“We were playing unbeaten Albury in the second-last round of 2000…..”
As I glanced across from the coach’s box at the John Foord Oval, and stared into the late-afternoon sun, you couldn’t see a space in the crowd………the locals were at fever-pitch as we fought back to win by 11 points………You could tell they could sniff a flag………I thought: ‘Wow, how good’s this…….”
Peter Tossol
***
Corowa-Rutherglen’s identity was forged in 1979 when two small footy clubs (separated by 11 kilometres in distance, but poles apart in ideology) decided that the only way forward was to join forces.
The Corowa Spiders had come from the clouds to snatch a long overdue flag in 1968 (their first in 36 years) ; the most recent success of the once fearsome Rutherglen Redlegs was way back in 1954 (and prior to that, 1935).
It had been basically tough going ……So, when the merge came about, prosperous times were predicted for the newly-anointed combination.
For the succeeding two decades there had been highs and lows, but in recent years the Kangaroos had faded away, and conversation again centred around their ability to compete with the densely-populated stronger teams……
***
The seeds of an Ovens and Murray League Cinderella story were sown in 1998 when Peter Tossol – a Wangaratta Rovers champion, and the reigning inter-league coach – would often stroll over from his Evans Street house to watch the Murray Bushrangers training at Norm Minns Oval.
As happens when footy ‘nuts’ cross paths, he developed a liaison with Brian Houlihan, an affable father of four gifted youngsters, who’d been transporting his kids from Wahgunyah to ‘Bushies’ training for years.
“We were on the same wave-length, and he seemed to know so much about footy…..He’d developed heaps of contacts……It didn’t dawn on me at the time, but he was to become the best bush recruiter I’ve seen,” says ‘Toss’.
“One night, the subject came around to coaching……Would I be interested ?…..I could tell early on that he and the President, Rod Campbell, who he later introduced me to, were fair dinkum…..They’d had enough of Corowa-Rutherglen under-performing, and wanted to do something about it……They were invested, too, because they had kids involved…..”
***
Tossol accepted the coaching job in 1999…..”They were taking a bit of a risk, I suppose,” he admits…..”I’d played under a couple of excellent leaders, but had no coaching experience at club level……”
His first task was to talk feisty rover Carl Dickins out of a mooted move to Mildura….
“I didn’t know much about him but everyone I spoke to said: ‘You’ve gotta get ‘Okker’ back……I thought to myself: ‘Geez, he can play a bit, but he’s no superstar in my book.’ “
“The Corowa crowd loved him, though, and I soon found out why……He’d do the freakish, team-lifting things…like, dive 5 metres to smother a ball, or take a sensational mark for such a little fellah …., And he had a great chemistry with his ruckman, Brendan Eyers….He was a wonderful player, a true champion…..”
A handful of long-serving stars, Darrel Spencer, John ‘Juice’ Kingston, Paul Bartlett, Rod Lane, Brendan Eyers and Mark ‘Pud’ O’Donoghue, who were in the twilight of their careers, lifted under the new coach…..a budding O & M superstar, Craig Tafft, was recruited from Rutherglen….Simon Mayhew arrived from Chiltern via Box Hill, and Matt Witherden was a young, developing kid, just out of the Thirds……
Murray Longmire, hailing from a famous Corowa footy family, had become an outstanding defender, and Jay Campbell, another talented young local, was coming along in leaps and bounds.
Local boy David Willett returned from Bushrangers duty, and helped to lure his ‘Bushies’ team-mates Mark Harrop and Ben Parker from Shepparton……and Glenn Joyce from Finley…..
Suddenly, the ‘Roos became a threat. There was mounting enthusiasm among their fans when they defeated Lavington by a point in the Elimination Final before their dream was expunged by Wodonga Raiders in the 1999 First Semi…….
***
North Melbourne’s decision to adopt the North-East region as the de-facto home for their VFL team, and re-badge them as the Murray Kangaroos, was hotly-debated.
Many of the dozen-or-so country players who they signed from this region were ex-Bushrangers and were obliged to align themselves with an O & M club……… Corowa-Rutherglen, with a surfeit of contacts, swooped in the 2000 pre-season.
David Teague’s home club was Katandra, Luke Henderson was also a Katandra boy; Scott Thomson, who had completed his time with the Bushrangers, had been playing with Wang Rovers, but sought a clearance to the combine.
Corowa-Rutherglen pushed for, and obtained, a ruling that Murray Kangaroos players need only play one game to qualify for the O & M Finals….It proved to be a master-stroke……
As did the recruitment of a giant Kyabram big man, David Lucas, one of the gun ruckmen in country football, who would later make a name for himself in the WAFL.
