A question about the 1985 John Bourke / Umpire incident.

[Cold Sober]

I thought the slug was a regular commentator for the army reserve games.

 

[Mycous]

He paid a heavy price flying off the handle. Bourke was stressed at the time and boiling with anger and this was his career he was fighting for.

 

[IKnowtheDog]

I was watching it on tv at the time as a 15 year old eating ham and cheese toasties.

It was a serreal moment in time thst I’ll never forget.

Just sat there in shock waiting to see what he’d do next.

Even Robert Muir wouldn’t do that...

I don't know what Muir would do when provoked.

When you see the fan backing away you can tell it's dawned on him it was a mistake to poke the bear.

Was at that game that day, but on the other side of the ground. Too young to remember anything.

Army Reserve matches were great to attend. Listen to coaches address and also have a kick on the oval.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

The ironic thing is that that is the one of the very few times that Slug Jordan had been anywhere near in a commentary box.
He just happened to be at the game doing some talent scouting and someone recognised him and invited him up the the commentary box for an interview.
It's was a pure fluke that he was in the commentary box when this incident happened. He just about took over the commentary and his words became famous.

You seem to know a bit about Slug, wasn't he the cricketer who, when asked for his passport at the airport, asked "What's a passport"? Apologies to Slug if I have the wrong cricketer

 

[FastLane]

I was watching it on tv at the time as a 15 year old eating ham and cheese toasties.

It was a serreal moment in time thst I’ll never forget.

Just sat there in shock waiting to see what he’d do next.

Even Robert Muir wouldn’t do that...

I dunno about that!

I was at Windy Hill in the 80s sititng in front of opposition coaching box.

Bombers were playing Saints- and Robert Mace whacked some bloke (could actually have been Shane Heard!)

A Bombers supporter yells out- 'Your'e a mongrel Muir'- Mace and Muir both had black hair and similar builds.

Little did he know Robbie Muir was actually sitting three rows behind him and jumped the seats and started throwing punches.

Michael 'pretty boy' Roberts and a few other SAints players had to drag Muir off the bloke.

Imagine that happened today!

 

[Rabid]

I dunno about that!

I was at Windy Hill in the 80s sititng in front of opposition coaching box.

Bombers were playing Saints- and Robert Mace whacked some bloke (could actually have been Shane Heard!)

A Bombers supporter yells out- 'Your'e a mongrel Muir'- Mace and Muir both had black hair and similar builds.

Little did he know Robbie Muir was actually sitting three rows behind him and jumped the seats and started throwing punches.

Michael 'pretty boy' Roberts and a few other SAints players had to drag Muir off the bloke.

Imagine that happened today!

You must have been sitting near me as that happened right in front of me. That Essendon supporter didn't open his mouth again that day.

As for John Bourke up till last year he was an assistant coach at Heidelberg in the Northern league. A nice bloke actually.

 

[FastLane]

You must have been sitting near me as that happened right in front of me. That Essendon supporter didn't open his mouth again that day.

As for John Bourke up till last year he was an assistant coach at Heidelberg in the Northern league. A nice bloke actually.

I dont think anyone in the vicinity opened their mouth- or even dared look anywhere but straight ahead!

 

[Bunk Moreland]

With umpire contact being a bit of a talking point lately, back in 1985 Collingwood reserves player John Bourke showed us how to do it properly.
One question about that incident that I can"t find any information about. As he was leaving the ground, he appeared to jump the fence and have an altercation with a spectator. I consider that to be just as serious as "whacking" the umpire.
Does anybody know if anything came out of that part of the incident. Did the spectator take any civil action ? Did the police get involved ?

I recall reading an interview with Bourke where he said didn’t actually belt the spectator, while pursuing him the bloke fell backward and hit the deck. The camera cuts in at the perfect time to make it look as though Bourke decked him.

Bourke was left standing over him and the Collingwood runner was already on the scene yelling at Bourke to get down to the rooms.

 

[smasha]

Remember that game well,watched it on TV,slug’s comments have become folklore.