Templeton's day out
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The Western Bulldogs unexpected victory over St Kilda last Saturday week ended a run of eight straight loses to the Saints. Whilst recent clashes between these sides could be aptly described as “aesthetically putrid” the same couldn’t be said of two freewheeling, high scoring, home and away meetings they shared 35 years ago.
Any Footscrayite over the age of 50, or those within sight of that golden milestone, would have fond memories of Round 13 1978, an all too rare perfect afternoon for the good burghers of Postcode 3012. As the legend of that mid-winter clash grows with each passing year, the early season skirmish between the two clubs sinks further from the public’s recollection. The game took place against a back drop of a resurgent host, and an opponent that appeared to be in the process of imploding.
St Kilda, wooden spoon recipient in season 1977, provided new coach Mike Patterson with a memorable start to his VFL coaching career by posting an eight point victory over Fitzroy on the opening day of its 1978 campaign. Footscray’s April 1 task involved a visit from reigning premier North Melbourne, and for the sixth year in a row, the short trip down Dynon Road proved anything but difficult for Ron Barassi’s men. After two hours of April fool’s day footy it was the hosts donning court jester attire, the Roos belting a beleaguered Bulldog team to the tune of 69 points.
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The first start debacle followed a summer of discontent for the ‘Scrays, the clubs finances so dire it had been forced to sell, or was in the process of finalising transfers, for stars such as Ray Huppatz, Bernie Quinlan, Laurie Sandilands & Dennis Collins - Collins’ clearance to Carlton finalised on Thursday April 6. The sight of the dashing wingman exiting through the doors of the Doggie Departure Lounge proved to be the catalyst for Billy Goggin, one game into his third season as senior coach of Footscray, to tender his resignation. Addressing reporters as he left the Western Oval that afternoon Goggin said “The fact is the club has no money and, to fulfil its obligations, are forced to sell players like Sandilands, Dennis Collins & Quinlan”. Goggin was the second high profile employee to exit the Barkly Street bunker that week after General Manager Warwick “Vic” Roach had quit his post 24 hours earlier.
Present day multi-media star Mike Sheahan reported the following morning in The Age, Melbourne’s daily broadsheet, “Footscray’s eternal hero Ted Whitten will interrupt his retirement to help fill the vacant coaching position created by the shock resignation of Billy Goggin”. His prognostication proved half right – Mr Football would assist reserves coach Don McKenzie prepare the senior team for its weekend assignment. As far as returning to the coach’s box on a full time basis, Whitten appeared open to the idea saying “If the Board asked me I would seriously consider the job”. VFL head honcho Dr Allen Aylett, attending a book launch in Sydney, cut short his visit to Harbour Town to attend a hastily arranged meeting with Footscray President Dick Collinson later that (Friday) afternoon. It was the second meeting between Collinson and Aylett in less than four months such were League headquarters concerns regarding Footscray’s ailing finances.
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In addition to their struggles both on and off the field, Footscray faced the prospect of facing a rejuvenated opponent at a venue that had provided it little joy over, the Bullies enjoying the spoils of victory just twice in thirteen visits to the South Road stadium. A good start was imperative and early goals to key forwards Kelvin Templeton (3) and Ian Morrison (2) helped them negotiate the first hurdle. At the first break it had established a handy 7.5-47 to 4.2-26 lead. Not to be outdone the Saints helped themselves to seven majors in the second period [George Young (4), Rex Hunt (2)], the deficit reduced to a slender five points (11.10-76 to 11.5-71) at intermission.
After 22 goals were scored in an hour's footy, the break neck pace dipped somewhat in the third quarter. Ted Whitten Jnr’s pair of six pointers accounted for the sum of his teams goals for the third term, while Rex Hunt & Russell Tweeddale’s fine form of the first half continued. It was the home team who went to the final break with a mere five point lead, 14.13-97 to 13.14-92.The scoring orgy enjoyed by the crowd of 18,540 during the initial sixty minutes of play resumed in the final period and resulted in both teams adding half a dozen goals apiece. When the dust had settled, St Kilda 20.16-136 defeated Footscray 19.15-129, the winners taking their record to 2-0, the Bulldogs, ignoring their off-field woes, were valiant in defeat. For the victors Rex Hunt (20 kicks/16 marks) finished his afternoon's work with seven goals in a best on ground performance. He was ably assisted by the brilliant George Young (6 goals). Kelvin Templeton (8 goals/10 marks) & Gary Dempsey (26 disposals/14 marks/26 hit outs) were superb for the desperate Dogs.
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An emergency meeting of the Footscray Football Club committee was convened the following Monday morning. The six man board voted unanimously to elevate reserves coach Don McKenzie to the senior post. Ted Whitten, a member of the board, said he would “sit down with Don later today” and that he was “available to help out in any way if needed”.
