Wayne Carey: The Greatest Player Ever

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Australian Football celebrates its 140th anniversary in New South Wales this year after the founding of the NSW Football Association in Sydney on 30 June 1880.

To commemorate, 140 coaches, players, umpires, administrators and media personalities from both the Elite (VFL/AFL) and Community level will be inducted into the inaugural New South Wales Australian Football Hall of Fame.

Neil Cordy interviews his former NSW State-of-Origin team-mate Wayne Carey:

 

       A Young Wayne Carey

In the week NSW Australian Football turned 140 its greatest player, Wayne Carey, has revealed he grew up barracking for the Parramatta Eels and South Melbourne.

Its salt in the wounds for Swans fans who lost Carey and John Longmire to North Melbourne for $70,000 in 1988.

But the news should be taken with a grain of the same stuff when the prospect of losing the Kangaroos champion to Rugby League was a real one.

Carey was an Eels fan but his move to his auntie’s house in North Wagga brought footy into the mix. Auntie Pam and Uncle Bob Causley lived on William Street just 50 metres from McPherson Oval.

“They were my happiest childhood memories there at McPherson Oval,” Carey said. “They were really good times for me. I started playing at 8am in the under 10s. The fog would set in sometimes and you couldn’t see the other end of the ground. I would be there all day. I’d run the boundary in the reserves and sometimes, the seniors. I got a pie and a can of coke for doing it”.

“My footy boots were hand me downs from a cousin. The first proper footy I got, a Sherrin, was one I won at a Carnival when I was 10. I treated it like a baby, I polished it and never kicked it on the road. I didn’t trust my brother (Sam) to mark it. If Sam was kicking with me it had to be on the grass.”

Forty years later the game is celebrating their good fortune and Carey’s contribution by including his name alongside triple Brownlow medallist Hayden Bunton’s on the Carey-Bunton medal.

It will recognise the best player from NSW annually through the AFL Coaches Association voting.

The Coaches Association award started in 2004, and previous NSW winners including Brett Kirk, Lenny Hayes, Taylor Walker, Kieran Jack, and Zac Williams will be awarded the medal retrospectively. A team of the year will also be named with Carey one of the selectors along with Mark McClure, Gerard Healy, Mike Sheahan and Richard Colless (conveynor).

It’s a fitting tribute to Carey’s impact on footy north of the Murray and south as well. In 2008 he was named as the greatest player ever in a book titled ‘The Australian Game of Football’. The book, published by the AFL, included a list of the top 50 players of all time.

Remarkably Carey’s inspiration didn’t come from any of the champions listed. His was a home-grown product of Wagga, Laurie Pendrick (pictured below)

“Laurie was my first football hero,” Carey said. “He was a very good player and a standout in Wagga. He played in the centre but could go forward and kick goals. He was tough and hard and opposition fans hated him and North Wagga fans loved him”.

“He was the captain coach and had a really deep voice. The rooms were pretty small back then so they didn’t let many in. I tried to get in as often as I could and I loved the smell of the deep heat and the rah rah. If I wasn’t in the room I had my head sticking through the door. You could usually hear him outside the rooms because his voice was so loud.”

   Wayne Carey in his playing days with North Melbourne

North Wagga wasn’t the most exclusive area of the town and money was scarce. When Carey was named in the NSW primary school team the footy club raised the finance which allowed him to make the trip.

“North Wagga had raffles and raised funds for me to go to Darwin,” Carey said.

“The trip to Darwin was big and my first meeting with John Longmire”.

Carey cut his foot swimming near an oyster bed but did enough to impress then Swans recruiter Greg Miller. A decade later when Miller was working for North Melbourne came calling on the young pair of New South Welshmen.

Carey says at that stage he was the junior partner in the deal which would help secure the Kangaroos amazing run of success through the 1990s.

“Greg Miller remembered me from the carnival in Darwin and threw me in with the deal with John when we went to North,” Carey said. “They paid $70,000 for us and Horse was $60,000 of that and I was $10,000. John was a very accomplished player at a young age, he had every VFL club after him.”

It is the deal which broke Sydney fans hearts and still lingers in their collective memory, especially those who watched North Melbourne beat the Swans in the 1996 grand final.

The pill is made even more bitter by the fact Carey grew up following the red and white.

“I barracked for the Swans,” Carey said. “The Sydney blokes would come down and do clinics. That’s where I met Stevie Wright. He was my first VFL/AFL hero, he pulled me aside at a clinic and had a kick with me and I loved him from that time on.

