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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
Following a challenge by Big Jack, Dyer'ere, I've gone on a hunt to findout the whereabouts of Roderick "Ricky" McLean in 1973.
Some of you may remember that big day in September in 1973,
1. When Big Nick went down 4 minutes into the first quarter, via Laurie Fowler.
2. When Balmey took 2 big swings and connected both times with Southby who wasn't seen again after halftime.
3. Where Vin Waite crawled into his shell, and never came out, and,
4. Little Vinnie Cattagio was seen running off the ground with brown stains on the rear of his shorts.
Initially, as you may recall, I looked at the 1973 premiership side,
B: Fowler, Clay, Hunt
HB: Bourke, McGhie, Keane
C: Wood, Stewart, Walsh
HF: Sheedy, Hart, Rae
F: Green, Balme, Carter
R: Roberts, Sproule
Ro: Bartlett
Res: McKellar, Morris
Unfortunately, Ricky wasn't to be found there, so Big Jack suggested that I look in the preliminary final side.
You may remember the preliminary final.
1. At half time the scores were:
Coll 10-7-67
Rich 4-7-31
2. Roycey replaced Robbie Lamb at halftime, kicked 2 goals and the Tiges won
Rich 15-15-105
Coll 14-14-98, Phew!
The Tiger team that day was:
B: Fowler, Clay, McGhie
HB: Sheedy, Bourke, Keane
C: Walsh, Stewart, Wood
HF: Rae, Hunt, Lamb
F: Green, Balme, Carter
R: Roberts, Sproule
Ro: Bartlett
Res: McKellar, Hart
But no Ricky McLean
Might he have been in the Reserves or the U19s.
You remember our mighty Tiger Reserves & U19s on Grand Final Day.
Not only did we win the Seniors, not only the Reserves, not only the U19s, but also the Tiger Fourths, (Essex Heights U17s) won the premiership.
The coaches & captains respectively were:
Seniors, Tom Hafey & Royce Hart
Reserves, Col Saddington coach, with Roger Dean & Bill Nalder co-captains
U19s, Ray Jordan & Emmett Dunne (16yo at the time)
Fourths, don't know who coached, but Geoff Anderson captained.
(The U17s captain was older than the U19s captain.)
The Reserves were:
B: Carroll, Elliott, D.Cloke
HB: McMillan, Betts, F.Jackson
C: Wes Barrott, Glyn Hewitt (Leyton's dad), Murray Thompson (curr Vic MP, & Lindsay's son.)
HF: Dean, Allford, Lamb
F: Taubert, Teasdale (yes), Lawry
R: Nalder, Nettlefold
Ro: Cumming
Res: Gaunt, Maple
The U19s were:
B: Roberts, Jenkinson, Miller
HB: Crane, Smith, Kelly
C: Hayes, Holdsworth, Clayton
HF: Gill, Dunne, Kerr
F: Herbert, Dickson, Baxter
R: Jackson, Parsons
Ro: Orvis
Res: Atkinson, Johnson
(Emmett Dunne, 16yo captain of the U19s was BOG with 4 goals.)
But no sign of Ricky McLean. (I didn't expect to find him in the U19s.)
Eventually I went back to the semi final that year that we lost to Carlton, where Roycey in a lone-hand gallant effort kicked 5 goals.
The team was:
B: Fowler, Clay, McKellar
HB: Sheedy, McGhie, Keane
C: Walsh, Stewart, Wood
HF: Hart, Hunt, Sproule
F: Balme, McLean, Cummng
R: Roberts, Green
Ro: Bartlett
Res: Rae, Allford
Rae replaced McLean at 3/4 time, McLean goalless. Rae went on to play in a premiership, McLean didn't get any kind of a guernsey on Grand Final Day.
In 1972, when we lost a GF, he finished equal Top Goal Kicker with 55. He left the ground at halftime, with a hamstring, with 1 goal.
In 1973, when we won 4 premierships on the one day, well, Tommy had given up completely on one particular unfit, undisciplined player.
So there's the answer to the mystery of Roderick "Ricky" McLean.
Epilogue:
Why do I write this?
I saw Ricky McLean's last reserves game at the MCG in 1976.
He was 29yo at that time. My recollection was that the South Melbourne reserves at that time would have been made up of boys. A 29yo man running around knocking out teenage, or close to teenage, boys.
I look at it now, as a 45yo father, and think what a pitiful thing to do.
