JOCK-Nothing changes!

[domus]

I am currently reading a fascinating biography on Jock McHale by Glenn McFarlane. It contains countless gems but the overwhelming fact that emerges is that nothing has changed over more than a century with regard to fans, players or admin.

Here are some juicy snippets.

Here's a letter to the Herald from a supporter after we copped our biggest flogging in our 20 year history in the season following our premiership in 1910.

As an old supporter of the Magpies, it appears to me that their attack is very weak and the defence is even weaker than the attack.The fact is, the past reputation of the club won't bring in new players, they have to be looked for, and the sooner the committee emerge from the seclusion of their luxuriously appointed room under the grandstand and hustle a bit like the officials of other league clubs, the better for Collingwood.

When the Coronation honours were declared, the story goes that a young lad on a train bound for Victoria Park station noted the honours in the Herald and exclaimed, What! No Dick Lee!"

Carlton coach Frank Worrall told his players,

"Boys, booze and football do not mix. You have to cut back on one or the other. Players who prefer beer to eucalyptus will be struck off the list."

Here are a few lines of the lyrics Collingwoood fans created for a popular song (Little Dame Trot) in 1905.

There's Proudfoot, Rush and Dummett, the back fort in the team:
And Nash and Leach and Condon, the greatest followers whenever seen,
All play with Collingwood Eighteen, the Eighteen of great fame,
So there's honour to those Magpies, the premiers at the game.

In response to internal divisions within the team in 1906 where players were refusing to kick to certain teammates "when the passing could easily have been done and would have resulted in benefit to the team" the Collingwood committee took the following course of action:

The executive have kept in reserve some very capable recruits, and these are being brought in to fill in the places that are being compulsorily vacated by men who in the past have been star performers but whose club patriotism has succumbed to trivial disappointment. Possibly a few weeks spent in cool reflection on the other side of the pickets will have a curative effect on the disordered players.

Our beloved Club song was penned by a Collingwood player in 1906 and put to the Boer War tune , Goodbye Dolly Gray. The player, Tom Nelson only played three games for the club but he lives on in the song which has been sung by generations of Pie fans.

After a six point win over St Kilda at the Junction oval in heavy rain The Australasian describes scenes after the game:

Despite the weather,the Magpies had good support away from their home base with a demonstrative section of the Woods barrackers (who came)..in all kinds of conveyances from their populous city, and the going home in the rain of these exalted supporters in wood and coal carts, furniture vans, pony barrows etc, was a diverting spectacle.

A journalist from the Herald wrote about the opening moments of the 1911 GF against Essendon:

Collingwood looked smart and athletic with bare , muscular arms the size one would have fancied in a tug-of-war, but Essendon were wiser in wearing sleeves to their jackets- a fact which Collingwood realised long before half time.

There are many more gems. I highly recommend this book.

 

[Len Oakes]

I am currently reading a fascinating biography on Jock McHale by Glenn McFarlane. It contains countless gems but the overwhelming fact that emerges is that nothing has changed over more than a century with regard to fans, players or admin.

Here are some juicy snippets.

Here's a letter to the Herald from a supporter after we copped our biggest flogging in our 20 year history in the season following our premiership in 1910.

As an old supporter of the Magpies, it appears to me that their attack is very weak and the defence is even weaker than the attack.The fact is, the past reputation of the club won't bring in new players, they have to be looked for, and the sooner the committee emerge from the seclusion of their luxuriously appointed room under the grandstand and hustle a bit like the officials of other league clubs, the better for Collingwood.

When the Coronation honours were declared, the story goes that a young lad on a train bound for Victoria Park station noted the honours in the Herald and exclaimed, What! No Dick Lee!"

Carlton coach Frank Worrall told his players,

"Boys, booze and football do not mix. You have to cut back on one or the other. Players who prefer beer to eucalyptus will be struck off the list."

Here are a few lines of the lyrics Collingwoood fans created for a popular song (Little Dame Trot) in 1905.

There's Proudfoot, Rush and Dummett, the back fort in the team:
And Nash and Leach and Condon, the greatest followers whenever seen,
All play with Collingwood Eighteen, the Eighteen of great fame,
So there's honour to those Magpies, the premiers at the game.

