our great sporting moments remembered - Melbourne Cricket Club

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CLUB NEWSHE’S ALWAYS BEENA LEGENDDonald Cordner has been anintegral part of MCG life formore than half a century,a legend by any measure, and nowit’s official.When Donald was elevated toLegend status at the MelbourneFootball Club’s 150th anniversarydinner at Crown in June, thecomparison with an earlier honourcould not have been more stark.We refer to Donald’s BrownlowMedal, won in the first week ofSeptember 1946, but not presenteduntil March the following year.The champion Demon ruckmanrecalls being told by Percy Beames ofThe Age that he’d won the medal and apiece appeared in the sports pages nextday. No televised count, no media pack,no black ties or glamorous blondes.As for the presentation, that wasmade at Harrison House in SpringStreet shortly before the start of the1947 season. Donald received a letterabout 10 days before the VFL’smonthly meeting. Could he pleaseattend promptly at 8pm.Still single although engaged toMoyle, Doctor Don was practising atDiamond Creek so to fit in eveningsurgery and make it to town by eighto’clock was quite an effort, but hearrived on time to spend half an hourcooling his heels in an anteroom.Finally he was summoned, entering aroom full of 24 VFL delegatesattending a meeting chaired by DrWilliam McClelland who was alsopresident of the MCC at the time.“Player Cordner, you have beenadjudged fairest and best for season1946,” said the chairman.“Congratulations. Here’s your citationand your Brownlow Medal.”“Thank you, sir. I’m very honouredand the citation will hang beside mymedical degree in my surgery atDiamond Creek,” responded Donald.“Long may your interest in our gamecontinue, Dr Cordner.Good night.” And that was it. No redcarpet, no media, no Moyle in sight,although once again the press gave it amodest run next morning.Fifty-one years on, Donald was verychuffed to have been honoured by theMFC at what he described as a verypleasant and dignified affair.He joined some big names at the topof the Demon tree – Norm Smith, TigerRidley and Ron Barassi are amongfootball’s elite.The cricket world lost twoornaments of the game with thepassing of Bill Brown and NormO’Neill recently.Brown was one of the most reveredfigures in Australian cricket during hislater years, a status that he bore with thesame composure, dignity and capacity forself-effacement that characterised hisplaying days, which he ended as one ofhis country’s most accomplished andbest-performed opening batsmen.An elegant right-hander with a superbdefensive technique, Brown possessed thegift of timing and placement of the finestbatsmen, appearing to stroke the ballthrough the field with little effort. Hissignature shot was the leg glance, astroke in which he was acknowledged asthe leading exponent of his era.An unhurried approach, even whenBROWN, O’NEILLLEAVE THE CREASEseemingly in complete command of thebowling, caused Ray Robinson to recordthat Brown was “the most serenebatsman I ever saw play for Australia.”He ended his Test career as a memberof Don Bradman’s 1948 “Invincibles”,having played 22 Tests during a careerinterrupted by the Second World War.He scored 1592 runs at 46.82, withfour centuries, while in all first-classmatches he made 13,838 runs at 51.44,with 39 centuries. Before his passing inMarch aged 95, he was Australia’s oldestTest representative.Despite the burden of being anointed asthe next Bradman by the press from earlyin his career, Norm O’Neill became a veryfine Test batsman in his own right. He wasan integral member of the strong battingline up that underpinned the successfulAustralian sides led by Richie Benaudduring the late 1950s and early 1960s.Thick-set and with strong forearms,O’Neill drove with awesome power,most memorably off the back foot whenhe drew himself to his full height andcrashed the ball back past the bowlerwith the straightest of bats.Perhaps his finest innings was a stirring181 in the unforgettable tied matchagainst the West Indies at Brisbane in1960/61. A troublesome knee injuryforced his retirement from Test cricket in1965, by which time he had made 2779runs at 45.55 in his 42 Tests, includingsix centuries.In all first-class cricket, his tally stood at13,859 runs at 50.95, with 45 hundreds.He later became a recognisable voice onABC Radio’s coverage of cricket forseveral seasons before a long battle withlung cancer claimed him in March at 71.8 MCC NEWSJULY 2008
