What are the memories of 1958 ?
…..Shops in the town festooned with streamers…….a huge convoy of cars snaking up the highway, with the Albury Sportsground their destination ..…The Brown and Gold bedecked train – dubbed ‘The Hawk Flyer’ – packed with yabbering supporters…..
The ground, crammed with Rovers and Wodonga fans, licking lips in anticipation, as both Clubs prepared to battle it out for their first O & M premiership…..
Could life be more exciting for a mad 11-year-old Rovers fan ?…..I’d study the players’ every movement at training……attempt to replicate their kicking styles……..could recite all of their statistical memorandum by heart……
I’d soak up the smell of liniment which permeated the Clubrooms….. admire the craft of the grumpy bootstudder, Alan Hay, and the slick fingers of the veteran Alec Vyner as he rejuvenated aching sinews and limbs …….
***
Here I am in the Stand at Lavington Oval, sixty-six years later, just as excited…….
My mind goes back to that magical first flag….the wizardry of the legendary Bob Rose, the brutal toughness of Ray Burns, the exquisite skills of that football contortionist Les Gregory, the resolute defence of Lex James, Leslie Ronald Clarke and John Tanner.
I remember the Findlay Oval being awash with thousands of fans that night…..Four bullocks being killed and eaten; many, many kegs of beer consumed, as the victory party on the Oval raged until the early hours of the morning………
But at this moment, I’m pondering whether I’ll actually live to see the Hawks win a 16th premiership……It’s been thirty long years since we last greeted the judge.
I must admit that, deep down, I don’t hold great hopes today.
After all, there couldn’t be a hotter favourite than Yarrawonga in this Grand Final. They’ve won 29 of their last 30 games, and have held us to a total of 19 goals in the three games we’ve contested this season.
The last one was a whitewash; their 71-point win the sixth-largest Second Semi-Final victory in O & M history.
But it was the nature of the defeat that was perturbing…….We seemed to get hold of the pill okay, but wasted it under pressure……and they appeared to have an invisible ‘brick wall’ erected across their half-back line.
When you don’t kick your first goal until well into the third term you realise that the opposition literally have all the answers.
***
The ‘Road to Redemption’ began soon after.
Thank goodness the players don’t share my pessimism……Many of them recovered touch in a scintillating Prelim Final win over North Albury…..Then all eyes turned to Yarra……and a rejigged game plan…
But first, there were selection dilemmas……Tough tagger Lochie McCartney, a vital link in the plans to shut down the Pigeon ball-magnets, had ‘done’ his AC joint in the final quarter of the North game and revealed that he wouldn’t come up.
Xavier Allison, a brilliant role-player all year, was carrying an injury which would render him doubtful until a test passed him 40 minutes before the game……Sam Murray was battling a crook hip….Dylan Wilson was ‘touch and go’……Alex Marklew had played ‘sore’ for a couple of months……..Dylan Stone’s degenerative knee and crook ribs were being strapped……And then there was the quandary about ruckman Will Christie….
He hadn’t played since suffering a Lisfranc fracture (ironically against Yarrawonga) more than three months ago. It would be a calculated gamble to name him, but then he’s a star and might enable us to stretch the Pigeon defence……….
Meanwhile, my concentration is diverted to the Hawk Thirds, who are setting the scene in a cracking game against their Second Semi-Final conquerors, the Magpies.
Most of the kids are school-mates, so there’s extra feeling to this contest……. I can’t help marvelling at its standard as the ball sweeps from end to end in a frantic opening. It’s a credit to the Junior League footy program in our town…..But it’s the Rovers’ outstanding first quarter that ultimately decides the game.
The Hawk Fledglings hang on to clinch it by 14 points…….
The Rovers Thirds celebrate.
***
It’s absolute pandemonium in the dressing rooms…..Music blares, on-edge players yabber frantically, victorious Thirds kids, bedecked in perspiration-soaked guernseys and on Cloud Nine, lighten the situation….. Old players and supporters, with furrowed brows and worried looks, add contrasting solemnity to the occasion.
Time seems to stand still……Heck, there’s still an hour and a half ‘til the first bounce…..How can this enthusiasm be harnessed ?
I notice the odd injury-affected player beating a path to an adjoining room to get a ‘jab’ from the medico which, hopefully, will see them through the game……
It’s part and parcel of a lengthy season but, alas, there’s one fellah I’m feeling for……On the face of it he seems to be in an upbeat mood, even though he’s probably hurting deeply inside…..It’s Ky Williamson, who’s played 19 games this year but has been squeezed out at the last minute…..
I notice the steely determination in the eyes of the players, as they file out to the roar of (half of) the 9,000-strong crowd…..There’s a few preliminaries to undergo but, eventually, after Craig Willis has warmed up the crowd, they’re rearing to go……..
