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AFL rewriting history by tarnishing a Collingwood favourite's memory

2nd April, 2015
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Carlton have sacked coach Mick Malthouse, but he can retire with his head held high. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)
Expert
2nd April, 2015
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It has been well over 100 years since Bob Rush’s playing days for Collingwood came to an end.

Memories of the speedy backman have long since faded, and only the most ardent of footy fans would be aware of the significant place he holds in Magpie history.

Unfortunately for Rush (who passed away in 1975 aged 94), it is a history that the AFL has decided to rewrite, leaving the former Magpie without official recognition of a quite remarkable feat.

Having retired as a double premiership player in 1908 (with 143 games under his belt), Rush stayed on at the club as an administrator. But his main claim to fame was that he coached the Magpies for one game in 1930, filling in for legendary incumbent coach Jock McHale, who was bed ridden with a bad case of the flu.

Nothing special in that you might say, except for the fact that the one game he coached happened to be the 1930 grand final, which Collingwood won after trailing by 27 points at half-time. It was also the record breaking fourth premiership in a row for the Collingwood super team, a run of flags that has yet to be equalled.

Harry Collier, one of Collingwood’s greatest players across that era, believed that the half-time address Rush delivered that day was one of the most inspirational speeches he had ever heard.

Whatever Rush said, it had the desired result. The Pies turned their 27-point deficit into a 32-point lead by three-quarter time – a remarkable turnaround even by modern standards.

But in the AFL’s eyes, all that now counts for naught.

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After years of being credited with one game coached for one premiership, Rush’s short coaching career has been struck from the history books. Instead McHale, who has forever been listed as having coached 713 games for seven premierships, now finds his official record bumped up to eight premierships from 714 games.

The question is why?

After all, there are numerous examples of senior coaches missing games through illness and their assistants taking over. Even if they have stepped up for just one game, their efforts are still recognised in the official record books.

Outspoken former footballer turned commentator Kevin Bartlett believes Rush is being stripped of his unique place in the game to prevent embarrassment when Mick Malthouse breaks McHale’s long-standing coaching record next month.

If McHale’s games tally remained at 713 games, Malthouse would break the record in Carlton’s Round 4 clash against St. Kilda, a game that will be played in New Zealand on Anzac Day.

Obviously it takes a fair bit of planning to take a game offshore and this match would have been locked in for quite sometime. Bartlett is of the opinion that the AFL have manipulated history to allow it to celebrate Malthouse’s stellar achievement back at home.

That seems unlikely, but the AFL’s response doesn’t do much to dispel the possibility.

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According to the AFL’s historian Col Hutchinson, Rush will be stripped of his one coached game before Malthouse breaks McHale’s record in May. The reason being is that the AFL considers that McHale’s midweek role in the days leading up to the 1930 grand final was of enough influence to credit him with the game.

OK then. Except that it is not OK.

McHale no more coached that game than I did. It was Rush, not McHale, who spoke to the players in the rooms before the 1930 grand final. It was Rush, not McHale, who inspired them after an insipid first half with a ripping oration that was, by all accounts, one of the greatest ever heard. And it was Rush, not McHale, who jumped from the sidelines, arms in the air, as the final siren sounded.

These are the stories that the AFL should be celebrating, not repressing. They are what make up the fabric of our great game, building the myth, legend and folklore that all rich and fascinating histories contain. The fact the event we are talking about took place 85 years ago is irrelevant. Its importance shouldn’t be devalued because of age.

That the AFL are rewriting history, for whatever reason, is unacceptable. It is little more than historical vandalism and does nothing to enhance our heritage. In fact all it does is leave us with an inaccurate statistical record.

There may be bigger issues facing the AFL at the moment, but as custodians of our game, they need to ensure that its history is properly preserved.

This current course of action does little more than trash it.

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