Just Being A Witness For The Night Is An Honor
The Age
Monday May 18, 1998
Sometimes history just stares you down. Stands in front of you. Squeezes the life out of you. Look at Collingwood as it lost grand final after grand final. It couldn't escape the public scrutiny. Or there was Ted Whitten. EJ was in your face when he played and when he didn't.
Other times it shuffles by you and you have no idea. It could be in an old, brown coat. It could be in blue jeans. A visage wizened by the years, a body wearied by age. A face in the crowd. Anonymous.
On Saturday night a smallish man, bald, a little overweight and with a slight speech impediment because of his deafness, took the stage at the Regent Theatre. He was Milton Farmer, son of the late Ken Farmer, and he accepted the plaque that documented his father's induction into football's Hall of Fame.
Milton Farmer said he had never seen his father play but the family had kept a scrapbook until 1976. His speech ended shortly after that. He said that as a "forward his father was awesome and as a father I adored him". Milton Farmer then walked off the stage and back into the darkness.
Ken Farmer, the footballer, was uncelebrated to most of the Australian football world. He was one of history's shufflers. But Farmer's statistics were dazzling. He played 224 games and kicked 1419 goals for North Adelaide from 1929-1941. For 11 seasons in a row he kicked 100 goals. He coached South Australia, wrote about the game and was a TV commentator. But these are just bare bones. In his little speech, Milton gave his father a soul and a warmth that touched the audience.
That is the beauty of the Hall of Fame. It not only identifies and remembers past champions but it colors them in, fleshes them out.
Media are invited to all sorts of things. Sometimes they lob even when they are not invited. Brownlows, grand finals, centenary balls. You can become blase, almost numb to what happens around you. But not on the Hall of Fame night. Here, you know you are priviliged. In the heart of the football community that is more than 100 years old. There are no big corporate tables, no breaks for TV cameras, no spruiking of commercials. Just a celebration of football by footballers. Those on the boundary line just watch and cherish the moment.
John Kennedy heads the selection panel and as he begins his speech to announce the new inductees, his nose begins to bleed. Blood drops on to his notes. He wants to go on but can't. The ceremony is put on hold for five minutes. Kennedy refuses to sit down but accepts some ice and places it on his nose. Unwell, he returns to the podium. In a weird way it enriches the night. The greats carried injuries.
Len Thompson, Brownlow Medal winner, 300-game ruckman, goes up to accept his award. Thompson has worked in the media for years. But he stumbles for his words. He says look at the list of men already in the Hall of Fame. Read them. Only then will you know how honored he feels. He walks away to share the moment with his son.
Terry Daniher has flown down from the bush after getting his Wagga Tigers across the line by a point. He shares the plane with a pilot and an Esky. We trust the pilot doesn't share the Esky. Daniher had a can, "a bit of a scrub" and took to the air.
He was clearly chuffed with his honor. Football has always been a game to him, a place to make friends. Enjoy life. A celebration. Afterwards, he spies Tim Watson and a friendship is reignited instantly. You knew this was important to Terry. He gave up the Wagga Tigers' mystery bus tour to get to the Regent Theatre. When men make those sorts of sacrifices . . .
Other inductees are Allan Ruthven and Fred Flanagan. Jack Clarke, who played 206 games with East Fremantle, is the other. Ruthven and Flanagan express the surprise and the pleasure of receiving the letter of notification from the AFL. Football had not forgotten them after all.
Gordon Coventry is made a Legend of the game. "Nuts" kicked 1299 goals for Collingwood before and through the Depression. He gave people hope. His son George says the family is deeply honored. On the screen behind is a montage of pictures of Coventry. It ends with a film clip of Coventry when he appeared on World Of Sport. George had never seen it before. His night is made.
This was a night for champion footballers and their families. They have been honored. You are honored to be a witness to this special ceremony. You meet some of history's shufflers.
© 1998 The Age