There are moments in a coach’s career that are so regretful that they sit in the recesses of your mind and haunt you forever. Just when you think it’s been erased, it turns up like an itch on your back that you can’t quite reach to scratch.
For me, it was quarter time of the 1997 Upper Great Southern League Grand Final in WA. As playing coach of Boddington I approached the huddle with my team 8 goals down to the premiership favourites, Williams. My brain was in an altered state. I looked at the coach’s board but saw nothing. My chairman of selectors Terry suggested something but it was to no avail. My address to the players started calmly but quickly turned into a maniacal tirade that contained more profanity than a Glasgow pub. It was during this that I punched one of my players in the chest. He was a solidly built defender and he went reeling back into his teammates and it was then and only then that I paused to reflect on my disgraceful behaviour.
We went on to lose by 105 points I think…and despite doing lots of positive things since 1997 to eradicate the memory of that day, it still rears its ugly head.
Damian Drum arrived at WFC with Leon Harris in 1990 and was made vice-captain He started a business in Hoppers Crossing selling garages and sheds and was a genuinely hard and skilful footballer. He had no fear on the field and as a result his nose had been broken several times over his career to the point where it looked like the legendary boxing commentator and actor Gus Mercurio.
Greg and I found it easy to write this one. Drummy took it in good humour and he did actually have his nose fixed after his playing career finished. Enter “Drummy’s Head” sung to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising”.
I’ve seen multi-car collisions
I’ve seen pain and poverty
I’ve seen zits on hairy arses
And I’ve seen the worst kind of V.D.
Don’t get him in sight
He’s bound to take your life
Drummy’s Head – it’s not nice
I’ve been to the Nuremberg Trials
I saw Vietnam on TV
I’ve seen an infected case of piles
But only one thing is really gross to see
Don’t get him in sight
He’s bound to take your life
Drummy’s Head – it’s not nice
Drummy was (and still is I’m sure) a very positive individual with serious ambitions. He has risen from humble beginnings to coach an AFL team, be appointed a state MP and is now a Federal MP based in his hometown of Shepparton. Only issue with Drummy was that he could sometimes get ahead of himself. Allow me to explain.
One December pre-season night at Chirnside Park, Leon couldn’t make training so he handed it over to Drummy. Drummy thought it would be creative to take us on a 7km run in searing heat on the road towards Geelong. Halfway there we veered left into nowhere land but suddenly an increasingly foul smell overcame us. We soon realized we were running into the Werribee Treatment Plant, the “epicenter” of all things “poo” in Melbourne. There were a couple of cars parked on a small bridge to take us back. Unfortunately under the bridge was a gushing torrent of raw sewerage. Drummy thought it was hilarious and character building to see a few players vomiting and others visibly distressed.
After 1992 the club appointed Donald McDonald as the coach as they searched for a playing coach. Drummy was disappointed at not getting the opportunity but got the gig at Port Melbourne where he coached them to the minor premiership. History shows we knocked Port off twice that year including the most important game of all.
Fast forward to 1997 and I’m working in Perth and arrange to meet Drummy at a hotel where the Sydney Swans are staying and he is working as Assistant Coach. I was coaching Boddington and was hoping Drummy could enlighten me as to how the Swan’s “flooding” devised by Rodney Eade, actually worked. These tactics had made the SCG virtually impenetrable to visiting teams in 1996 and nearly gained them a premiership so I was hoping to discover an edge for my team who were probably the 4th best team in our league.
We went to Drummy’s room and he kindly took me through the process called “push up”. After a nice catch-up, Drummy said he had a confession he needed to mention. At the end of the 1993 VFA Grand Final there was as we know, one of the nastiest brawls ever seen, particularly when the general public were running amok on the ground. Drummy having reached his tether, considered ringing the runner and asked him to “man handle” an umpire, knowing too well that the game would be called off and replayed the following week. The game had been reduced to such a level of devastation for Port and Drummy was ashamed that such a thought had even crossed his mind.
Drummy’s advice with the “push up” process took Boddington to another level. We won our last 9 games, beat the top 2 teams to reach the Grand Final then sadly got smacked. It truly doesn’t matter what level you play and coach, losing a Grand Final just leaves you numb and with a strange sense of isolation. As a coach you take things harder than most and even though Drummy’s confession in that hotel room came as shock at the time, I found that going through my own experience and subsequent anguish, brought me a bit closer to the man with the flat nose.
Congratulations on a great career on and off the field Drummy.
