Don't you believe it, as Finley's newly-appointed, keen to achieve captain-coach Ken Shaw was to find out...Ken Shaw had just been appointed Finley's new captain-coach (1957) and keen to impress, he listened to all sorts of advice. Finley was playing top-notchers Cobram, coached by ex-Kangaroo Les Mogg from St Pat's, Ballarat. Pre-match, one of his teammates, Ray Brooks, suggested to Shaw that Mogg was soft and could easily be knocked off his game.

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From the opening bounce, Shaw was into him, cuffing, scruffing and generally trying to take Mogg's mind off immediate business. When he continued his tactics into the second quarter, Mogg let fly with a back-handed forearm which collected Shaw straight across the bridge of his nose. A bloodied Shaw wasn't sure who to be angrier with... Mogg or teammate Brooks, who had known more than he'd let on!

Mogg said it was the only time in almost 20 years as a player that he deliberately hit anyone. ‘If he hadn't stopped me from going for the ball I wouldn't have worried about it,' he said.

‘But he was holding me back and I didn't think it was on. I got him absolutely flush. I knew I had because I could hear the bones in his nose breaking! Funnily enough we became pretty good mates after that!'

Mogg was to win four flags in his seven years as Cobram's coach including three in a row from 1959-61. During his leadership reign, the Tigers won an unprecedented 35 games on end. Returning in 1984 as non-playing coach, he won another.

Asked the secrets of his success, he said: ‘I learnt early in the piece you get good people around you and you sit back. Good coaching is largely to do with the talent you have. You don't have to be super smart. You help them to do their best and to help each other.

The influence of coaches is overrated. You just have to look at the records of successful coaches when they do go to lower clubs to see that.'

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Finley was playing Numurkah late in the '82 season. It hadn't been beaten in 36 matches.

After Finley won the toss, the start was delayed while each Finley player had black armguards fitted in memory of club stalwart Phyllis Thornton.

Captain Mark Newton took his place in the forward line and the rest of the team fell into their respective positions. As so often happened in Murray League football of that era, Finley's spring-heeled ruckman Michael Hawkins judged the first bounce perfectly, immediately involving rover Mark O'Bryan.

Dashing clear ‘The Pup' delivered towards the fast-leading full forward Darren Jackson. The pass was a little high and spilled over Jackson's head into the hands of a Numurkah player who calmly snapped the ball over his shoulder straight through the hi-diddle-diddle!

Newton and the Finley players were looking at each other in bewilderment.

What was going on?

Yes, they'd all lined-up in the wrong positions!

All 36 players were hell bent on getting the ball through the same set of goals!

It set a trend for the game. While the Finley forwards then did take their proper places, the die had been caste. Numurkah won the game and Finley's great run of wins was over.

• 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

Article first appeared www.vcfl.com.au July 19, 2011