Back to Geelong Part 2
Like his predecessor in the coaching hot seat, Bob Davis had a very clear notion on how he was going to approach the job:
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Geelong's greatest ever goal kicker, Doug Wade - 834 goals for the Cats in 208 games between 1961 and 1972. (Click to enlarge.) |
I
had watched other clubs during my season off and I realised that Geelong had
become inbred. Training was now a ritual and there were set attitudes when
it came to judgements on players. For example, Geelong had always been
considered a highly skilled side blessed with pace to burn off the opposition.
The club had always looked for fast, classy footballers. I could detect,
however, that there was negligence in finding the tough-as-nails men who would
hold the side together in times of crisis. (See
footnote 18)
True to his word, Geelong under Davis supplemented their trademark flair and artistry with a backbone of ruthless determination and sheer, unequivocal toughness. Players like John Devine, Doug Wade, Terry Callan, John Watts, Colin Rice, and Paul Vinar - all of whom, except for Callan, played in the club's 1963 premiership side - were as hardy and unyielding as they come. Moreover, Davis had the rare gift of being able to spot the finished jewel in the raw, uncut stone and, with the assistance of Leo O'Brien and chairman of selectors Tom Morrow, he bolstered Geelong's playing ranks during the course of his first two seasons at the helm by recruiting future stars (and 1963 premiership players) like Devine, Callan, Peter Walker, John Brown, Stewart Lord, Doug Wade and Roy West. However, a 1961 season which saw the Cats climb the ladder to 6th with a 10-7-1 record showed that there was still one glaringly missing piece from the jigsaw: the side desperately needed a dominating, top class ruckman. |
Back in 1958, during his final season as a player, Bob Davis had been selected to captain the VFL at the centenary Melbourne carnival. It proved to be a highly memorable series for Davis, who performed brilliantly throughout, and was rewarded with the captaincy of the All Australian team chosen once the carnival had finished. Even more significant than this, however, was a fleeting incident which took place in the heat of battle during the decisive final match of the carnival between the 'Big V' and Western Australia. One of the Western Australian players, a strongly built aboriginal ruckman from East Perth with a propensity for catching the ball cleanly at rucking contests and then feeding his team mates with impeccably directed handpasses, some of which travelled as far as kicks, was proving a real thorn in the Victorians' sides. During a lull in play, Davis found himself standing alongside this troublesome customer and remarked that it was his ambition at some stage to coach Geelong and, if and when he did, he'd like to see East Perth champion in his side. The East Perth champion in question was Graham 'Polly' Farmer, arguably the greatest ruckman, some would say the finest player, in the history of the game. Three and a half years on from this hurried conversation Davis got his wish as, after protracted and at times tortuous clearance negotiations, Farmer turned up at Kardinia Park ready to throw in his lot with the Cats, in the process providing Bob Davis with the catalyst he needed to transform his team from premiership hopefuls to premiers-in-waiting.
| Unfortunately for everyone
concerned (other than the opposition, of course), Farmer's debut season at
Geelong was cut short by injury. Even without their champion ruckman,
however, the Cats went within an ace of making the grand final after drawing the
preliminary final against Carlton and then losing the replay by just 5 points.
In just half a dozen senior games for the club in 1962 'Polly' Farmer, who was being paid the sensational, for the time, sum of £1,000 a year, over and above his match payments, had already made it clear that he was a bona fide champion, whetting the appetites of everyone connected with Geelong as they awaited the 1963 season. This year Farmer would be joined in Victoria by his former East Perth team mate and fellow ruckman John Watts, "who understood the nature of Farmer's power and could exploit it" (see footnote 19). Bob Davis now had at his disposal all of the components necessary to assemble a premiership-winning combination. Once assembled, it was a combination which would require little in the way of maintenance or refining, which was probably just as well given the nature of Davis' coaching philosophy: I used to get 'em fit, keep 'em happy, put 'em in the right positions, and send 'em out on the field and say, "We're going to do to them exactly what they think they're going to do to us, we're going to fix 'em right up." And that was it.......I taught 'em to love to play football, that there was a thrill in playing in the League, that it was a game and you played it as well as you possibly could play. We put 'em in their best positions, and they all knew what they were expected to do. (See footnote 20) |
John Devine, who played 118 games for the Cats from 1960 to 1966, and later coached the club between 1986 and 1988. (Click to enlarge.) |
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The 'Big Cat' himself, Graham 'Polly' Farmer. |
The 1963 VFL season proved to
be one of the tightest on record. By beating minor premiers Hawthorn by 39
points at Glenferrie in the final home and away match of the year Geelong book a
2nd semi final meeting with the same club a fortnight later; had the Cats lost,
however, they would have missed the 'four' entirely.
