Highest disco in townMark Hayes
Herald Sun
September 6, 2012
•When: Round 5, 1979, Richmond v Hawthorn
•Where: MCG
•What: Graeme Robertson kicks the ball high to about 20m directly in front of goal. Three players gather under the ball, arms outstretched. Then a fourth player, Michael Roach, arrives on the scene.
HE has never forgotten his roots, Michael Roach.
A proud Tasmanian, he grew up in tiny Westbury before playing for nearby Longford and ultimately Richmond - all three, remarkably, the Tigers.
So it was with great delight that welcomed his parents, Terry and Betty, on a rare visit to Melbourne on this day.
As luck would have it, the up-and-coming Tigers faced the powerhouse Hawks - a crucial factor in what turned out to be a truly memorable day.
With six games on simultaneously, the resources of newspapers and broadcaster Channel 7 were stretched thinly around Melbourne.
But Richmond against the reigning premier was a big game and, thankfully, one of the great marks was duly recorded into footy's rich archives.
And that was doubly lucky for Betty Roach.
A victim of terrible migraine pains, she excused herself early in the match and ducked away from her seat as Richmond kicked towards the city end.
When she returned a few minutes later, Terry looked at her and uttered words to the effect of: "You ought to have seen what Mike just did''.
Terry explained that their son had taken a "pretty nice mark'', but with no big-screen replays, she feared she'd missed the boat.
Richmond was beaten soundly that afternoon and there was no real discussion about the mark or game as the Roach clan headed towards their home afterwards, with Michael's wife-to-be Kerry alongside them.
Needing milk for a cup of tea, Betty ducked into a Hawthorn milk bar and returned with a swag of The Herald newspapers under her arm - and a huge smile on her face.
"Mum was so excited and we didn't know why until she got back to the car,'' Roach recalls.
"She just had these papers and threw them all to us and we saw the photo - it was all over the paper.
"It was an amazing photo - we had no idea that someone had got the shot, but yeah, it was just lucky, I suppose.''
As it turned out, Herald photographer Ted Golding not only found himself in the right spot, but took one of footy's iconic pictures.
Roach says there was no discussion among his teammates of the mark and nobody had seen the replay.
"The only thing in hindsight that suggested something (about recording the mark) was that our property stewards Charlie Callander and Dusty O'Brien said they heard someone running around the boundary line yelling out, 'I got it, I got it.','' Roach says.
"It must have been him (Golding).''
By early 1979, Roach had established himself as one of the game's dominant full-forwards - and Hawthorn knew it had to curtail him to win.
So as the ball was pumped forward from the Richmond midfield, it was no surprise to see a handful of big Hawks attempt to drift back and fill the hole in front of Roach as he led out.
Champion Hawthorn full-back Kelvin Moore predictably was playing close to Roach and the big Tiger had to call on his athletic superiority to compete against the tall timber closing in around him.
"I remember seeing the ball and knowing that Kel was pretty close to me,'' Roach recalls of the build-up to the mark.
"So I just jumped up, really to try to get away from him. I figured if I could jump up and get my hands out, Kel would struggle to get to the ball the way it was coming in.
"I was looking at the ball, not who was coming back, and I just jumped, not realising who was there.''
“I didn't realise I was that high until the moment I saw the paper that night.”
As fate would have it, the Hawks drifting back were ruck duo Ian Paton and Terry Moore - both towering men and the perfect platform for Roach's liftoff.
"My knees just luckily hit the right spot (Paton's upper body - the first point of contact).
"Obviously, I just got the right ride. I suppose I realised a bit. It felt like, 'Oooh, there's someone under there'.
"I knew it was a nice lift, but I didn't really think about the pack at all.
"To be honest, I was more worried about kicking the goal when I landed.
"I knew it felt good, but as soon as the umpire paid it, I was just thinking about kicking the goal (which he did).
"I was lucky to get that lift and it's all a bit fluky really.
"But I didn't realise I was that high until the moment I saw the paper that night."
The mark quickly became a sensation and went on to win the VFL Mark of the Year.
But far from the riches the mark would generate these days, Roach's booty was modest at best.
It was the Channel 2 Mark of the Year, but all the big Tiger received from Channel 7 was a Hutton's ham on World of Sport the next day.
An image of the mark was weaved into the carpet at the old VFL House in Jolimont; and Roach's employer, Merrett Hassett, had the image placed on a shopping bag for their chain of sports stores.
But the most infamous use of the grab is on a tie.
Inside Football reproduced the mark on a tie that was widely spread among footy fans - and still regularly bobs up among guests of sportsmen's nights at which Roach speaks.
Roach, himself, has two of the ties hanging at his home bar.
"That's a bit of fun. Just a happy byproduct of it all, I suppose,'' he says.
"I still have people come up to me at functions and get me to sign them, it's a great memory.''
Roach knows it's only fate that has helped keep the memory alive in the minds of so many people.
"It was a lucky moment in itself, but I could easily have taken it a ground where there was no TV or no photographers and nobody would have ever known about it.
"I was lucky enough to play 200 games for Richmond and very lucky to play in a Richmond premiership team - and they're the things that really stand out to me, much more so.
"But the mark is great, too.
"I remember Dad saying to me in his Tassie drawl, 'If you never play another game of footy in your life, people will always remember that mark'.
"And I think he's right.''
WHAT WE SAY Mike Sheahan: "Terry Moore (moustache) stood 196cm and Roach's hips are higher than his outstretched hands. It was a classic.''
Jon Ralph: "As his teammate Kevin Bartlett has often noted, look at the sheer height to which he rises. KB was dirty he didn't get the immediate handball, but this mark lives on forever. The gold standard for big pack marks.''
Jon Anderson: "I loved the photograph as much as the mark, given Disco went higher than the first level of the old Southern Stand.''
Warwick Green: "You have to love a speccie involving a forward landing on a pack . Has the facial expression of a bloke who's plucked a ball on the way down from the first floor balcony.''
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/best-speccies/michael-roach-soars-to-take-second-best-speccie-of-all-time/story-fnfbpfgn-1226459692670
