My dad Bill worked as a handyman. He was pretty good at his work. He built our first home. The family made the move to Warrnambool when they purchased the general store at Dennington.

Ron, you've been retired less than a month after more than five decades working in newspapers. Many people have described you as the doyen of sport journalists in Australia. How did you get involved in journalism?

I was in fifth form at Warrnambool High School when the English master told me I had a knack for the subject. He suggested I go to the Warrnambool Standard to see if I could get a job.

I got a job at The Standard as an assistant proof reader and copy holder. Keith Hillier was working at The Standard at the time and when he left the paper I got offered a cadetship in journalism.

What are your memories of working on The Standard back in that era?

We're talking about 1961. It was really exciting. Warrnambool has changed a lot since back in the early 1960s. I think there were about 8500 living in Warrnambool at that time.

A woman called Eileen Horne was the social editor and Ron Johnson was the only photographer.

Bruce Morris filled the role as editor and Don Burnett reported on sport.

I think we only had eight reporters. We had really old typewriters and used scraps of copy-paper to take notes. The newspaper used to be printed in the basement under the old building in Koroit Street.

I can remember covering court, local council and sport.

I'll never forget I used to report on the Warrnambool, Koroit and Port Fairy shows and then the Melbourne to Warrnambool bike race. I never knew much about cycling back in that era until I covered the Melbourne to Warrnambool.

The experience was great as I went to report on six Tour de France cycling events for the Hearld Sun.  The strangest thing happened to me when I was doing sport for The Standard occurred in 1966.

Ron, can you tell me about the strange occurrence?

I was playing footy for Dennington. I had to go along to the best and fairest count in the Warrnambool and District Football League as a reporter.

It became obvious in the last few rounds that I was going to win the Esam Medal for the best player in the league in 1966.

I ended up winning the medal count by four votes with 26 votes. I had to go back to work and write a story about how I had won the medal - I must say it was a bit awkward writing that story.

Dennington won the senior flag in 1966 and you played in that grand final victory. What are your memories of that game?

We played Old Collegians. It was a close game all day until the last quarter. We came away to win the game under coach Bill Abbott. The legendary Don Grossman coached us in the three years prior to Abbott taking over in 1966.

We were kids when Grossman coached us. I played my first senior game with Dennington when I was 16. The club had to get permission from my mum for me to play. I went straight from playing school footy to senior football.  

The other funny thing about the 1966 grand final win was Des Munday was the umpire. Des was a great umpire but he also worked at The Standard.

We were always joking about the footy at work but when it came game day there were no jokes. Dennington had a reunion for its 1966 premiership a couple of weeks ago. It was great to catch up with the players that I had not seen for years.

Ron, did you have a crack at playing in the Hampden Football League?

Yes. I went and played for Warrnambool in 1967. Len Mann was coaching the Blues at that time. I can still remember my first game for Warrnambool.

It was against Colac and the former Essendon player Ken Timms was captain-coach at the time.

Ron, while you were in Warrnambool did you play any other sport?

I played cricket with Dennington in A grade for five years. I think I got hauls of nine wickets for 30 runs in one game and eight wickets for 18 in another game. I played in a premiership side there.

I reckon when I got the nine wickets in my third game. I never had any spikes, I only had runners.

Stan Wilson was a great fast bowler for Dennington and he said after I got the first four wickets I could keep his spikes if I got five wickets. I kept Stan's spikes and ended up getting another four wickets. The eight-wicket game was against Allansford.

Who do you barrack for in the footy?

Funny story. I started off barracking for Melbourne because I'm related to the late great Percy Beames but when I went  to Melbourne I moved into a flat in Toorak with the Carlton legend  Peter "Percy" Jones.

I found I was knocking around with a lot of Carlton players, so I switched my support to the Blues back in the 1970s.

Have you got any regrets about your career in newspapers?

No. I suppose if someone came up to me when I started at The Standard as a 17-year-old as a proof reader that I would end up covering nearly every major sporting event on the world calendar, including nine Olympic Games, I would have jumped at the chance. I've got no regrets.

I've witnessed some amazing sporting achievements over the years by individuals and  teams and I was lucky to get my start at The Standard.