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.
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.
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.
NL
Guest
Hi Sean, thanks for your response. I suggest this case is an example of where the black and white world of sporting statistics and the multi shades of grey real world collide. As McHale wasn’t at the 1930 Grand Final it is easy to argue that his career record shouldn’t be credited with that game but does it follow that Bob Rush should fill this statistical vacuum? That Rush gave a stirring speech at half time is well documented in numerous publications so his place in history will not be lost. But Is this speech alone sufficient to enable him to be counted as coach of the team or a premiership coach? Or did he do anything else on the day to further those coaching claims? You mention that he also spoke to the players pre-match and was on the sidelines when the game ended. If true this would give considerable weight to the case of Rush being the coach but if it was just you exercising your poetic licence then it doesn’t take the debate any further. No doubt others have looked closely at this issue, such as the contributors to afltables.com and australianfootball.com, who both credit Rush as a one game premiership coach. What the McHale camp thinks about this is another matter. Anyway I’ll leave it to all those others to fight what they see as the good fight. PS. I love Wikipedia but it is not always reliable. For example it currently mentions on the “1930 VFL Grand Final” page that Collingwood overcame a 27 point deficit, which from a quick analysis of the quarter by quarter scores could not have been true for any point in the match. Coincidentally your article twice refers incorrectly to a 27 point deficit. For the record the half time deficit was 21 points.
Ando
Guest
Surely a better solution for the AFL would be to find another match (preseason or otherwise) to "update" to official status to bump up McHale's record to 714, instead of taking the glory away from Rush. Or even crediting McHale with the involvement while still crediting Rush as the premiership coach could work. At the very least it would be a non-story. The strangest part of the whole thing is that Rush's situation is something the AFL would usually be salivating over promoting, considering their main selling point of the game is how unique it is, how anything could happen and how unlikely heroes step up in important moments.
Sean Lee
Expert
Hi NL, thanks for your contribution. I appreciate the time you have taken to present your response. It does seem as if the recognised number of games that Jock McHale coached fluctuates from time to time. Check this site out, it is a great resource and actually lists game by game who coached what. They have McHale on 713 http://afltables.com/afl/stats/coaches/Jock_McHale.html The entry for McHale on wikipedia also has him on 713 games as does the coaching table towards the end of the entry on Tom Hafey. I'll take your word for it about the use of sirens, but surely after such a thrilling comeback Rush, being a Collingwood man through and through, surely had some sort of emotional response when the bell was rung to signal the end of the game. What was a coach's role on match day in 1930? Well, whatever it was, we can safely say that it wasn't performed by McHale for the grand final, because he wasn't even there. I also find it unlikely that the AFL would strike Rush from the record books just to manipulate this year's fixtures (and I say that in the article). That view comes from Kevin Bartlett. But also (as stated in the article) I find the AFL's response inadequate as well. In all though, this article is not so much about the number of games McHale coached (he will remain a giant of the game forever). It is more about recognising Rush's contribution.
Martin
Guest
I thought rewriting history was something only historians could do.
Aransan
Guest
NL, an excellent contribution to the debate.
Jailbird_joey
Guest
Thanks for the article, Sean ///
NL
Guest
I agree that the issue of who should be recorded as the coach of Collingwood in the 1930 Grand Final needs further investigation and debate but I fail to see how you can say that the AFL are rewriting history and suddenly changing a record “that has already been recognised”. Every year since 1997 the AFL statistical annual has listed Jock McHale as having coached 714 games (for example see page 304 of AFL ’97). Other references to 714 games I found in my limited collection of books include , The Official Collingwood Illustrated Encyclopedia (page 109, published 2012), Footy’s Greatest Coaches (p39 pub 2002), The Encyclopedia of AFL Coaches (p146, pub 2013), The 500 Club, Footy’s Greatest Coaches (p91, pub 2004), The Australian Game of Football Since 1858 (p192 pub 2008). I did not come across one reference to 713 games. Interestingly the 1988 VFL Year Book states McHale coached 752 games (W 487, L 255, D 10, Premiers 8). In the 1990 AFL Year Book this was changed to 712 games (W 467, L 235, D 10, Premiers 8). Contemporary newspaper reports make it clear that McHale wasn’t at the 1930 Grand Final and Bob Rush gave an inspiring half time speech. But you also say: It was Rush, not McHale, who spoke to the players in the rooms before the 1930 grand final. …. and it was Rush, not McHale, who jumped from the sidelines, arms in the air, as the final siren sounded. What is your source for making these statements? Pardon the pun, but the final part certainly doesn’t ring true as a siren was first trialled in a VFL game in 1933 and not used again until the 1949 final series (League Football in Victoria – 1975, p 65). This leads to the questions that I think need answering: What was a coach’s role on match day in 1930? and Can it be said that Bob Rush performed this role? I have no idea how many games Jock McHale coached (or should be recognised as coaching) or whether Bob Rush should be regarded as the coach of the 1930 Grand Final team but to beat this story up as some sort of recent AFL conspiracy to strike Rush from the history books simply to suit their 2015 fixture just doesn’t fit the fact that it has been widely published for at least 18 years that, rightly or wrongly, 714 is the record number.
