how popular he’d become in only a couple of seasons. But then, almost as quickly as his star had risen, it waned. Faced with increased competition from two new, tough hombres in defence in Kevin Worthington and Stan Magro, Grose found himself pushed to the fringes under new coach Tom Hafey and struggled through a handful of games. At the end of the year he headed back to the northern suburbs, as captain-coach of North Heidelberg in the Diamond Valley Football League, where he led his team to their first flag in 16 years (he also topped the DVFL’s goalkicking table that year with 80 goals). He stayed playing suburban football and became a well-known figure in the DVFL, eventually being named in North Heidelberg’s Team of the Century. Sadly, Kevin Grose died of a heart attack while on holiday in Thailand in 2012. He was just 58 years old.

Collingwood Cult Figures: Ron Wearmouth

Luke — Wed, 11 May 2016 00:08:11 +0000

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.

Collingwood Cult Figures: Leigh Brown

Luke — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 00:22:58 +0000

By: Glenn McFarlane, Herald Sun journalist and Collingwood historian. Leigh Brown was the unlikeliest of prototypes. He was rising 27 when he came to Collingwood in 2009, almost universally described as journeyman having already played 181 games with Fremantle and North Melbourne, and had played in just about every position on the field without truly owning one. He had a chunky frame, and could have benefitted with a few more inches to add to his 194cm frame, but no one could ever question that he was a competitor, first and foremost. Collingwood website forums were sceptical when Brown’s name was called out as pick No. 73 in the 2008 National Draft after being delisted by the Kangaroos following an extended stint in their VFL side. Even in his infancy in Black and White, when the issue of tanking was raging, a throw-away line from AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou – “Leigh Brown played on Jonathan Brown the other night … was that tanking?’ – questioned his position in the team. Fast forward to the end of the 2010 season, and Brown had not only cemented his place in the team, he had enshrined it in Collingwood’s history. And the icing on top of a premiership cakewalk was that he had also played a unique part in establishing a template for the rest of the AFL competition. In playing that role, as an undersized but physically strong forward/back-up ruckman to Darren Jolly, he also become a cult figure of sorts to the Black and White army, and remains one now well into his retirement. The draft class of 2008: Jarrad Blight, Dayne Beams, Steele Sidebottom, Luke Rounds, Leigh Brown. Mick Malthouse saw the competitive streak that coursed through Brown’s veins, and crafted a role for him. He explained: “I thought, ‘this bloke’s still going around and can play league football? He can take a nice catch; he kicks the ball OK; he plays at either end of the ground.’ I couldn’t really work out why he would be discounted in the ranks of perhaps being able to play a role within any organisation.” Originally from the timber and dairy farming hamlet of Heyfield, a community of less than 2000 residents, Brown had come to prominence with Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup. He was drafted by Fremantle as pick No. 5 in the 1999 National Draft. He won a Rising Star nomination in his debut year of 2000, missing only one game for the year. But after three years and 63 games, he was traded to North Melbourne where he became a defender who could go forward, or vice versa, across six seasons and 118 more matches. That could well have been the end of the Leigh Brown story. But when he was delisted by the Kangaroos, Malthouse figured he was worth a late draft punt after impressing in some pre-season training with the Pies. Brown only required a chance: “A journeyman is how everyone describes it, but to me it’s more about having a new opportunity and playing at the best level you can.” Most assumed he would take up a defensive role, given the retirement of Shane Wakelin. He did, for a time. But Malthouse began to use Brown more in attack, as well as offering some coverage as a back-up ruck option. Brown reached his 200-game milestone in round 20, 2009, and finished the season with 10.17, with his goal-kicking accuracy at times causing fans some concern. Still, he played in all three finals that season, including kicking a towering 50m goal in the club’s Semi-Final win over Adelaide. Brown played on the edge, never feeling secure about his position within the team. Just to emphasise this, after playing the first four games of 2010 without registering a goal, he was dropped back to the Pies’ VFL side. Ruck combination Darren Jolly and Leigh Brown celebrate after the 2010 Grand Final Replay. It wasn’t until the round 11 clash with the Western Bulldogs that he won his spot back again, but other than a short suspension served near the end of the home-and-away season, he wouldn’t look back again. Neither did the Magpies. He played in only one loss (round three) from his 19 games that memorable season, courtesy of his redefined role. He played the role so well that it kept Josh Fraser out of the senior team for all but game in the second half of the season. Malthouse preferred the combative Brown over Fraser when it mattered. It worked so well that the one-time unfashionable footballer quickly became a versatile trailblazer for the rest of the competition. Some people dubbed it as “the Leigh Brown role.” He had almost 100 hit-outs that season and his pressure, tackling and pack-crashing in the Magpies’ front half proved crucial in many instances. He hit the scoreboard, kicking 21 goals to silence those worried about his accuracy. Two came in the Qualifying Final win over the Bulldogs, and few will ever forget his booming goal against Geelong in the Preliminary Final. Brown thrived in the role, saying: “I’m not sure we can classify it as a Leigh Brown role, but I guess everyone’s got to be more versatile.” Nick Maxwell explained: “He (Malthouse) copped a lot of flak for backing in ‘Leroy’. Mick made people eat their words. Now all clubs seem to be talking about needing a Leigh Brown-type as a second ruck.” Never mind the fact that Brown didn’t kick a goal in either Grand Final in 2010 against St Kilda – the thrilling draw or the one-sided replay. In the drawn game he took an important mark in the last quarter, had 13 touches and laid five tackles. In the rooms after the game, complete with swollen eye and ice packs applied to both legs, he described the feeling was “surreal … it would have been great to win, but it wasn’t to be. We’ll saddle up next week.” Brown had the first kick of the replay the following week, driving the ball long into attack. Once more, he had 13 disposals, but as was always the case with Brown, he contributed far more than pure statistics can measure. He was rewarded with a premiership medal that looked so unlikely only a few years earlier, and with it came the admiration from a grateful Collingwood army who had taken him to their collective hearts. Yet he wasn’t satisfied with that. Brown took his game – and his role – even further in 2011, as rival clubs looked to mirror Collingwood’s second-ruck strategy, particularly with the introduction of the sub rule that year. He kicked 23 goals for the season – his most in an individual year – with four goals against the Western Bulldogs in round six his best display in what was a blistering start to the season for the club. On the eve of the 2011 finals, Brown dropped a bombshell, announcing he would retire at the end of the season. He was only 29, and still a crucial member of the team. Malthouse was “staggered” by the decision. Leigh Brown and Mick Malthouse embrace after the 2011 Grand Final loss. It was their last match as Collingwood player and coach. But Brown resolved to give it everything he had during the finals. He kicked a goal against West Coast in the Qualifying Final and another major halfway through the third quarter of the Grand Final against Geelong, which regained the lead for the Magpies. But the fairytale ending was not meant to be. The Cats ran away with the match in the final half hour. That closed out his 246-game, 138-goal AFL career. Sixty-five games and 54 goals came in a Black and White jumper. This journeyman had finally found a home – and a role that he relished. Such was the esteem in which he was held that he was presented with the Darren Millane Memorial Trophy as best clubman as a farewell gift. With that also came life membership, a reward for Collingwood premiership players. Brown embarked on a coaching pathway after retiring, spending two years as an assistant at Melbourne before seeing his career return full circle when he took over as coach of Gippsland Power. The Magpies struggled for a time afterwards in getting the right balance for their second ruck option. Sometimes you don’t truly appreciate something until it is gone. Celebrating four goals against the Western Bulldogs in round six, 2011.