Crio’s Q: Professional Pitfalls

St. Kilda’s NZ miscreants were punished with directives to gain full-time employment during their “sentence”.

David Parkin, amongst others, has relentlessly advocated work/study/sport balance, lest players become bored (Fev’s online punting) or socially unprepared upon delisting or retirement.

Charlie Sutton purportedly quarried all day and then rode his bike to training.

Dan Harris, Redbacks’ revitalised opener, is a qualified Doctor.

What sports stars have managed to work and perform? And, maybe, do you have some suggestions outside media or modeling for some of the current crop?

Comments

  1. Mike Fitzpatrick was a very good footballer and a handy intellect.

  2. Adam Cooney is apparently back dooring as a street rapper in Kowloon.

  3. P.C. Emmett Dunne

  4. John Butler says

    Phantom, he appears to be doubling up as a street surfer as well.

  5. John Butler says

    A long history of footballers as policemen Flynny.

    Wasn’t Jack Dyer one for a while?

    Allan Jeans

  6. ‘Henry’ Lawson is an optomotrist

  7. I’m sure we could have a team of coppers and a team of those invited to the Big House! Not sure it would be printable…from the backline; allegedly, allegedly, allegedly…

  8. Wasn’t Rex Hunt a walloper once?

  9. Phantom,
    Too many good lines there, including the taking on of the job coaching Pakistan!

  10. Walloper or flog?

  11. Perhaps a game between AFL / VFL police and AFL / VFL villans.

  12. Jack Dyer was a copper for a while as was Rex Hunt. No doubt they’ve been others.

    Chris Judd is obviously holding down an enormous position at Visyboard – hence the enormous wage which is not part of the salary cap. Haven’t the Blues dabbled in all this before?

  13. dave latham says

    I’m sure there’s a few that were iron puddlers, gandy dancers and tugboat captains.

    Nicky Dal I can see taking on the job of a tugboat captain.

  14. Dips,

    the rest vs Carlton (refer #11).

    Sorry JB. I’m off to a bad start in 2011.

  15. Happy new year Dave.

    Are you going to write in 2011 Almanac?

  16. Paul Daffey says

    Andrew McKay (Carlton), vet
    Brad Pierce and Luke O’Sullivan (Carlton), nightclub entrepeneurs
    Corey McKernan (NM), publican at the Leveson in North Melbourne.
    Nick Wilton (Hawthorn), doctor
    Matthew Liptak (Adelaide), doctor
    Stephen Smith (Melbourne), lawyer
    Richard Loveridge (Hawthorn), lawyer
    Peter Moore (Collingwood), lawyer
    Robert Hickmott (two games with Melbourne), racehorse trainer
    the Danihers (Ess), window cleaners nonpareil!

    In Ireland, many GAA footballers and hurlers took advantage of their relative fame by buying pubs. Not so long ago, it was not uncommon for Kerrymen who’d had to go to Dublin for work to spend their annual holiday back in Kerry doing a tour of the pubs owned by ex-Kerry footballers. Great craic!

    Tadgh Kennelly’s father Tim was one example. The equivalent of a centre half-back in the famous Kerry five-in-a-row team of the 70s, he bought a pub in Listowel and ran it until his untimely death.

    Fewer ex-footballers and hurlers now buy pubs because the players tend to have tertiary educations and so can get fancy jobs that have nothing to do with drinking.

  17. dave latham says

    Hi Phantom

    I’ll have to wait for a gilt edged invitation.

  18. Dave, only the quick and the dead you know.

    JTH and Daff take bribes; about fifteen inches, long and red.

    JTH = a magnum of high quality Australian cab sav, circa 1980.

    Daff = a three kilo west coast of Tasmania crayfish (Freshly cooked)

    Delivered to respective front doors, on Friday evenings once a fortnight till round one should do the trick.

  19. Gary Abblett is a surf life saver

  20. dave latham says

    c/- Chateau de Versailles Phantom?

  21. Dr George Peponis, Canterbury and Australia.

  22. John Butler says

    Dips #12, just wait ’til he’s head of the United Nations. That really will extend the salary cap.

    Mr Daffey, I thought you would have extensive knowledge in this regard. :)

    Phantom, no offence. Blue baggers could fill out the villains team better than most clubs. It’s part of our charm.

