One of the Wangaratta Rovers’ finest, Mick Wilson, will join football’s greats when he is inducted to the Ovens and Murray’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday…….A former team-mate has forwarded the following tribute…..
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G’day Mick,
Congratulations on this magnificent achievement……. It speaks volumes about the talent, success, longevity and commitment that you displayed in a career that I feel lucky to have been a small part of……
I’ve absolutely admired you from close range for most of my life as a Rovers supporter, player and, thankfully, good mate.
No doubt at the function, those presenting this award will speak glowingly of how you were a part of ‘Burt’s Babes’ in 1988 when you and your mates took all before you to snag a premiership against Lavington……Of course, you went on to claim three more flags before the 90s had even reached the mid-way point.
They’ll surely raise a glass to your incredible devotion and enthusiasm for Inter-league footy…. and how you loved to test yourself against the best in the business.
You earned such respect through your commitment to Inter-league and deservedly had a trophy part-named in your honour.
I’d bet that your incredible commitment to fitness and pre-season training will raise a mention…How could it not?……
I mean, some of those time-trials and beep test clashes with Robbie, Pas, Stabber – and any young buck who thought he could match the ‘big dogs’ in the sweltering heat…..Gee, they’re the stuff of legend!
Your fitness and preparation were key planks of your game and ensured that you were still running on top of the ground in the last quarter of any contest…..
I hope that your footy IQ is acknowledged at some point……. I always thought this was an under-rated facet of your game…….
Your ability to read the play – both in-game and from afar – carried you to a successful coaching career……which I’m sure, if time had permitted, would’ve stood up in any competition.
Yep, Mick, I reckon they’ll raise a glass to you for those facets of your game…… So they bloody should……..you carved out a brilliant career in the number 16 guernsey.
There’s one thing that may not feature in any video montage or goosebump-inducing voiceover though, Mick.
It’s the characteristic that you showed in spades for the entire duration of your time at the WJ Findlay Oval…… a quality that can often go unnoticed, but is vital for any organisation that wants to remain successful.
It’s a quality that you possess in spades…… CARE….
You have an incredible ability to show interest in how other people are faring…..
Your calming persona, positive outlook, ability to look people in the eye and engage in a conversation draws individuals to you……..YOU CARE.
What does this have to do with your Hall of Fame induction, you may ask ?
Well, when I was starting off my career at the Rovers all those years ago, I was among a promising bunch of young guys trying to create their own niche in a very strong competition…….
I look back now and think – shit, we were green !
I also reflect fondly – and am grateful for – the sensational role models we had at the club……. I don’t need to give a roll-call of the names, but they were all very important in shaping our on-field education and development…..
One thing we also acknowledge was the importance of connection and culture…..of which you were the main driver…..
We’re talking mid-to-late 90s here…… Connection and culture certainly weren’t the buzz words that they are now.
It was such a foreign concept to us young blokes who were just living for ‘a kick of the footy and a few beers on the weekends’.
At times it puzzled us why it was so important to give you a hand cutting wood out at Tarra and, afterwards, having a couple at The Plough Inn…….or why you suggested we sell those extra raffle tickets to help the club…..
You urged us to attend working bees at the club on a Sunday or encouraged us to go out of our way to chat to Rovers supporters after the game…..
These little things were non-negotiables in your eyes.
As we drove home from away games, we’d often marvel at how you made the effort to chat to opposition players in their rooms……Sometimes we were incredulous as to ‘why you would want to talk to those pricks?’ after a particularly spiteful game.
We see it now, mate, even though we’d still probably struggle with it!
It took a while for us to get our heads around these things, Mick, but I assure you it sunk in….
You showed us how to care for each other and the club…… And we’re forever thankful that you took us all under your wing.
Your small gesture of an encouraging phone call after we’d played a shit game, or if we were having a run of poor form, seems like a small thing to do, but at the time it meant a hell of a lot….
You just CARED…..
You identified things along the way that enhanced the connection, and culture, of our group…..You relentlessly pursued them until they became part of our DNA……
Not that there wasn’t anything in it for you, Mick……I mean, who else would sit on the phone, on hold, for hours and hours, to make sure we secured our footy trip airfares after the collapse of Ansett in 2001?!?!
…..Only a bloke who saw the value of connection…..and knew the dividends it paid…… not only to the footy club and a bunch of mates…..but realised the genuine highlights that a footy trip provided in their respective lives.
I have never seen anyone with the ability to connect a group like you, Mick…..
I’d like to think that, in so doing, you’ve enhanced our ability to connect with others and helped us recognise how powerful a strong culture is to an organisation.
You also highlighted, and gave a voice to, an individual’s strengths – from an on-field – and off-field – perspective.
I hope those ‘greenhorns’ that you took under your wing in the late-90s and early 2000s were able to follow your lead, and instil these virtues in the generation that followed us…..
It may not have generated premiership success, but I’d like to think – in some small way – that it set things up for the club to remain as strong and stable as it is today.
Being the incredibly humble individual that you are, Mick, you’ll brush these attributions aside and focus more on the collective..…I completely understand that……it is what makes you the great person you are.
But, when you get to spend a quiet moment reflecting on joining your legendary Uncle Mick and many of your premiership teammates in the Hall of Fame, I just hope you’ll derive some satisfaction from the influence that you had on so many of us young tyros when we were starting our O&M careers……
….Because we were rapt in the care that you showed to us when we joined you at the Wangaratta Rovers Football Netball Club.
I wish I could be there, Mick, but interstate work commitments preclude me from being able to attend……
Rest assured though, mate, I will have a few XXXX Golds and raise a toast to you on this momentous night.
Cheers,
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 tribute and a very good read . Is Darcy Wilson his son ? If so the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree,