Day for life
Caroline Wilson
The Age
September 30, 2006
The events of grand final day can have a lifetime's effect on a player, Caroline Wilson explains.
SOME grand final scars never heal; others take more than half a lifetime. For Neville Crowe, one of the unluckiest players in the game's history, a major step in the restorative process took place at the MCG just three nights ago.
Crowe, a three-time Richmond club champion who captained the Tigers for four years, played his last game on the eve of the club's greatest era. Suspended from the 1967 grand final for the first time in his 10-year career for felling John Nicholls, who later admitted to staging for a free, Crowe has always refused an invitation to any club premiership reunion.
For a decade now he has been invited to attend a reunion of every living Richmond premiership player by former club president Ian Wilson. "I never believed I belonged in that exalted company," Crowe said yesterday, "because I didn't play."
"Ian and (past players president) Mike Perry have always urged me to come, and I was at the brink of attending a few times, but I never felt that I fitted in. As much as they tried to tell me I was part of that grand final and should have played in it, I never really believed it.
"It's been an interesting psychological thing that I was never part of that premiership. I'm not saying I never got over it, but it's been something that has hovered in the third or fourth dimension of my existence. Had I played in '67 against Geelong I would have been the first one there every year, hanging from the rafters."
It was Crowe's wife, Valley, who changed his mind, and on Wednesday night the big ruckman, who later became Richmond president, attended the dinner — essentially an unofficial club function and one which boasted Kevin Bartlett as its master of ceremonies.
Bartlett was 20 in 1967, in his third season at the club for which he would play for more than 400 games and seven grand finals for five premierships and a Norm Smith Medal. According to a couple of other retired Tiger stars in the room, Crowe became a little tense when, during Bartlett's customary verbal round-up paying tribute to all the attendees, he came to Crowe.
After all, the two have never healed the rift that followed Bartlett's sacking as Richmond coach in 1991, and the Tigers champion has always refused to attend official club functions since, with Crowe being seen as one reason for his on-going absence.
But Bartlett spoke glowingly of Crowe and his history as a Richmond footballer. Afterwards the two men were seen to shake hands — for the first time in more than 15 years — share a conversation and even a laugh. No one who attended, however, will discuss the incident, fearing that by drawing attention to it, it may never happen again.
Nevertheless, Crowe, now 67, was happy enough to commit in future to the function for as long as he is invited. "It was just a fantastic night and I really felt a part of it for the first time. I so enjoyed it."
Michael Green played off the bench in 1967 and went on to star in four Richmond premiership campaigns, making his reputation as a finals specialist. According to Green, the enduring friendships remain stronger for teams that enjoyed success.
Grand final week 2006 for Crowe might have proved healing in more ways than one but not in every way. While he has said hello a couple of times over the years to John Nicholls, the two have never spoken of the 1967 incident in any meaningful way. "No, we've never really addressed it," said Crowe. "I suppose there's no point now."
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/09/29/1159337344289.html