A huge crowd of 91,471 turned up on 2nd semi final day and saw Geelong, with Gordon Hynes, Wade, Farmer and Watts especially prominent, do just enough to win by 19 points. Needless to say, this entitled the Cats to premiership favouritism when the two sides were matched against one another once again in the grand final, after Hawthorn had ousted Melbourne from the flag race in a ferociously fought preliminary final. However, few people, not even the most ardent of Geelong supporters, would have expected a win of quite the magnitude that eventuated. In truth, although the Cats' final victory margin was substantial, it was deceptively so, as up until three quarter time the match was tough, tight and exceedingly tense. For much of the opening term in fact it was the Hawks who enjoyed the ascendancy, only for a combination of profligacy in front of goal and inadvertent easing off during the time on period to enable the Cats to claw their way back to within 3 points at the 1st change. |
With the Farmer-Goggin show in full swing, Geelong added 4.7 to 2.0 in the 2nd quarter to steal what looked to be a decisive march on the opposition, but Hawthorn refused to surrender, and rallied strongly in the 3rd term to bring the margin back to just 10 points at the final change. With only thirty minutes of football left, the outcome of the 1963 premiership race remained very much in the balance.
| A Quartet of Cats | |||
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| Larry Donohue, the VFL's top goal kicker in 1976 with 105 goals. Played 105 games and kicked 339 goals for the Cats from 1973 to 1980. | The Cats' Tasmanian wingman, Robert 'Scratcher' Neal, a great crowd favourite in 200 games for the club from 1974 to 1986. | Michael Turner, one of the fastest players of his era, who played 245 games for Geelong from 1974 to 1978, plus 11 state games for Victoria. | Talented half back flanker Mark Browne, recruited locally from Geelong West, played 87 times for the Cats between 1974 and 1978. |
Nothing that had gone before would have prepared the crowd of 101,209 for the events of the opening nine minutes of the last term. With the Hawthorn players, universally acknowledged as the fittest and strongest in the league, suddenly looking tired and slow, Geelong surged forward again and again, registering full points on four occasions through Wade, Alistair Lord, Hynes, and skipper Fred Wooller. Further goals to Hynes and Wooller during the closing phase of the game blew the final margin out to 49 points, with the Hawks managing just 3 behinds for the quarter. Graham Farmer, with 22 disposals, included a quarter of Geelong's 44 handballs for the match, repaid a chunk of his £1,000 per week salary with a best on ground display. Meanwhile John Devine, who also managed 22 disposals, Bill Goggin (16 kicks, 7 handballs), John Watts (10 marks) and Peter walker, who kept a tight rein on Hawks spearhead John Peck, were other noteworthy performers.
The 'Geelong Advertiser' was predictably exuberant:
In winning the 1963 Victorian Football League premiership from Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday, Geelong showed that a team could play skilful, crowd-pleasing football and still play with courage and determination.
Geelong's win was based on the football skill of Graham Farmer in the ruck, of fast, clever small players, of flashing handball, and above all, of teamwork developed of an exceptionally high order. (See footnote 21)
Graham Farmer's six seasons at Geelong produced 100% finals participation (see footnote 22), culminating in a second grand final appearance in 1967. This time around the Cats, who were now being coached by former rover Peter Pianto, had to do things the ostensibly hard way by progressing from the 1st semi final; however, the side clicked into form at just the right time, and both Collingwood (by 30 points) and Carlton (by 29 points) were swept aside with relative ease. Richmond, which had played brilliantly in amassing 20.21 (141) against Carlton in the 2nd semi final, and which had overcome the Cats (by 38 and 12 point margins) in both home and away meetings between the sides that season, was favoured to win by most pundits, most of whom also predicted a high standard game, particularly if the weather conditions were favourable. "It will be a case of skill versus skill because both sides prefer it that way," was the opinion ventured in the grand final issue of 'Football Record'. "Beyond all shadow of doubt, the Tigers and the Cats are the most skilful teams in the League." (See footnote 23)
| What actually eventuated,
however, was a veritable football classic transcending even the most optimistic
projections of the media. Ultimately, Geelong went under by 9 points, but
rarely can the cliché 'football was the real winner' have had a more legitimate
excuse to be resorted to. The match was closely fought and of high standard
all day, mounting to an incredible last quarter crescendo in which players of
both sides somehow managed to access hitherto untapped resources, both physical
and mental, and to perform at a pace, and with levels of desperation and
brilliance, more typical of the professionalised game of the 1990s. It
was, quite simply, thirty minutes of football ahead of its time, with the 109,396
spectators at the ground privileged to have been there.
