Almanac Footy: A bloomin’ grouse footy clinic with Tulip
In January 1974 my sister and I attended a holiday program in Royal Park near the Melbourne Zoo. We were separated into various activities for boys and girls.
A quietly spoken guy in a plain blue tracksuit addressed the boys-only football clinic.
John Nicholls had hosted the previous summer session with wing David Dickson wearing their 1972 ‘World tour’ guernseys. As a Carlton supporter, it was a real treat to meet them.
I had no idea what club this young man hailed from. After enjoyable drills, we ended on a goal-kicking competition with markers placed by ‘Rob’ at a challenging distance in an arc. My left foot tallied up the most six-pointers.
Rob asked for help to carry his bags of plastic hats and old footballs – the rest of the boys had scattered. The two of us walked up to the car park and packed the gear onto the backseat of his white HQ Holden.
Rob then opened the cavernous boot rummaged around to find a brand new footy. To my absolute shock he handed it to me.
‘That’s for you Dave, you can keep it.’
Rob’s gentle kindness has stayed with me for 50 years. I clutched my Ross Faulkner on two tram rides home and avoided bouncing it on bitumen for months. My sub-standard footy was ditched for good.
I watched Robbie play Round 1, 1974 and kept an eye on the silky Demon’s life from then on.
In the afterglow of the 2021 premiership, my friend Pete (Fish) Salmon-Lomas said he always wore long sleeves in Albany WA playing footy as a kid in an attempt to channel Robbie Flower.
He wanted to be him.
Vale Tulip.
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Wonderful memories Dave. I have never met Flower, but I always had the impression he would be a good bloke.
Nice article Dave about a really great footballer who skilfully avoided the weight room.
What an amazing encounter with one of the greats of the game. Just shows the impact of a kind gesture, lingering half a century later.
What a brilliant moment for you guys.
He was always a favourite footballer.
Love how a small and kind gesture can go such a long way!
Very lovely article lazydave
What an evocative sharing of a unique, but so relatable, moment in a teenager’s life in Melbourne in the 70’’s: capturing the dreams of the young and the unexpected generosity and humility of a true footy giant.
Thank you Dave.
Loved listening to Robbie Flower and Barbara Horn chatting on Barb’s Drive radio program
On Melbourne’s 3 LO during the football season.
Sadly both have departed.
Even better was watching Robbie on the Footy field.
It was poetry in motion.
As Greg Champion sings in his salute to the champion: “There is no-one quite like Robbie Flower.”
As always, conveyed with sensitivity and clarity, a brief and poignant tribute that extends beyond those few lines.
Wonderful story about a marvellous footballer who thrilled the Members anonymously as the mercurial “#2” for all those years. Played during a tough period for the Club and relished the opportunity to shine in the company of other greats when State footy contests came around. Died far too early. A gem on and off.
“My left foot tallied up the most six pointers”.
I saw him play – he was poetry in motion.
I saw you play – you were poetry in slow motion!
Very nicely recalled memory Dave, And very generous of you both – Robbie for his time and gesture to give a young fan a brand new footy, and generous of you Dave; a Blues supporter, to appreciate a Star of the game from another team. Nice work Dave.
Great memory Dave. Robbie was one of the true greats of the game.
Great work Dave. You’ve captured the wide-eyed kid part of attending a clinic with VFL players, alongside a quintessential Robert Flower anecdote that most of us only saw hints of on the TV. Your contribution sent me back to the highlight reels: a fair, graceful, courageous, ultra-skilled champion, a star in any era. Flower could play too.
50 years. Just amazing, Dave.
That meeting obviously had an effect on you.
What a delightful anecdote.
I can’t think of a player who has ever been better liked and more admired by opposition football supporters than your friend ‘Tulip.’
Great little story Dave
Really lovely anecdote of a great bloke and a great footballer.
This is a comment from Michael Bright:
Fabulous article Dave, well done!
