ANDREW, can you give me some background regarding your education which saw you go from Mortlake Primary School to Melbourne Grammar?
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Yeah. I spend my first couple of years at Mortlake Primary School before going to Melbourne Grammar. We lived on a property called Cairnlea which was just out of Mortlake on the Woorndoo Road. My dad died when I was just seven-years-old. I ended up being a boarder at Melbourne Grammar.
I only came home on school holidays. I studied subjects like Latin, history and art but l played a lot of sport at Melbourne Grammar against other public schools like Xavier, Scotch College, Geelong College and St Kevin's. I used to love playing footy, cricket and rowing.
When I went to Melbourne Grammar another student was Peter Smith. His dad Norm was the great Melbourne coach. We went over to the MCG on a few occasions for training runs with the Demons. It was just a wonderful experience training on the MCG.
I note your sporting highlight with interest. Who are the four premiership sides that you played for in your career?
I went over to Western Australia and played for a small club called Mungalup for two years and we won the flag in 1971. I played in a premiership side with Hexham in 1981 and two flag wins with Mortlake reserves.
What can you tell me about playing footy for Mungalup?
I was over there working on a farm and ended up playing footy. I did a lot of shearing on the farm. The footy was pretty tough because we played on gravel grounds. Players would come off the ground with their knees red and bruised from the gravel on the ground. I went over to Tasmania for a few years after being in Western Australia.
Andrew, what are your memories of the premiership with Hexham?
We beat Panmure to win the flag in 1981. The grand final was played at Noorat. The late Bruce Stafford, who played at Mortlake, was the coach at Hexham when we won the flag. We've got a reunion for that premiership win on October 29 this year at the Mortlake races.
There will be lots of old Hexham footy stuff on display at the function. I believe they have already sold 100 tickets to the function. We're encouraging old Hexham players and any Panmure players or officials who were involved in that grand final to turn up.
Sadly, four Hexham players from that grand final win have passed away. I retired following the 1981 Hexham premiership win but I had also retired at the end of the 1979 season after I had been captain-coach of Hexham for two seasons.
I came out of retirement for the 1981 season after Bruce Stafford, Doug Rogerson and David Wynd came to see me.
I was glad I came back for the 1981 season as it's the only flag Hexham won in its history. The club folded in 1984.
Why did Hexham Football Club fold back in 1984?
Hexham just could not get enough players. There used to be big farms all around that area back in that era. Families with plenty of kids were the norm back then. There was also farm workers that had big families so there were always blokes and their children wanting to play footy.
Hexham was just like so many other footy clubs, they just ran out of players and support.
Did you play any junior footy in Mortlake?
I only played the occasional junior game with Mortlake when I came home from boarding school on the school holidays at the end of the term.
I think my footy career developed more at Melbourne Grammar because the inter-school footy was of a very high standard. There was some very good players who played in that competition over the years. I went to boarding school as a nine-year-old and drove out the gates as an 18-year-old.
When you went to Melbourne Grammar were your ambitions to be a doctor, teacher or scientist?
No. I always thought I would come back and work on the farm.
I've worked on various farms around the district and interstate after the family farm got sold. I just love working outdoors with animals.
I've been working at Cobra-Killuc which is a property outside Hexham for Jim Cochran for years. The property is more than 4500 acres and has beef, sheep and cropping.
I had a stint working for the late Con Gavin at Killarney in the mid-1980s for four years. Con was well known as a bookie but he also ran a big potato business.
We would pick the spuds in the paddocks around Killarney and Con would have the radio going in the car listening to the races as we were picking the spuds.
The spud pickers including me would be listening to the races and Con would hold our bets while we were digging and picking up spuds. They were long tough days picking the spuds but we had lots of fun trying to back winners.
Andrew, you mentioned that you played in two reserve premiership sides with Mortlake. What are your memories playing for the Cats?
I played over 100 senior games with Mortlake and a fair few in the reserves. My reserve premiership wins were in 1968 and 1969. Mortlake had very good sides back in that era.
They had some great coaches over the years including former VFL-AFL players in Mick Mulligan, Peter Lyon and John Goold. I never ever thought the Mortlake Football Netball Club would fold.
There were always plenty of players and supporters but sadly that all changed. The reason Mortlake folded is the same as what happened with Hexham they just ran out of players and supporters.
It's really sad that small country towns lose their football and netball clubs, the clubs are the live blood of local communities.