  23. Alovesupreme says

    An interesting example from an earlier era is Brian Roet who was a doctor, and therefore naturally enjoyed the sobriquet “Doc”.
    I suspect that he was the last VFL player to play as an amateur – although that involved less sacrifice in an era of paltry remuneration.
    Mike Sexton, chiropractor (I vaguely recall that this was Ian Prendergast’s occupation also).
    John Worsfold, pharmacist.

  24. Kevin Sheedy – plumber

  25. Phil Dimitriadis says

    There was a St Kilda Ruckman in the early 80s who was a Glass Blower. I remember seeing it on the Junior Supporter’s Club. Was it Ian Dargie or Downie? He didn’t last long so he obviously blew as a footballer as well.

  26. #23,

    yes there were some very bulked up Weagles running around in the early ’90’s. That picture of Dwayne Lamb squatting and looking like a large cane toad front on was a give away.

  27. Johannes Kepler Wessels:

    German mathematician, astronomer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, who, in his cricketing career, captained South Africa after playing 24 Tests for Australia. He was the first man to have played One Day International cricket for two countries.

    Cheers

  28. Damo Balassone says

    Daff,

    Is Peter Moore still practising? Perhaps he specialises in Treason.

  29. Matthew Clarke (Brisbane/Adelaide); Vet, although currently employed as a ruck coach by Adelaide…

  30. Alovesupreme says

    Dips,
    Is Sheeds or Michael Tuck the more famous plumber? My suspicion is that Sheeds left the industry early, when he was employed by the VFL in a promotional role, so Tucky wins for longevity.

  31. Peter Flynn says

    John Riley was a nuclear physicist.

    Clem Hill became a racing steward and VATC handicapper after cricket.

    John Bracewell was an undertaker.

    Paul Couch tipped bins.

    Many a Geelong player was a bank teller (Brownless, Newman etc).

    Many a cricketer worked for Rothmans.

    AP Sheahan gave cricket away to concentrate on teaching maths.

  32. John Butler says

    PF, I’s completely forgotten about Bracewell. Great get.

  33. Damo Balassone says

    Rene Kink. Hairdresser extraordinaire.

  34. Has anyone a considered view on the issue?

  35. Peter Flynn says

    Dr Roy Park (medical doctor) presided over a long and protracted birth the night before his Test debut in the 5-0 series of 1920/21.

    In what turned out to be his only Test innings, he made a golden duck.

    I reckon he bowled one over and got carted.

    No runs and no wickets.

    His wife allegedly dropped his knitting and missed his Test batting career.

    To merge into Crio’s previous question, Park was a gun footballer who was leading goalkicker after the home-and-away season in about 1913 playing for University.

  36. James Anderson could get a role in Guy Ritchie’s follow up to Snatch, given that no-one can understand a word he says.

    Mitchell Johnson: I’m seeing him play a role where he commits a crime to be incarcerated to spring his innocent brother from the big house. (Does need the rest of the body done)

    Matt Prior: Boxer

    Michael Clarke: Lightning rod

    Doug Bollinger: Scourer

    Daniel Rich, Daniel Merrett and any other gingers: Lighthouse

    Fevola: Publican

  37. I reckon you could pick a team of publicans.

  38. #35,

    PF, Sean Young who was playing County cricket England got called up for the Oval Test (The one we always lose) after Aust had won the Ashes.

    He took no wickets and made no runs.

    He has a baggy Green from a winning Ashes series though.

    He is an AFL Santa’s helper in Tasmania.

  39. Andrew Fithall says

    I would like to nominate Damian Monkhorst as the pre-eminent plumber ahead of Sheedy and Tuck,

    Tony Shaw – arborist (and has also been known to run into the odd tree when running a marathon).

  40. Peter Flynn says

    #38 Good get.

    Phantom, I was there. Tuffers ran through us like a dose of Epsom salts.

    #33 Good get Damo.

    #39 Good get AF

    MHN Walker was an architect.

  41. Peter Flynn says

    Phant,

    I remember now. Young was stranded on 4 not out in the second dig. Made a globe in the first innings.

  42. John Dorotich was a car detailer I think.

  43. Too much detail Dips!

  44. Peter Flynn says

    Dips,

    We could get into some very interesting part-time occupations and one-off jobs here.

    As Crio would say, nice burley.

  45. Actually it wasn’t de tail Dips. If I remember it was de opporsite side.

    One not associated what so ever with the subject matter. Green Bay Packers again. A city of about 100k. What a story.

