Fred Wooller looks back on his career and the 1963 premiership

Flag-winning captain Fred Wooller remains ‘fortunate’ for his life in football and with Geelong as he looks back over the flag win from 60 years ago.

Fred Wooller with the 1963 cup in 2009.

Every year they meet in a pub in Geelong.

Organised by skipper Fred Wooller and Maureen Walker, the wife of the late defender Peter, the heroes from the 1963 Geelong premiership side grab a meal and reminisce.

After all these years, the topic remains the same, according to Wooller.

Geelong captain Fred Wooller holds up the cup.

“Rubbish,” he laughed.

Nearly 60 years on from the grand final triumph over Hawthorn, in which the great Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer was best-on-ground and coach Bob Davis urged his men to play with flair, 10 premiership players remain alive.

Geelong will honour the 1963 team on Thursday night as it celebrates Retro Round with a game against Melbourne.

Wooller remembers the grand final well, as his Cats ran over the Hawks, booting six goals to none in the final term to win by 49 points, but it is the bus rides that bring a smile to his face.

On the way up to the MCG from Kardinia Park, as the Cats players prepared for their biggest game of their lives, they walked along the Melbourne highway to stretch their legs, just metres from traffic on the one-lane highway.

“I cant remember if we did it every other time, I think we might have but I can’t remember now,” Wooller said.

“It was only a single lane and we were out there walking around.”

After the win, Geelong players enjoyed a meal at the MCG before getting back on the bus.

There were no stops this time, as the joyous Cats enjoyed a few tins in the bus before a police escort guided the team through Corio and to the Geelong Town Hall, where a sea of thousands waited.

“There were hundreds of people there tooting their horns as we went past, it was marvellous,” Wooller said.

Premiership celebrations in 1963. Picture: Bob Gartland collection.

All these years on, Wooller still marvels at Farmer’s brilliance and dedication.

The age-old story of the West Australian spending hours handballing a football through car windows was only part of the hard work behind the legendary ruck, who Wooller is sure would have won the Norm Smith Medal in 1963 had it been handed out back then.

“He used to go and practice his goal kicking every night we were at training and then he would practice his handball by winding down the window of his car and stand 10m away and pass the ball to his son through the window,” Wooller said.

“He had an enormous ability to just jump a fraction earlier than anyone else and rise up to get the tap. He was a marvellous player.”

Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer loved training.

While he may not have been a supreme tactician as coach, Wooller still marvels at Davis’ ability to recruit.

Like a modern-day rebuild, Wooller estimates just five players remained on the list from when Davis took over from Reg Hickey as coach in 1960, but instead of trading or drafting, it was mostly just Davis visiting country towns.

“I reckon he was the best recruiting person I have ever seen,” Wooller said.

“He used to go to the country towns, pick the best players from the leagues and their parents would say (to the player) ‘you better sign now’. So impressive was Bob. He just had that extreme personality.”

Bob Davis watches the grand final.

Unlike the modern player who enjoys a week of celebrations led by a Mad Monday, Wooller was back to work the day after the grand final win, to manage the Bowl-O-Matic, a bowling alley in the heart of Geelong.

For the premiership captain, nothing will ever beat the feeling of walking off the field with the cup in hand.

“The important thing is, everybody who walked off with the cup had an equal share,” he said.

“In my opinion, everybody shares something special and that is the greatest part of winning a premiership.”

A FORTUNATE FOOTBALL LIFE

Ask Wooller about his football career and his ongoing connection to the club he led and one word keeps coming up: fortunate.

After being plucked from Bacchus Marsh because a workmate was a mad Geelong fan and recommended the 16-year-old centre half-forward Wooller to the Cats, he still loves the club nearly seven decades on.

Fred Wooller speaks at a memorial for ‘Polly’ Farmer. Picture: Mike Dugdale

“The club’s been very good for me personally, I have always had a good relationship (with the club),” he said.

“Fortunately, Geelong game me an opportunity. Fortunately I was around when Bob started coaching and bringing all those players from interstate and the country. I was fortunate to be captain and fortunate to be nominated and the players picked me as captain. I was fortunate to get a game for Victoria.

“I was lucky they noticed me and lucky I came at the time that Fred Flanagan was retired because I wouldn’t have got a game if he was still around.”

Wooller was called upon to hand over the premiership cup to Tom Harley after the drought-breaking flag in 2007.

“That is another fortunate thing,” he said.

The memories of Wooller’s playing career remain strong but it’s the friendships that are still stronger for the former captain.

Fred Wooller is chaired from the field after the grand final.

After delivering eulogies for many of his teammates over the journey – most recently for John Devine in February – he has decided try and step back to not feel the pressure of the moment.

But he still loves the moments he shares with his teammates and friends, like the annual reunion dinner and a 60-year anniversary held earlier this month at GMHBA Stadium, with all 10 living premiership players and 16 from the side that won the reserves flag on the same day.

“Some people have better memories than others, some people can remember individual incidents,” Wooller said.

“The best part is a lot of us have become good friends.

“I have people here (at the club) who are probably five of my special friends … special friends are the ones that you see regularly, enjoy their company and know their families well.

“That’s something that footy brings to you and I have been very fortunate.”

Originally published as Fred Wooller looks back on his career and the 1963 premiership