How one day out shaped the lives of so many Rebels players
The North Ballarat Rebels won a premiership against the odds in 1997 in a match which announced the birth of an AFL legend. A quarter of a century on, the players remember a special day.
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More than two decades on from their premiership triumph in the TAC Cup, former North Ballarat Rebels players are still in awe of what AFL premiership star Adam Goodes did during the decider.
September 27, 2022 represents the 25th anniversary of the Rebels’ first and only under-18 Victoria premiership, which was won against the Dandenong Stingrays at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In a historic day the club, now known as the Greater Western Victorian Rebels, the team won by 45 points: 16.15.111 to 10.16.76.
The contest was won in the final quarter as the Rebels kept the Stingrays goalless and North Ballarat ran away with the contest.
The match will always be remembered as the day Adam Goodes announced himself to the AFL world.
He kicked six goals to be the best on ground and break the hearts of the Stingrays.
His performance attracted the attention of Sydney who recruited him and nurtured the ruckman/midfielder to become one of the greats with Brownlow Medals and premierships.
But the performance was more than just Goodes, it was about a team from western Victoria who stunned the world in September 1997.
This is their story.
How the team was set up for the win
As the Rebels entered the 1997 TAC Cup grand final not many gave them a chance.
Rebels half forward flanker and SANFL premiership winner Tim Inskter remembers vividly the media and in particular Stingrays assistant coach David Cloke saying the Rebels were ‘no chance’ and ‘no one would get near Dandenong.’
But the comments only served to draw inspiration to the team who knew something special was about to happen.
Inside the four walls, they knew they had every chance.
It all started a couple of weeks before against Eastern Ranges in the second semi-final.
The Rebels were down and almost out, trailing by almost seven goals at half time.
Coach Garry Fletcher, knowing the season was on the line, made some vital changes to turn the game around.
“We were pretty lucky in the second semi,” Inkster said.
“Down by 40 points to come back and to get over the line, it was down to a couple of changes the coach made.
“Blokes who weren't the stars got us over that day.”
Rebels half back player Shane Fisher said it was the game which gave the team belief.
“It gave us a big sense of how far we could go,” he said.
The following week the team smashed Murray Bushrangers to get their shot at glory.
Rebels captain Shane O’Bree, now working on the coaching panel at Geelong, said the timing of the grand final contest helped the team.
Back then the decider was held on AFL grand final day as one of the pre-game curtain raisers.
It meant an early start for the boys.
“It was a big day in general,” he said.
“We stayed in Melbourne that night, got out of bed at 5.30am and played at 8.30am.
“It probably worked in our favour, we travelled a lot of kilometres all over the western region, so we were used to the normality of not playing at a regular time.”
While the timing was right for the club on the clock, former player Winis Imbi also felt it was the ideal time for the team to shine based on their age.
The Rebels had got close in 1996 but was beaten by a dominant performance by Lance Whitnall for the Northern Knights who would later win the title.
“In reflection, we’d been building for a couple of years,” Imbi said.
“I felt like we were a mature list and things were going pretty well and we’d been in the finals the year before but fell short.
“We got some really good experience at the G.
“This time it felt like we were a mature group.”
All about Goodes
While the team was primed for premiership success it didn’t account for just how good Goodes was during the game.
He kicked six goals, had 17 disposals and clunked six marks.
His teammates were in awe.
“It was one out of the box,” Inkster said.
“He hadn’t played like that all year.
“We had no idea how good he was going to be.
“He touched up (Trent) Croad and (Kris) Massie who were playing on him.”
Imbi had a close-up view of Goodes’ performance as he played alongside him in the forward line.
“It was special,” he said.
“To be truthful, I didn’t see that coming.
“Adam did some special things in every game that made him stand out.
“Consistency over four quarters was something he hadn’t shown.
“He set the tone and I just got to watch a pretty special player who was electric from the word go.
“You need that in the final, someone to take control and give the rest of the group confidence.”
Imbi said it wasn’t just Goodes’ goals which lifted the team, it was also his running play and being free at the contest, which helped the smaller players around him.
Fisher said it was an honour to play with someone like Goodes.
“He just took everything in front of him,” he said.
“Goodes was a terrific player, massive talent. any knew he would go on to big things.
“He’s a wonderful ambassador for the game.
“I’ve got my three kids sitting in the car (during the interview) and I’m proud to say to them I played with Adam Goodes during my career.”
The bond of the boys from the west
The Rebels players, to this day, all stay in touch and it was this bond which helped the team to premiership success.
The team reunited two Saturdays ago for a 25th anniversary reunion and most players attended with only a couple not able to attend for different reasons.
The Rebels of ‘97 were made up of players from Ballarat, Beaufort, Stawell, Ararat, Warracknabeal, Horsham, Portland and many other areas. But they united under the Rebels colours.
“I think a lot of us played for two three years so a lot of us knew each other for a long time,” Rebels player Marcus Picken said.
“The last quarter of that (grand final) was the fondest memory.
O’Bree said the team played together in some cases since junior level.
For Fisher he was sure the unity of the team won them the contest.
