Homing message

by ANTHONY & MICHAEL MADIGAN

THERE are two grandstands at Alberton Oval and one of them is named after the great Bobby Quinn, who put Kadina on the map when he moved there to run the Kadina Hotel soon after retiring from league footy in the late 1940s.

Quinn won the Magarey Medal in 1938, went to war and won the Military Medal for bravery and, despite his war injuries, won a second Magarey Medal when he returned to footy in 1945. On top of that he played in six Port Adelaide premiership teams. So someone as famous as Bob Quinn moving to Kadina was big news in the local community.

The great man took an interest in local footy and even coached Kadina at one stage. During a half-time address in the open-air change sheds at Paskeville, Quinn got stuck into his players who were being thrashed by Paskeville. He pleaded with them to show more guts and determination and to start putting their bodies in. He was getting really wound up when he suddenly stopped talking halfway through a sentence to focus on something he had never seen before. The thing that caught his attention was one of his players, Clem, pulling a pigeon out of his kitbag.

"What are you doing sitting there with a pigeon?" Quinn said. "We're getting thrashed, lad, and all you can do is sit there with a flamin' pigeon."

Clem replied, "I'm very sorry, Mr Quinn. Dad never misses a game but today he's crook in bed and I thought I'd send him home the half-time scores."

Bobby Quinn in Kalgoorlie in 1939.

Disclaimer