Back to Kangaroos Part 2
North Melbourne barrackers, young and old, acclaim their heroes' historic triumph over Hawthorn in the 1975 VFL grand final.
Prior to the commencement of the 1973 season North Melbourne's playing stocks had risen appreciably via the signing of three bona fide champions in the shape of Doug Wade (208 games and 834 goals with Geelong), Barry Davis (220 games for Essendon) and John Rantall (over 200 games with South Melbourne). These signings were made possible by the introduction by the league of a rule whereby a player who had given his club ten years service could obtain a transfer, without any restraint, to the opposition club of his choice. The VFL at the time was concerned about the possible legal ramifications of a case involving rugby league player John Tutty in New South Wales in 1971, in which the courts had eventually ruled that the New South Wales Rugby League's regulations on the transfer of players constituted a restraint of trade. Although the VFL's hastily drawn up 'Ten Year Rule' was soon withdrawn, it was in place long enough to enable North to make major headway towards its goal of securing a senior premiership by 1976 (see footnote 15).
In addition to the trio of champions mentioned above, North also procured the services of one of the legends of the game as coach, when former Melbourne and Carlton supremo Ronald Dale Barassi was enticed into the fold. Whatever else you could say about Barassi, he was a born winner, who had an undoubted knack for bringing out the very best in his charges. Moreover, the club's acquisition over the next couple of seasons of a number of players whose 'best' has perhaps seldom been excelled in the history of the game made Barassi's job all the easier. Notable among these were full forward Darryl Sutton from Glenorchy, and wingman Wayne Schimmelbusch from North's old VFA rivals Brunswick, both of whom debuted in 1973, and 1972 All Australian and Magarey Medal winning ruck-rover Malcolm Blight from Woodville. Blight would make his North debut in 1974, although he would miss the finals series with glandular fever. He would be joined in the Kangaroos side that year by another indisputable champion in the shape of Barry Cable, who was returning for a second stint at Arden Street following his highly successful single season sojourn in 1970.
Perhaps not surprisingly, North improved beyond measure in 1973 to manage 11 wins and a draw from its 22 home and away matches, good enough for 6th position on the ladder, its highest placed finish since 1959. Moreover, Keith Greig's victory in the Brownlow Medal, which was repeated the following year, was the club's first in that award.
With the addition of Cable and Blight to the mix in 1974 North Melbourne was transformed into a bona fide premiership contender, winning 16 out of 22 home and away matches to finish 2nd on the ladder behind Richmond. Just as in 1950, however, the finals would ultimately prove a disappointment, although unlike the 1950 side the version coached by Ron Barassi was not going to waste the lessons learned.
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Star Kangas of the '70s [Images are clickable] |
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| Brent Crosswell | Barry Cable | Arnold Briedis | John Byrne | Malcolm Blight | Wayne Schimmelbusch |
North started its 1974 finals campaign in style with a 15.13 (103) to 8.17 (65) qualifying final thrashing of Hawthorn, made possible by an overwhelming last quarter burst of 7.5 to 2.2. In the following week's 2nd semi final against Richmond, however, the Kangaroos found themselves on the back foot right from the start. At quarter time the Tigers had rattled on 5.7 to North's no score, and although North managed a measure of improvement after that there was never the remotest hint of danger to Tom Hafey's side.
In a rain marred preliminary final clash with Hawthorn, North just managed to squeeze over the line by 5 points. Only 15 goals in total were scored all match, just 4 of them after half time when conditions became particularly inimical to good, open play.
| The grand final, by contrast,
was played on a perfect afternoon for football, but unfortunately for North the
Richmond machine, one of the best oiled and most efficient in VFL history, was
in irrepressible form. North tried hard, and never allowed the Tigers to
hold full sway, but Richmond won every quarter except the 3rd, and to the
enormous disappointment of perhaps 90% of the crowd of 113,839, pulled away in
the last term to win, it seemed, with something to spare. Final scores
were Richmond 18.20 (128) to North Melbourne 13.14 (92), with wingmen Keith
Greig and Wayne Schimmelbusch, rover Barry Cable, half back flanker John
Rantall, and centreman John Burns best for the vanquished northerners.
