Almanac Book Reviews: ‘Give them a Pep Talk & go to the Races’ – Michael Sexton

 

 

 

With the VFL dominating interstate football up until the introduction of State of Origin contests in late 1977, the rare South Australian victories over Victoria stood out, especially wins at the MCG. The most revered of all was the 1963 match held at the MCG, where the Croweaters defeated the Big V ‘over there’ for the first time since 1926.

 

Upon its return to Adelaide Airport, the SA touring party was mobbed by thousands of adoring fans, with the players and coach Fos Williams feted for years to come.

 

As the footy world moved on from radio to colour television, Adelaide Oval to Football Park and Lindsay Head to Robran/Ebert/Blight, the impact of this colossal feat on the SANFL-loving masses dimmed accordingly.

 

Michael Sexton’s latest book, Give them a Pep Talk & go to the Races, gets its title from Jack Dyer’s reported advice to the Victorians during a preview of the match.

 

This breezy book is the first publication of any substance to deal with this storied clash. Without much footage of the actual game available sixty years down the track, Sexton relied on interviews with the few remaining members of the team. His earlier work with the Williams family also provided valuable insight into the mind of the coach and Fos’ recollections of the time.

 

SA’s 1963 centreman, Sturt’s 1961 Magarey Medallist John Halbert, provides the foreword which neatly summarises the game’s events, expanding on SA’s famous last quarter.

 

The first chapter ‘June 1963’ is peppered with quotes that emphasise the importance of SA’s win.

 

“Occasionally it matters… Really matters…”

 

“Those involved become legend. Those who watched struggle to fully express the tension and it generated in them. This is one of those matches.”

 

Sexton laments the amount and quality of footage available today from the match before addressing the background and approach of the competing coaches, Williams and Victoria’s coach Bob Davis from Geelong.

 

The years leading up to 1963 are then addressed, noting that SA defeated Victoria in 1960 in Adelaide. Several of the SA players from that year in Neil Kerley, Head, Barrie Barbary, Halbert, Geof Motley, Bill Wedding and Ian Hannaford formed the backbone of the 1963 side.

 

Sexton provides backgrounds for other players such as John Cahill, Bob Shearman, Neil Hawke, Harry Kernahan, Ken Eustice and Don Lindner, all of whom would be prominent on the big day in 1963.

 

After a discussion of the weeks leading into the match, Sexton devotes plenty of room to the match day proceedings, highlighting the tension, drama and fluctuations of the game, including Robert Day’s observations as 20^th man. The quotes from the 3DB radio broadcast are an appropriate way to end the retelling of the match.

 

Sexton records in detail that Victoria was able to quickly avenge its unexpected loss within a few weeks, defeating SA in Adelaide after an arduous couple of matches against WA in Perth. This return match became infamous for the John Peck-Brian Sawley incident. He concludes with a potted summary of SA footy over the ensuing decades.

 

Michael Sexton has done football history a huge favour with this book. For those of us who once dreamt of pulling on ‘the red jumper’, this is essential reading but even those not fortunate enough to have closely followed the post WWII Croweaters will be richly rewarded. It is a book that you may read in an afternoon but will keep forever.

 

 

This book is available from www.sportswords.com.au/bookstore

 

 

Disclaimer: I may have inadvertently played some small part in the creation of this book.

 

 

 

 

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