***
My first concerns are raised when Yarra win the toss and, naturally, decide to kick with a healthy breeze…….Thoughts of 2006 come immediately to mind when the Pigeons virtually stitched the game up with a 10-goal to one first term against Myrtleford.
Five minutes in, and after a run of inside-50s, they boot their first…..shortly after they have a second through young prodigy Ben Kennedy…….Is history about to repeat itself ?
But through a combination of stout defence and fine ball movement the Hawks fight their way back into the contest.
There are certain indicators that point to them being ‘on’……They’re finding space and using the ball well…..When Dylan Wilson runs in and manipulates the breeze at the other end the ball curves back nicely for a timely major.
I’m loving the Hawks’ defensive efforts, and Kieren Parnell shows his obvious class with a couple of long runs……It’s the sign that the Territorian is headed for a ‘day out’.
The Hawks have recovered their poise, after a shaky start, to lead by three points, but the negativity in me suggests that they’re dominating the inside 50s and failing to convert. Big Leigh Williams, for example, has a couple of set shots that he’d normally ‘eat for breakfast’, but they veer sideways.
The Rovers recognised that they needed their share of luck to stay in the contest and, through skill errors, the Pigeons are handing it to them…….After nailing his first major early on, Xavier College boy Ben Kennedy also loses his radar and sprays a couple.
Someone had mentioned during the week that it’s the little blokes who decide Grand Finals. To confirm this, I scurried through the record books and discovered that the last ruckman to win a Norm Minns Medal was Ken Howe in 1995.
Well, the Rovers’ number 11 was beginning to have a decided effect on the contest…..Ed Dayman was using his physicality to advantage against another Howe – former AFL 100-gamer, Daniel.
He was penalised a couple of times for using his weight unnecessarily but, just as he did the week before, got important possessions out of the centre and around the ground.
At half-time the Hawks led by five points……They surmised that they needed 12 goals to have a good chance…..The way they were playing, this was well within their reach.
Just as he had been in last year’s decider, Pigeon dynamo Michael Gibbons was in brilliant touch in the first half; so were dashing defenders Nick Irvine and Ned Pendergast.
But the three Hawks dynamos, coach Murray, big-occasion star Brodie Filo, and the hard-working Sam Cattapan, had come right into the game and continually pumped their side forward as they attempted to quell Yarra’s advantage with the wind in the third term.
When Lewis Perry-Smith used the breeze to ride one home from beyond the 50-metre arc, the Pigeons looked to be in a position to seize the advantage.
But big Dayman marked in front of the Grandstand just before three quarter-time. To me, it seemed like one of the most telling moments of the game…..He rammed it through….Neither Ed, nor the Hawks, were going away…..They led by five points at lemon-time in an absolute classic.
Youngster Justin Lewis boots a vital goal.
***
Still, it was hard to eradicate the feeling that the Pigeons would eventually spoil their party……I visualised that it’d be in the dying seconds, breaking multitudinous Brown and Gold hearts in the process.
But the Hawks booted three quick goals early in the last term and, for the first time in the game, the feeling was that they were almost home……One more major might clinch it….
No, there was another twist in the tale…..
Yarra attacked incessantly for quite a period (which seemed like 20 minutes), with intense pressure mounting on the Hawk defence…..Bailey Fraunfelder kicked his second, then Kieren Parnell, who had been brilliant all day, marked at half-forward but didn’t hear the umpire’s call that the ball hadn’t travelled the required distance.
Leigh Williams ‘slammed’ him, got the resultant free and converted for his first.
And when Matt Casey snuck one through to reduce the margin to three points, the script seemed to be going to plan……Yarra three points down…that last-minute victory was on the cards.
The final minutes were frantic and, with the Pigeons holding the momentum, it required a valiant effort from the Hawk defence.
Will Nolan, Parnell, Jace McQuade, Tom Boyd, Xavier Allison and youngster Charles Ledger were superb as they frantically held out the attacking Pigeons…..
The siren signalled the end of 30 years of heartache for the Hawks…….Many of their supporters weren’t born when the last flag fell their way in 1994.
At that stage they’d won 35 games on the trot, were seemingly invincible, and it was anticipated that the premierships would just keep coming.
Fittingly, the majority of that 1994 side were in attendance…….They’d all probably admit that this could be the finest of the Club’s 16 flags…….
The Final Siren….with thanks to Switched on Sports.
The 2024 Premiership Team:
Sam Murray, Ed Dayman, Shane Gaston, Will Nolan, Justin Lewis, Alex Marklew, Tom Boyd, Jace McQuade, Lochie O’Brien, Sam Cattapan, Xavier Allison, Dylan Stone, Will Christie, Alex McCarthy, Will McCarthy, Jack Gerrish, Finn Osborne, Kieren Parnell, Brodie Filo, Dylan Wilson, Charles Ledger. Stuart Booth.
The Scores: Wangaratta Rovers 11.6 (72) def. Yarrawonga 9.15 ( 69)
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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