Barassi was apoplectic, telling his players that losing the ultimate game of the
year constituted the ultimate failure. The club's post-match function at
the Southern Cross ballroom was permeated with the stigma of defeat, Barassi
having warned his players that he would not tolerate seeing any of them smile.
The feelings of dejection and hurt on which Barassi so calculatedly focused, and which he reinforced at every opportunity, contributed in no small measure to the club's long awaited breakthrough premiership in 1975. As Barassi himself later recalled, "The hunger won it for us" (see footnote 16). Indeed, after an appalling start to the season which saw the side lose its opening 4 games, that hunger no doubt verged on malnutrition. In any event, the form of the team gradually improved, with 11 wins from the last 13 matches of the year finally securing 3rd spot on the ladder going into the finals. A comfortable 20 point qualifying final defeat of Carlton raised confidence, but Hawthorn threw a substantial spanner into the works by downing North by 11 points in a bruising 2nd semi final. The one good thing about this defeat was that it enabled the Kangaroos to achieve revenge over their 1974 nemesis Richmond in the preliminary final, and this they duly did with greater ease than the final margin of 17 points suggested. |
North champion Keith Greig marks strongly during the '75 grand final. (Click to enlarge.) |
And so to grand final day, and the first occasion since the club's VFA era that it had played off for the premiership in two successive seasons. The Hawks, having out pointed North in the 2nd semi final, were not surprisingly the punters' favourites, but just as in 1974 the Kangaroos enjoyed enormous sentimental favouritism and this, coupled no doubt with the memories of Barassi's stinging rhetoric of twelve months earlier, enabled them to sprint out of the blocks and have a couple of goals on the board through John Burns before their opponents had properly settled. Hawthorn fought back strenuously, but North was never headed, and finally won by a surprisingly emphatic 55 points after extending its lead (12, 20 and 29 points) at every change. John Rantall, who had kept Hawk champion Leigh Matthews quiet all afternoon, was one of many key contributors to North's win, along with fellow half back flanker Brent Crosswell, full back David Dench, wingman Keith Greig, and the roving pair of John Burns and Barry Cable. At that night's post grand final function, club president Allen Aylett, after opening his address with the wry observation that "Tonight is a little different to last year", went on to describe the team's achievement as "almost a fairytale". Moreover, he went on:
"We don't just owe our success to the footballers but some of the richest men in Melbourne, to pensioners in little back rooms or little garages in Kensington. They are the people who have supported the cause." (See footnote 17)
Success at last - and how sweet! North players, some of whom are wearing the jumpers of their vanquished Hawthorn opponents, embark on a lap of honour with the 1975 VFL premiership cup.
North Melbourne claimed some further silverware a fortnight later when the side was successful at the last ever staging of the Australian club championships in Adelaide. After easing to a 39 point win over WANFL premiers West Perth in a semi final played on Saturday 11 October, the Kangaroos outclassed home favourites Norwood, 17.15 (117) to 5.11 (41) two days later to take out the championship in style. North's South Australian utility Malcolm Blight won the Winfield Medal as player of the series.
Hawthorn achieved conclusive revenge over North Melbourne in 1976 by emerging victorious from all five meetings between the teams. In addition to the two minor round contests, the sides met one another in the final of the short-lived NFL national championship series, which involved leading clubs from Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, and there were also two confrontations during the finals. The Hawks won the qualifying final with ease after a closely fought 1st half, and then on grand final day, motivated by thoughts of team mate and cancer victim Peter Crimmins lying on his death bed at home listening to the match on the radio, they pulled away from North in the final term to win a rugged encounter by 30 points, 13.22 (100) to 10.10 (70).
