‘Redleg Reggie reflects…” by KB Hill

For a large portion of his (almost) 79 years neighbouring Barkly Park has been his second home.

 

Even now, most days he’ll uncoil his lanky 6’6” frame from the comfort of his favourite lounge chair, stroll down from his Harris Street home, and check out that nothing untoward is going on at his old ‘stamping ground’.

 

Reg Edwards is a Rutherglen institution.

 

Reg Edwards and Rutherglen team-mate Herbie Cillins

 

In bygone days he plundered mountains of runs as a left-hand opening bat, plucked marks from the heights, and booted goals from near and far………………..

 

***

 

Reg and his wife Wendy remain ardent sport fans.

 

They like to fit in a couple of rounds of golf a week, and utilise their subscription to Fox Sports to the full. They rarely miss a ball of Test or One-Day cricket in summer, and watch almost every AFL game on offer……

 

Reggie’s a died-in-the-wool Sydney Swan…………

 

That’s surprising in one respect, because in his younger days he continually resisted the efforts of Swans to lure him to South Melbourne’s Lake Oval.

 

For five or six years, when he was ranked one of country football’s most likely types, he’d be coaxed to pre-season training, or practice matches, often travelling down with ex-South player Don Star and a handful of prospects from the region………..

 

“I was working at All Saint’s Winery when they first turned up to see me,” Reg says. “Carlton were showing some interest at the same time, and had arranged to come up the next week-end…….They were a bit dirty when I told them I’d signed with South.”

 

When he finally pulled on the Red and White Guernsey early in 1964 the papers trumpeted him as ‘the rangiest full forward to ever hold down the position for South……..’

 

 

 

***

 

What a stage to make your debut !…….. In front of a bloodthirsty Magpie crowd at Victoria Park………And lining up on an old Rutherglen boy, Teddy Potter…….

 

“He didn’t make me feel welcome………didn’t say a word to me,” Reg quips……….

 

“I used to pride myself on my kicking for goal, but missed a couple of ‘sitters’ from 30 yards out, straight in front………finished up kicking 1.4……..”

 

“In the third quarter I flew high, climbed all over Ted’s back and just failed to hold on to the mark…….South player Graeme John picked up the crumbs and put it straight through the big sticks……..In the meantime, the umpie had blown the whistle and given the free kick against me……..”

 

“ John ran back and abused shit out of me ………I thought: ‘If that’s League football you can stick it up your jumper.”

 

“They wanted me to play at Geelong the following week…….But I said: ‘No…. I’ll stay at Rutherglen, thank you……….”

 

***

 

Reg was 11 when he experienced one of his most memorable sporting moments – the Redlegs’ famous 1954 O & M premiership victory.

 

He remembers proudly wearing a wide red tie, emblazoned with the image of a Rutherglen footballer, as he cheered on the star players – coach Greg Tate, Joey Gilfius, ‘Butch’ Hawking, Les and Doug Jones, Leo Mantelli………

 

“ ‘Spudda’ Tate was magnificent; the best Rutherglen player I’ve seen. Our full forward Kevin Gleeson was pretty ordinary overhead, but ‘Tatey’ used to hit him on the chest every time…….”

 

“They tell the story that, at one ‘Pleasant Sunday morning’, someone bet ‘Tatey’ he couldn’t hit the goalpost five times out of six attempts, from 30 yards out……He went out and did it….”

 

By the time Reg was coming through, the glory days were well and truly over at Barkly Park.

 

He played a year in the Reserves, aged 16.

 

“I was at full forward, and the ball just didn’t go down there…….I reckon I played three-quarters of the year without getting a touch ……….An old trainer, Bert Miller, would often greet me coming off the ground: ‘Missed out again today, Reg’………..“

 

He spent a season with Springhurst, in the Wangaratta Junior League, under the coaching of a savvy ex-League ruckman, Ron ‘Horse’ Bywater, then walked straight back into the Rutherglen senior side, where he would remain a fixture for the next decade.

 

Stationed like a giant light tower at full forward, he proved an instant success, booting six goals in his second game, against Albury.

 

“There were a lot of characters at the Club in the sixties, and it was a good place to be a part of, even if we didn’t have a lot of success………We approached every season with optimism …..”

 

“ I never got too downhearted, but put it this way, if we won seven games in a season it was a good effort…..” he says.

 

“ I know opposition teams didn’t look forward to meeting us over here, though, particularly if we got our tails up early……..”

 

Wendy, who was there for most of Reg’s career, reflects: “No matter how many times they lost – or by how much – we’d be there on the fence, patting them on the back…..saying ‘Well done.”

 

I remind Reg that the hospitality at the after-match was always a feature at Rutherglen, as the teams inevitably ended up propping at Frank Ferrari’s Poacher’s Paradise Pub until all hours.

 

“Yeah, Frank was heavily involved with the footy club, and was a terrific bloke…… He could sure tell some stories, which were usually coated with a liberal dose of bulldust ………….”

 

***

 

Former St. Kilda centre half-back Harold Davies (‘a really good player’) was Reg’s first O & M coach, followed by hot-gospeller Ray Horwood, who had spells as non-playing coach either side of ruckman Bob Hay.

 

“Bob hailed from Tasmania, and came to us via St. Kilda….. taught me more about ruckwork than anyone.”

