The Redan revival

by Paul Daffey

ALONG the Western Australian coast, it is common for travellers to think about surfing or fishing or admiring the kaleidoscope of wildflowers. A few months ago, John Lawless was taking in the land where the desert meets the ocean while wondering constantly about his football club.

Lawless was on the other side of the continent while Redan, the battlers from the heart of wintry Ballarat, were shedding years of struggle with a string of glorious victories. Every Sunday, from Perth through to Broome, the former Redan president would ring Victoria and discover that the Lions had avenged another tormentor.

By the time he reached Darwin, where he was to meet fellow Redan stalwart Jeff Lewis, Lawless felt the distinct itch of impending finals. Lawless and Lewis would sit around in the tropical evening discussing the Lions prospects until, finally, it became too much

Lawless, whose father Alby preceded him as Redan president in the 1960s, cut short his trip. With the Lions set for a rare appearance in September, he would return home in early August to enjoy the build-up. "I pointed the car south a bit early," the retired school principal said.

Lewis was committed to working in the Top End but, if Redan made the grand final, he would be unlikely to resist dashing back to Ballarat for the weekend. The two Lionhearts had been through too many dark years to be denied the club's moment in the sun.

Redan easily defeated Ballarat league rival Darley in the preliminary final at the City Oval and earned the right to play Sunbury, an inconsistent minor premier.

Redan has struggled for most of its long history. Its first game was recorded in the Ballarat Star in 1871, after it had been formed by miners who worked on a vein of gold known as the Band of Hope. A century later, hope was justified when the Lions won three premierships under former Richmond forward John Northey, but digging for a flag proved futile after Northey's departure.

Redan lost the 1984 grand final to Golden Point before sliding out of contention. The club struggled before a decision was made to bring in hired guns in the quest for an elusive flag.

The Lions contested the 1992 preliminary final under former Sydney player Michael Phyland, but the cost of assembling the team proved great. A debt of more than $60,000 crippled the club.

Player payments were stopped and the Lions struck an alliance with Ballarat University. The student recruits maintained numbers, and were invariably enthusiastic, but few were blessed with anything resembling talent. Some had never played the game.

Drubbings became weekly events. Peter Loughnan, another stalwart, who became Redan president in the mid-1990s, said the club was happy because the students were a social mob. "Morale was good," he said. "But we were getting belted by 50 goals."

The Lions considered following the lead of the Ballarat Football Club, their former co-tenant at the City Oval, and shifting to a developing suburb. Ballarat moved to Alfredton in the early 1990s. Redan considered shifting from the Western Oval, its training and social base, to Delacombe. The juniors were moved but the senior committee elected to remain in town.

Heavy defeats continued until the matter came to a head in mid-1998, when the Lions forfeited to Darley in the seniors and reserves. Several crisis meetings had been held over the years but supporters, and Ballarat football followers in general, realised this was the final crunch. Forfeiting in both senior grades had brought the matter to a head.

The clubrooms were packed when Loughnan announced that he could do no more. He and his few offsiders had battled unsuccessfully against the odds and the old club would fold unless help came forward.

Tony Quinney, a premiership rover under Northey in 1975 and 1977 before becoming a successful accountant, offered to take charge of eradicating the debt. When he asked the extent of the arrears, nobody knew. He was told the debt wasn't so bad; lack of players was the real problem.

If Quinney was unimpressed by the bookkeeping, he was greatly impressed when an unknown man stepped forward and presented his business card. Craig Jackson had played and coached at clubs in Melbourne and the Bendigo region before moving to Ballarat for business reasons. He attended the crisis meeting after reading about Redan's plight in The Courier.

Jackson's offer of help was consolidated when 10 past players, including several from the Northey era, stepped forward. The Past Players and Officials Association was reformed and the group set to work on the debt, which Quinney later ascertained at $40,000.

The past players organised fundraising functions. The main one, an auction at the Flying Horse Bistro at the trotting track, made a profit of $27,000. The club had sensed it would be successful when a limited-edition cricket print sent to Sir Don Bradman in the hope that he would sign it bore fruit. Sir Don overturned his policy against signing after reading details of the embattled club. The print fetched $2500.

The debt was wiped out in 12 months. About the same time, the senior team won its first game in four years. The run of outs had begun on August 5, 1995, and ended on August 6, 1999, when Redan trounced Daylesford by 108 points. After 55 consecutive losses, the Lions ran wild when they sensed that victory was possible.

The club's main cause for optimism - its Band of Hope on the eve of a new century - was its coup in convincing 13 North Ballarat teenagers to join the club. This was achieved before the crisis meeting of 1998.