In response to internal divisions within the team in 1906 where players were refusing to kick to certain teammates "when the passing could easily have been done and would have resulted in benefit to the team" the Collingwood committee took the following course of action:

The executive have kept in reserve some very capable recruits, and these are being brought in to fill in the places that are being compulsorily vacated by men who in the past have been star performers but whose club patriotism has succumbed to trivial disappointment. Possibly a few weeks spent in cool reflection on the other side of the pickets will have a curative effect on the disordered players.

Our beloved Club song was penned by a Collingwood player in 1906 and put to the Boer War tune , Goodbye Dolly Gray. The player, Tom Nelson only played three games for the club but he lives on in the song which has been sung by generations of Pie fans.

After a six point win over St Kilda at the Junction oval in heavy rain The Australasian describes scenes after the game:

Despite the weather,the Magpies had good support away from their home base with a demonstrative section of the Woods barrackers (who came)..in all kinds of conveyances from their populous city, and the going home in the rain of these exalted supporters in wood and coal carts, furniture vans, pony barrows etc, was a diverting spectacle.

A journalist from the Herald wrote about the opening moments of the 1911 GF against Essendon:

Collingwood looked smart and athletic with bare , muscular arms the size one would have fancied in a tug-of-war, but Essendon were wiser in wearing sleeves to their jackets- a fact which Collingwood realised long before half time.

There are many more gems. I highly recommend this book.

My favourite McHale-ism was his final advice before the players ran on the field: "If you can't win the game, win the bloody fight!"

 

[loki04]

A journalist from the Herald wrote about the opening moments of the 1911 GF against Essendon:

Collingwood looked smart and athletic with bare , muscular arms the size one would have fancied in a tug-of-war, but Essendon were wiser in wearing sleeves to their jackets- a fact which Collingwood realised long before half time.

There are many more gems. I highly recommend this book.

LMAO lost cause we were Sleeve-less! haha

 

[Markfs]

LMAO lost cause we were Sleeve-less! haha

i prefer to blame bucks...

 

[DWil6]

I'll say one thing for certain, Essendon were never 'wiser'! The ultimate basket case.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MagpieJoel]

I've got this book. Read a bit recently, but haven't had a chance to finish it. I'll try and do so soon I think.

 

[76woodenspooners]

I purchased the online version on iBooks a few days ago. Only $10.

I'm enjoying it.

I've learnt that I've been driving past the great man's birthplace most days over the last 7 years.

 

[Markfs]

I purchased the online version on iBooks a few days ago. Only $10.

I'm enjoying it.

I've learnt that I've been driving past the great man's birthplace most days over the last 7 years.

so you've been driving past my old home in east brunswick eh ....btw no need to refer to me as great...outstanding will do

 

[Vicky Park]

It's a good read. Love the connection between Collingwood and the old breweries. Have worked on a few of these in recent times, and they are fascinating historical complexes. Collingwood and Abbotsford had a high proportion of brewers and maltsters and boot factories, all of which employed our players. But I digress...

 

[76woodenspooners]

so you've been driving past my old home in east brunswick eh ....btw no need to refer to me as great...outstanding will do

Try Botany Road Alexandria

 

[Markfs]

Try Botany Road Alexandria

oh well... you never know ....there might be another famous collingwood person born in that street too..

 

[Mkcaptain]

To anyone has read the book would they recommend it? I have a $20 Dymocks voucher I need to use

 

[domus]

To anyone has read the book would they recommend it? I have a $20 Dymocks voucher I need to use

I am loving it but I am a big fan of anything historical-being about the Pies is an added bonus. It covers all of Jock's playing career season by season and the same with his coaching. It's filled with anecdotes from games throughout each season and the behind the scenes manoeuvrings as well as touching on the two wars, depression and other important events which impacted on Australians and our footy.

 

[76woodenspooners]

To anyone has read the book would they recommend it? I have a $20 Dymocks voucher I need to use

Depends what you like.

If you're expecting a Dickins' novel ...