“The reason why I wore the number 26 in the 1990 state game against Victoria was because of Stevie Wright.”

Wright coached Clarence (Tasmania FL) to back to back flags in 1993 and 1994 and is still involved in football. He is currently coaching Meeniyan-Dumbalk in the Alberton League in South Gippsland, Victoria.

“Wayne told me the story about the footy clinic but I hadn’t heard about him wearing the number 26 for NSW,” Wright said. “It’s obviously nice to hear that Wayne remembered me, it just goes to show what a difference it makes when you show interest in kids wherever they are.” (Ed. Steve Wright was vice-captain of the 1990 Origin team and wore #12 in that game).

The kid Steve took some time with is now the ‘King’ or ‘Duck’ depending on who you talk with.

He’s looking forward to presenting the first Carey-Bunton Medal later this year.

“I’ve always felt strong about where I come from,” Carey said. “I was born and bred in Wagga and I’m proud of that.”

Neil Cordy played 235 VFL/AFL games with Footscray and the Sydney Swans. After his AFL career Neil coached and played for East Sydney. He worked for Network Ten for 15 years as a reporter/presenter and on their AFL coverage. He was the AFL Editor for the Daily Telegraph from 2011 to 2018 and is currently a member of ABC Grandstand’s AFL broadcast team.

 

Happy 140th Anniversary – NSW Australian Football

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    First match of football played under Victorian Rules
         in Sydney 1877 between Waratahs and Carlton

“That the gentlemen present, or those who desire to do so, form themselves into an association to be called the New South Wales Football Association, and that they adopt the Victorian Football Association rules.” (Sydney Mail, 1 July 1880).

At a meeting at Henry Hook’s Freemason’s Hotel in York St, Sydney on 30 June 1880 the NSW Football Association was formed to play under “Victorian Rules”.

It is estimated that over 100 persons attended the meeting to form the Association.  It was claimed in the press that the attendance was the largest gathering of football players ever assembled in NSW.

The election of office bearers was put over to the following Wednesday when another well attended meeting also at the Freemason Hotel. It saw a motion by C W Beal that Phillip Sheridan, a trustee of the Association Cricket Ground be elected to the position of president.

Sheridan was one of the first trustees of the Sydney Cricket Ground, then known as the Association Ground, who was appointed to that position in 1875, and served in that and a similar position capacity until his death in 1910.

Other office bearers of the NSW FA including the Charles W Beal, a vice president of the SRFU and player with the Waratah Club, as secretary. Another Waratah player, William C Hinwood was named  the treasurer. The

                       Freemasons Hotel, Sydney 1880
                Image with thanks to the City of Sydney Archives

committee was made up of Messrs. *George F Bowen, *Harry Williams, William Fordham, *J W Wilkinson, A. McLean, Joseph J Allen, *^Walter C Marshall, George A Crisp, *William Druce, *Robert Thallon (who, a short time later was elected to a rules committee for the rugby union), Mr. Powell, M. Chambers, *Fred Hayman, *^Billy Newing and Frederick Lyon Weiss (* players of the Waratah Rugby Club ^ex-Carlton FC)

The meeting also resolved to set the subscription for members at five shillings. Within days of the formation of the Association, interest in the game began to increase.

A scratch match was organised at the Waratah (rugby) Ground which was at the Randwick end of Moore Park 36 for 10 July but because of the limited size of the playing field, numbers were restricted to 15 aside. At the time Moore Park was a large expanse of parkland and in the winter it was divided into several football grounds.

A week later on 17 July the Waratah Club played an exhibition match of Victorian football against the Burwood (rugby) club. The team that went on to play Waratah that day was made up of ‘Old Victorians’ and a few of the Burwood players (Daily Telegraph, 19 July 1880).

Despite their leaning toward Victorian Rules football, the Waratah Club continued to participate in the SRFU. Significantly, the Waratahs had played the first game of football under Victorian Rules in 1877 when they hosted the Carlton Football Club to matches in football and rugby.

   Bill Newing      image with thanks
        to Blueseum

Then, on 6 August, a meeting was convened by George Bowen to form the Sydney Football Club, playing under Victorian rules at Weber’s Post Office Hotel in York Street.  The club was formed and the colours of dark blue with a red cap and red hose were adopted.

