Twelve people who tried a footy career before becoming famous for something totally different
HOLLYWOOD heroes, a cricket legend and the 2016 Melbourne Cup-winning trainer all tried a footy career before finding fame elsewhere. And you won’t believe who could have played in the ruck for Richmond.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ROBERT Hickmott is now a dual Melbourne Cup-winning trainer, but he also has a little-known AFL career on his resume.
Hickmott, who trained Almandin and 2012 Cup winner Green Moon, was recruited by Melbourne in the 1989 pre-season draft and played two games for the Demons in 1990.
After failing to play a senior game the following year he quit and moved to Murray Bridge to train horses with his father — a very smart move.
You could say the same about Eddie McGuire’s decision to accept a sports reporting cadetship with Channel 10 after he tried out for the North Melbourne under-19s (he was a quick centreman with a straight kick but his slight frame counted against him, according to the 2015 book Eddie: The Rise and Rise of Eddie McGuire).
They aren’t the only examples of well-known personalities who took footy very seriously before being diverted to a very different career path. Many found fame in other sports but others have turned up in much more surprising places. Here are 11 more celebrities you probably didn’t know played footy.
1990 article about Rob Hickmott. @SENfooty @RSNSportRadio @omfnl @wangrovers @AFLNEB @AFL @Racing @heraldsunsport pic.twitter.com/Uo9aAuif3r
— Wangaratta RoversFNC (@wangrovers) November 2, 2016
TRAVIS FIMMEL
Could the accomplished actor and model owe his international celebrity status to St Kilda? Details are hard to pin down but Fimmel’s official website says the Echuca product wanted to be an AFL player after finishing high school and trained with the Saints, but a broken leg during the pre-season forced him to shelve those plans. He was then spotted by a modelling scout in a Hawthorn gym and moved to London, starting a path that led to his appearance on billboards modelling Calvin Klein underwear and the lead role of Ragnar Lothbrok in the hit History Channel series Vikings.
Asked in a 2014 interview why his AFL career never took off, Fimmel said: “I sucked at it, man, I was very bad.”
VANCE JOY
The Riptide hit maker fulfilled a dream of performing at the MCG on Grand Final day this year, but he was on stage, not in the goalsquare. Back when he was known as James Keogh, he played as a key defender for Coburg in the VFL in 2008-09, winning the club’s best first-year player award before quitting to focus on his music career.
“We played at Optus Oval and Skilled Stadium, which was a bit overwhelming,” Joy said after getting the Grand Final gig. “I didn’t have it in me to be that ‘big occasion’ footballer, but I’m better as a big occasion musician. It’s less scary singing than actually being on the ground playing.”
SHANE WARNE
The greatest leg-spin bowler in cricket history kicked seven goals in a game for the St Kilda under-19s in 1988. Warne — who, with his flowing blond locks, was a perfect fit for the Saints in the 80s — was promoted the next week for his one and only game in the reserves.
“He had some ability, Warnie. He had lovely hands and he could kick it well,” former Saints development officer John Beveridge recalled in 2013. “He wasn’t gifted athletically in a speed and agility sense. He had enough football skill and I think that followed through into the way he bowled.”
There are numerous other examples of footballers who became star cricketers including other former Saints Simon O’Donnell (24 games 1982-83) and champion all-rounder Keith Miller (50 games from 1940-46).
Prolific Tasmanian opener Jamie Cox was drafted by Essendon in 1987 but never played a game. He has returned to footy as St Kilda’s football manager.
Current Australian all-rounder Mitch Marsh chose cricket over AFL — not an easy call after he kicked four goals for WA in an under-18 national championships game in 2008. His teammates included West Coast pair Nic Naitanui and Brad Sheppard, who’s also Marsh’s cousin.
“I was tall so that’s what scouts look for — key-position players,” 193cm Marsh told the Herald Sun last year. “I had an OK tournament. I played some games, missed some games. I was on the fringe ... but deep down I think it was always cricket for me.”
GEORGE PELL
Australia’s most senior Catholic priest has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late, but it could have been very different. Pell was the star ruckman for St Patrick’s College in Ballarat; political journalist and former St Pats teammate Paul Bongiorno says Pell “had speed, bulk and height — he was tailor-made to be a ruckman”, and recalled him punching the ball into the forward 50 from the centre bounce. Pell was good enough to be signed by Richmond in 1959, but the lure of the priesthood won out and he went to Werribee seminary instead.
TRAVERS BEYNON
You probably aren’t familiar with the name Travers Beynon, but that might be because the self-styled Hugh Hefner of the Gold Coast calls himself the Candyman.