If a week is a long time in politics, three months would’ve constituted an eternity in 1970s VFL football. It was certainly the case when the two sides renewed acquaintances twelve weeks later, the fortunes of both sides having turned 180 degrees respectively.
Following a hard fought six point victory over Essendon at Moorabbin St Kilda had stormed into second place on the VFL table sporting an impressive record of five wins and a draw from their opening seven encounters. The spiteful mid-May contest saw three Saints - Carl Ditterich, Doug Booth and Garry Sidebottom - reported. Sidebottom was the only one of the trio sanctioned, the VFL tribunal slapping him with a four match suspension the following Monday night. Essendon president Colin Stubbs was outraged after witnessing the treatment his young team received and suggested St Kilda “went out to maim us in the first half”, adding “You can’t tell me that was football, they were animals”. From a position of strength the Saints form, and ladder position, collapsed as they lost their next five games by an average of 10 goals apiece to drop from 2nd place on the VFL ladder to 8th after 12 matches.
Despite entering the Round 13 clash with only four wins from its twelve starts, Footscray had found form, saluting in three of its previous four matches. In Kelvin Templeton (65 goals) the Bulldogs possessed the competitions leading goal kicker, the 21 year old coming off a match winning seven goal haul the previous weekend against North Melbourne. It was a red-letter day for the Bullies, its 30 point victory at Arden Street was the first time a Kangaroo team had lowered their colours to the Dogs since Ron Barassi’s arrival in 1973.
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Anyone who enjoyed the teams high scoring contest of early April would be treated to a memorable encore performance on the first day of the 1978/79 financial year. Kicking with the aid of a slight breeze St Kilda notched three of the first four goals of the afternoon. The Bulldogs fought back well and went to the first break leading by the barest of margins, 5.4-34 to 5.3-33. Templeton and Ian “Mocca” Dunstan with two apiece, led the way for the home town heroes; Gary Sidebottom grabbed a brace for the Saints.
St Kilda’s inability to make the most of their turn with the “wind” was exacerbated when the hosts put them to the sword in the second period. Footscray, with Templeton & Dunstan scoring 3 goals each for the quarter, piled on ten goals in a brilliant half hour of football. Amongst their best were midfielders Ted Whitten Jnr, Alan Stoneham and Geoff Jennings, the trio doing as they pleased in the middle of the ground. Sidebottom, Phil Stevens and Jeff Sarau toiled hard for the Saints who trailed 8.7-55 to Footscray’s 15.8-98 at the long interval.
Straight after half time Doug Hawkins, the latest graduate from Braybrook’s bountiful Pennell Reserve production line, treated the 16,300 people in attendance to a glimpse of the footballing genius that would thrill football fans for the best part of the next two decades. In just his tenth senior VFL game the 18 year old Hawkins’ three goals accounted for half the Bulldogs six for the term. Two more to Templeton took his total to seven for the day. George Young, playing a lone hand up forward for St Kilda, had four goals for the afternoon. At the final change the Dogs found themselves 44 points to the good of the Saints, 21.11-137 to 14.9-93.
Recently a friend presented me with footage of the entire last quarter of this amazing game of football. The match was covered by the ABC with commentary provided by Peter Booth & Geoff Leek. The following is a summary of the final term with selected comments from Booth & Leek thrown in for good measure.
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Gary Dempsey gets the Dogs first goal of the final quarter within three minutes of the re-start. Two minutes later Geoff Jennings hits Templeton on the chest with a delightful short pass. His twelfth mark of the match is duly converted for his eighth goal. The Dogs lead 23.12 to 14.10. Jeff Sarau & Maurice O’Keefe respond, the margin has been reduced to 44 points. 10 minutes have expired in the final period, O’Keefe’s goal represents St Kilda’s final score that afternoon (St Kilda 16.10 - Footscray 23.12). On 13 minutes Ross Abbey kicks long into the forward line, Trevor Barker infringes Templeton, but play is allowed to continue. Less than sixty seconds later Templeton marks in the forward pocket. He runs around to improve the angle and slots through his ninth six pointer. Footscray 24.13 – St Kilda 16.10
At the 16 minute mark Templeton pulls down a superb pack mark courtesy of a long bomb from Bruce Reid, the father of present day tyros Sam & Ben. His shot is poor, and he registers his eighth behind of the match. Despite the miss Leek muses “There’ll be more people coming through the gates when Footscray play football, because they love watching a top class full forward”. Glen Scanlon receives a hand pass from Hawkins and strolls into a desolate goal square and taps the ball over the line. Footscray 25.14 - St Kilda 16.10.
