There has been no finer month in Warragul history, triggered Rob Ballingall says, by unwavering belief and a fitness level to rival any VFL team.
Self belief is an amazingly powerful weapon. Warragul had limped into the Latrobe Valley finals in 1984, without defeating any of the fancied teams in the premiership race. Yet coach Graeme Gahan insisted that the team's best would be good enough and Warragul steamrolled the opposition in one of the emphatic September campaigns in Gippsland history.
‘Graeme insisted that we had to believe in ourselves, no matter what,' said captain Rob ‘Bingle' Ballingall. ‘We were massive underdogs going in, yet ended up beating Morwell in the first-semi by 52 points, Leongatha in the preliminary by 44 and then Traralgon in the Grannie by 83 points. It was an amazing month for us.'
Ballingall, a 600-game centreman, dined out on the rucking dominance of ex-Sandringham giant John ‘Super' McNicholas who was among the best afield on Grand Final at Moe.
‘We were a good honest team on a bit of a roll,' Ballingall said. ‘We were also very fit. On the Tuesday night before the Grand Final, we did 20 or 30 two hundred metre sprints in the dark. We'd done it in the lead-up to the finals and we did more and more of them the further we advanced. We had plenty of run in our legs!'
Logan Park was used for the Warragul dogs and trots, the players training in the centre part with floodlights the equal of the MCG. But come 7 pm and the first race, they had to be off, so would go out the back onto a smaller oval and complete their extra fitness work.
Of McNicholas' dominance, he said: ‘The first day big John turned up and was introduced as our new ruckman, he looked like a Mac truck,' said Ballingall. ‘He couldn't jump or run but he could take a mark and tap the ball out to you. He was a great protector too. He dominated for us throughout that final's campaign.'
Ballingall said Warragul fielded its best team at the right time and while Grand Final opponents Traralgon included country stars like Russell Northe and Peter Hall, Warragul's brilliant start was crucial. ‘In each of those three finals, we kicked seven or eight goals in the first quarter. We got on a roll allright,' he said.
It was the most memorable September in Ballingall's 35 years in the game. It's also the only Grand Final he ever won, ‘out of 30-something finals'. The day was made even sweeter as his younger brother Michael captained the seconds to a flag.
‘In my first five years at Warragul I reckon we went out of it five times in a row the very first week, so it was a great day all round for us,' he said.
Simon Hogan was best and fairest that year while Steve Dunkley kicked six in the Grand Final. Peter Quirk was best on the ground from the 16-stone rucking giant McNicholas and Ian Twite.
The team was:
B.: Tony Nott, Peter Risstrom, Ian Dunn
H.B.: Alex Morrison, Fred DeReiter Peter Quirk
C.; Trevor Smith, Robert Ballingall, Peter Ross
H.F.: Simon Hogan, Stephen Hodge, Mark Ridgway
F.; Howard Cropley, Steve Dunkley, Michael Vick
Rucks: John McNicholas, Ian Twite
Rov: Alan Ross
Interchange: Terry Kilday, Chris Ayres
Scottish-born Ballingall played 376 games at Warragul and another 200-plus with Ellinbank. Originally he'd been keener on soccer and played for years when he first arrived in Australia as a 10-year-old. Other than a brief stint with Hawthorn reserves in 1981, alongside up-and-comers including Gary Ablett and Dermott Brereton, Ballingall played all his footy in the bush, his distinguished CV including six senior best and fairests at Warragul and selection in the first Victorian Country representative team which played against the ACT in Canberra in 1980.
Prolific sports writer KEN PIESSE is set to release his new book FOOTBALL LEGENDS OF THE BUSH on August 1. It features home town heroes and those who came and conquered. An ‘A to Z' town by town list of every important player to play at VFL/AFL level is also included. For more, visit Ken's website www.cricketbooks.com.au
• Excerpts from Football Legends of the Bush, Ken Piesse's 64th book, being published by Penguin on August 1.
Article first appeared www.vcfl.com.au July 12, 2011