It was also, sadly for Geelong supporters, 'Polly' Farmer's last competitive game for the club. The big ruckman's football career was far from over, but never again would fans in the outer at Kardinia Park be able to thrill to his exploits. The Cats post-Farmer continued as a force for the remainder of the 1960s, but the '70s, for the most part - fleeting finals appearances in 1976 and 1978 excepted - proved to be something of a demoralising disaster. Things appeared to be getting back on track in 1980 when Geelong, with former champion rover Bill Goggin in his first season as coach, and boasting a wealth of talent on every line, won 17 out of 22 'home and home' matches for the season to clinch the minor premiership for the first time since 1954. Glaringly lacking in finals experience, however, the Cats then nose-dived out of contention in successive weeks, losing all the way by 4 goals against Richmond, and then leaving their surge too late against Collingwood to fall agonisingly short by 4 points. |
Malcolm Blight who, as coach of the Cats between 1989 and 1994, had the side playing a scintillating brand of football which recalled his own exploits as a player with Woodville and North Melbourne. |
The situation was no better the following year as brittleness in the finals again rendered worthless the team's excellent form for the majority of its home and away campaign. That Geelong at this time boasted a rich assembly of talent could not be doubted. Players like wingmen Mike 'Turkey' Turner and David Clarke, utilities Terry Bright and Brian Peake, centreman Peter Featherby, full back Gary Malarkey, and the Nankervis brothers, Ian and Bruce, were as good as any in the league, and lost little or nothing in comparison with the club's illustrious array of champions from previous eras. (Mike Turner would later join his father, Leo, in Geelong's 'Team of the 20th Century', with Clarke being named as an emergency.) Unfortunately, a record of just 1 win from 5 finals matches over two seasons tells its own story.
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Barry Stoneham |
The period
between 1982 and 1988 saw the Geelong Football Club embedded in mediocrity,
never contesting the finals, but simultaneously never finishing lower than 9th.
With a dismal success rate for the period of just 43.2% 'Sleepy Hollow', it
seemed, was living up to its nickname. What was needed was an
injection of inspiration and direction, and in 1989 "the arrival of
(Malcolm) Blight to Geelong (as coach) changed the chemistry and atmospherics at
the club. He had a personal dynamism and created a style of play that was
positive, exciting and exhilarating." (See footnote 24)
Of course, a coach alone cannot 'create a style of play'; he needs players of the appropriate mentality and calibre to implement his ideas. Fortunately, Geelong in 1989 had a wealth of such talent, notably the fans' idol Gary Ablett, who at season's end would become only the second player from a losing grand final team to win the Norm Smith Medal, eventual 1989 Brownlow Medallist Paul Couch, a prolific possession-winning centreman with a thumping left foot kick, strong marking key position player Barry Stoneham, the ebulliently eager and aggressive Gary 'Buddha' Hocking, and enormously dependable defender Mark Bos, winner of the club's previous two best and fairest awards. (Ablett and Hocking later gained selection in the club's 'Team of the Century', with Couch being named as an emergency.) |
The Cats in '89 were a scintillating combination to watch and duly reached the grand final, where they were confronted by the league's toughest, most professional side in reigning premiers Hawthorn. The grand final afforded a classic contrast in styles, and after the Hawks had exploded out of the blocks developed into a titanic tussle in which both goals and seismic body clashes abounded. As far as most Geelong fans were concerned, Hawthorn was literally saved by the final bell, as the Cats, having fully seized the momentum during a tumultuous final term, added 8 goals to their opponents 3 to edge within a single straight kick. Alas, the siren blew, and the Geelong players, almost to a man, having performed heroically in defeat, collapsed despondently to the turf.
Geelong continued to produce football of the highest order at least intermittently over the remaining five years of the Blight era but, despite contesting grand finals in both 1992 and 1994, a premiership remained elusive. Under Blight's successor as coach, former Hawthorn champion and dual Norm Smith Medallist Gary Ayres, the Cats again reached the grand final in 1995, but Carlton ran away with the match, and the premiership, by more than 10 goals.