A GRADE RESULT FOR CATEGORY CThe club’s decision to relaxregulations at AFL fixtures ratedas Category C matches isproving popular. Witness theextraordinary situation in the Reservefor the Western Bulldogs-Brisbanematch on Saturday afternoon, June 14(see president’s report P3).Designated as a Category C matchat the beginning of the season, anattendance of 2350 was forecast forthe Reserve and 24,000 overall, butthe game attracted 5376 and 39,320respectively.At Category C fixtures, Restrictedmembers may obtain up to two LongRoom passes when normally they’renot eligible for any. Full members canobtain two passes (normally one) andboth categories of membership canapply for up to four Balcony passesfor guests.The upshot on June 14 was thatmembers and guests took advantage ofmore liberal access to the club’s finefacilities and the Long Room carveryexperienced its second busiest day of theseason to that point.The Saturday afternoon match alsofilled the Members Dining Room andthe Committee Room, a remarkablesituation given the clubs’ support baseamong MCC members is two per cent(Bulldogs) and 1.8 per cent (Brisbane).On the following day, the Category BCollingwood-Carlton match drew80,000-plus and attendance in theReserve was up 8000 on the Bulldogs’home game, but there were 55 fewer“covers” in the carvery.The figures surprised everybody,especially because at the Collingwoodgame 75 per cent of members werebarracking for one team or the otherversus only 35 per cent in the case of theBulldogs and the Lions.“It tells us that Category C gamescan be very attractive to membersregardless of their allegiance, becausethey can entertain more guests in theinner sanctum,” says club managerMark Anderson.“When you consider thatCollingwood supporters account for 11per cent of MCC members and Carltonnine per cent, you can only concludethat the Bulldogs game was a ringingendorsement for the facilities we offerour members.“As an aside, the match obviouslywas also appealing to the 341Melbourne-supporting memberswho attended the Reserve when theDemons were doing battle at TelstraDome that day.”2008 HIGHEST AFL ATTENDANCES(As at end of Round 14) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||88,999 Coll v Ess April 2580,310 Coll v Carl June 1578,206 Coll v Geel May 2377,873 Carl v Coll April 1376,048 Haw v Coll May 373,503 Rich v Carl June 2872,552 Carl v Rich March 2070,802 Rich v Coll April 6Note: No Long Room or Balcony passesare issued for Category A matches buttwo visitor tickets may be purchased.For Category B games, up to four visitorticket are available. Full members canobtain either one Long Room pass ortwo Balcony passes for guests whileRestricted members are entitled to twoBalcony passes.NEW BOARD FOR OUR BESTHonorary Life Membership (HLM) ofthe MCC is a rare honour. Only 81have been conferred since 1861 and they’vebeen harder to come by in recent times,with only 22 awarded since the war.In the early days, HLMs were bestowedon various people such as visitinginternational amateur cricketers, with theemphasis on amateur. Royalty was wellserved, too.But within the club, some queries wereraised about those appearing on thehonour board in the old Pavilion, so itwas time to do some cross checking.In 2003, then volunteer, now assistantlibrarian, Trevor Ruddell took upthe challenge, beavering awayresearching newspaper archives and examining MCC minutes and annual reportson microfilm.The upshot was a heap of anomalies and a need for a new honour board, whichnow hangs resplendent in the gallery leading to the Committee Room on Level 2.Footy fans enjoy a rare opportunity to havea post-match kick on the MCG turf after theMelbourne v Fremantle match on May 4.JULY 2008 MCC NEWS9
Page 5 and 6: FOOTY’S HALL OFFAME FINDS ITSRIGH
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Page 12 and 13: CLUB NEWSMANY TREASURES AWAITVISITO
Page 14 and 15: CLUB NEWSIT’S AN ACTION-PACKEDEXP
Page 16: CLUB NEWSHARMAN CALLED UPTO THE BIG
Page 20 and 21: FUNCTION NEWSFUNCTIONS CALENDARDAY
Page 22 and 23: MEMBERS’ NEWSNEW MCC WEBSITEMembe
Page 24: MEMBERS’ NEWSYOUR 2008 AFL FINALS

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