‘Bit of a shame’: Inside the Kangaroos’ 1975 reunion - and the controversial no-shows
North Melbourne’s centenary celebrations saw the likes of Malcolm Blight, Keith Greig, Wayne Carey and Glenn Archer come together, however there was still a Sam Kekovich sized cloud overshadowing the night. Go inside the Roos’ reunion.
Peter Chisnall wouldn’t have missed it for quids. The back surgery he needs after having a serious fall while out gardening earlier this year can wait until next week.
Nothing was going to stop the 76-year-old Kangaroos premiership wingman on Thursday night from catching up with the mates with whom he created history half a century ago, including Barry Goodingham, who is on the mend after a recent health issue.
Malcolm Blight flew in from Adelaide on Thursday as much for those who couldn’t be there as those who chose to attend.
Of course he wanted to see his former teammates at the Kangaroos VFL-AFL centenary celebrations, which doubled as a 50-year anniversary of the club’s inaugural 1975 premiership as well as honouring last year’s first AFLW flag.
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But Blight also wanted to attend the club’s function in Marvel Stadium’s Horizon Room out of respect for the club’s former powerbrokers - Dr Allen Aylett, Albert Mantello, Barry Cheatley and Ron Joseph - given how they had welcomed him to Arden St all those years ago.
He still feels indebted to those four men, who are all sadly deceased.
Keith Greig never gave it a second thought. Given what the club and his former teammates still mean to him, the dual Brownlow medallist was always going to be at Marvel Stadium for the ‘75 reunion.
As was Wayne Schimmelbusch, who was more than happy to share the accolades - and the Horizon Room function - alongside North Melbourne’s first AFLW premiership side from last season.
“They (the AFLW side) are as much a part of our history as we are,” Schimmelbusch said. “We were the first men’s team (to win a premiership at North Melbourne) and it took us 50 years to do it. The girls did it in about eight years. Why shouldn’t they be here!”
So much of the conjecture and controversy leading into Thursday night’s function had centred on why at least one high profile member of North Melbourne’s 1975 flag side was boycotting the event.
Sam Kekovich told the Sunday Herald Sun recently that he wasn’t attending, insisting the club should have had a marquee stand-alone function to celebrate half a century from that famous victory.
John Burns, who kicked four goals in that 1975 grand final triumph over Hawthorn, also chose not to attend.
Kekovich’s gripe was that the surviving members of the 1975 flag side - sadly skipper Barry Davis, Mick Nolan and Paul Feltham have passed away - should have received “a glossy gold invitation hand delivered by courier at a premier venue”.
Instead, he forecast the night was akin to having “a pot over a drip tray”.
But the Horizon Room’s stand-up cocktail function and smorgasbord of food and delicacies, attended by 500 people, with 200 more past players in an adjoining room, was far from that.
And while Kekovich and Burns chose not to attend, ten of their 1975 premiership teammates - Blight, Grieg, Schimmelbusch, Chisnall, David Dench, John Rantall, Frank Gumbleton, Ross Henshaw, Gary Farrant and Barry Goodingham - took part enthusiastically.
Five other surviving members of the team were either ill, unable to travel or were overseas.
Flanked by a display featuring the 1975 premiership on one side and the 2024 AFLW flag on the other, North Melbourne president Sonja Hood spoke about “the immense pride and a deep sense of history” that the club was celebrating on such a special night in its history.
Addressing the 10 members of the 1975 side in the room, Hood said they had “fundamentally altered the narrative of our club” with their drought-breaking premiership.
“I will simply say this - your achievement resonates as powerfully today as it did 50 years ago,” Hood said. “It was a remarkable achievement that will stand forever as a defining moment in our club’s history.
“No one will take your title as North’s first premiership team.”
She also welcomed the members of North Melbourne’s fifth flag, the AFLW title won last year, who were in attendance at Marvel Stadium.
Chisnall spoke of how proud he was of his part in the club’s history, but conceded it was “a bit of a shame” that Kekovich and Burns had chosen to stay away.
“Anyway, that’s life in the fast lane,” he said.
“I don’t mind celebrating (the night) with the girls (from the AFLW side). They are wearing the same colours as we did.”
Greig said it was a pleasure to attend: “It’s good to have the majority of the guys here, even though some didn’t turn up.”
“The unfortunate part is that no one is going to remember them not being here.”
He added: “Even if you didn’t want to do it (attend) for the club, I thought you would do it for the other blokes (you played in a premiership with).”
Schimmelbusch said it was “fantastic to catch up with blokes who worked so hard together. We went through a lot, the highs and the lows. It is sad we don’t see each other more often.
“Sam’s Sam. But I’m disappointed Burnsy is not here. I don’t know what their problem is. They wanted a separate function.”
Blight added: “There has been a bit of noise around the whole thing (the reunion).
“But I can’t believe how lucky I was to be invited into the North Melbourne family when I came from Adelaide (in 1974).
“I am here for David (Dench), Keith (Greig), ‘Schimma’ and the other boys. It is great to celebrate any flag, no matter what level it is, with your teammates.
“But I am also here for the guys who helped save North Melbourne (Aylett, Mantello, Cheatley and Joseph).”
Among those in attendance at the Horizon Room function was AFL chairman Richard Goyder who has admired the resilience and fighting spirit of North Melbourne since he was a student at boarding school in Perth, watching ABC’s ‘The Winners’ when the Kangaroos won flags in 1975 and 1977.
He gave the Kangaroos “a massive tick (as a club) going forward” as it looks to build on its first 100 years.
“This is a community based club, it has an amazing history, it has strong membership and it has great foundations,” Goyder said.
“People underestimate how well this club has done off the field over the last 10 years and they are turning it around (on the field).”
Chisnall is confident the modern-day Kangaroos can blossom in the future, just as the North Melbourne team he was a part of blossomed under the late, great Ron Barassi in the 1970s.
“I think they are going to be fantastic,” he said. “It is just a matter of getting more games into them and having a bit more patience.
“They have got the right coach (Alastair Clarkson). I love him. He is a pit bull amongst chihuahuas, but he knows where to go and what it takes to get there. We have to follow him and back him in.”
Dench said: “They (the current side) just have to keep stepping up each week and doing their best. I think they have potential. We came from nowhere (in the early 70s) and hopefully they can too.”
Henshaw agreed, saying it was a privilege to be a part of the night, hoping their 1975 story would resonate with the modern-day Kangaroos, who went down to the Western Bulldogs by 49 points.
Greig hopes the wheel is turning: “They have got the potential to do anything, but they have to learn to win. I know we brought in some experience this year, but I am just hoping the blokes who have been there for four or five years can step up. And they have to.”
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