A rugged kind of charm

by PAUL DAFFEY

WHAT'S all this kerfuffle about Barry Hall? Where was he when Big Nick was scaring the daylights out of everybody in the VFL? If you want to know about a footballer who really knew how to raise a riot, you need to know about one of Hall's predecessors in a Swans guernsey, Ken Boyd, who continued creating mayhem after taking a coaching job in the country.

In this age of heavily policed football, a waltz through Boyd's career is like a trip to another planet. Early in the 1961 VFL season, when he was a South Melbourne follower, Boyd was suspended for six matches for jobbing Carlton legend John Nicholls and rover John Heathcote.

Late in the 1961 season, Boyd again showed a distinct lack of awe towards Big Nick and laid him out behind play. After claiming in a newspaper interview that he had been provoked, Boyd's action was investigated. He was rubbed out for 12 matches. His response was to quit league footy, having played 60 matches and missed 30 through suspension.

After serving out his suspension, Boyd made his debut as a Wangaratta Rovers player late in the 1962 season and took over as playing-coach at the end of the year. Rovers people loved him. Part of the reason was his charisma. He was possessed of a winning smile and an easy charm.

But it was Boyd's ruggedness as a player that really set him apart. In that era, former Collingwood captain Frank Tuck was the playing-coach at Corowa. When Tuck broke his jaw in a clash with Boyd, Melbourne daily newspaper The Sun News Pictorial covered the incident with great exuberance.

Boyd later sued the paper. The case was heard in Melbourne's Supreme Court and received huge coverage. Boyd won damages.

Boyd led the Rovers to premierships in 1964 and 1965. In 1966, they lined up against arch rival Wangaratta in the preliminary final. Boyd's opponent, centre half-back Bernie Killeen, was flat on his back before the opening bounce.

At half-time, Boyd told his players to ignore him and play the ball. The ground became littered with the form of Wangaratta footballers as Boyd tried in vain to lead his team to another grand final. After the season, Boyd quit football and returned to Melbourne to work in real estate.

Boyd now lives in Kew and dabbles in the share market. Yesterday he failed to recall cutting a swathe through the Wangaratta team in his final game, although he did admit to frustration at a crippling back injury. His version of the Tuck incident was that Tuck had taken a flying leap to tackle him and had come to grief when Boyd had lowered his shoulder. Boyd regarded himself an honest player and said he was "very seldom unfair".

On the Hall incident, Boyd did not exactly say it was a good or bad thing. But he said it was a wonder it did not happen more often given the attention that star midfielders receive from taggers.

Boyd rarely goes to the footy these days. He prefers to go fishing or shooting, and just recently he bagged 15 quails, two foxes and three rabbits. At 70, he remains drawn to rugged pursuits.

This article first appeared in The Age on Wednesday 16 April 2008.

18 April 2008

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