"... Wheezer the Geezer walked briskly and purposefully down Smith Street Collingwood. He pulled the collar of his grey trenchcoat up over his cheeks to protect them not from the crisp evening air, but from recognition by any of the other creatures of the night. Wheezer looked around nervously before darting around the corner into the alley, his silhouette extinguishing into piles of rubbish and abandoned building materials. Wheezer's pulse quickened with his pace. He counted the windows of the derelict building until he got to five. A cat yelped in the night and Wheezer collapsed to the ground in terror. He quickly collected himself, not bothering with the mud and rat dung now decorating his trenchcoat. He felt around the brickwork under the fifth window until he found the one that was loose. His chewed fingernails struggled to get purchase on the brick, but with two hands he managed to slide it free. He reached into the vacated hole to grab the envelope he was expecting. He felt its thickness, the bills inside were generous. He looked up and down the alley, then knocked three times on window number five and called in a wavering voice "The fuzz are coming to visit on Thursday at 6 o'clock". Wheezer didn't know and didn't care who was on the other size of window number five, his next mission was to put distance between him and this wretched place. The truth was that nobody was behind window number five. As Wheezer ran back towards Smith Street, he failed to notice the alley was filled with the shadow cast by the full moon over John Wren up on top of the fire exit, three stories above ..."

... you'll be disappointed, it's more like ...

"... It's unclear whether Jock kicked his first goal of the year in round five or round six, but according to HonkeyTonk reporting for The Argus "All good folk and gentry who bore witness to McHaile's (sic) prowess against the Maroons and the Blues over the last two rounds were left doubtless as to his ability to direct the Sherrin betwixt the tall sticks ..."

 

[Magnus the Magpie]

I am currently reading a fascinating biography on Jock McHale by Glenn McFarlane. It contains countless gems but the overwhelming fact that emerges is that nothing has changed over more than a century with regard to fans, players or admin.

Here are some juicy snippets. -------

Our beloved Club song was penned by a Collingwood player in 1906 and put to the Boer War tune , Goodbye Dolly Gray. The player, Tom Nelson only played three games for the club but he lives on in the song which has been sung by generations of Pie fans.-------


There are many more gems. I highly recommend this book.

Off topic but it actually first appeared during the earlier Spanish-American war. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodbye,_Dolly_Gray.

 

[Trickster]

I must say I have had this book for about a year now and just couldn't get through it having stopped about half way. I found it heavy going particularly when it was almost going through round by round analysis.

I need to give it another crack. In the meantime I've read Moneyball, lethal, the blind side and read them within a week or 2 but for some reason as excited as I was when I bought this, I just found it too onerous to read.

I know this is sacrilege but did anyone else find it a bit too much?

 

[76woodenspooners]

I must say I have had this book for about a year now and just couldn't get through it having stopped about half way. I found it heavy going particularly when it was almost going through round by round analysis.

I need to give it another crack. In the meantime I've read Moneyball, lethal, the blind side and read them within a week or 2 but for some reason as excited as I was when I bought this, I just found it too onerous to read.

I know this is sacrilege but did anyone else find it a bit too much?

I read it cover to cover quite quickly, but I know exactly what you mean.

It was clearly well researched, but it just lacked the personality to draw the reader into the page.

It was more a history treatise, something that only the Collingwood history buffs would enjoy. What it needs is a skilled novelist to get in amongst all those facts and testimonies and weave a first person novel around it.

 

[Trickster]

I read it cover to cover quite quickly, but I know exactly what you mean.

It was clearly well researched, but it just lacked the personality to draw the reader into the page.

It was more a history treatise, something that only the Collingwood history buffs would enjoy. What it needs is a skilled novelist to get in amongst all those facts and testimonies and weave a first person novel around it.

Yeah well summed up. Exactly how I felt. I will give it another go though just bought a book about the 1990 premiership this morning which I can't wait to read first. I wasn't aware of it but it was written by Michael Gleeson in 2010. Found it for $8 at aust post.

 

[Demonalke]

#bringbackJock

 

[fabulousphil]

It's a good read. Love the connection between Collingwood and the old breweries. Have worked on a few of these in recent times, and they are fascinating historical complexes. Collingwood and Abbotsford had a high proportion of brewers and maltsters and boot factories, all of which employed our players. But I digress...

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/pubs-associated-with-stadiums.1018614/page-2#post-29318170

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/pubs-associated-with-stadiums.1018614/page-2#post-29332202

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/pubs-associated-with-stadiums.1018614/page-2#post-29389867