Beynon is the heir to the FreeChoice tobacco empire, owns a collection of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces, throws parties the Playboy founder would envy and is a shameless self-promoter on social media.
He was also recruited by North Melbourne with pick 4 in the 1989 pre-season draft, but his footy career was cut short by a back injury.
MIKE WILLESSEE
The TV presenter and journalist, and long-time host of A Current Affair, never hid his parochial support for the Swans and even helped bankroll the club during the dark days of the late 1980s. Less well known are Willessee’s appearances on the field for the South Melbourne reserves at the Lake Oval in the 1960s.
LINDSAY FOX
One of Australia’s most famous businessmen is another former Saint. Founder of logistics giant Linfox and owner of Luna Park, the trucking tycoon played 20 games in the ruck for St Kilda from 1959-61, kicking three goals. He then moved to the VFA, playing in a premiership for Moorabbin.
RYAN FITZGERALD
‘Fitzy’ found fame after finishing fourth in reality hit Big Brother in 2004, leading to a career in TV and radio — he’s now the co-host of Nova’s Sydney breakfast show. Before all that he was an AFL key forward good enough to be taken at pick 4 in the 1998 national draft by Sydney. He played 10 games for the Swans then moved to Adelaide and added another eight before his career was wrecked by knee injuries.
PATTY MILLS
Now a star point guard for NBA team the San Antonio Spurs, Mills could have easily been an AFL player. Mills was an All-Australian junior who was named best player at the national under-15 championships, an award won the year before by Joel Selwood. “He had all the athletic attributes as well as the skill set and the mental toughness to make it,” AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan says. “The depth in his kicking, his clean hands, his ability in traffic and then make great decisions in footy are all the attributes we look for. I think Patty Mills ticked all the boxes to be a future AFL star.”
Mills joined the AIS on a scholarship in 2005 after another promising junior basketballer pulled out to pursue his footy dream — Scott Pendlebury.
KYLE CHALMERS
The surprise gold medallist in the 100m freestyle is another who passed up the opportunity to become an AFL player. The son of former Adelaide and Port Adelaide ruckman Brett Chalmers, Kyle was on the draft radar of AFL clubs — until he got a call from his swimming coaches after breaking his wrist in a school footy game last year. “They just said the football and swimming were no longer an option. You can’t do both, you have to choose,” he said after his success in Rio. “This would’ve been my draft year for footy. That has probably been playing in the back of my mind too, so to come out there and (win gold) definitely shows I chose the right sport.”
Rower James Tomkins was selected by Melbourne in the 1988 national draft, two years after winning a Commonwealth Games gold medal. A standout for Carey Grammar, he played some reserves games for the Demons but didn’t crack the seniors and returned to rowing, joining the Oarsome Foursome and winning four Olympic medals, including three golds.
Wimbledon champion Pat Cash was also a gun junior forward, former world No. 1 and one of Australia’s tennis greats Norman Brookes was a star footballer for Melbourne Grammar, and Lleyton Hewitt was also a keen junior player, although we can’t say for sure if he was any good.
RICHARD Di NATALE
It might not seem like a natural fit for the leader of the Greens, but Di Natale was an accomplished player for Oakleigh and Coburg in the then VFA in the late 1980s and early 90s. He quit after five seasons to become a doctor, later moving into politics.
Other politicians with a footy background include Sandringham MLA Murray Thompson, who played 14 games for Richmond in the 1970s, and former Tasmanian premier and Fraser Government Minister Ray Groom, who played 96 games for Melbourne, winning the best-and-fairest in 1968.
Effective long kick (+4 #supercoach pts) by Greens leader @RichardDiNatale in #reclinkcommunitycup. Pic @fletchadam pic.twitter.com/7z5zK2YGU4
— Al Paton (@al_superfooty) June 26, 2016
READ MORE
THE BEST AFL NICKNAMES AND THEIR STORIES
AFL NICKNAMES USED BY PLAYERS FANS DON'T KNOW ABOUT
WHAT YOUR FOOTY TEAM WAS ONCE CALLED AND HOW IT GOT ITS NAME
A HISTORY OF YOUR AFL CLUB'S JUMPER
Hall’s long-distance Gallen plan
Barry Hall has revealed how he plans to beat his shorter but more experienced opponent in their much-anticipated bout.
Hall gets kick from little masters
Andrew Moloney is the hot favourite to become Australia’s only current world boxing champion when he battles Brooklyn’s Elton Dharry on the same night that his mate Barry Hall fights Paul Gallen.