The look on my face says a lot, it seems to indicate i was very focussed …extracted from the team photo taken just a few minutes prior to the start of the grand final. Clearly i was thinking about the job ahead.
It was 1980 the O&M reserves grand final, Wodonga our opponent which is kind of ironic this is now my home town.
Some of you may not know i wore the brown and gold of the Wangaratta rovers, at the time a very successful footy club.
Aussie rules football was my sport of choice, i had played since i was a youngster, we kicked the footy before school, during recess and lunch breaks, and then often with the neighborhood boys after school. There didnt seem to be too many other sports around just footy.
I enjoyed my junior footy but we didnt play any finals i can recall, i made some great friends and met coaches who had a strong influence on me, but we just werent very good.
I graduated to O&M 3rds in 1977 which was one of my most enjoyable years of footy and we had a great season, the first Wang rovers 3rds team to play in a grand final, but unfortunately on the day we just couldnt get the job done against Wodonga.
Then later on 1979 reserves another loss by a mere few points again to Wodonga, we had some terrific battles with them, but they really had become the enemy.
It was now 1980 and i had a strong season establishing myself as a good reserves player on wing or half back, in fact i also played my first senior game. Something i probably didnt think possible when i started out in footy, this was a tough team to break into, a powerful footy club winning almost everything through the 70,s and entering 1980 with the last 3 senior premiership cups in the cabinet.
Our reserves team hadnt had a very convincing season finishing fourth from recollection in a 5 team finals series, but that really didnt matter we were in with a chance. Our finals form was really good and we won everything advancing to the grand final, in fact all 3 grades of wang rovers teams made the grand final. So as a club we were in terrific shape and hungry for the wins.
Standing in our way in the reserves, once again Wodonga, they hadnt lost a game the entire season, certainly a formidable opponent.
Surely i couldnt lose another grand final i thought, maybe im just not destined to win, am i jinxed or something ? These silly thoughts can go through your head, trying to play with your mind. I felt starved of success and just wanted to taste a premiership, really thats why you play team sports … to win.
The build up throughout the week was awesome, the weather had improved, training was great, we had a team dinner after training thursday and a team meeting friday night prior to the game. I was so nervous, so it was good to get everybody together on the Friday night just to have a chat, and also something significant happened. I had played most of the season at half back, but the coach made the decision to play me on the wing … “im thinking we play Jimmy on the wing against Hedley” i heard him say. Wow thats exactly what i wanted and it was a huge vote of confidence in my ability, we all knew my opponent would be dangerous.
Chuck and i had played against on a number of occasions and we shared a friendly rivalry that spanned a few years, but he had 2 premierships and i had zero so i was envious. We had played a big game mid season at our home ground and its funny a friend i now have in Wodonga says he still remembers it well. These two blonde headed guys going hard at each other all day trying to get an advantage for our respective teams. All fair play just hard footy.
We lost that game and my contribution wasnt significant, i had to do better to give us the best chance of winning.
Game day ! and i was really feeling the nerves, we travelled to wodonga as the match was on their home ground coincidentally. As we changed and started to prepare and warm up we were being given progress scores from the 3rds, they were doing well in a game that would hopefully provide the club with their first ever 3rds flag.
Just a few minutes to go and the 3rds looked like winning but it was close, we were all anxious awaiting the result and keen to get on the ground for our own grand final. This is going to be one hell of a battle for us im thinking and it will go right down to the last few minutes, i was mentally preparing for a tough game and what ever it may bring.
Suddenly the sound of the final siren, the 3rds had won …well we all just yelled at the top of our voice, it was more like a collective scream, and i knew right then we were going to win. I had no doubt from that point, it wont be easy but we will win. I felt certain my team mates were on their game.
And thats the attitude i took onto the ground, thus the look on my face in the team photo id say.
We dominated the game early but didnt really put the score on the board, but gradually broke away and we were well in front at half time.
So clearly we were feeling confident and ready to go as we entered for the 2nd half, but as we moved to our positions there was some push and shove amongst a few players and then a few punches and a huge brawl erupted.
Funnily enough the umpires had been slow to return so they hadnt even made it onto the ground. Id imagine when they did appear they must have been tempted to turn around and go back after seeing the debacle that had evolved.
We often wondered if it was planned, a way to put us off our game, rough us up a bit. who knows ? it doesnt matter. Fortunately we had some big bodies in our team that could handle these type of situations, not me i was like a skinny kid about 70kg.
We finished the game in front by 111 points from an awesome team effort and myself amongst the best players, exactly what i wanted. Everything went right for us that day, and even we commented in our reviews that not a thing fell in favour of the bulldogs. It was our day.
One of the first people to congratulate me was chuck as i had done with him the year prior. This was a reflection of our frienship above the rivalry, and at my suggestion we swapped jumpers, one of those spur of the moment ideas that was an old tradition. I still have that jumper somewhere amongst my old footy stuff. A treasure from the past.
Naturally i celebrated hard, probably too hard, and probably at times a bit over the top now i think about it, but it seemed the thing to do at the time.
i played a few more seasons that provided highs, lows, some injuries and some wins and losses before having a fair crack at being a barefoot water skier, but maybe thats all a story for another day.
Average Jim 