Four months after the grand final defeat, at 5.15pm on 24 January 1977, the North Melbourne players assembled at Arden Street to commence training for the new season. Gathering the players in a circle around him, Ron Barassi reminded them that they were no longer the best team in the competition. Then, in a much louder, more intense voice, he spat out the words "Hawthorn thrashed us last year!" His distaste was almost palpable. It was clear he felt insulted, demeaned, and wanted the players to share those feelings. "This is the year we become number one again!" he insisted, eying each of the players individually for any sign of wavering or dissent. Seemingly satisfied with their response, he moved on to more mundane subject matter, but in those few moments the tone for the entire year ahead had been set (see footnote 18).
In direct contrast to the club's previous premiership year of 1975, North began the campaign that would eventually secure its 2nd League pennant in fine style, winning its first 5 contests of the season, including a memorable 10 goal thrashing of Hawthorn in the opening round. Newcomers to the side this season included former Melbourne veteran Stan Alves, who had transferred to North in the hope of playing in a premiership side, John Cassin, who had begun his league career with Essendon and had spent the 1975 and 1976 seasons with West Torrens, and Stephen McCann, a Western Australian from Geraldton who had yet to play senior league football. All three would feature in North's eventual grand final winning side, although one player who would not was the club's champion wingman and dual Brownlow Medallist, Keith Greig who, after sustaining serious cruciate ligament damage in the round 6 loss to Richmond at the MCG, went on to miss the remainder of the season.
Although the team lacked consistency after its impressive opening burst of victories it nevertheless qualified for the finals with some comfort, managing 15 wins from 22 home and away games to occupy 3rd spot on the ladder. Little did the players know it, but they were about to embark on the longest, most arduous journey to a premiership in VFL history. That journey began with a worryingly impotent qualifying final performance against arch rivals Hawthorn which resulted in a resounding 38 point loss. Barassi was furious, expressing his indignation both privately and publicly. Some of his public remarks about his players perhaps transcended the boundaries of tact and common courtesy to which football coaches habitually adhered; however, in hindsight they can clearly be seen to have had the desired effect.
Week two of the finals saw North Melbourne facing Richmond in the cut-through semi final at VFL Park, and right from the start the Kangaroos were a transformed side, comfortably winning every quarter en route to a 16.14 (110) to 9.9 (63) triumph. Barassi's satisfaction at the performance was reinforced when he learned that the Kangas' next finals opponents would be Hawthorn, which had lost to Collingwood in the 2nd semi final. "If we don't beat this mob on Saturday, with the incentive we've got now" he informed his players, "then I seriously doubt that we'll beat them for years to come - until both sides have changed substantially". (See footnote 19)
North Melbourne's performance in annihilating Hawthorn in the 1977 preliminary final was perhaps its finest of the Barassi era with the players observing their coach's pre-match instructions to a tee. "I want you to go out there with every manly fibre you possess......and play the game of your life......the game of your life!" he had demanded, before going on to define what he meant by 'the game of your life' as:
".....the physical game......the physical game of running in.......because that'll bring with it the tackling, the pressure, the handball, the backing up, and the talking......all the things we've practised and are supposed to be the best at in the VFL competition!" (See footnote 20)
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The Kangaroos' victorious 'class of '77'. (Click to enlarge.) |
Hawthorn struggled gamely to
stay in touch during a fiercely contested 1st half, but after the long break the
Kangaroos were rampant, kicking 9.9 to 1.4 to win by the scarcely credible
margin of 63 points. North had many fine contributors to the win, but
veteran rover Barry Cable, making one of his last ever appearances in a North
jumper, had close to 40 possessions in what some observers claimed was, quite
literally, 'the game of his life'.