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With 20 minutes played Barker is penalised for holding onto Templeton who dispatches the resultant free kick into the hysterical Barkly Street throng. He now has ten goals to show for his days’ work, becoming just the fourth Bulldog to kick 10 goals in a VFL contest - Alby Morrison, Alan Rait and Ron Grove the other members of this exclusive club. Footscray 26.14 - St Kilda 16.10
Booth adds “Templeton receives a standing ovation from the crowd at the Western Oval”. Within a minute of the centre bounce he gets a chance to add to his impressive contribution but misses when his snap shot sails wide of a behind. Trevor Barker’s kick in is marked by Hawkins. He finds Ian Dunstan on his own, Dunstan nonchalantly wanders through a non-existent St Kilda defence and slams home his sixth goal of the match. Footscray 27.15 - St Kilda 16.10.
Dunstan makes a six finger gesture as he makes his way back into the centre square to remind all and sundry of what he’s managed to achieve over the past hour and forty five minutes. Entering time on Dunstan grabs number seven ( Footscray 28.15- St Kilda 16.10) then turns provider, a long kick into the goal square sees the hapless Barker take Templeton too high. The free kick is converted, Templeton has eleven. Footscray 29.15 - St Kilda 16.10
Less than sixty seconds later an exasperated Barker is penalised again, this time for holding on to Templeton. The ball is despatched over the goal umpires head, Templeton brings up his twelfth. Footscray 30.15 - St Kilda 16.10.
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Mercifully, for Barker, St Kilda coach Mike Patterson decides at the 27th minute of the final term to see if Robert Elliot can quell Templeton’s influence. Alan Stoneham pumps the ball deep into the forward zone. For nigh on a split second Templeton grabs the ball – Did he control it? Who cares, the mark is paid. Geoff Leek suggests the Dogs spearhead has been the recipient of a few home town decisions “That’s three charity marks Templeton has been paid.” Geoff forgets that charity begins at home. KT proves thirteen is lucky for some and the Doggies reach the magical 200 point mark. Footscray 31.15 – St Kilda 16.10
With a half hour played Jeff Sarau is paid a free kick deep in defence. His kick is smothered by “Spider” Welsh and the spillage is gathered by Ian Low. Low fires a handpass to Templeton who surprises no one by snapping his fourteenth six-pointer. Footscray 32.15- St Kilda 16.10
Sarau’s turnover moved a somewhat sage Leek to comment “Sixteen goals isn’t a bad score, but when you compare it to Footscray’s 32 goals 15 (behinds), well, it just doesn’t rate”. As the timeclock ticked past the 32 minutes mark Stephen Power receives the ball on the Gordon Street wing and dashes down the field. His drop punt lands in the hands of the man of the moment who takes possession of the ball for what seems a millisecond and is awarded the mark.
What followed was sheer pandemonium.
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Perched above the John Gent Stand Peter Booth notes “There’s a thousand children on the ground and the siren hasn’t sounded yet.” Amongst the excitable youth that had prematurely entered the playing arena was Footscray coach Don McKenzie. Booth posed the following question to his co-commentator “There’s the coach Don McKenzie on the ground, and I’m wondering Geoff, you know, can he be on the ground?” Whatever the answer, and I assume it would’ve been "no", Kelvin Templeton was faced with the daunting prospect of steering the ball through from 40 yards with around 500 extra bodies standing the mark.
A slight delay follows as children are ushered out the way to allow Templeton an unfettered approach. He moves in and makes no mistake ( Footscray 33.15- St Kilda 16.10). More people spill onto the arena and some St Kilda players believing the siren had sounded make their way up the players race. Unbeknownst to Leek, Booth, or I’d suggest the vast majority of the now frenzied crowd, Kelvin Templeton’s fifteenth goal of the game took his team's tally to 33.15-213, and in the process surpassed the previous record score kicked in the Victorian Football League, set nine seasons earlier when Carlton registered 30.30-210 against Hawthorn. Ninety seconds later St Kilda was mercifully spared any further embarrassment as the final siren rang out the famous scoreboard perched adjacent to Mt Mistake displaying the final score - Footscray 33.15-213 - St Kilda 16.10-106.
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In his post-match press conference Templeton thanked his teammates for their part in his big day out. “The whole team helped me immensely today in getting the [15] goals”. When asked about his wayward accuracy in front of goal he replied “It’s not often I kick so many points. I kicked badly today; I got cramp in the third quarter which is something I’ve never suffered before”. In his Monday morning wrap of the previous weekends action, the chief football writer for the Age, Ron Carter, was still coming to grips with the extraordinary events that took place on Barkly Street two days prior “Had anyone dared suggest six weeks back that Footscray would kick a league record score against St Kilda, his, or her sanity, would’ve been suspect”.
The following Saturday (July 8) saw St Kilda’s topsy-turvy season take a turn for the better when the Saints snatched a three point victory over reigning premiers North Melbourne at the Arden Street Oval. Patterson’s men proceeded to win five of their remaining eight encounters to finish with 46 premiership points. An eleventh hour bid to partake in September action for the first time in five years fell agonisingly short, Geelong (48 points) claiming fifth place after accounting for Fitzroy on the last Saturday in August.
