Past Michael Conlan (1977-1989)

[Dylan12]

Fitzroy’s reserves reunite
May 13, 2013
Sam Lord

MICHAEL CONLAN
On whether he was involved in the third quarter melee
“Certainly not. At that stage of my career, being 31 years of age, I was well beyond that.

When it did start to happen, I admit that I started to feel sorry for the guys getting hit. Our players did become quite aggressive, and it certainly changed the game.

I cringed a little bit at some of the punches that were thrown, and it sent a shock through Geelong. It certainly sparked a bit of enthusiasm for the rest of our players, and then fortunately we went on and played football.”

Mick standing next to Leon Harris, the man who delivered the pass to him in the 86 EF against the Bombers at VFL Park which enabled a very quiet Conlan to goal and leave a very young Dylan12 with one of his greatest all time footy memories.

Some great names in that 89 GF team: Johnny Ironmonger, Doc Wheildon, Leon Harris, Mick Dwyer, Ross Thornton etc.

 

[Ruse]

Is this the dad of that conlan kid in the draft?

 

[Dylan12]

Is this the dad of that conlan kid in the draft?

Don't think so.

I actually played junior footy with one of his sons quite a few years back and they are well and truly past draft age unless he had another kid in the mid 90's.

 

[Dylan12]

Loved Mick in the TV commercial Gazey pulled out in the 'Turn it Up' segment on After the Bounce.

Cringe worthy Tank.

 

[Dylan12]

Blast from the Past
6 June 2013

After a glittering career with Fitzroy that spanned 13 years, what are your fondest memories from your time with the Club?
I was probably very fortunate to come into the Club at a time we were just on the rise.

In those days Fitzroy probably had one of the best high performance centres, as we call them now, in the League and the Junction Oval had the best playing surface. The fitness centre was fantastic – we had amenities around Albert Park and an abundance of ovals and all had fantastic facilities.

Throughout my 13 years I truly felt we could win the flag in probably nine of those. We used to run down the race thinking we could beat any team.

I played in nine finals with Fitzroy, a Night Grand Final in 1978, and finished off in 1989 with a reserve grade premiership.

1989 was an amazing story. We won three games in a row at Waverley to get into the Grand Final. The first was a really tough game against Footscray, which was followed by an even tougher game against Essendon who everyone thought were a better side than us. Then we went in as underdogs against Carlton and really took them by storm and knocked them over to get into the Grand Final. So we actually had a really long journey and played it really hard.

It was the last premiership that Fitzroy ever won, and having been at Fitzroy for the 13 years, it was pretty unique that about 5-6 – including guys like Mark Scott, Leon Harris, and Ross Thornton - who had come through together retired after that game.

It was also a very unique and amazing feeling to be able play your last game in front of nearly 100,000 people at the MCG and to hold the trophy at the end.

That 1989 Reserves Grand Final between Fitzroy and Geelong is well-known for the brawl that broke out after half-time. Did you play any role in facilitating that?

Definitely not. At that stage of my career, being 31 years of age, I was well beyond that. When it did start to happen, I actually started to feel a bit sorry for the guys that were getting hit. A couple of our players did turn quite aggressive on them, and it certainly changed the game.

I cringed a little bit. A couple of the punches that were thrown I think sent a bit of a shock through the Geelong and it certainly turned on some aggressive and sparked some enthusiasm among the rest of the players. Fortunately after that, we went on to play football.

You currently hold the CEO position at AFL Queensland. What does that role involve?

I’m sort of looking after all community and grass roots football in Queensland, which is great. We look after everything outside of the League clubs.

We’ve got over a hundred people and we have 17 satellite offices around Queensland, so we are certainly trying to grow the game in the northern parts of Australia and take on a very competitive environment in Rugby League, Rugby Union and soccer.

It’s a great opportunity and certainly we are growing the game very rapidly so it’s very exciting.

The Brisbane Lions will be a darn sight better organisation with this man as CEO instead of a Kiwi with no AFL experience or sympathy towards a club's history.

 

[Crimso]

Blast from the Past
6 June 2013



The Brisbane Lions will be a darn sight better organisation with this man as CEO instead of a Kiwi with no AFL experience or sympathy towards a club's history.

Have I missed something?

 

[Dylan12]

 

[Dylan12]

Open Mike: Michael Conlan says Paul Roos’ premiership success with Sydney felt like his

WHEN Paul Roos coached Sydney to its 2005 premiership, he celebrated with his former Fitzroy teammates, who regarded his success as theirs.

Michael Conlan — Roos’ teammate in the late ‘80s — said the playing group were ecstatic “one of us” had tasted the ultimate success, given the trauma they had endured when the Lions merged with the Brisbane Bears in 1996.

“To have one of us go on to coach a premiership team was a fantastic achievement,” he told Fox Footy’s Open Mike. “Paul never really wanted to leave Fitzroy. Neither did Gary Pert. Inevitably he went on to the Sydney Swans and he achieved the ultimate dream in football in coaching a premiership team. “To have one of us, as we would say, to go and celebrate that among the playing group that he came through was a fantastic opportunity.”

Conlan said the playing group’s bond had endured because despite having poor training facilities and a lack of depth, they were “probably the hardest working group in the competition”.

Indeed, Conlan earned the nickname of the “tank” for his own meticulous dedication to strength training, which was years ahead of being in vogue.

He played 210 games for Fitzroy across 13 seasons, including nine finals. Despite this, Conlan said the misconception that the Lions were a poor team during his career persisted today.

“In 1979, my third season, we made the finals for the first time in twenty to thirty years and during that period of time we played in nine finals matches,” he said. “We won a night premiership and I felt that through those 13 years — particularly 1979 through to 1986 — a year didn’t go by when I didn’t think we could make the finals. “We had some amazing leaders in Gary Wilson and Bernie Quinlan and running out behind those guys you really thought you could win. They were fantastic years for Fitzroy.”

 

[Last of the Roys]

Really great Open Mike with Micky Conlan. God it would be great to get him down to the Lions at the moment and speak of all of the training and effort that he and his Fitzroy team mates put in despite having the worst facilities in the league - and how they paid off for them.

I would really love to see him involved in the Lions in some official capacity in the future. He would make a great CEO or Board member. He speaks so well and clearly has a great business and football acumen (not that I want to push Greg Swann out any time soon - I have a lot of confidence in Swann at the moment).