What you didn’t know about the stars of the AFL’s greatest fairytale

THEY combined to win a flag that came from nowhere and, as a new book reveals, they’re an extraordinary bunch behind closed doors.

Tom Liberatore (second from left) reads Hunter S. Thompson. Jake Stringer (right) had Matthew Dellavedova ‘covered’ as a junior basketballer. Picture: Mark Stewart

THE Western Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership came from nowhere — they were the club with no luck, no stars, no right to win, no culture of success.

They were the rank underdogs and they swept to victory on an unprecedented tide of goodwill that washed over the nation.

Only Martin Flanagan could bring to life this particular miracle. The club’s two guiding spirits — captain Bob Murphy and coach Luke Beveridge — welcomed him in, Beveridge making available his match diaries, pre-match notes and video highlights.

Flanagan interviewed every player, watched every match, talked with the trainers, the women in the football department, the fans who never miss a training session, the cheer squad.

What Flanagan shows is that the Bulldogs found a new way to play partly because they found a new way to be a team — a new way to support each other, even a new way to be.

His book, A Wink From The Universe, on sale this week, includes detailed insights of every player on the team, including these edited revelations on some of the Dogs’ biggest stars.

TOM LIBERATORE — THE READER

Don’t judge this book by its cover.

He’s a reader. The three writers he names to me are William Burroughs, Charles Bukowski and Hunter S. Thompson, all somewhat rebellious figures from twentieth-century American literature.

He has some lines of the man he calls Hunter S. tattooed onto the inside of his left forearm: ‘When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.’

As chance has it, while writing this book, I happened to meet Libba’s Year 10 English teacher at St Kevin’s — he told me how strongly young Tom engaged with Shakespeare’s Othello.

Jason Johannisen describes him as ‘a strange, intelligent person who’s fun to be around. He’s a prankster. You need those people in a footy club. We spend a lot of time together, it has to be fun.’

LUKE BEVERIDGE — THE LEADER

Luke Beveridge puts his premiership medal over Bob Murphy's neck. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Luke’s mother says he never did anything very radical — he was just different.

She tells me he always had ‘this different way of writing. In Year 10, a teacher accused him of copying. In Year 11, he wrote an essay. It said, “I want to be a leader.” The teacher realised it was his own work.’

For a time, he had dreadlocks, listened to Bob Marley and wanted to be a park ranger. He met his wife, Dana, when he was fifteen on a school bus. They have two sons, Kye and Noah.

He played thirteen AFL seasons on one-year contracts.

JAKE STRINGER — THE BALLER

Jake Stringer celebrates a goal during the grand final. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

He lived in the central Victorian town of Maryborough until he was eleven. So did Matthew Dellavedova.

I had heard that Stringer was more highly regarded as a basketball prospect than Dellavedova at that time. When I ask Stringer, he nods. ‘I thought I had him covered as a junior.’

He follows Dellavedova’s NBA career, and adds tiredly, ‘I don’t really watch that much footy.’

Jake Stringer doesn’t watch much footy but he does watch highlight reels of Gary Ablett senior.

He has no illusions about his abilities relative to the original Gazza’s, but there are certain respects in which the two are similar.

Geelong’s maverick star of the 1980s and nineties was famously indifferent to training. Stringer’s lack of enthusiasm for training is well-known to his teammates, although occasionally, according to Fletcher Roberts, ‘he turns it on. When he does, only Dale Morris can go with him.’

EASTON WOOD — THE TRAVELLER

Easton Wood hoists the cup. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

His father, Phil, made the final of the triple jump at the Edmonton Commonwealth Games in 1978.

His mother, Fiona, a 400 and 800 metres runner, finished second in an Australian title race.

Among the countries he’s visited are Turkey, Jordan, Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Ireland, England, US, Germany and Czech Republic. ‘There’s good people everywhere,’ he tells me, ‘that’s one of the beautiful things you learn from travelling.’

Has an older brother, McLeod, who is a captain in the Australian Army and has done two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

MARCUS BONTEMPELLI — THE THINKER

Marcus Bontempelli fires out a handball during the 2016 AFL Grand Final. Picture: Mark Stewart

Off the field, he’s inquisitive, a thinker, making stands on issues like domestic violence and same-sex marriage.

I ask about his surname — where’s it from? He says that he once read — on Facebook or Twitter, he can’t remember — that ‘bonte’ means kindness in French. When I get home, I check — he’s right.

His nonna and nonno were from Trentino in northern Italy. They’re still alive. His father, Carlo, who worked mostly as a concreter in the construction industry, married Geraldine Hunt who was from what Marcus describes as an Irish family.

Her brothers Bernie, Jim and Peter were no-nonsense footballers, one playing under 19s with Collingwood.

Geraldine’s sister Eileen married Peter Dal Santo. Their son Nick was drafted in 2001 by St Kilda and went on to play over 300 AFL games. Another cousin, Luke Stanton, made it to Carlton but only got a couple of games.

Martin Flanagan's A Wink From The Universe.

Edited extract from A Wink from The Universe by Martin Flanagan, published by Penguin Random House on sale this week RRP $34.99

Originally published as What you didn’t know about the stars of the AFL’s greatest fairytale