The 107 point caning Footscray inflicted on St Kilda on July 1 gave false hope that the Bulldog Breed would mount a late challenge for a place in the finals. Two victories in their remaining nine clashes put paid to any fanciful thoughts of extending their campaign into September. Kelvin Templeton’s quest to become the first Bulldog to kick a century of goals in a (VFL) season ensured their campaign remained relevant. On August 12 Templeton brought up the “ton” in the third quarter of the Dogs Round 19 clash with Collingwood at Victoria Park, the venue he’d made his VFL debut at in April 1974. He finished the 1978 season with 118 goals from 21 senior appearances.Kelvin Templeton was the Victorian Football Leagues’ leading goal kicker in 1978.
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Templeton repeated the feat 12 months later with a total of 91 to pip Richmond’s Michael Roach (90) by the smallest possible margin. Don McKenzie was replaced as senior coach of Footscray following the 1979 season when he was replaced by ex-Richmond legend Royce Hart. Hart spent two and a half years in charge of the Bulldogs, never replicating the success he had as a player his winning percentage as a VFL coach a disappointing 15% (8 wins form 53 contests). Hart was responsible for moving Templeton from Full Forward to Centre Half Forward during his first season in charge at the Western Oval. It was a masterstroke by Hart, Templeton enjoying a stellar season to become the first key forward to take out the games highest individual honour, the Brownlow Medal.
Tragically a serious knee injury in a pre-season night game at Waverley in February 1981 destroyed Templeton’s year, the reigning Brownlow Medallist missing the opening four months of the campaign. At the end of the 1982 season Templeton sought, and received, a transfer to the Melbourne Football Club. Injuries sabotaged attempts to re-ignite his career in what was a frustrating three year stint with the Demons. Unable to return to the scintillating form he displayed from 1978 to 1980 his career came to a halt mid-way through the 1985 season.
The trophy cabinet at the Western Oval reflects the impotence of the club formerly known as Footscray, its solitary title procured before the advent of television in this country, a barren run that is set to enter a sixth decade in a year or two. That being the case the events of 1 July 1978 continue to hold a special place amongst those stout hearted followers of the Red, White & Blue. Go Doggies!
Many thanks to Angelo Cristoforo for providing me with the footage of the final quarter of the Dogs record breaking afternoon.
Here are some of the highlights from that match. (For full match details, click here.)
Comments
Chris Kouteris 3 June 2013
Great read Mic...brings back some memories...remember those split second marks in the final quarter very well...it was a great day at the old Western Oval as it was known back then...
Peter Feehan 4 June 2013
Great memories Mic,a shard of light in a bleak history. From memory i would say this 'Good Burgher' celebrated with a mediocre burger from the Essex st chip shop and half a dozen watered down pots from Suttons pub over the road.
Jeff Dowsing 4 June 2013
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Jeff Dowsing 4 June 2013
Bring back the red shorts and the 'Footscray' name!
Love the article and the footage. The woolly beards, the crowd invasion, the cardies, the ugly 'fashion', the policeman on horseback and coach on the field... so random, so 1978!
Michael Rees 4 June 2013
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Michael Rees 4 June 2013
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Michael Rees 4 June 2013
Chris, Peter, Jeff - Thank you all very much for your kind words. Chris - If you care to pay me a visit next year we can re-visit the Western Oval for a look at the Dogs very own entry in the VFL. Peter - I always thought the F&C shop you refer to went OK. Jeff - I hope you get your wish and the new entity is called "Footscray". Not convinced we should see a return to the red shorts though.
john darcy 17 September 2014
Great stuff Mic! As a teenage dog living in the country, my Saturday football experience was always via a radio. And this match has always stayed with me. Unfortunately that game was broadcast on 3UZ with Don Hyde which meant you got 5 minutes of footy per quarter. So the last quarter would consist of 3 second bursts of 'Templeton's got it again', 'don't know about that one', 'that's a bit iffy but he's got it again'. And every time he was about to kick it there would be a call from the studio, '..will have to leave it there, racing at Morphetville..'!!
Carl Rayson 25 July 2019
Yesterday in the Herald Sun there was a team of players who's career was ended or limited because they had done a knee. And guess who wasn't in the team. Not at Full Forward but Coleman was selected there so no complaints about that. However was KT at CHF, where he became the first forward to win the Brownlow, no of course he wasn't. David Neitz was. I'd forgotten all about the fifteen Coleman and the twenty five Brownlow medals that Neitz had won.
What's that you say Skip? David Neitz didn't win any medals? Neeter wasn't fit to tie Kelvin Templeton's boots? Yeah I have to agree with you there, it is an insult to Templeton that Neitz gets selected ahead of him.
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