I'm glad the then VFL tribunal handed him a 16 week suspension, effectively telling him to get out of the game.
Some of you may remember that big day in September in 1973,
1. When Big Nick went down 4 minutes into the first quarter, via Laurie Fowler.
2. When Balmey took 2 big swings and connected both times with Southby who wasn't seen again after halftime.
3. Where Vin Waite crawled into his shell, and never came out, and,
4. Little Vinnie Cattagio was seen running off the ground with brown stains on the rear of his shorts.
Initially, as you may recall, I looked at the 1973 premiership side,
B: Fowler, Clay, Hunt
HB: Bourke, McGhie, Keane
C: Wood, Stewart, Walsh
HF: Sheedy, Hart, Rae
F: Green, Balme, Carter
R: Roberts, Sproule
Ro: Bartlett
Res: McKellar, Morris
Unfortunately, Ricky wasn't to be found there, so Big Jack suggested that I look in the preliminary final side.
You may remember the preliminary final.
1. At half time the scores were:
Coll 10-7-67
Rich 4-7-31
2. Roycey replaced Robbie Lamb at halftime, kicked 2 goals and the Tiges won
Rich 15-15-105
Coll 14-14-98, Phew!
The Tiger team that day was:
B: Fowler, Clay, McGhie
HB: Sheedy, Bourke, Keane
C: Walsh, Stewart, Wood
HF: Rae, Hunt, Lamb
F: Green, Balme, Carter
R: Roberts, Sproule
Ro: Bartlett
Res: McKellar, Hart
But no Ricky McLean
Might he have been in the Reserves or the U19s.
You remember our mighty Tiger Reserves & U19s on Grand Final Day.
Not only did we win the Seniors, not only the Reserves, not only the U19s, but also the Tiger Fourths, (Essex Heights U17s) won the premiership.
The coaches & captains respectively were:
Seniors, Tom Hafey & Royce Hart
Reserves, Col Saddington coach, with Roger Dean & Bill Nalder co-captains
U19s, Ray Jordan & Emmett Dunne (16yo at the time)
Fourths, don't know who coached, but Geoff Anderson captained.
(The U17s captain was older than the U19s captain.)
The Reserves were:
B: Carroll, Elliott, D.Cloke
HB: McMillan, Betts, F.Jackson
C: Wes Barrott, Glyn Hewitt (Leyton's dad), Murray Thompson (curr Vic MP, & Lindsay's son.)
HF: Dean, Allford, Lamb
F: Taubert, Teasdale (yes), Lawry
R: Nalder, Nettlefold
Ro: Cumming
Res: Gaunt, Maple
The U19s were:
B: Roberts, Jenkinson, Miller
HB: Crane, Smith, Kelly
C: Hayes, Holdsworth, Clayton
HF: Gill, Dunne, Kerr
F: Herbert, Dickson, Baxter
R: Jackson, Parsons
Ro: Orvis
Res: Atkinson, Johnson
(Emmett Dunne, 16yo captain of the U19s was BOG with 4 goals.)
But no sign of Ricky McLean. (I didn't expect to find him in the U19s.)
Eventually I went back to the semi final that year that we lost to Carlton, where Roycey in a lone-hand gallant effort kicked 5 goals.
The team was:
B: Fowler, Clay, McKellar
HB: Sheedy, McGhie, Keane
C: Walsh, Stewart, Wood
HF: Hart, Hunt, Sproule
F: Balme, McLean, Cummng
R: Roberts, Green
Ro: Bartlett
Res: Rae, Allford
Rae replaced McLean at 3/4 time, McLean goalless. Rae went on to play in a premiership, McLean didn't get any kind of a guernsey on Grand Final Day.
In 1972, when we lost a GF, he finished equal Top Goal Kicker with 55. He left the ground at halftime, with a hamstring, with 1 goal.
In 1973, when we won 4 premierships on the one day, well, Tommy had given up completely on one particular unfit, undisciplined player.
So there's the answer to the mystery of Roderick "Ricky" McLean.
Epilogue:
Why do I write this?
I saw Ricky McLean's last reserves game at the MCG in 1976.
He was 29yo at that time. My recollection was that the South Melbourne reserves at that time would have been made up of boys. A 29yo man running around knocking out teenage, or close to teenage, boys.
I look at it now, as a 45yo father, and think what a pitiful thing to do.
I'm glad the then VFL tribunal handed him a 16 week suspension, effectively telling him to get out of the game.