JMW
Guest
Great article, how do we achieve the right thing? How can pressure be bought to bear on the AFL to be accurate and have integrity? Should Rush's family take this to court?
conchie
Roar Rookie
Both part of the Catholic mafia at Collingwood, Rush won't mind, side by side
graham burns
Guest
I find it hard to believe that the AFL can change the history of the game when and how they wish. Especially after the Essendon debacle.
Sean Lee
Expert
Thanks for your input Ross. You can understand the records being wrong because of an oversight, especially some of the older ones, but to change one that has already been recognised defies belief.
Ross Smith
Guest
Congratulations on a well-written article which exposes the double-standards applied by the AFL, Carlton, and Collingwood. Indeed, Malthouse on his official website appears to condone the nonsense as well. Having tried to alert a number of Australian Football journalists/writers/commentators to the inaccuracy of the McHale 714 claim and been ignored, I'm pleased to see an article appear on a widely read forum to highlight the matter. There are just over 100 matches identified so far where an "acting/caretaker coach" undertakes coaching duties on the day rather than the "officially appointed coach." The AFL Season Guide appears to identify about 80, so the 20 or so extras discovered in recent weeks are not even known about at AFL House. The Mchale/Rush match is the only one where the AFL credits the "absent" coach. Some instances in the 100+ list occur when a person such as Dick Reynolds, Bob Davis, or Alan Jeans were away interstate with the Victorian team. Some, like McHale or Clarkson, occur when illness intervenes, e.g. Barassi was injured in car crash near end of 1976 season and Ray Jordon coached North Melbourne on the day (Barassi recorded an address on video which was played to the players pre-match) - the AFL currently credit Jordon as being coach for that match as they should. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yPNUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RpIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5352%2C4474224 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yvNUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RpIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5502%2C5563399 And Malthouse - he played in at least two matches for St Kilda when Jeans was away ill, being coached each time by Eric Guy. If he was genuinely in support of McHale being credited with a match he wasn't at, why hasn't he called on the AFL to credit Jeans with the missing matches too ! This debate has to be had, because you know the worst aspect altogether - the AFL, nor I suspect anybody else don't appear to have verified match-by-match records to determine exactly how many matches McHale or anyone else actually coached. The distinct possibility of this is evident because of the "new" 20 or so matches found recently, coaching records for a number of clubs needing to be corrected. The date span of these instances covers late 1920s to the 1950s. One example to highlight what I mean: Gordon Lane should have Rds 12 - 15 1951 removed from his stint at South Melbourne as he was suspended, Ron Clegg taking on the coaching role.
Sean Lee
Expert
Steve, according to an article in the Herald-Sun awhile back his family are less than happy.
Sean Lee
Expert
That's interesting Cugel. I looked at a few sources and they all said 713 games. No doubt it has caused confusion over the years.
Sean Lee
Expert
That would be too logical Aransan.
Sean Lee
Expert
Yeah, KB was onto this towards the end of last year. I don't always agree with him, but I share his angst on this one.
Sean Lee
Expert
He would definitely have been there in spirit Richard. Whether that's enough to credit him with the win is another story!
SM
Guest
Would put in past them do this decades on from now, when most would have forgot about it.
Steve Mcglashan
Roar Rookie
I wonder what bob rush's family think of this. It does make you wonder for the afl don't acknowledge the old vfa premierships either the facts are men played and won premierships and bob rush deserves to be honored rightly. Better ask the afl also if brendan boltons 6 wins while he was stand in coach for hawthorn should go on alister clarksons record
Cugel
Roar Rookie
"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." This has been on the books for sometime though. The 2005 season guide has 714, so that's at least a decade.