But the biggest coup of all was ‘Prodigal Son’ Damien Houlihan returning home to live, and signing on as Tossol’s assistant-coach.
Houlihan’s three brothers had all been drafted but Damien, the eldest of the clan, was arguably the most prodigiously-talented.
To illustrate that, he had booted goals with his first three kicks in AFL footy and, in his third game for Collingwood in 1994, picked up three Brownlow Medal votes.
“I was keen for him to play up forward but he wanted to have a crack in defence for a while…..So he spent the first half of the season at centre half-back……He still ended up booting 52 goals in the home and away rounds,” ‘Toss’ recalls.
Another handy addition was local lad Scott Easdown, who, whilst attending University, had been playing with VFL club North Ballarat. He returned just before clearances closed………
“Whilst the recruiting was spot-on, one of the other success stories during my time at Corowa-Rutherglen was Jarrod Hanrahan,” says Tossol.
“He was one of those blokes who’d been in and out of the side….He asked me: ‘What have I gotta do to make it ?’ I said: ‘ ‘Chalky’, firstly you’ve gotta lose a bit of weight.’….He turned his career around through hard work……He hails from Coreen and I remember hearing stories of the floodlights still being on at the local club, and ‘Chalky’ out there doing extra running……”
“He got to play in two O & M Grand Finals…..It was a tribute to his application……”
***
The talent-laden Roos sailed through the 2000 season with barely a hiccup. Their only aberration was a mid-year loss to Albury on a cold, sloppy day at the Sportsground……..Come finals time they were really flying…….
With a 17-1 record, and a percentage of 174, they finished top of the table and earned the week off.
Long-suffering Roos fans were treated to a clinical display in the Second Semi-Final, when their boys demolished Albury by 87 points at Bunton Park……
David Teague, Glenn Joyce, Scott Easdown and Simon Mayhew obliterated the Tigers’ mid-field, whilst Luke Henderson booted five goals, and Tafft, Longmire and Jay Campbell were supreme in defence.
“The spirit around town – and around the Club – was amazing…….It was a great place to be……Due to the fact that they’d had limited success, there was so much excitement……” ‘Toss’ reflects.
The only problem looming was at the selection table……..
“David Willett had served a two-week suspension and had to come back in for the Grand Final…… Ben Parker, who’d been out for a few weeks, played in the Semi in his place, and had acquitted himself really well…..but you could see that he was still struggling with the injury that had kept him out.”
“So someone had to miss out…… Who was it going to be ?…..Ben Parker – a star player – or ‘Juicy’ Kingston, the local hero who everyone loved…..the heart and soul of the Club ?………..I was agonising over it….”
“At training that week, ‘Juice’ was in my face…… wanting to impress…..a serial pest…”
“Coming to training on that last night, I thought: ‘If I don’t play ‘Juice’ the fans’ll hang me from that chainsawed tree at the entrance to the ground !………….I finally made the decision…… ‘Juice’ was going to play, and I’d tell Benny Parker he was out……”
“On the way to training Benny rings me and tells me his leg’s no good……..So the decision was made for me…..”
***
Early in Grand Final week of 2000 ‘Toss’ received an emotional letter from Danny Shiers who’d played as an on-baller in the finals the previous year…..
“Danny had got himself into a bit of strife….strife which resulted in him going to jail for a number of years…..He was a bit of a wild spirit, Danny – one of those left-field blokes, like Carl Dickins —and had obviously been receiving updates about how we were going….”
“I decided to take the players over to the other side of the ground after training, and share the letter with them…..He mentioned how much he missed playing footy, and being part of the group……how he savoured their friendship, and deeply regretted not having the chance to play in a Grand Final with them…….”
“Regret was the theme, really, and he urged us to make the most of this opportunity……..It touched the players quite a bit……..Afterwards, I handed the letter on to ‘Okker’, who was his best mate……”
Thousands of Roo fans made the 40-odd minute trek down the Riverina Highway on that late September day (Corowa-Rutherglen also contested – and won – the Thirds Grand Final) and the sea of Blue and White streamers indicated where the loyalties of most of the 11,500-strong crowd lay.
They could hardly have anticipated what lay ahead.
The Roos produced a record-breaking performance and were ominous from the first bounce……They were five goals in front of North Albury at quarter-time, increased the lead to nine at half – and 13 at three-quarter-time.
A 10-goal last term saw them win by 108 points – 27.18 to 11.6…….
“Someone mentioned later that Damien Houlihan had confided to a couple of mates before the game : ‘Just sit back and watch….I’m going to turn it on today…..” ‘Toss’ recalls.
