Simon, it's be reported that being educated at Scotch College costs a lot of money. Would it be fair to say that your parents must have been wealthy to have you do your primary and secondary schooling at Scotch College?
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My grandfather put up the money for my brother Ross and I to be educated at the school. Many people think you have to be rich and famous to have gone to Scotch College. I can inform you we don't fit that mould on either account.
What was it like attending Old Scotch?
We used to live in Hawthorn and we would walk down the road to school. I thought it was a good school, I really enjoyed it.
There were a few lads who attended the school who thought they were pretty good, but the majority of people were just down to earth blokes who wanted to have a good time and learn as much as they could.
I was fortunate to have played First 18 football and played in the First 11 cricket side.
Can you remember what the sporting facilities were like at Scotch College?
They were excellent facilities. We used to play other schools including Xavier, Melbourne Grammar and Wesley.
When I left school at the age of 18 years old I retired from cricket and that's a big regret that I've had all my life. I just wanted to go and play footy with my mates.
I would have to say I was possibly a better cricketer then a footballer. I made a return to the cricket field when I was 36 years old for Highton in division cricket in Geelong. I played two years of cricket with Highton before I went and played cricket for Port Campbell. I won the batting and bowling average for the club in one year. The club folded in 2011, which was a real shame.
Did you have a game of footy with Port Campbell?
Yes. I was more interested in having a surf and going to the beer at the pub in Port Campbell, but one night at the pub they said they were short of players for the next game. I put my hand up to play and I played for Port Campbell for two years - the last two years that the club was in existence. They folded in 1990.
It's hard to believe it's 30 years since the club last played. I really loved my time playing footy with the boys at Port Campbell. I had plenty a fair bit of amateur footy in Melbourne and it was very professional. It was just at the other end of the spectrum playing footy with cray fisherman and farmers, compared to the blokes that played in the amateurs. I loved kicking a goal and just hearing the car horns tooting after you kicked one was great.
Win, lose or draw, we would just head back down to the pub and sink a few beers after the game. I'll never forget we had blokes like Mark Anderson, Mark Tribe and Pappy Hunt playing at Port Campbell in those last few years.
The game of footy at Port Campbell was a lot slower than playing amateurs, but it was a tougher and there was a bit of thuggery.
The funny thing it was more enjoyable playing with Port Campbell.
You've mentioned you were an assistant coach to Wayne Harmes at Old Scotch. Harmes was a three-time premiership player at Carlton, famously involved with knocking the ball back in from the boundary against Collingwood in 1979. What was Harmes like as a person?
Wayne's a champion bloke. He's only 176cm high - 5 feet, 9 inches in the old measurement - which is not very tall for a VFL-AFL player.
The history books show he had the ability to play tall despite him being so small. He was a very good player at the highest level, having played in three premiership sides with the Blues, and had a great knowledge for footy as shown by his coaching career.
It's been well documented that you're a councillor on the Corangamite Shire. When did you join the council?
It was back in 2016. I've got a beef farm just out of Port Campbell. The main reason why I put my hand up for the councillor job was I just thought I might be able to make a bit of a difference.
I'm really enjoying the role, but there's a lot to be done as we all know roads are one of the priorities across the western district.
Corangamite Shire has cleared its debt and we're in a very healthy position going forward in very tough times. The shire like so many other places has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tourism is massive for the Corangamite Shire and sadly it's been hit very hard by the coronavirus. Hundreds of thousands of international tourists head into Corangamite each year and now we don't have them.
Lots of the local businesses are doing it tough. I can speak from experience as I've got Wagyu beef cattle and the demand for the meat has dropped significantly. I've got my fingers crossed we can come out the back of the virus pretty quickly, but it's all wait and see at this moment of time.
I also do public speaking. I've spoken to many corporate businesses about my previous life as an anti-corruption detective. The talks relate to ethics and leadership. My first posting in the police force was as a constable at Russell Street, Melbourne in 1987. I left the force in 2004 because I wanted to smell the roses - not any more gun powder.
