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This is an article that needs to be driven by Roarers themselves. I’m going to get the ball rolling and then trust that this triggers the memories of other Roarers to add their own experiences.
Perhaps my greatest “what if?” relates to rugby union in the early to mid 1980s. What if Wally Lewis had remained in rugby union and formed a 12-10 partnership with Mark Ella? How lethal would this have been?
For those who weren’t around at the time, the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team of 1977/78 contained an entire backline of future Wallabies – Glen Ella at fullback; Mick O’Connor and Mike Hawker (both normally centres) shunted to the wings; Gary Ella and Tony Melrose (also captain of the team) in the centres; Mark Ella and Dominic Vaughan as the halves pairing.
Wally Lewis couldn’t crack this lineup, although a broken arm midway through the tour put him out of action. Being a young man in a hurry, no wonder he decided to move to league immediately upon returning home. League’s gain was union’s loss.
But fast forward to the 1984 Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland. This was already a strong side, but what if Wally Lewis and Mick O’Connor had remained in rugby union? The backline would have been even more lethal than it was – Roger Gould at fullback; David Campese and Brendan Moon on the wings; O’Connor and Lewis as the centres pairing; Mark Ella and Nick Farr-Jones as the halves. On the bench you would have had Andy Slack, Michael Lynagh and Phil Cox.
How awesome is that?
This is the kind of backline you only dream of, and perhaps only see in heaven. Yet the tantalising thought is that it could have happened for real but for the different times and circumstances we lived in back then.
Another “what if?” example relates to horse racing, a sport that doesn’t get much exposure on the Roar. I was only a young bloke of 11 in 1967 when two great race horses each won the big races in at the Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Tobin Bronze won the Doncaster Handicap (one mile/1600m) with 9st 5lbs (59.5kgs). Then the Bart Cummings trained Galilee streeted his rivals in the Sydney Cup (2 miles/3200m) by 6 lengths carrying 9st 7lbs (60.5kgs).
Unfortunately, Galilee suffered a leg injury at the end of this race which put him out of action for 12 months, meaning he missed racing Tobin Bronze in the Melbourne Spring Carnival, where the two superstars might have clashed in the Caulfield Cup (1.5 miles/2400m) and Cox Plate (1.25 miles/2000m).
As it was, Tobin Bronze won the Caulfield Cup carrying 9st 10lbs (61.5kgs) and a week later the Cox plate. between these two races he was sold to American interests and immediately headed for the states, where with minimum preparation ran 3rd in the prestigious Washington Laurel International Stakes.
Gee, it would have been something to see these two champions race each other in the spring of 1967, but it never happened. And furthermore, Galilee was given 10st (63.5kgs) in the Melbourne Cup. Could he, fully fit, have carried that huge weight to an epic 2nd Melbourne Cup victory? A tantalising thought.
You don’t see race horses carry these huge weights much anymore. For context, when Makybe Diva won her 3rd successive Melbourne Cup in 2005, she carried “only” 58kgs (9st 2lbs)!
Anyway, enough from me for now and over to you Roarers. What are your sporting “what if?” moments?
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