 

The Rutherglen side, with coach Bob Hay, middle, seated.
Reg Edwards is in the bqck row, as is the brilliant Billy Gayfer (far left)

 

He admits that full forward was always his favoured position, but he morphed into a more than capable ruckman.

 

One old foe recalls: “Surprisingly, for a bloke of his height, Reggie was pretty agile………..He was equally adept at palming the ball with left or right hand – and could jump off either leg.”

 

He wore the O & M guernsey against Bendigo and Hampden Leagues in 1966, and had pulled down a handful of marks the following year, in a clash with Waranga North-East when a broken cheekbone prompted his exit from the game just before half-time.

 

The honour of representing the League was a rare highlight for fellahs like Reg, who were regularly deprived of the opportunity to play finals. ………

 

He deliberated painstakingly about leaving the battling Redlegs when Howlong offered him their coaching job in 1969…….Rutherglen held firm and refused his clearance applications.

 

Despite their rebuff the Spiders again came knocking in 1970…….this time he was free to pursue his coaching ambitions…………..

 

***

 

“I used to ruck all day, and was the only import in the side, except for one bloke – Barry Mullarvey, who travelled from Albury, but played all his footy at Howlong,” he says.

 

“Gee, it was terrific to be winning regularly…….It was also pretty handy that we had five O’Halloran brothers playing……..”

 

“We used to pick the side and put it up on the wall of the pub every Thursday night……I remember before the ‘71 Grand Final old Mick O’Halloran (their dad) walked over, looks up at the team, comes over to me and says: ‘Well, I’ve done my bit; the rest is up to you ! ’……….“

 

And they went on with the job, after it was evenly-poised at half-time.

 

Howlong’s 1971 Premiership side

 

“I was the only bloke getting paid ….I got $40 a week, and thought I was getting a fortune….I handed $5 of it every week to ‘Jacko ‘ (O’Halloran) who was our best player……”

 

“In the Grand Final we played him at centre half-forward and he kicked 4.8……He won the Azzi Medal that year with a then-record 34 votes. On one flank was his brother Peter (another Azzi Medallist), and on the other was a kid called Brian Lester, who was back from school in Sydney.”

 

“He played the last three home-and-home games and picked up the maximum 9 votes in the Azzi……Not sure whether he ever played after that season….”

 

The Spiders took complete charge in the third quarter of the Grand Final against Walbundrie, and led by 45 points at the last change: “Reg Edwards continually forced the ball into the open spaces which enabled his speedy mates to sweep it up……..There were O’Hallorans everywhere, as Howlong opened up a match-winning lead…..” reported the Border Mail.

 

 

***

 

Reg settled back into the Rutherglen side after a fulfilling three years as coach of Howlong, and continued his role as one of its key components.

 

He’d played under one of football’s great journeymen – Frank Hodgkin – before he left, but Frank had moved on to North Albury and his brother Bob was now in charge of the Redlegs.

 

“Frank was still a terrific player, even though he was in his twilight years….. He was causing us trouble down here one day, before Bob lined him up in the third quarter and flattened him……All Bob said at three quarter-time was: ‘I got old Frank off the ground……Now we’ve got this mob stuffed…..”

 

Despite tough-man Bob’s best efforts  and those of his successor Vinnie Doolan, the ‘Glen still failed to rise above the lower rungs of the ladder………Conversation began to turn towards an unlikely merger with their much-despised neighbours…..Before the end of the decade Corowa-Rutherglen had come into being.

 

Reg wasn’t able to hang on to play an active part in the merge. He finally hung up his boots in 1975, after 189 senior games. He’d booted 337 goals, had been captain, Reserves coach, and was entitled to recognition as one of Rutherglen’s finest products.

 

“I was happy for it to eventuate (the merger)” he says. “I didn’t think Corowa would have a bar of it, because we certainly didn’t like one another.”

 

***

 

The Edwards cricket career lasted almost as long as did his long-term employment at the Rutherglen Research Station.

 

He began with Rutherglen during their highly-successful era in the Rutherglen Cricket Association, before moving over to play with his footy mates at Lake.

 

He was a prolific opening bat in North-East Cup cricket and for a period of 10 years or so at Melbourne Country Week.

 

Melbourne Country Week Cricket Carnival. Reg signs the bat, being held by his Avenel opponent,
former Essendon champ Ian ‘Bluey’ Shelton

 

“Rutherglen cricket was really strong in those days. The Association comprised Corowa, Buraja, Lake, Howlong, Balldale, Barnawartha, Chiltern and Rutherglen.”

 

“When Corowa left to join the Wangaratta Association it knocked the RDCA around and it never really recovered.”

 

Through it all Reg has remained a passionate cricket follower. He rolled the wicket for many years, has filled just about every task possible at Barkly Park and pokes his head in each week to watch the locals play in the WDCA.

 

One of sport’s true personalities is Reggie Edwards……………

 

 

This story appeared first on KB Hill’s website On Reflection and is used here with permission. All photos sourced from KB Hill’s resources unless otherwise acknowledged.

 

To read more of KB Hill’s great stories on the Almanac, click HERE.

 

To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?

And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE.

One-off financial contribution – CLICK HERE.

Regular financial contribution (monthly EFT) – CLICK HERE.

 

 

Leave a Comment

*