This was followed on Tuesday 10 August, by a meeting at the Cambridge Club Hotel, on the corner of Oxford and Liverpool Streets, to form the East Sydney Football Club. The meeting enrolled a total of 40 members. The team adopted the colours of a blue and white jersey and hose with blue knickerbockers and cap.

Source: Ian Granland’s unpublished work The History of Australian Football in Sydney 1877-1895 (2014 v5)

David Murphy – Nominee for NSW’s Hall of Fame

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Australian Football celebrates its 140th anniversary in New South Wales this year after the founding of the NSW Football Association in Sydney in 1880.
To commemorate, 140 coaches, players, umpires, administrators and media personalities from both the Elite (VFL/AFL) and Community level will be inducted into the inaugural New South Wales Australian Football Hall of Fame.
Neil Cordy profiles the nominees his former team-mate and close friend David Murphy:

Who is the only player to represent Victoria in State of Origin but never lived in the state?

The answer is David Murphy and it’s a trivia question which has produced plenty of quizzical looks and a few free beers over the years.

‘Murph’ played for Victoria six times but is a born and bred New South Welshman.

He grew up in Finley playing all his junior football there before moving to Wagga Wagga and lining up for Turvey Park.

It was a humble beginning to a stellar VFL/AFL career which ultimately saw him claim All Australian honours for NSW and a hallowed place in the Sydney Swans Team of the Century.

One of Murph’s proudest moments when he sat alongside fellow former Finley resident and legendary coach Alan Jeans at the announcement of the 1988 All Australian team. His father Ray played alongside Jeans in Finley’s 1954 premiership when they beat archrival Tocumwal.

“It was the first time I’d met Yabby,” Murphy said. “It was last day of the National Carnival in Adelaide and I was sitting right next to him. When my name was read out he shook my hand and said well done son, your mum and dad would be proud. It was a nice moment, dad had told me a story about the day he was hit behind play and then he heard clunk. He turned around to see Yabby standing over the bloke who hit dad. Dad said to me he felt 10 feet tall.”

Those formative years in the Riverina were no walk in the park for Murph either as he played most of his junior footy against boys much older and bigger. “When I started playing junior footy I was about four years younger than my team mates and opponents,” Murphy said.

“I eventually got to play against my own age group and thought maybe I can play. It was hard but really helped me in the long run. I learned how to stay out of trouble, I learned how to kick the ball and compete against older boys.”

Murphy faced another hurdle early on when he ruptured his ACL just before he turned 18. The injury could easily have cost him his AFL career as it forced him out of football for almost two years.

“I couldn’t have an operation because I was still growing so I had to wait a year,” Murphy said. When I was operated on I was alongside Keith Greig and Roy Ramsay from North Melbourne. It was a long rehab in those days, my leg looked like my arm. I worked in the bank in Wagga so I would go to the gym or the pool after work to build up my leg.”

When he eventually recovered he started playing in the under 19s at Turvey Park. His form was outstanding and the following year was promoted to the seniors. He kicked 76 goals and 78 in consecutive seasons playing as a half forward.

Swans recruiter Greg Miller came to the Riverina to watch Paul Hawke and liked what he saw with Murphy so signed them both for the 1984 season.

If Murphy thought it was tough going playing out of his weight division in the Riverina there was to come in the VFL. Fully grown at 179cm (5’11”) and 75kg he was smaller than virtually every opponent he played on.

But his lightning speed, high marking and long kicking were prized assets in any league and he quickly established himself as one of the stars in a Sydney team which featured some of the greats of the 1980s.

Led by Brownlow Medallists in Greg Williams and Gerard Healy Murphy was part of a super midfield. The group also featured the ball winning of Barry Mitchell, the dash of David Bolton and the flair and hardness of the late Merv Neagle.

Murphy’s ten seasons and 156 games in the red and white played almost entirely on the wing. He, Williams and Healy were all named in the Swans Team of the Century.

He also played alongside Swans Hall of Fame inductee Bernard Toohey. The pair met on their first day of primary school in Finley and went through their entire schooling together including Finley High School.

History Society launches New Awards for NSW Player and Team of the Year in AFL

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                 Swan’s, Isaac Heeney leading after R3

Following on from the resounding success of last year’s selection of the NSW Greatest Team Ever, the NSW AFL History Society has launched two new annual awards to recognise the Best Player in the AFL and the selection of a State of Origin team from players in the AFL.