  46. Re #27 (which was me): Even though nobody (not a one) ran with the crazzzzy idea of matching completely unrelated sporting and historical characters who merely have one part of their name in common as if they were the same person I’m going to keep ploughing away. Here goes:

    1. Pretty Boy Floyd Patterson (Boxer and gangster … actually, same profession, my mistake)
    2. Syd Jackson Pollack (Aussie Rules and abstract artist)
    3. Arundhati Roy Higgins (Author and jockey … as if, except for, um, Mr Francis)
    4. Matt Preston Campbell (Rugby food critic … just scrumptious)
    5. Darren Gough Whitlam (Great smilling bowler and still the wittiest PM we have)
    6. Ann Margaret Court (Humma, humma, humma actress as damn good with a racket)
    7. Clive Lloyd Wright (Archietect par excellence, whether with buildings or the five day game)
    8. CJ Dennis Bergkamp (Created a language for Ostrayians and the Dutch football team)
    9. Janis Ian Thorpe (the visual is enough)
    10. Janet Leigh Matthews (Made you scream and scream again)

    Cheers

  47. John Butler says

    RK, nice work. You should expand on these gifts. A full article perhaps?

  48. Paul Daffey says

    Yeah, Rick, more, more.

    On the footy jobs front, apparently a player from North Melbourne and South Melbourne in the early 1970s — no, not Lurch Goodingham – was a piano tuner. His name was Michael Stilo.

    Well, that’s what I was told.

  49. Paul Daffey says

    PS. Damo

    Treason, schmeason.

    Moore was treated despicably by the knuckle-scrapers at Collingwood, who were going through that strange New Magpies era, which ultimately came to naught.

    Go Ranald McDonald!

  50. First of all Peter Moore only studied law after he had finished most of his footy career. Most of the time that he was playing footy he sold used cars.

    Secondly, Moore was not treated badly at Collingwood. He was the main player responsible for undermining Tommy Hafey in 1982 and then, when he had got his wish and a new coach, he went to Melbourne for the extra money.

  51. Richard Jones says

    TIM Boyle (Hawthorn): SuperBowl scribe (based in the States).

    Scribes for the Big Paper. Too bright to be on Little Paper’s payroll.

  52. Paul Daffey says

    Yeah right, Dave, but the New Magpies were still funny little things.

  53. Some other interesting careers.

    Brian Dixon studied economics and then worked as a school teacher but was still playing for Melbourne when he won the State seat of St Kilda for the Liberals.

    Peter “Crackers” Keenan was involved in the racing industry well before his footy career finished and has done very well out of racing over the years.

    Lots of footballers worked in real estate although Gareth Andrews is the only one that springs to mind immediately

    The Galballys at Collingwood had better legal careers than football careers. So did Hawthorn’s Justice John Winneke although he was a much better footballer than either of the Galballys.

    David Parkin and Fitzroy player (and later coach of VFA clubs Coburg and Northcote) Colin Hobbs became Lecturers in Education after having been teachers. Hobbs moved on to a private consultancy in the eighties. Parkin combined a long coaching career with a full career at Burwood Teachers College/Victoria College/Deakin University (same place). Barry Davis also combined coaching with Phys Ed Lecturing but wasn’t as successful at either of them as Parkin.

    Ted Hopkins was a teacher (or Dip Ed. student) at the time he had his fifteen minutes of fame in 1970. Now he runes Champion Data and writes for the Hun. He was at his most interesting in the late seventies and early eighties when he was a counter-cultural provacateur. If I remember the story correctly, a rather pretentious Art magazine called “Art and Text” tried to sue Ted for publishing a satirical magazine called “Art and a Texta.”

  54. Andrew Fithall says

    #48 Another piano tuner was Stephen Rae (St Kilda and Richmond). I only remembered on reading your note Daff. Stephen used to come and tune our piano. I was never actually in attendance when he came to tune the piano, but Helen tells me that he was also a very good player… of the piano. Not an occupation, but I think he was also best man at Mick Malthouse’s wedding.

  55. Dermott Brereton – Panel Beater
    Vinne Jones – Actor
    Paul Reifel – The Dark Side (Umpire)
    Nick Farr Jones – The Darker Side (Lawyer)
    Johnny Weissmuller – Tarzan

    Cheers

  56. Lindsay Hassett…sports store proprietor. An honourable job for many sportsmen over the years.

    Teddy Whitten, sales rep.