Houlihan lined up on a Hopper star Travis Hodgson in the first half and went berserk, finishing with 10 goals for the game ……And, whilst people harp on that performance, Scott Thomson was equally impressive, kicking seven from a forward flank……
Carl Dickins, who went head-to-head with Corey Lambert, had 16 kicks, 17 handballs and 8 marks.
There were a host of stars but special sentiment was reserved for club icons Paul Bartlett, John Kingston and Mark O’Donoghue, who were playing their last games in Blue and White……
“During the last quarter a passage of play transpired which resulted in Bartlett passing to O’Donoghue, who carefully waited for his opportunity to pass to Kingston…..For me, it was my favourite moment……’Juice’ then goes back after receiving the pass from his comrades and spins the ball on his middle finger……The Corowa-Rutherglen faithful roared their approval…..” Toss recalls.
Coach Peter Tossol and skipper ‘Darrell Spencer hold the 2000 Cup aloft
Carl ‘Okker’ Dickins
Damien Houlihan
***
Celebrations raged for weeks……..When the dust settled, the Roos had to contend with the fact that clubs around the country had picked the eyes out of the premiership side…..
In 2001 they scrambled into the finals, finishing fifth…….The following year, with a young, developing side, and boosted by the presence of a former North Melbourne spearhead, Jason Daniltchenko, they won an Elimination Final, before ‘bombing’ out against eventual premier, North Albury……….
Six rounds into the 2003 season the Roos stood at the cross-roads………
“We’d lost five of the first six games….” Tossol recalls. “I was tearing my hair out……We had this really good team, but it just wasn’t happening……”
“The week leading into the game against the Rovers, at the John Foord Oval, I contacted Peter Chisnall (whose son Guy was playing), and asked him to help out…..”
“As you know, ‘Chizza’s’ one of those charismatic blokes who, when he walks into a room the mood changes……”
“It was right down his alley….He got up and gave them a pep-talk…..then took ‘em for training…..The players loved it……On the day of the game he pulled on his old North Melbourne jumper and gave a few of the players a rub-down……and proceeded to act as a trainer for the remainder of the season……”
“It was just the circuit-breaker we needed…”
The Roos dropped just one more game for the season, besides a draw in the return bout with the Rovers (“Robbie Walker played a last quarter like you’ve never seen”)…..They finished fourth, and, in successive finals, won by 72, 41 and 105 points…….
There were nine fresh faces to the side that had prevailed three years earlier……
“Kade Kuschert and Matt Mills were both graduates from the Thirds Premiership side, and turned out to be terrific young players……Kade Mills and Simon Palubinski had become good, honest players……We got Brad Campbell back from the West, via St.Kilda……and Ryan McKenzie (a future Morris Medallist) was a local success story,” says ‘Toss’.
“We recruited Jason McFarlane from Albury, as my off-sider……He was a great acquisition, ‘Jock’…..a really smart player….Quick of hands and mind……”
“And an ex-Bushie, Ricky Symes, whose mum worked with me, decided he’d like to play O & M….He missed six or so games in mid-season, yet still kicked 54 goals in a dozen games…”
“He was unstoppable in the Finals, adding 20 goals to his season’s tally….”
“One of the memorable moments on the big day was seeing ‘Chizza’, with tears in his eyes, hugging his son Guy, who was preparing for his first Grand Final…..”
***
From the moment Ricky Symes booted his fourth goal after the quarter-time siren, it was Corowa-Rutherglen’s day. Symes finished with seven to be the driving force behind a 35-point victory.
They had winners all over the ground……Cade Mills successfully tagged danger-man Ben Hollands, Brendan Eyers stood up in the ruck when it counted, Craig Tafft led a water-tight defence, and Carl Dickins was heroic.
It was a triumph for Tossol and his rampant Roos, who had again perfectly judged their run to premiership glory……..
The Roos clinch the 2003 flag
Peter Tossol embraces his charges
***
“I just happened to be there at the right time,” says ‘Toss’, reflecting on the support he received from the community…….”The town had experienced enough mediocrity, and there was a collective will around making it happen……”
“Freddie Longmire headed the Past Players Committee……Everything I wanted from them I got….It might be speedballs, or a Breakfast……They organised the money……they were terrific…..It was a dream-come-true for staunch supporters like Jim Sandral, Mick Livingstone, Reggie Edwards, Artie Warhurst, Les Jones, Hec Francis, Cliff Forge and Ewert Henderson…..”
“I loved helping to give them something to be happy about. It was such an exciting time……”
Matt Mills
Murray Longmire and Peter Tossol with the 2003 Premiership Cup
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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Great story KB.
Loved the local player descriptions with a smattering of former AFL player.
And they’re wearing North Melbourne jumpers!
Cheers