“We all came from Western Victoria and were best mates,” he said.
The Rebels win defied the sometimes maligned program.
There were concerns from some country competitions the players being taken away would diminish their competition.
Others said there was no point playing for the Rebels as their own local competition was stronger.
But for the players it didn’t worry them, it gave them a chance to play at the highest level on the national stage.
“It wasn’t all that popular for kids to go to the Rebels (from Warracknabeal), the footy was pretty good here,” Inkster said.
“We had a core group but had people coming and going.
“It was a bit of a rollercoaster, but pretty exciting to come from Warrack to play before the finals (in AFL).
“We’d watch the seconds and the AFL (after our win).”
Inkster said the team was a special one and full of talent.
“You didn’t realise it at the time just how good the team was,” he said.
“Shane O’Bree was an awesome captain.
“With half the team out, he dragged us over the line in a game in Tassie (earlier in the season).
“He was an awesome leader and happy to be leader.
“With blokes like him running the midfield and James Walker and Marc Greig down back – there were stars all through the team.
“And any of the other blokes, like the lesser names, they could do special things as well.”
Fletcher the super coach
Moulding them all together was Rebels coach Garry Fletcher.
Fletcher, joining the team in 1995, guided the club to the title with the talent at his disposal.
Imbi, who holds the club record for most games played at the club, said he didn’t know at the time how special Fletcher was.
Not until he became a coach himself after his playing career, which included stints in the Essendon and North Melbourne reserves.
“Not enough credit was given to Garry Fletcher, as a coach myself I was just really privileged to have him,” Imbi said.
“He showed genuine care.
“You knew when he was angry but it was about performance.
“He conveyed his messages well.
“I only appreciated it when I got older.”
Imbi said his coaching talent was on show when he got tagged out of the game during the grand final, as Dandenong tried to shut him down.
It allowed Fletcher to shift the magnets to put other players into play and get the momentum going to the Rebels.
Fisher said Fletcher was able to run a tight ship of players from all backgrounds and different areas of the state.
View from the other side
The Stingrays line-up in the grand final had more than half a dozen players who went on to play in the AFL and have illustrious careers.
This included Travis Johnstone, Trent Croad, Kris Massie, Andrew Williams, Craig Black, Darren Hulme, Adam Ramanauskas and Brendan Fevola.
Stephen Milne was also part of the Stingrays before he was drafted to St Kilda.
He said his strongest memories of the day revolve around the bearded centre-half forward from the opposition who ran rings around the Stringrays.
“I just remember Adam Goodes kicking six,” Milne said.
“We were kind of favourites and Adam was injured during the year, he didn’t have the greatest year.
“But he turned one on.”
Milne said there was nothing the team could do.
“Once you are 17 or 18, you can’t change the magnets around too much.
“We had a good list, Fev, Croad, Trav and others.
“But it was one of them days where it went his way (Goodes and Rebels).”
The Stingrays would have to wait 21 more years, after the 1997 loss, before their first TAC Cup glory.
Milne is confident the day helped Goodes develop to become one of the best players of all time.
“It kick-started his career to be a double Brownlow Medallist and have the amazing career he did,’’ Milne said.
“If he hadn’t have kicked six where would he be?
“It’s one of those sliding door moments.”
Milne said he played reasonably well on the days, snagging some goals, but doesn’t look back fondly on the memory.
“We were always behind the eight ball,” he said.
“It was disappointing.”
Legacy of the Rebels
The Rebels’ 1997 success led to many of the players having established careers at state and national level.
North Ballarat dominated the 1997 AFL draft having three players picked inside the first 14 draft selections.
Only the Dandenong Stingrays, their rivals in the grand final, had a better start getting three players inside the top eight.
James Walker (pick 7, Fremantle), Shane O’Bree (pick 10, Brisbane) and Shannon Watt (pick 14, North Melbourne) were the first three Rebels named.
Adam Goodes (pick 43, Sydney), Marcus Picken (pick 58, Brisbane) and Sam Cranage (pick 64, St Kilda) joined them later on with Winis Imbi, in the rookie draft, also getting picked.
Out of those players, four of them would play more than 150 games, with Goodes having the longest career.
He was the only player of the era to win two premierships, in 2005 and 2012, and two Brownlow Medals.
Goodes was also the only player from that Rebels team selected in an All-Australian team but O’Bree was a AFL Rising Star nominee in 1999.
For those who didn’t get to the top there was plenty of success in the state leagues.
It’s something not lost on O’Bree.
“Even though we had six to eight drafted we had eight that played bloody good in the VFL and won premierships,” he said.
Marc Greig was one of them, winning for North Ballarat in 2008 while Imbi was a best and fairest in reserves at Essendon.
Sam Cranage also won a premiership with Williamstown in 2003.
Then there was James Walker who played for multiple WAFL teams during his career with Fremantle and Jeremy Clayton and Tim Inkster dominating in the SANFL.
Inkster won the 2006 premiership with Woodville West Torrens while Clayton won the Magarey Medal in 2005 while playing for Port Adelaide.