  57. #52. I wouldn’t argue with you about the New Magpies, Daff. To my dying day I will regret that I didn’t get the chance to interview Ranald McDonald when I was doing my PhD. The question I wanted to ask him was “How does it feel to have bankrupted two of Melbourne’s most important icons?” It wouldn’t have really helped my thesis and it would have ended the interview but geez it would have been a good question to ask!

  58. Damo Balassone says

    I don’t think Moore ever recovered from the pain of ’77-81. Yes, I know he won a second Brownlow at Melbourne, but to me he always cut a forlorn figure.

    Re the New Magpies, when Ranold’s regime collapsed in ’86 it always amazed me how quick Raines and Richardson were to jump ship.

    Two good things to come out of that insane recruitment era were 1) David Cloke who served Collingwood with distinction between 83-89 (which played no small part in the procurement of our current CHF) and 2) Shane Morwood: a marvellous player who thoroughly deserved his premiership medallion.

  59. Paul Daffey says

    Damo,

    Not Glenn McLean (and his guitar)?

  60. Paul Daffey says

    Mike Green from Richmond was a lawyer.

    Paul Van Der Haar remains a maker of pools.

    His offsider Ron Andrews continues to run the Wentworth Hotel, just out of Mildura.

    Another pig-shooting mate, Jim Jess, had an unlikely source of income for such a rugged player. He ran a video shop in Flemington.

  61. Richard Jones says

    BUDDHA Hocking was a garbo.

    Another to have started at the bottom and worked his way up …. so to speak.

  62. Phil Dimitriadis says

    Damo #58,

    wasn’t James ‘Charlie’ Manson in a band called the Sharks?

    Daff, the bloke who was a Glass Blower was Darryl Cowie. He played a few games for Richmond around 1986-87. Do you remember him at all?

  63. Bruce Doull ran a newsagency in Lower Plenty. On a few occasions he would turn up at the same park I used to do his pre-season running. He used to go along at a decent belt. You could always hear him coming up behind you because one of his dodgy ankles made a clicking sound with each step. Sort of like Captain Ahab from Moby Dick.

  64. #61,

    are you sure that you have that around the right way Richard?

    He started at the Cats and ended up at Port Adelaide.

  65. Alovesupreme says

    Mention of Rothmans (Peter Flynn#31)reminds me that Peter Snell, the NZ Olympic gold medallist (middle distance) was also employed by a tobacco company (not sure which, but Rothmans is a distinct possibility). Of course some of these were as (glorified) sales reps, and there are legions of sports people in the semi-amateur era who had those semi-fictional jobs – especially in the motor industry.
    John Landy, agronomist; while I don’t think photography was his job, his nature photography was published.
    Two others I’ve just remembered are John Goold fashion designer, and Don Scott who was also in the rag trade.
    Michael Mansfield, stock-broker, and Sticks Kernahan was a chalkie in the pre-computer days at the Stock Exchange.
    Justin Madden was a teacher and later an architect during his playing days.
    Teaching was also a common profession among footballers and other sports-people, names from the old days too numerous to mention.
    Crio’s sports store proprietors might also be expanded by Thorold Merrett. I think Thorold worked for Lindsay Hassett initially, before branching out on his own.

  66. Dave Nadel says

    #65 “With”, I think, rather than “for”. The Shops were called MerrettHassett which implies a partnership.

  67. Alovesupreme says

    Dave,
    That sounds right; was it the case that Hassett retired, and Thorold succeeded to the top job and benefited from the goodwill associated with LH’s long involvement?

  68. Work was, of course, the imperative in the “old days”. It caused immobility – blokes stuck on the farm or building businesses and families – and, occasionally, the excuse to move – D.G.Bradman’s move to Adelaide.

  69. Andrew Fithall says

    Jeff Farmer
    Ken Hunter
    Xavier Tanner

  70. Please elaborate!

  71. Andrew Fithall says

    Rohan Smith
    Phil Baker
    John Butcher
    Sam Fisher

  72. Andrew Fithall says

    My last one:

    Cale Hooker

  73. I think AF is implying a career for these characters.

    Is Steve, Cale’s brother?

    And tapping that vein; Bob Cunis. “Neither one nor the other.”

  74. #67 That sounds right, Hassett would have been quite a few years older than Merrett, but the shop still had both men’s names in the Seventies.

