Leon Harris coached the WFC from 1990-1992. Originally from Mortlake in the western district of Victoria he played over 200 games with Fitzroy, represented the Big V and was voted most courageous by his peers in the VFL. His nickname was ‘Mork” due to his likeness to the late Robin Williams but unlike the great comedian, I never found Leon to be the funniest bloke I’d ever met!
Demanding, hard and brutal are words that come to mind when I think of Leon. Having said that, you wouldn’t meet a nicer bloke off the field. I credit him with having a big influence on my footy and he taught me to take my contested ball to another level. Leon played the first 2 years at the club and he was a psycho when the ball was within a metre of him. He only had eyes for the ball but was always committed to as much collateral damage as he could muster! He wore shin pads which I’d never seen before but I soon worked out why. Ironically I spent the 1993 season wearing shin pads after causing my own level of collateral damage I had learned from the “Little Master” himself.
Leon’s mentors at Fitzroy had been David Parkin and Robert Walls, two very educated but tough coaches. Walls in particular bordered on evil with some of his methods and Leon wasn’t afraid to hand out varying types of torture that challenged the Geneva Convention! I still remember the “holding the arms out” drill before finishing training whilst being “baited” verbally by this hideous 5 foot 7 inch man! He was a genuinely annoying individual so I was glad he was on my side.
Leon married his childhood sweetheart and had 5 children very quickly. Greg and I thought a song about Mork’s wife and the long suffering pain of having to put up with his obsessiveness to footy would be appropriate. Enter “Watching Mork”, sung to Paul Kelly’s “To Her Door”.
They got married early
They met at the footy
He was short and ugly
Looked a bit like Mork
She followed him to Fitzroy
Then popped out the first boy
Then popped out the second boy
Followed by the rest
She said, “I just wanna cry”
“With 5 kids standing by”
At the footy
Watching Mork
Watching Mork x 2
She looks at the other wives
They live fairly happy lives
We’re living on the breadline
Mork you’re never home
She won’t get off Mork’s back
Says he’s just an old hack
Mork you’ve got to face facts
Give the game away
She said, “I just wanna cry”
“With 5 kids standing by”
At the footy
Watching Mork
Watching Mork x 2
Thanks for the memories Mork.
Cheers
Willow
