Reunion: 50-year anniversary of North Central’s greatest footy achievement
Fifty years ago the North Central stunned the country footy world with an against-the-odds interleague success.
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The date, July 20, 1974, is burnt into the memory banks of anyone connected with the North Central league.
In classic David v Goliath fashion, North Central, helped by the “famous five” from the Mallee, caused the biggest upset in country championships history by downing Hampden at Warrnambool’s Reid Oval by 19 points.
Since their inception in the 1950s, the championships were shared among the heavyweights, Ovens & Murray, Goulburn Valley, Bendigo, Latrobe Valley and Hampden.
But 1974 proved an outlier.
The championships were staged over a two-year period at the time and North Central beat Mid Murray and Sunraysia in 1973 to remain alive.
The first, and probably biggest, stroke of good fortune came when the O&M was booted from the championships by the Victorian Country Football League for failing to admit Lavington.
It meant a walkover and an unlikely shot at glory for the underdogs.
A burning passion for representative football shared by the presidents of the North Central and Mallee leagues, Allan Dunstan and Merv Young, had developed from the late 1960s.
Former Collingwood captain Frank Tuck had also moved to Birchip from Corowa and his appointment as North Central coach further fuelled momentum.
More planets were aligning when Maurie Wood returned to St Arnaud as coach after 93 matches with North Melbourne.
Wood fell out of love with city life and considered a move to Myrtleford until St Arnaud came knocking.
After working around the clock running a chain of seafood stores with 80 employees in Melbourne, Wood’s first job back in the bush was shovelling superphosphate from the back of a railway truck before accepting a job at the town’s newspaper that he ended up managing.
“I had that job, the coaching job and was on the local council as well,” Wood, 79, said.
“They were probably the three most demanding jobs in St Arnaud.”
Wood was North Central’s interleague captain, but almost didn’t play.
“I had a leg problem, and if it hadn’t been for Frank Tuck I wouldn’t have played,” he said.
“I had to pass a fitness test and Frank could see I was in a bit of trouble, but he short-circuited a few things.
“We had some luck not playing Ovens & Murray, but it was still a wonderful achievement.
“It had never been done before and will never be done again.”
Wood coached St Arnaud between 1972 and 1977 and lost the 1973 premiership in cruel circumstances.
The scoreboard showed St Arnaud beating Charlton by six points at the final siren, but one of the goal umpires disputed the score and the match was deemed a draw.
Joy turned to agony when Charlton won the replay.
St Arnaud’s team included a future superstar in Jim Jess, who had to be talked out of leaving at the end of 1972.
“He had something special,” Wood said.
“I told his parents we had a job for him and a house he could live in rent-free.
“I also said he will win the best and fairest at St Arnaud, St Arnaud will win the premiership, he will play for the North Central league and he will end up playing for Richmond.”
Jess did play in North Central’s victory over Hampden in 1974 and the following year he won the Feeny Medal.
Wood’s prediction about him playing for Richmond was also prophetic.
Jess joined the Tigers in 1976 and played 200-plus matches including a flag win over Collingwood in 1980.
Competition for spots in the 1974 North Central interleague team was intense with an influx of big name players.
Keith Rayner was a Golden Square premiership player in 1972 before joining Wedderburn, Donald’s Murray Gilmour was one of country footy’s best key defenders and Hugh Delahunty had taken up the coaching job at Donald after a stint with Essendon.
With no match against the O&M, a bye was called in both leagues for a practice match at St Arnaud from which the team would be picked.
Five players from the Mallee could be selected and the “famous five” chosen were John White, Barry Gniel, Greg Robertson, Chris Brown and Bob Latta.
Brown, an Underbool farmer, spent the whole day on the bench as 19th man, but the match remains a career highlight.
“There were three inches of rain on Friday and for us Mallee blokes we were lucky to see three inches some years,” he said.
“Fifty years later that match is still mentioned three or four times a season.
“One of my lasting memories is Greg Robertson bending down to pick the ball up, running at full pace, and then delivering the ball to Jimmy Jess.
“We’re still called the ‘famous five’ and it’s embarrassing at times, but you still don’t mind hearing it every now and then.”
The famous victory was captured in all its glory by the Donald-Birchip Times’ Robin Letts with some help from the Warrnambool Standard when things threatened to go awry.
“You could just imagine the excitement,” Letts, 94, said.
“I’m pressing the button on the camera, but nothing was happening.
“I got a tap on the shoulder from a bloke who said ‘mate, I don’t know much about photography, but you’ve got the flashlight pointing the wrong way’.
“I had nothing, but a couple of minutes later I get another top on the shoulder from the Warrnambool Standard journalist, who said ‘we can see you’re in trouble and we were so impressed with the North Central’s performance, you can have the choice of any of our photos’.
“It was just incredible.”
*A reunion for the 1974 North Central country champions is being held on July 20 at Donald. Contact Shane O’Shea 0408-086504
NORTH CENTRAL TEAM
B: Leon Grose (Charlton), Jeff Connelly (Birchip), Kevin Adams (St Arnaud)
HB: John Forster (Wedderburn), Murray Gilmour (Donald), John White (Ouyen)
C: Allan Wills (Wedderburn), John Vallance (Watchem-Corack), Russell Evans (Charlton)
HF: Maurie Wood (St Arnaud), Hugh Delahunty (Donald), Barry Gniel (Walpeup)
F: Keith Rayner (Wedderburn), Jim Jess (St Arnaud), Greg Robertson (Tempy-Gorya-Patchewollock)
FOLL: Ron Green (Donald), Des Hindson (Charlton), Kevin Sait (Charlton)
19th man: Chris Brown (Underbool), 20th man: Bob Latta (Walpeup)
Coach: Frank Tuck
MATCH DETAILS
NORTH CENTRAL 3.1 8.2 13.4 14.5 (89)
HAMPDEN 4.4 6.6 9.8 10.10 (70)
Goals: NORTH CENTRAL: Goals: K. Rayner 5, H. Delahunty 2, J. Vallance 2, K. Sait, A. Wills, M. Wood, B. Gniel, R. Green. HAMPDEN: B. Collins 3, A. Oates 2, N. McRae 2, R. Wearmouth, M. Batt, T. Alexander.
Best: NORTH CENTRAL: K. Rayner, A. Wills, M. Gilmour, G. Robertson, R. Green, B. Gniel. HAMPDEN: D. Dare, R. Mallett, G. Walsh, T. Alexander, G. Fitzgerald, B. Collins.
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Originally published as Reunion: 50-year anniversary of North Central’s greatest footy achievement
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