Prior to the 1977 grand final, North Melbourne and Collingwood had only met once previously in a VFL finals game. That was in the 1958 preliminary final when a combination of solid, tenacious defending by the Magpies and atrocious kicking for goal, especially early on, by North saw eventual premier Collingwood emerge victorious by 20 points, 14.12 (96) to 10.16 (76). The teams' two meetings in the 1977 minor round had resulted in a win to North by 9 points in round 2, and a more emphatic 39 point win to Collingwood in round 15. The Magpies who, under proven premiership coach Tom Hafey had risen from wooden spooners in 1976 to flag contenders a year later, were in the virtually unprecedented position of attracting a measure of sentimental support, but a majority of the 108,244 spectators who packed into the MCG on the afternoon of Saturday 24 September 1977 almost certainly wished for a North Melbourne victory. |
At three quarter time, such an eventuality seemed unlikely. The Kangaroos had started well enough, and at the 1st change had led by 17 points, but since then it had been all Collingwood, with the Magpies adding 8.7 to a curiously hesitant and wayward North's 9 straight behinds. As Collingwood fans celebrated what they thought was the end of a nineteen year premiership drought, Ron Barassi gave one of the most important three quarter time addresses of his career. Insisting that the game was far from over, he also made some potentially risky, but in the upshot gloriously successful, positional changes, moving key defenders Darryl Sutton and David Dench to the forward lines. Within moments of the resumption, Sutton had a goal on the board for North, and a couple more quickly followed from Baker and Dench. Suddenly, the Kangaroos were doing everything right. A succession of minor scores followed before full forward Phil Baker, at the fourteen minute mark of the final term, kicked the goal that brought the 'Roos back on terms, with the momentum seemingly all theirs.
Collingwood, however, dug deep, and shortly afterwards claimed a behind to recapture the lead. Two behinds to North followed before Phil Baker, after marking, booted his 6th major of the day to send the blue and white contingent in the crowd into raptures: a 7 point advantage to North, with six, maybe seven, minutes to play. The Magpies attacked repeatedly, with Peter Moore finally procuring a point that brought the margin back to a single straight kick. Then, with less than a minute remaining, Bill Picken sent a high, speculative kick towards the Collingwood goal square and the long-limbed, wiry form of the appropriately nicknamed 'Twiggy' Dunne somehow managed to get both hands to the ball to initiate probably the most momentous thirty second period of his life, which culminated in his splitting the centre with a low trajectory flat punt that put the two teams back on even terms. Moments later, the siren went, and players from both sides collapsed to their ground in numb weariness mingled with, perhaps, a modicum of relief. Both sides had failed to win, but at the same time neither side had lost; in a sense, it was almost as though the previous 120 minutes of sweat, toil, desperation, skill, fervour and passion had never even occurred and, for the first time since 1948, and indeed only the second time in VFL history, the grand final would need to be replayed.
Whereas the first game had been tight, tough and tense, all of which probably favoured Collingwood, the replay saw fast, open, skilful football - North Melbourne's forté - very much to the fore. With the 'three Bs' - Briedis, Blight and Byrne - in stupendous form, the Kangaroos were headed only briefly in procuring an impressive 27 point victory, which but for some wayward kicking for goal would have been much heftier. There were brief occasions when Collingwood threatened to get back into the game, only for North to steady, and pull away once more.
"As you think back on this day, which has been one of the great spectacles in Australian sport" declared Barassi to his players in his intensely emotional post-match summation, "I hope you'll agree that all that hard work......and all that shit put upon you by the coach......was worth it......" (See footnote 21) There is little doubt that the players, to a man, would have agreed that it was, but unfortunately for the club's supporters the memories generated by this remarkable achievement would have to last them for a long, long time.
Not that North Melbourne's days as a league force were entirely over. In Ron Barassi's final three years as coach the club finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th, suggesting a gradual, but by no means calamitous, decline. The 1980s, however, were fraught with inconsistency, as the side contested the finals one year, only to endure rank mediocrity, or worse, the next. Nevertheless, the club continued to provide a home to many of the finest players in the land, including triple fairest and best winner Matthew Larkin, South Australian rover Kym Hodgeman and, perhaps most notably of all, a tremendous Western Australian trio comprising the electrifying Krakouer brothers, Phil and Jim, and 'the Rolls Royce of Sherman tanks', 1983 Brownlow Medallist Ross Glendinning.
