Almanac Film: The Drop Kick Eulogy
John Teasdale was a Rupanyup farmer and cinematographer. Filming around the Wimmera for over 50 years and documenting social events, John captured the changes in not only farming techniques but all aspects of country life, including football.
John’s films of the Rupanyup football team span several decades and always include as much footage of the spectators as players on the field.
In his final years, John set about transferring his vast film collection to video and then DVD in order to keep the stories alive.
Melbourne film maker Malcolm McKinnon heard about John’s collection and with the Family’s permission restored his films and adapted them into social documentaries, Football Stories from Country Victoria, an initiative of the Victorian Country Football League and the State Library of Victoria in 2007.
Malcolm also recently completed a documentary on John and his father Relvy titled “A Farmer’s Cinematheque“.
Malcolm adapted some of John’s Rupanyup football footage into a short film Drop Kick Eulogy about the demise of the Drop Kick, interviewing Rupanyup Football legends, Bob Baker and Jack Dunlop.
Well worth a watch.
About David Parker
A keen observer of all things sport and a Swans tragic, David likes to dabble in sporting documentaries including the Max Bailey doco for Fox Footy. David is currently filming a documentary on the Australian Cycling Men's Team Pursuit squad as they prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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Nice one DP. Nothing like the sweet sound and feeling when you connect with a drop kick. If you want to see drop kick artistry, watch the 1967 GF Rich v Geel. Fred Swift and Roy West consistently drop kick from fullback. Sad that this art has been lost to ‘progress’.
Well worth a look, indeed, as is Malcolm McKinnon’s original 2007 documentary. Was peeling off a few drop-kicks only last Sunday. In the rain. With a lightweight vinyl Sherrin.Not a patch on Bob Baker and Jack Dunlop of course.
Brilliant stuff! Love it!
Like watching film of the thylacine.
Very sad, it’s passing so why not award 12 points for drop-kick goals in the pre-season competition and look to adopt after that; anything to bring more beauty into the modern game. Just for the record I recall Russell Ebert at full forward early in his career kicking around 6 goals with dropkicks in an Anzac Day match.
The Drop kick will be back said Jack Dyer in 1965.
The drop kick should be a footballer’s basic weapon but unfortunately the tempo of the game is driving footballers to use the running punt.
However there is nothing more certain than the drop kick will be back. The football cycle is reverting back to classical football and drop kicking to position.
Page 161/2. “Captain Blood, Jack Dyer” as told to Brian Hansen, (Paul, London), 1965.
Jack Dyer was correct in that the drop kick did came back.
But!
It came back as a drop punt kicked as a field kick/pass as formulated by 14 year old Jim Johnson in 1948. Jim then at 15 years of age invented his “Stab Punt Kick” in May 1949.
If you have never heard of a stab punt kick see “The First Drop Punt? Recent research from a kick historian” as published in The Footy Almanac of June 26 2015
And you watch these blokes these days, getting 4 and 500 Ks a year to play, and they can’t kick a bloody goal from 25 & 30 metres out. And it’s happening every week. I’m embarrassed to be a man when I see that.