North Ballarat has junior teams in the Ballarat competition until the under 16s. The club's under-18s, however, play in the TAC Cup. Teenagers are drawn from across western Victoria to represent the Rebels in the elite competition.

North Ballarat juniors who fail to make the Rebels under 18 squad are left without a team. Redan stalwarts Loughnan, Lawless and Ray Kappe drafted a letter to North Ballarat to inform the club that it wanted to speak to the under-16 graduates who were at a loose end.

North Ballarat appreciated the courtesy and sanctioned the approach. Redan convinced the 13 North Ballarat players to join its under 18 team by promising an open clearance if they didn't like the club. The decision to call the under 18 team the Redan Roosters - the North Ballarat senior team's nickname is the Roosters - sweetened the offer.

The Redan under 18s went on to win the 1998 premiership. The next year the young Roosters went through the season undefeated. In the past two years, North Ballarat teenagers have filled the gap at Daylesford, which has been unable to field its own thirds team, but even without North Ballarat recruits, the Redan under 18s have continued to prosper, reaching both grand finals.

Players from the successful under 18 teams now form the backbone of the club. The Redan senior team will go into today's match boasting up to nine of the original teenagers who crossed from North Ballarat. Ruckman Luke Cooney is one of them. His father Ian is club president.

Ian Cooney said the club had to work hard to create an atmosphere that would convince the North Ballarat recruits to stay. Parents and the teenagers who were accustomed to a culture of success at North Ballarat were made to feel comfortable. "It's a part of being a professional club," he said.

The final, emphatic link in changing the Redan culture was hiring a coach from North Ballarat. Brett Quinlan played in six grand finals for five premierships during a golden run at the Northern Oval. The letdown was 1993, when East Ballarat stunned North Ballarat in the grand final when the Roosters were going for their 50th consecutive victory.

Quinlan wanted a challenge. "If I was going to test myself, I thought, 'This is it'." But to say he found it difficult to go from a club that nearly won 50 consecutive games to a club that lost more than 50 consecutive games is an understatement.

The midfielder was stunned by the small turn-outs to pre-seasons sessions before the 2000 season. His plan to introduce his own game plan was deferred when he realised he had to start from the basics and work up to a game plan. "I didn't sleep too flash," he admitted.

Quinlan stuck at his task and saw gradual improvement during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. His expectation that the improvement would continue this year seemed to be dashed when the Lions lost the opening three games.

The fourth game was against Sunbury, the club that won three consecutive flags after transferring from the Riddell District league with Darley, Melton and Melton South in 1997. Sunbury, who are also known as the Lions, led at half-time. Then the visitors went berserk.

"Something just clicked," Quinlan said.

Redan won convincingly and went through the rest of the regular season with only one more defeat, at Daylesford in late July. The loss to Sunbury in the second semi final was seen as just a setback.

A lot has happened in a short time at Redan, and momentum is a hard thing to stop. There appears no reason why the Lions' momentum can't keep gathering force today.

The name most linked with Redan is John Northey, who coached the Lions for six seasons from 1974. Northey coached Redan to the 1975-77 premierships, establishing the reputation that led to coaching jobs at Sydney, Melbourne, Richmond and Brisbane.

The influence of Northey's playing career at Richmond, where he was a swooping half-forward for 118 games, was apparent in his coaching at Redan. He demanded that his players give everything for their teammates, reflecting the rule of Tom Hafey at Punt Road.

The Richmond influence on Northey was also apparent in team selection. The Redan centreline of Terry McAliece, Graeme Gellie and Trevor Bennett bore a strong resemblance to Richmond's famous 1967 combination of Dick Clay, Billy Barrott and Francis Bourke.

Gellie was a genius with the vision of Barrott, if not quite the flair. In 1978, at 24 years of age, he went to St Kilda and won the best-and-fairest in his first season.

McAliece and Bennett were both athletic and rangy, standing more than 182 centimetres. Northey played himself as a ruck-rover.

Redan also won premierships in 1946 and 1952. Former Essendon rover Keith Rawle coached the Lions to an undefeated season in 1952.

The Lions were on track for another premiership the next year after winning the second semi-final. Rawle arranged for his team to maintain touch over preliminary-final weekend by playing a practice match against Essendon at the City Oval.

Redan defeated Essendon before a huge crowd but the effort took its toll. The next week, Golden Point rolled the Lions in the grand final.

Members of the 1952 and 1977 premiership teams returned to Redan for a reunion last month. Onlookers remarked on the large difference in height between players from the two eras.

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