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Brett Allison - click to enlarge. |
It took the arrival as coach of former
journeyman back pocket player Denis Pagan, who had played 121 games for the
'Roos between 1967 and 1974, to turn things around for the club. Pagan took over from
Wayne Schimmelbusch early in 1993 and his impact was immediate, as he steered
the side which had been placed 12th the previous season to a 3rd place finish at
the end of the '93 home and away rounds. A 51 point elimination final
thumping at the hands of West Coast quickly
ended the 'Roos' season, and proved that there was still considerable work to be
done, but the club was clearly moving in the right direction, as was emphasised
when it qualified for the preliminary final in each of the next two seasons.
By 1996, the Pagan brew was coming nicely to the boil. In an era when football was changing rapidly and dramatically, both on and off the field, Pagan's Kangaroos achieved success by means of what might be called quintessential old fashioned methods, reminiscent of the football played in the VFL of yore. As Bernie Sheehy, evaluating Pagan's approach in the grand final issue of 'Football Record' put it: |
"His (Pagan's) principles and preaching have been strong and constant - frightening strength at the contest, the ball and the opposition; a minimum of fuss, flair and possessions; long kicks towards powerful marking players. Pagan's consistent message, his astute match-ups, his shrewd manipulation of his own resources and North's two genuine superstars - Carey and McKernan - assured North of a strong season." (See footnote 22)
| The strict, unswerving adherence of his players to these principles enabled North to qualify for the finals in 2nd spot before surging into the grand final with crushing wins over Geelong (50 points) and Brisbane (38 points). Grand final opponents Sydney had topped the ladder after the home and away series, but had not been nearly so impressive during September, and most observers expected Pagan's Kangas to triumph. This they duly did, easing home by 43 points after a torrid, frenzied but never needlessly belligerent first half, which saw the Swans leading at one stage by 4 goals. In addition to the "two genuine superstars" referred to above, North was best served by Norm Smith Medallist Glenn Archer in a back pocket, on ballers Anthony Stevens and Anthony rock, and half back flanker Wayne Schwass. Final scores were North Melbourne 19.17 (131) to Sydney 13.10 (88), leaving the Kangaroos Australia's undisputed champion team for the first occasion since 1975, and premiers of the V/AFL for only the third time. However, off the field, matters were not proceeding so swimmingly. |
Messrs Pagan (left) and Carey celebrate North's 1996 flag, having just received the premiership cup from former Richmond legend Jack Dyer. (Click to enlarge.) |
Put simply, the problem was that, by the 1990s, Australian football at the top level had become a major business, with success measured predominantly in economic terms. While the winning of premierships was almost certainly 'good for business' it could not, on its own, produce solvency, let alone ensure the vibrant economic health necessary if a club was not merely to survive, but endure long term. With perhaps the smallest dedicated band of supporters in the league - a league which, to put it bluntly, was no longer merely a suburban Melbourne (and Geelong) concern - it was becoming increasingly doubtful whether North, with a set-up fostered by and quintessentially orientated towards suburban footy, had the resources or structure to survive, at least as a single, autonomous organisation.
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As far as the actual football was concerned, however, the club continued to thrive. After reaching a fourth consecutive preliminary final in 1997, the 'Roos qualified for the 1998 grand final against Adelaide after clinching only the second V/AFL minor premiership in their history. Widely favoured to win, North had enough scoring opportunities in the 1st half to be at least 10 goals ahead at the long break, instead of which, with 6.15 to the Crows' 4.3, the margin was a mere 24 points - virtually nothing in the context of the modern game, as Adelaide all too quickly demonstrated by adding 11.12 to 2.7 in a rampant 2nd half performance to win with an ease that not even its most ardent supporters would have imagined possible. From North Melbourne's perspective, however, the 1998 grand final remains, classically and irretrievably, 'the one that got away'. With awareness of the need to bolster its financial position at the forefront of the club hierarchy's minds, North Melbourne in 1999 altered its name to 'The Kangaroos', reasoning that by adopting the unofficial emblem of Australia as its own, the club could somehow transcend its suburban roots and become 'Australia's team'. It is probably too early to judge whether this venture has been successful, although early attempts to market the club in Sydney as a kind of alternative to the Swans were hardly encouraging. However, the Kangaroos are now playing regular home fixtures in Canberra, where it seems a local fan base is developing. |
"The indefatigable Mick Martyn...." |
The club's heart and soul remain in Melbourne, however, and nothing short of a full scale relocation - which may yet be forced on the club, with Queensland's Gold Coast now looking the most likely destination - is ever going to change that.
