Alex Marklew is taller and leaner than his illustrious forebears…… and his bulging highlights package probably leaves them in the shade……
Whilst he admits there are still a few boxes to tick if he’s to match their considerable football achievements, he’s doing a darned good job of leaving his mark on the game.
He further etched the family’s name into Wangaratta Rovers’ folklore last Saturday when he chalked up his 100th senior game…….the first time that three generations of the same family have passed the magical senior milestone…….
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The Marklew’s are somewhat of an institution at the Findlay Oval…….
Great-grandad Roley Snr was the Hawk Secretary in the late-fifties,…….His son Roley was just 16 – and playing his ninth senior game – when he experienced premiership success in 1960……
Huge expectations were placed on the youngster…….He initially battled to cope, and headed out to Tarrawingee for three seasons (snaring two flags).
He returned as a consummate team player – uncompromising and unsociable – and became one of the ‘hard nuts’ in a couple of famous premiership sides during the early seventies.
Roley had played 162 senior games when he was lured out to North Wangaratta as captain-coach……..After playing in the Northerner’s 1976 flag he hung up the boots and umpired over 300 games of footy, before heading back ‘home’ to perform decades of unstinting service with the Rovers……….
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Hawk fans rubbed their hands together when his son Rick, aged 17, lined up alongside gnarled veterans such as Holmes, Burt, Booth and Hartwig.
It was 1986….Within two seasons he was starring in an O & M Grand Final – as a member of the legendary ‘Burt’s Babes’…..A four-goal burst from the lightly-built number 23 highlighted a blistering last half…..
A timely mark – and subsequent 50-metre penalty after he was harshly dealt with by a Lavington defender in the dying stages – allowed Rick to boot the goal which sealed the game.
Stints with Bendigo League club Northern United,and Heidelberg followed before he returned to play in the ‘93 and ‘94 premierships.
When he eventually departed for North Wangaratta, he’d made 229 senior appearances and booted 351 goals…..Seven years later, he put the exclamation mark on his stellar career by playing in the Rovers’ 2007 Reserves flag – 23 years after his journey had begun in the Third Eighteen….
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There was a bullet beside Alex Marklew’s name from the moment he began strutting his stuff with WJFL Club Imperials.
When he graduated to the Rovers Thirds, old-timers took particular interest in the tall, chirpy, self-assured kid who’d inherited the number 23 guernsey.
He won the Thirds B & F in his second season – despite playing just 10 games……..His senior debut against Corowa-Rutherglen could hardly have been more impressive…….. He was best afield, booting four goals, taking 10 marks and finishing with 30-odd possessions…..
He was in the seniors for keeps ……An outstanding performance in the Elimination Final that year earned him a belated Rising Star nomination……three weeks later, he was declared the winner of the Richard Hamilton Medal as the standout young O & M player of 2013.
Alex declined the invitation to play with the Murray Bushrangers. Was it an error of judgement in hindsight ?……..Would he have been well-advised to parade his wares in front of talent scouts who surely would have been taken by the athleticism and undoubted skills of a 6’3” excitement machine ?
He preferred to maintain his commitment to the Brown and Gold…….His coach Paul Maher freed the young bloke from the constraints of being the go-to forward during 2015 and allowed him to roam the wings and flanks.
His third-place finish in the Club’s B & F was testament to a fine individual season which, unfortunately, had produced little in the way of team success for the battling Hawks……
They’d won just three matches when they faced Albury in the final round……..The Tigers, who’d dropped only one match for the season, were steeling themselves for another September campaign.
In a monumental upset, the eventual premiers fell by 15 points to a home team which was determined to send its departing coach off with a win……….
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Alex was now living and working in Melbourne and still harboured ambitions to play a higher standard of footy.
He signed with EDFL team Doutta Stars……The intention was that he would also remain under the microscope of Essendon’s VFL team to which he’d also aligned.
But things didn’t quite work out for him at ‘The Hanger’………Despite strong displays with ‘Stars’, including one 10-goal haul against Airport West, he’d made just seven appearances with the Bombers.
He was back with the Rovers in 2018, followed by a move to Golden Square the following year, where he represented the Bendigo League, and made intermittent appearances with VFL club Werribee.
Alex’s much-heralded return in 2021 came amidst a raft of high-profile recruits: Tyler Roos, Matt Jones, Sam Murray, Ryan Hebron, Jamieson Daniels and Tom Thynne, and also included the signatures of former players Ryan Stone and Tyson Hartwig.……
There was heightened expectation around the Club, but for the now 25-year-old Marklew, in particular, it was an opportunity to underline the maturity he’d gained during his football odyssey.
Covid intervened but 2022 was his break-out season as an established O & M star……
He booted 56 goals, finished runner-up in the B & F, represented the O & M against Goulburn Valley, and earned selection in the O & M’s Team of the Year.
The acrobatic Marklew provided a smorgasbord of highlights when the Hawks charged into September…..
He and big Tom Boyd combined smoothly up forward, booting four goals apiece in the Club’s first finals win since 2014 – a 22-point victory over Myrtleford……The following week the pair overcame the goal-kicking yips to spark one of the great modern-day finals comebacks….
Twelve minutes into the third term, despite both sides having 18 scoring shots, Albury led by 37 points. The errant ‘twin towers’ had amassed 4.10 between them……From then on the Hawks rattled on nine goals to two to snatch a dramatic First Semi by five points.
Marklew, nursing a tender calf, was in tears as he departed the ground: “The win just means so much to the Club,” he said.
“The ‘Comeback Kings’ again threatened to pull off a miracle when they fought back from 36 points down against Yarrawonga in a riveting Prelim………They narrowed the margin to a goal but this time ran out of artillery, as Dylan Stone, Sam Murray and Marklew succumbed to injury…….
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‘Elmer Fudd’ again looms as a key figure in the Rovers’ push for a finals berth in 2023……..
If you needed convincing of his importance to a young side, it was on display in what amounted to an ‘eight-point’ game at Lavington last Saturday.
In miserable, sloppy conditions – certainly far from ideal for a skilful big man who relies on his craft in the air – he kicked three goals and ranged up the ground as the Hawks grimly defended their lead.
The only setback was an ankle injury when he fell awkwardly in the frenetic final term……He took no further part in the game but is confident that his physio will wave the magic wand, and he’ll be back on deck for Saturday’s game…….
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.
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