‘Injury cruelled Tiger’s stint in the big-time…’ by KB Hill

Ian Hayden made his O & M senior debut with Wangaratta in 1957……

It was an era when footy legends willingly stepped out of League ranks to accept mid-boggling amounts to play and coach……. Club rivalries were so intense that there were sometimes more fisticuffs among the crowd than there were on the field.

So it was quite an achievement for a 16-year-old schoolboy to be matching it with the champs….

Hayden, though, was physically mature, and an outstanding talent – with his only blemish being the possession of a peculiar kicking style……He rectified that on his way to becoming a key forward at the highest level.

Champagnat/Galen College’s first VFL product, passed away earlier this month………

***

Ian Hayden was nine when his parents – and siblings, Rodney, John and Susan – moved to Wangaratta to take over the Tone Road General Store.

The path to a League career began not long after when he trained with WJFL club Imperials, under the coaching of Keith ‘Spud’ McEvoy……..alongside skipper Bob Rowland, and such local luminaries as John ‘Midget’ Hall, Brian Connolly, Gordon and Alan Kerris, Bob Maroney, Johnny Rowe and Ronnie Macklan.

Another Imps star, Ian ‘Doggie’ Rowland, later became a team-mate at Wangaratta, and again renewed acquaintances when they were opposed in League ranks.

 

Imperials WJFL team, 1956. Ian Hayden is on the right of coach Keith McEvoy…..
Ian Rowland, later to play with St.Kilda, is seated, far left.  

 

Wangaratta coach Mac Holten with a group of youthful ‘Pies at a clinic.
Ian Hayden is third from right, back row.

Hayden was a Foundation student at Champagnat College in 1955 and, in his three years at the School, became an important member of their First 18 side…….In his final year, he was vice-captain to Des Tuck (Br. Bernadine), acknowledged as possibly Champagnat’s finest-ever player.

“I didn’t intend to…..” he recalled on a recent visit to Wangaratta……” I was going to do my articles through a correspondence course. But then I discovered they’d cancelled it, so I had to move to Melbourne to study at University…..”

“As I was only 16, it was hard to get into Uni, even though they were satisfied with my academic results…….. But, after asking me a few more questions, they said that, because I’d been playing alongside men at the Magpies, I must be mature enough to take it on….”

Wangaratta were on their way to a flag in 1957 under the coaching of high-flying former St Kilda forward Jack McDonald, and had been powered by the brilliance of future Saints’ champ Lance Oswald……It was an Oswald snap for goal in the dying seconds that swung the Grand Final the Magpies’ way.

Ian Hayden and his fellow Imps’ graduate Ian Rowland were both given several opportunities during the premiership year, and Hayden was awarded the club’s ‘Best Player from the Junior League’ Award…….

***

Over the next two seasons, Ian returned home each weekend to strip with Wangaratta:

“I really enjoyed it…..I’d get on the train on a Friday night and, when it would slow down at Tone Road, I’d jump off near the back of our General Store, walk home and surprise my parents….”

He had played just on 40 games with the Magpies when he decided that it would be a lot more convenient to line up with A-Grade Amateur team University Blues, in 1960.

The barrel-chested, 6’2”, 89kg key forward took the competition by storm, and was awarded the VAFA’s Woodrow Medal as its Best and Fairest player……He also captained Newman College and won the inter-collegiate B & F Medal.

By now he’d attracted interest from VFL clubs, but there was little conjecture about where he would line up.

Ian happened to be doing his Law Articles with solicitor Ray Dunn, a distinctive figure around the Law Courts of Melbourne, and a distant family relative.

Dunn had been a fanatical Richmond supporter for thirty-odd years and was to become Tiger President during the sixties – a period which would see the Club’s fortunes dramatically revived.

But, in the meantime, his primary objective was to get Ian Hayden into a Richmond guernsey…

***

Hayden impressed sufficiently to be selected for his VFL debut in the opening round of 1962……

It was the stuff of dreams for the 21-year-old…….He booted 3.4, playing on redoubtable Melbourne defender Bernie Massey, much to the surprise of his old Junior League team-mates who used to sling off at his unreliability in front of the big sticks.

Richmond historian Rhett Bartlett recalls a photo of Hayden leading out strongly and marking in front of Massey, which appeared in the Herald-Sun Privilege Book – and in the Assumption College locker of a young Francis Bourke.

Bourke and Hayden met several years later – “I used to have a photo of you in my locker at school,” Francis told him……..

“Isn’t that funny….Some of my kids have got your photo on the wall at our place,” Ian replied.

 

***

As the Tigers began their ascent up the ladder in the early-sixties, Hayden’s future seemed assured. He was their leading goal-kicker in 1963, with 25, and provided a strong presence up forward.

 

Ian Hayden, pictured standing second from right, in this Team photo at a packed Punt Road Oval.

 

He starred in the opening-round game of ‘64 when he picked up three Brownlow Medal votes in a fine performance against Footscray.

The following week he damaged a cruciate ligament, underwent surgery, and was sidelined for the remainder of the season……..In his comeback game, during the 1965 pre-season, he was tackled, fell awkwardly, and never played again.

After 30 games with the Tigers,the Hayden career was over, at the age of 23……

“I did try to make a come-back but the knee was gone,” Ian recalled.

Though he was disappointed, he admitted the end of his footy involvement probably boosted the longevity of his legal career.

Along with helping his wife Joan to raise their seven kids, he said he relished embracing criminal law, which included cases like the Walsh Street Police murder trial.

“I loved doing jury trials, particularly murders,” he said.

“Most murders are not usually ‘whodunnits’, but you do get the occasional one.”

Later in his legal career, he moved the admission for two of his grand-daughters to the Queensland Bar and the Victorian Bar.

One of them, Charlotte Hayden, said her grandfather had ‘without a doubt’ influenced her decision to enter Law.

“I lived with him before I went to Law School and followed him around all his cases,’ she said.

“I remember he was in court one day, and the prosecutor was ripping into him……I was almost in tears.”

“Then, when we came out for a break he said: ‘We have to catch up with Johnny,’ who happened to be the prosecutor…..I said : ‘No way….He was awful to you in there’………But Grandad just laughed and said: ‘Oh no….That was all for show…….We went to school together’…..”

***

When Ian Hayden retired as a criminal barrister in 2018, after 55 years at the Victorian Bar, he felt the time was right to make a nostalgic visit to Wangaratta.

Along with a large contingent of his family, he became re-acquainted with all of his old haunts, and took the opportunity to personally present the ‘Ian Hayden Award’ for Galen College’s Footballer of the Year.

 

 

The Ian Hayden Cup

 

His name had been perpetuated on the Trophy for decades, in recognition of the College’s first-ever VFL player.

One of his children, Michael, who shared the trip with him, said at the time that his dad was “a bit of a treasure; not because of his football achievements or Law background, but because of the bloke he is”……

“He is a friend to all of his kids and is everyone’s second father around where he lives……”

Ian Hayden died on May 2nd and is survived by his wife Joan, and kids Danny, Michael, Steve, Angela, Peter, Tom and Katherine, 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

One of his grand-kids, Dante Visintini, rucked strongly in Port Adelaide’s 6-point win over Geelong last Friday night……Dante’s 203cm brother, Vigo, was picked up by Essendon in the 2023 Rookie Draft, and is considered a long-term prospect by the Dons.

* Thanks to Simone Kerwin and Rhett Bartlett for their assistance.

 

 

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.

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