It was a quality team who had success as under-18s and as adults.
Here is what happened to most of the players and where are some of them are now.
Leigh Hutchinson
The full back for the Rebels team won a premiership with Warracknabeal in the Wimmera Football League before turning to a coaching career.
He coached Sebastopol recently, from 2017 to 2018, and was an assistant coach in the North Ballarat VFL team.
Marc Greig
Greig returned back to the Rebels recently to coach the under-18 NAB League team from 2017 to 2020.
Before, he was the coach of North Ballarat when the side was in the VFL.
Greig, as a player, played for Carlton in reserves while also playing for the Roosters in the VFL, winning a premiership in 2008.
A leg injury hampered his football from progressing further.
Marcus Picken
Picken was one of a handful of players drafted into the AFL.
He joined Brisbane in 1998 and played 25 games, just missing out on their 2001 premiership success.
Picken later joined the Western Bulldogs but didn’t get a game with the club as injuries hurt his progress.
Since then he hasn’t been involved in much footy, focusing on his work and raising his children.
Shane Fisher
Played football in Canberra and for the North Ballarat Rooster following his time at the Rebels.
He then coached in country footy for 19 years, including his last coaching role with Ararat.
Nick Preston
Preston played for North Ballarat in the VFL before joining Newlyn in the Central Highlands Football League.
He would win a premiership with them in 2003 before later coaching the club in the 2010s.
Preston also played for East Point at one point in time in the Ballarat Football Netball League after being a junior at Golden Point.
Mark Kennedy
Kennedy went to Redan after his Rebels playing days and became one of the best for the club.
He left in 2005 to move to Cairns but his contribution to Redan put him in the team of the decade, as vice-captain, for the Lions.
In Cairns, Kennedy became a stalwart at the Cairns Saints.
He played, coached and was vice president at the club as the team dominated AFL up north.
The team won five premierships.
Kennedy left to take up a teaching role in Geelong at St Joseph’s College and he is still there to this day as deputy principal.
James Walker
Walker played more than 150 games for Fremantle after being drafted with the sixth pick at the 1998 draft.
He was the highest draft pick for the Rebels.
Walker retired at the end of the 2007 season and is a life member at the Dockers.
Shane O’Bree
Another high draft pick, the Rebels captain of the premiership winning team joined Brisbane for the 1998 season.
O’Bree moved to Collingwood in 2000 and was part of the teams grand final losses to Brisbane in 2002 and 2003.
He played 246 games for the club before retiring in 2010.
O’Bree now coaches Geelong in the VFL and helped coach multiple players in the Geelong team who recently won the AFL premiership.
Sam Cranage
Cranage was drafted to St Kilda in 1998 before being delisted in 2000 after eight games.
He then joined Carlton in 2002 and added another 10 to bring his total to 18 games.
Cranage then joined Williamstown and was also with Geelong at one stage in 2008.
Tim Inkster
Inskter played VFL for North Ballarat initially after the Rebels before moving to Darwin to play in the early 2000s.
Inskter then joined the Woodville West Torrens in the SANFL and played 80 games for them from 2003 to 2007.
In 2006 he won the premiership with them.
Now he’s with his junior club, the Mallee Giants, looking to guide them to premiership glory.
He played reserves and seniors games this year for the club.
Shannon Watt
Watt joined North Melbourne with the 14th pick in the 1997 draft and played more than 150 games from the club in 11 years.
He retired in 2009.
He is now based in the United States according to his LinkedIn profile.
Jeremy Clayton
Clayton played at the Rebels for two more season, in 1998 and 1999, before impressing to be picked up by North Melbourne as a rookie in 2002.
He played eight games for the Kangaroos in 2003 and 2004 before moving to South Australia to play with Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL.
He won the Magarey Medal in 2005 and was the best and fairest for the club from 2005 to 2008.
He is a life member at the Magpies.
Adam Goodes
Became a star of the AFL with the Sydney Swans following his heroics with the Rebels in the 1997 TAC Cup grand final.
He played 372 games for the Swans and won two premierships, two Brownlow Medals and was a four time all Australian.
He is now with Indigenous Football Australia, helping indigenous players get to the top of soccer in Australia.
Winis Imbi
Imbi was close to playing AFL but just missed out.
He won the reserves best and fairest at Essendon and also played with the club in pre-season competition.
Imbi then joined North Melbourne but would only play in reserves as well.
He has turned his attention to coaching recently and was the coach of Port Fairy this year in the Hampden Football Netball League.
Andrew Staehr
Is now based on the Sunshine Coast after his Rebels career.
Injury prevented him from taking his game further after the 1997 triumph.
Scott Maher
Played for Carlton in reserves not long after his time at the Rebels in 1997.
Maher was originally from Bungaree when he joined the Rebels.
Not much is known of what happened after his time at the Rebels.
Ben Kelly
Another player who played for Carlton in reserves following his time as a Rebel.
Barry Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick played VFL football for North Ballarat after playing for the Rebels in their premiership win.
He then joined Beaufort in the Central Highlands Football League and was the best and fairest in the competition in 2003.
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