Mark Robinson: Bendigo legend Ron Best was a country footy superhero and had more than enough talent to play in the big league
Ron Best had more than enough talent to play in the big league. Instead, he booted 1600 goals in the Bendigo Football League and will be remembered as a country footy superhero, writes Mark Robinson.
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Not all superheroes played football in the big league.
Ron Best - who died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday - was one of those superheroes.
He was 71.
He was a footballer, politician, businessman and a terrific bloke.
He was some of kind footballer.
In 1968, he kicked 14.9 in his debut as an 18-year-old for Golden Square in the Bendigo Football League and, in the 1984 Grand Final, his last match, he kicked 11 goals for Northern United.
Overall, he kicked 1624 goals in the BFL at an average of six-and-a-half goals per match.
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In Bendigo, he was a Goliath.
In Melbourne, where clubs tripped over themselves trying to convince him to come down to the ‘big league’, Best was a mystical footballer.
Zoned to Carlton, Best could never be tempted by the Blues.
The closest club to getting him was Geelong. He played one practice match for the Cats, he kicked eight goals, returned to Bendigo and never played for the Cats again.
Why? It just wasn’t him and, to be fair, the money he earned playing footy in Bendigo was greater than what was offered in Melbourne.
Plenty of players can try to lay claim to being the best country footballer never to play AFL. If Best isn’t the best, he’s on the podium.
He played football for Golden Square, Sandhurst and Northern United and had sojourns in Boort and Charlton.
As a full-forward, he’d have 20 kicks a match. He’d kick 11.5 or 13.7. Other days, it would be 5.11 and 6.12.
On Saturday nights in Bendigo, when the footy was done for the day and the scores from other matches would filter through to all the clubrooms, the question was mostly always asked: How many did Bestie kick?
I can remember being at the Queen Elizabeth Oval as a 13-year old with mate Robert Walsh. We’d stare at Best in Sandhurst rooms as he warmed up. It was like staring at Superman.
His best mate and one-time brother-in-law was Tony ’Bluey’ Southcombe. Bluey played basketball with Best before Best convinced Bluey to join him at Golden Square.
Southcombe, also a Bendigo legend, was eventually convinced to join Carlton. It was in 1977. He played 13 games and gave it away and returned home. What’s with these Bendigo boys?
“Shit, he had talent,’’ Southcombe said Thursday.
“He was the best player I played with and the best player I played against. When he was at Sandhurst and I was coaching at Golden Square, you knew were five goals in arrears before you started.’’
Tactically, Southcombe would send his back pocket to help the fullback by continually knocking Best’s hands. “Under the current rules, that 161 goals he kicked in 1980 would’ve been more than 200 goals,’’ he said.
“It was his hands … his fingers were twice as round as anyone else’s.
“When the ball got near them it stuck. And he was strong in the body. He didn’t get knocked off his feet and unlike a lot of forwards he was happy to get to the front position.
“If he copped a whack in the ear he copped it. His passion was kicking goals. He loved kicking goals.’’
AFL great Greg Williams played his first senior season with Best.
“I started at Square when I was 16 and Bestie was at full-forward and Bluey was coaching,’’ Williams said Thursday.
“He was a lead and mark full-forward and had massive hands,’’ Williams said.
“One-on-one, he was hard to beat in the goalsquare. He wouldn’t be jumping on heads, he’d use his body. He was too strong, too good.
“He would’ve made it (AFL), but he was just one of those blokes who didn’t want to.’’
Post footy, Best was the National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1988 to 2002, representing North Western Province.
Unquestionably, he is a Bendigo icon.
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