  75. Andrew, you could have also mentioned Fred Carpenter who played for South for a few years each side of World War I; Horrie Mason, who played for St Kilda in the Twenties; quite a few Fletchers, of whom the most notable are Dustin, his father Ken, and Adrian who is no relation. There are also a plethora of Coopers, none of whom are legends but several of whom were pretty good. There must have been a lot of barrels made in the Middle Ages.

  76. the Husseys?

  77. #53 Isn’t former South player Stewart Gull a real estate agent in Ballarat?
    Has anyone mentioned Richard Loveridge, lawyer?
    #65 ALS, pretty sure Simon Beasley was a stockbroker before he became a, ahem, bookmaker.

  78. 69 / 71: A few more for you, Andrew.
    John Ironmonger,
    Harry Taylor,
    Heath Shepherd,
    Brad Miller,
    Fred Cook,
    Sam Butler,
    Josn Caddy (Gold Coast).
    Educational theme: Peter Dean.
    Religious theme: Paul Abbot & Troy Chaplin.
    I was going to say Jake King, but that is not an occupation.

  79. Rick, Andrew, JW, Daff and other sundry Rock Dogs…
    Here’s a logical extension to this discussion;
    What “day” jobs have been the fate of musos, before, during and after their brush with fame? Palms at Crown can’t sustain them all with Greatest Hits sets and musicals, and Rochford Winery hasn’t a lot of Sundays to fill!
    Red Symonds has famously morphed from national notoriety to national broadcaster.
    Tell us some you know of….and, yep, of course Elvis is serving petrol!

  80. There is the remarkable story of Phillip Glass (extraordinary, renowned composer) whose day job was as a plumber and occasional furniture removalist. Follow the hyperlink:

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/composer-philip-glass-plumbs-the-depths-in-his-day-job/story-e6frg8n6-1225978157449

  81. That’s great. Thanks.

  82. Crio,
    In the early 80’s I followed around a ska-type band called “No Nonsense” (makes me sound like a groupie?). They were a fairly good live band, fronted by Richard “Dicky Diver” Bruce, who became I minor celebrity, even going so far as appearing on Daryl Somers’ “Blankety Blanks”.
    So imagine my surprise when I walked into a sports store in Fitzroy to buy some weights and Dicky was the salesman.

  83. Alovesupreme says

    Gus (#73),
    Cale Hooker is not Steve’s brother, I don’t know if he’s in any way related. He was recruited from East Fremantle. The Hookers are a Melbourne family. Steve played a few TAC games with Oakleigh Chargers, and his brother (Tom ?) after a good season with the Chargers made a rookie list, iirc (Collingwood perhaps, early noughties)

  84. Smokie, I assume you mean the place in Johnson St, Fitzroy.

    I went in there when I was 15 with a specials t-shirt and had a longish (for a 15 year old) conversation with him.

  85. Andrew Fithall says

    Back to the original question – it is amazing what a bit or research can uncover:

    Trevor Steer – Driving Instructor
    Robert Polkinhorne – Eastern European Dancehall Trombonist
    Tony Liberatore – Proprietor Hilltop Bookstore
    Jamie Charman – Chimney Sweep
    Damian Gaspar – Sales Rep for Rothmans
    Matthew Pavlich – Food Tester (Desserts)
    Damian Cupido – Marriage Counsellor
    Sedat Sir – Knight
    Garry Hocking – Pawnbroker
    Michael Rischitelli – SBS Content Analyst

  86. Hey Andrew (#85): Did you get that research done in your lunch break?

    When we were discussing it yesterday I meant to tell you that I went to school with Ken Hunter’s brother. His name was Jeff and his nickname was Spindle. As a footballer, Jeff had a great leap on him for such a skinny rake and like Ken was fearless. he would throw himself into any attack. Jeff was part of our motley crew through Year 11/12. He got his licence early in the year (Licence at 17 in WA) and he had a car so he was the man.

    Cheers

  87. Andrew Fithall says

    Crio: One example in answer to your #79 question, I read last night that while playing in bands, but before he joined AC/DC, Bon Scott was a commercial fisherman. He had to give that up when he was injured in a motorbike accident; again that was before AC/DC.

  88. David Downer says

    Would be remiss not to mention, on the day of his state funeral farewell, the great Darrel Baldock.

    St Kilda premiership captain (rare), Tasmanian cricketer, thoroughbred trainer, member of parliament

    Vale The Doc

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