Almanac Book Events: Elegance and Nostalgia: Kelvin Templeton’s Traralgon

July 16, 2026 by Shane Reid Leave a Comment

Elegance and Nostalgia: Kelvin Templeton’s Traralgon

The launch of ‘Collision,’ a novel by Kelvin Templeton.

‘Lies, damned lies and statistics,’ a better writer than me once proffered. But when we are allowed to nostalgically cast our eyes back into that glorious soupy twilight of the game as it is, was and will ever be when it first captures one’s heart, statistics offer truth and wonder. When those odious, frivolous yet joyous discussions flow that attempt to compare players from different eras, all we have are foggy memories buttressed with data.

It is in that magnificent childish window of fandom that Kelvin Templeton exists for me. That brief little chapter from the time I was about four and becoming transfixed by the game and its stars. Before I turned that laden, miserable age of about ten, and the grim cycle of hope, expectation and disappointment began. When my heart broke because Superboot retired, Gary Pert swapped to a black and white jumper and that promise of tomorrow, Alastair Lynch, takes off to play for the Bears.

Despite Twain’s concerns about the limits of truth that can be found in statistics, it was Templeton’s record and the fact his story was so strikingly parallel to, Bernie Quinlan’s that grabbed my attention. Just like Bernie, he was plucked from Traralgon by Footscray as a kid. Just like Bernie, he kicked over a hundred goals, won a Brownlow, won the Coleman twice. Both played the game in the way that all kids dream. If Superboot had a long lost twin, it was this bloke.

So, it was with no small sense of rekindled boyish wonder that I took myself to the Traralgon library last night for the book launch of Collision, Kelvin Templeton’s first novel. And jeez I’m glad I did, because I found not just a new hero, someone whose name I will be typing into YouTube for highlights for a long time to come, but someone who awakened a part of my town that I cherish.

About forty of us there were. A few walking sticks, some silver hair, one little kid with his grandad perhaps. Clutching books, photos and ebullient with memories of their own of their Kelvin, our Kelvin. My former deputy principal, who was the impetus for one of my first Footy Almanac contributions, she was smiling in a way that only retirement allows for in our industry, ‘here to hear about his writing and not the footy’ she assured me. Hoping she will be chuffed to find herself in the Footy Almanac again today.

And what a tale he shared. With elegance and humility, he glossed over yet also graciously acknowledged, some of the career achievements I’ve mentioned already and a few more. Kicking a hundred goals as a sixteen-year-old playing for the Traralgon firsts, being part of the Latrobe Valley representative team that won the state championship as a kid. A quaint story of his first game for Footscray, being only seventeen and his parents having to drive down from Traralgon to take him to the unwelcoming furnace of Victoria Park. Playing for Victoria as just a nineteen-year-old. Incidentally, he kicked six goals on debut after being knocked out by Len Thompson which perversely ‘freed him a bit’ and allowed him to become not as overawed by the occasion. As a Royboy, I gave a wry smile when he mentioned that his second game against Fitzroy saw him lining up on the legendary Kevin ‘Bulldog’ Murray and not faring terribly well as a result.

We got some of the brutal reality of the era as well. The ‘she’ll be right mate’ concussion protocols of the time a wet towel, some smelling salts and off you go again. His knee reconstructions, his achilles being torn, some very recent rhinoplasty to reconstruct his broken noses – plural! A story about another Gippsland icon, Barry Round breaking his ankle and then still taking a shot for goal before coming off the ground. Incidentally, Round’s story too is oh so like Templeton’s and Quinlan’s. He was the nominal captain of a team of Gippsland’s greatest that I once compiled.

His stories also brought to life a Traralgon that I hope still exists, amidst the development and vibrancy of what is now an undeniable city. A Traralgon of folklore. An idyllic childhood in our nearby hamlet of Tyers, staying out until dark kicking a footy with the only expectation being that ‘he be home in time for dinner.’ His former English teacher at Traralgon Tech being credited for suggesting to the teenage Templeton that a short story he wrote for an assignment suggested ‘some real talent for writing’.

And that’s what really brought us there last night. His writing. Our host, Rachael Lucas, from ABC Gippsland shared her observation that she was moved by the poetic way he wrote about the game. His response was that little in the canon of good footy writing captures the sounds, the smells and the movement in an authentic way and he was delighted that this was captured. Without giving too much of the plot away, he shared that his novel, while not autobiographical focusses on the nature of the game. His protagonist’s struggles with a promising career being cut short and the singular myopy and struggles faced by an elite athlete moving into a new sphere.

The questions at the end allowed this statesman of the game to share more broadly. The statistical reality of eight coaches in eight seasons meaning that his Bulldogs never had the stability to achieve success. His time at the Dees under Barassi, ‘a huge presence.’ He felt his greatest legacy and contribution to the game was as the CEO of Sydney, he shared a sense of humble pride of his part creating the framework for the mighty Swans to become the entity they are now. He soberly suggested that the new Tasmanian team, while benefitting from the rich culture, may struggle with player retention and, perhaps parochially, offered John Longmire as the perfect choice as their inaugural coach.

Whilst the child and Lion in me will always see it as Bernie Quinlan’s town, the adult footy fan and wannabe writer will be grateful for the opportunity to have met and gleaned a deeper level of appreciation, beyond the incredible resume and statistics, of Traralgon’s other favourite son. The elegant, erudite, and insightful Kelvin Templeton.