In 1999, the side enjoyed another memorable season on the field by winning 17 out of 22 home and away matches to finish 2nd on the ladder behind Essendon, before qualifying for its 10th V/AFL grand final with solid finals wins over Port Adelaide (44 points) and Brisbane (45 points). Most observers considered that Essendon and North were by some measure the competition's two outstanding teams in 1999, and so with the Bombers' dismissal from contention by Carlton in the preliminary final the Kangaroos were left with the much simpler, on paper, task of overcoming the Blues to take out their fourth league premiership, and their tentth in total.
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Current club coach Dean Laidley, pictured during his playing days. |
For once, the grand final
panned out more or less precisely as the pundits expected: Carlton was valiant
but ultimately under-resourced, while the Kangaroos simply got stronger and
stronger the longer the match progressed. At quarter time it was North by
12 points, a margin it extended to 20 points at the long break, and 43 points by
the final change. Final scores were Kangaroos 19.10 (124) to Carlton 12.17
(89), with the victors, understandably, easing off somewhat during the final
term. Overall, however, the Blues had no answer to the likes of Norm
Smith Medallist Shannon Grant (19 possessions and 4 goals from a wing),
centreman Peter Bell (a staggering 31 touches), the indefatigable Mick Martyn
and electrifying Byron Pickett on the last line of defence, and the formidably
imposing figure of centre half back Glenn Archer.
Maintaining supremacy is harder than ever in today's AFL which utilises a draft system, modelled on American sports, aimed at helping to ensure that the weaker clubs get priority access to the best up and coming young players. In this context, the Kangaroos' period of comparative mediocrity since 1999 should be regarded as neither surprising nor alarming. After frustratingly inconsistent 2003 and 2004 seasons in which the team repeatedly conspired to play like premiership contenders one week, and potential wooden spooners the next, ambitious and highly competitive former player Dean Laidley had his charges mount what looked at times like a realistic premiership challenge in 2005. However, when the pressure was intensified during the elimination final clash with Port Adelaide, the 'Roos found themselves unable to cope, and went under by the embarrassing margin of 87 points. The 2006 season saw further shortcomings emerge as the side underwent a somewhat unexpected decline into mediocrity, with 7 wins from 22 home and away matches consigning it to 14th place on the ladder, its worst finish since 1984. However, today's AFL is a competition of unrelenting flux and capriciousness, with teams' performances often improving or declining markedly in the space of just a single season. Given that the 'Roos, at their best, were still capable of challenging the top sides in 2006, few people would have been surprised to witness their surge up the ladder in 2007. Fourth after the home and aways, they ultimately got to within one game of their first grand final appearance since 1999. Finals qualification was again comfortably achieved in 2008, but the side's premiership aspirations were immediately derailed by Sydney to the tune of 35 points. |
Where now?
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15. North also tried to sign St Kilda ruckman Carl Ditterich, but negotiations fell through and he eventually went to Melbourne. Return to Main Text
16. The Flag: North Melbourne Football Club 1975-1995 20th Anniversary Souvenir, page 7. Return to Main Text
17. Ibid., page 9. Return to Main Text
18. For a more detailed description of the initial training session of the 1977 season, see The Coach by John Powers, pages 4-8. Return to Main Text
19. Ibid., page 119. Return to Main Text
20. Ibid., page 127. Return to Main Text
21. Ibid., pages 157-8. Return to Main Text
22. 'Football Record', 28/9/96, page 38. Return to Main Text