And a comment from John Masanauskus
As a teenager in the 1970s one of the joys was watching Robbie Flower play at the MCG on a Saturday. I can see him bounding up the wing like a gazelle, his tall and thin body, to me, seemed like the perfect physique for a footballer. A Demon champion and one of football’s greats.
My enduring memory of Robbie Flower… when I was introduced to the footy card collecting craze as a kid in the late 1970s, Robbie’s card happened to be the commonest… the card most frequently found in any given pack. As such, it became the least sought-after card and a source of much good-natured ribbing among my circle of fellow collectors. I even had a friend who, for fun, managed to assemble an entire deck of forty of fifty cards, just Robbie Flowers… A bunch of Flowers, dare I say?
I hope it’s not false memory but in probably his first season in an unexpected Demons win I saw Robbie Flower play the Members’ wing for the entire game at Moorabbin on a windy day. I was there as a guest of a social club member and barracked for Melbourne that day – looking back I don’t know how I survived unscathed.
Great story Dave. Do you still have the footy?
Thanks David for filling in a gap for me, as I had an incomplete picture of Robbie, now I know he is a helluva’ guy defying his sometime casual bogan appearance. But on the footy field he was svelte (better than silk)
What a great story David. Thanks for sharing it.
A great memory David,
Robbie a favourite of all footy followers.
My memory of him often goes back to round 22 1986 at Princes park when he played on Peter Motley. Two wonderful No.2’s.
Biased I am when it comes to Robbie. A self confessed tragic Dee supporter. Lost count of the times I just paid my admission or a season ticket to see him star. Never disappointed. Met him once at MSD in the CBD where he took care of business. Asked whether Ron Barassi was to be our next coach – very diplomatically replied can’t say but news will be exciting. Only once did I perceive he met his match against Bruce Doull at Waverley in a Home and away game in some one on one contests and still never disappointed. How he never got a Brownlow is mystifying. He ruled the wing wherever he played especially on the members side of the Gee. He would leave sometimes two opponents flat footed in chase for the ball, cajole it to his advantage, pirouette and run away with another disposal. A true legend that not many have emulated over the years. He was our Nureyev. Frank.
Lovely story Dave. In the west we only saw the best of Robbie in state games but that was enough to be enchanted by his skill and class. He made footy look easy. Sounded like a lovely guy.
One lateral thought apropos of not much.. In that year of the Flower card, there were 132 Scanlens footy cards. 240 players played in any given week. If the better players were picked by Scanlens to be pictured, then more than half of the regular players featured with their own card.
David, that article on Robbie Flower is delightful and no wonder you have fond memories. He was a remarkable player and a person to be respected. You were in the right spot at the right time, and he gave it to a person who really valued it. A lovely story.
A wonderful memory so beautifully told Dave. I was immediately taken back to my childhood when I saw Robert Flower on the Scanlens Footy Card. I didn’t know Robert personally but footballers like him were all superstars in my eyes.
Love this story . Written with so much atmosphere felt like I was there too.
Great story David on Robbie.
I remember one morning back in the early 1980,s I was reading the Melbourne Age and it,s preview of the weekends game at Windy Hill between Essendon and Melbourne..The journalist mentioned a passage of play in the same encounter the previous year at Windy Hill which was highlighted by an incredible goal by Robert Flower.
The game the previous year was not televised at all, but I do recall Robbie,s goal from the terraces on the Members wing. It was a goal that only people In attendance would probably recall.
Robbie took possession of the ball near the wing and headed towards goal. He basically ran with the ball all the way to the goal square with several bounces on the way. I remember he had to dodge and avoid several attempted tackles, most of the time the ball was in one hand, desperately looking for handball options, that just never came.
After a long twisting turning run, as he approached the goal square the Essendon defence were closing in, taking a shot he put it through. The goal was the icing on the cake, it was the brilliant run that I remember..
I am glad that Age reporter reminded the football world about this incredible passage of play.