Oh, the agony of being a Geelong footballer in the 1990s! Another grand final, another defeat.......
| As we embark on a new century
the football landscape has changed as dramatically as it did more than a hundred
years
ago, when eight renegade VFA clubs formed the VFL. The old VFL is no more,
having evolved, with significant input from both the SANFL and WAFL, into a
proximate national competition. Within this context, Geelong, as the only
'small town' member club, holds a unique, and arguably vital, position. As
major sports across the globe become more homogenised, formularised and
sanitised, nothing excites admiration and approval like a flash of individuality
or distinctiveness. A league containing sixteen Goliaths would be almost
unendurably monotonous; throw in a David, though, and you have an instant recipe
for excitement and unpredictability.
In 2007, Geelong played the 'Goliath' role to perfection, in the process taking excitement and unpredictability to new levels. Nothing in the Cats' haphazard form over the preceding two or three seasons could be said to have presaged their achievements, and the scale of their dominance, during arguably the most remarkable six month period in their history. Whilst acknowledging that the extent of their supremacy transcended mere statistics, a summary of their main achievements during the year nevertheless makes salutary reading. Pre-eminent among these achievements, of course, was the premiership itself, which was won by virtue of a record breaking 119 point grand final win over Port Adelaide. The win confirmed the impression that had been forming since about the fifth or sixth week of the season that only a calamitous run with injuries was likely to prevent the Cats from ending their forty-four year premiership drought. No such calamitous run emerged, and the long drought was spectacularly and emphatically brought to an end. |
....... until, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Saturday 30th September 2007, and the Cats are on a collision course with destiny ..... (Photo courtesy of Trevor Rockliff - click to enlarge) |
Geelong's awesome grand final performance produced perhaps a dozen viable candidates for the Norm Smith Medal, although in the event the judges' voting was restricted to just three: Matthew Scarlett (7 votes), Paul Chapman (10 votes), and Steve Johnson (13 votes). An energetic and opportunistic crumbing forward and on-baller, Johnson thus became the first Geelong player to win the prestigious award as a member of a premiership-winning side (Gary Ablett senior having won in a losing team in 1989). Johnson was one of a record nine Cats originally selected in the 2007 All Australian team (victorious premiership coach Mark 'Bomber' Thompson subsequently made it ten), with one of the others, Jimmy Bartel, providing their first Brownlow Medal winner for eighteen years. For good measure, Geelong's VFL team won the premiership of that competition for the second time in half a dozen seasons, while Joel Selwood was an emphatic winner of the NAB AFL Rising Star Award. It may be a cliché, but seldom had it been more valid to observe that the bar had been raised, and raised significantly.
For the vast majority of the 2008 season, Geelong's upward performance spiral continued as the side topped the ladder with just 1 defeat from 22 matches before achieving comfortable finals victories over St Kilda and Western Bulldogs to set up a grand final showdown with Hawthorn. The Hawks were always going to be a tough nut to crack, but the Cats did not help their cause by frittering away numerous scoring opportunities, and despite enjoying considerable territorial supremacy at times they slumped to an unexpected, but scarcely unwarranted, 26 point defeat, with the scoreline - 11.23 (89) to 18.7 (115) - telling its own eloquently depressing story. No one would deny that the Cats were the best team in the AFL for most of the 2008 season, but the fact that they were found wanting when it mattered most renders such status, in historical terms, entirely meaningless.
Where now?
or
18. Woofa by Bob Davis (with Jim Main), pages 100-1. Return to Main Text
19. The Road to Kardinia by Russell H.T. Stephens, page 185. Return to Main Text
20. Polly Farmer: a Biography by Steve Hawke, page 157. Return to Main Text
21. 'Geelong Advertiser', 5 October 1963. Return to Main Text
22. In all, a total of eight 50 game-plus players played out their entire Geelong careers during the 1960s in teams which contested the finals every year. In addition to 'Polly' Farmer (1962-67 - 101 games), these were: John Sharrock (1963-68 - 94); Denis Marshall (1964-68 - 84); Ron Hosking (1964-68 - 70); Gordon Hynes (1963-69 - 61); Colin Eales (1963-67 & 1969 - 56); John Watts (1963-65 - 52). Source: Cats' Tales by Col Hutchinson, page 117. Return to Main Text
23. 'VFL Football Record', volume 56 number 32, 23/9/67, page 2. Return to Main Text
24. Greg Durham, quoted in Stephens, op cit, page 239. Return to Main Text
