7 of the greatest sporting comebacks: Mark Occhilupo, Tim Watson, Alfie Langer’s second acts

AFTER Lleyton Hewitt briefly came out of retirement to answer a national emergency, we remember seven monumental sporting comebacks from down the ages.

AFTER Lleyton Hewitt briefly came out of retirement to answer a national emergency, we remember seven monumental sporting comebacks from down the ages.

Mark Occhilupo

In the late 80s, the cocksure, aggressive surfing Occhilupo was mixing it at the top end of the world rankings, though never managed to secure the big title his lavish talent on the board suggested for a time was inevitable.

However, as the years on tour and a bout of depression eroded his focus and desire, the previously clean living boy from Kurnell drifted away from competition and in to a lifestyle of partying, drink and drugs. The formerly super-fit athlete ballooned in weight and, despite a few appearances around the sport, appeared to be lost to it forever.

However, there was to be a late, and unexpected second act in the story. In 1995 he got off the couch, shed the pounds and got back out in the surf, racking up win after win, before, aged 33, taking out the world title in 1999.

“I think it’s one of the great sports stories of all time,” said none other than the great Kelly Slater when asked about the man they call ‘Occy’. And who are we to disagree.

Tim Watson

A testament to Watson’s quality — even beyond his four best and fairest awards with Essendon, his players’ association MVP gong in 1989, and back-to-back grand final wins with the Dons in 84 and 85 — was that in 1992 he was recruited by the West Coast Eagles in the pre-season draft even though he had already signalled his intention to retire.

True to his word, he never turned out for the Eagles. But his retirement proved to be anything but final.

Convinced to lace up his boots once more by Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy for the 1993 season, Watson creaked a little and was below his ruck-roving best. And yet … his mere presence, particularly in offering leadership and guidance to a young side in transition, was a huge part in powering the side to an unexpected premiership that year.

Steve Redgrave

“If anyone sees me anywhere near a boat, they have permission to shoot me.” So said rower Sir Steve Redgrave (then just plain old Steve) after his fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996. Retirement was the plan. But plans change. And four years later he had indeed returned to a boat — in the fours with Matthew Pinsent, James Cracknell and Tim Foster — and won a remarkable fifth straight Olympic title in Sydney. No sniper followed his earlier instructions, thankfully.

Allan ‘Alfie’ Langer

Broncos legend ‘Alfie’ Langer had nothing to prove after a career featuring five premierships, a Clive Churchill medal and more Origin appearances than anyone else at the time, but eyebrows were still raised when Maroons coach Wayne Bennett called him back from the UK as a 35-year-old for the third and deciding match of the 2001 State of Origin series.

He set up two tries and scored one himself in a famous victory for Queensland. Job done.

Michael Jordan

The most famous name in basketball dabbled with baseball to limited success after leaving the Chicago Bulls in 1993. The siren call of his true sport was answered, however, just two years later, when he returned to a Bulls side that went on to claim three straight NBA titles between 1996 and 1998.

Bob Simpson

When the national selectors met to pick a side to face India in Australia’s 1977-78 series their options were severely restricted.

Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket had signed up virtually the entire first — and second — XI. Test cricket itself was under threat. A hero was needed to step in and save the day. And it came in the unlikely form of a man who, at 41 years of age, had played his last first class match a decade previously.

Simpson had been a fine servant to the national cause, captaining Australia 28 times when he took the role over from Richie Benaud back in 1963. A renowned slip fielder and competent leg spinner, he averaged 48 from a total of 52 Tests. But surely his top level career was well behind him? Not so.

Leading a limited but willing band of unknowns and ordinary state level cricketers in that first ‘post-Packer’ series, he led by example, plundering a pair of centuries, including 176 in Perth, with an average of 54 in a 3-2 win against a decent Indian side.

An Indian summer to top them all.

Chris Munce

Winning the Magic Millions as an 18-year-old, his form as an apprentice was translated to a career of unparalleled success before an ill-fated stint in Hong Kong saw him jailed in 2006 in a bet tipping scandal.

However, after finishing his sentence in Sydney’s Silverwater Jail, he returned to the turf and his 2010 Caulfield Cup win on Descardo saw him become only the 7th man to complete the Australian ‘grand slam’ of that famous race, Melbourne Cup, Golden Slipper and Cox Plate.

Originally published as 7 of the greatest sporting comebacks: Mark Occhilupo, Tim Watson, Alfie Langer’s second acts