Society president Ian Granland OAM said, “The inauguration of these awards will add to the rich tapestry of the history of football in NSW, that is this year, celebrating its 140th year”.

“This initiative has been driven by our Patron, Richard Colless AM, who has secured the support of the AFL Coaches Association for the voting structure for the Best Player and the Daily Telegraph to publish the tally board of the votes each Wednesday, starting today”.

“There are currently forty-nine players from NSW on the lists of the clubs in the AFL. The Giants have the greatest number of players with twelve. Hawthorn are next with six, while the Swans have five. There are only three clubs without NSW origin players” Granland added.

The winner of the NSW Player of the Year award will receive the Carey – Bunton Medal that honours the two greatest NSW players of all time.

The votes of the AFL coaches is highly respected and will provide a credible and valid voting system to determine the winner. Each coach votes on a 5,4,3,2,1 basis after each home and away game and the votes are aggregated.

Meanwhile, Colless has confirmed the addition of two of the players selected in the Greatest Team, Wayne Carey and Mark McClure, will join the selection panel. Carey was named as captain of the team.

The cornerstones of last year’s selection panel for the Greatest Team, Mike Sheahan and Gerard Healy have agreed to stay involved. Colless will be the convenor and History Society vice-president Rod Gillett will be the non-voting secretary.

“I’m delighted to have Wayne and Mark join the panel. All of the selectors are currently active in the media and have a very close view of all games in the AFL each round” Colless said.

“To have the very strong support of the AFL Coaches Association for the Player of the Year award is really a reflection of the status that NSW now enjoys in the AFL landscape. I want to thank the CEO Mark Brayshaw and his staff for their commitment to this award.”

“It is a highly respected award for which the votes are aggregated and available weekly” added Colless.

Votes after round 3 are:

Isaac Heeney (SS) 19 (9 votes Syd v NM);
Harry Perryman (GWS) 13 (3 votes GWS v WB);
Isaac Smith (HAW) 8 (8 votes Haw v Rich);
Jarrod Witts (GCS) 8 (8 votes GCS v Ad);
Dane Rampe (SS) 6;
Jacob Townsend (ESS) 4;
Luke Bruest (HAW) 3;
Jacob Hopper (GWS) 2;
Todd Marshall (PA) 2.

The AFLCA award was instituted in 2004 and it is our intention to award the medal retrospectively to all the winners 2004-2019. Some of the previous winners will include Brett Kirk, Lenny Hayes, Taylor Walker, Kieran Jack, and in 2019, Zac Williams.

One Hundred Year Old Minutes On Our Website

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  James Phelan,   Secretary NSW   FL, 1915-1925

Australian Football has been played in New South Wales for over 140 years and we have been left little from those who came before us in terms of the history of the game.

The material that we, at the Football History Society have in our collection has been acquired, for the most part, by our desire to secure significant items that relate to our game in this state.  Some have been donated and we really appreciate that gesture.

Australian Football started in Sydney in 1880 however by 1895 had collapsed.  It was revived eight years later and took off with real fervency and zeal, the NSWAFL even purchased their own ground in 1911!

Then came World War I. Money was owed on the ground, times were getting tough and all the league committee resigned; it well looked like the game was set to fall over again.

However, in stepped Jim Phelan who had formed the Newtown Club in 1903 and had been its secretary and treasurer in those intervening years.  He was appointed honorary League Secretary (General Manager) in 1915.An image of where the Australian Football Ground was located

Jim surrounded himself with self-starters and the game was continued during those dark days of the conflict, even when the number of clubs fell to four.  Yes there was a motion to suspend football following in the steps of the strong NSW Rugby Union competition, but we feel Australian Football continued mainly because the NSW Rugby League did so and so they soldiered on.

One reason for the game’s ability to continue was the number of interstate servicemen passing through Sydney at the time, many of whom played for the struggling clubs.

The war finished in late 1918 and the following year the number of clubs again fell from five to four.

On item the Society are very pleased to have are copies of League Meeting Minutes (amongst others) from 1919-20.  They have been re-typed and can be read (click) here

Jim Phelan, after whom the Sydney AFL Best & Fairest Medal is named, was a prodigious writer on the game.  He was during his time a contributing journalist for several Sydney newspapers and also wrote articles in the Sydney Football Record during the 1930s.  We have re-produced these (click) here and they provide some very interesting reading on Sydney footballs former years.