The Matthews / Bruns incident. What was it that caused the aftermath ?

[My Tilly]

Mate …he was the very definition of a human battering ram.

Just like Mathews, Gary Snr..Darren Millane..Voss, Archer...Dipper..Merv Neagle …just thick layered men built to run into things and never get hurt as long as you’re going faster than your intended prey.

Laws of physics and all that.

They would line blokes up and send them to Pluto.

Glorious stuff.

I remember in late in 1992 and the Eagles played Cats at Kardinia, Ablett came flying in at full speed with the intent to knock Worsfold out. He did but Worsfold was that tough, he staggered to his feet again.
He didn't know where he was and had to come off the ground. The man was one of the most courageous players of all time.

I also remember in his early years when Lockett knocked out McKenna at Moorabbin oval. The only Eagle to remonstrate and take on Lockett was Worsfold.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

If you are gunna be a sniper then don't be surprised that some day you yourself are gunna get sniped

Best revenge act for me was Banks on Rhys-Jones in 86 and hardly one Blues player remonstrated with him afterwards

 

[raymond35]

Strangest thing to me is what a nice fellow Matthews seems to be off the field.
A little eccentric ( don't know if some of the weird stories you hear about him are true ), but the couple of times I've encountered him over the years he seems so friendly and easy going.

 

[Tugga27]

 

[Shane Heard]

If you are gunna be a sniper then don't be surprised that some day you yourself are gunna get sniped

Best revenge act for me was Banks on Rhys-Jones in 86 and hardly one Blues player remonstrated with him afterwards

Yeah David was due for that one.

Banks dished that one out on behalf of the entire league with all and sundry nodding in somber approval.

 

[demondavey]

Mate …he was the very definition of a human battering ram.

Just like Mathews, Gary Snr..Darren Millane..Voss, Archer...Dipper..Merv Neagle …just thick layered men built to run into things and never get hurt as long as you’re going faster than your intended prey.

Laws of physics and all that.

They would line blokes up and send them to Pluto.

Glorious stuff.

Absolutely. To be able to enter the AFL when they did and have such an impact where there were some very good clubs peaking takes serious talent and minerals. Going back 34 years here, footy was very hard. And whoosh needs to be remembered as a seriously hard man.

 

[demondavey]

That hit on Dermott was great. And he hit Ablett hard as well. Ablett bounced back though.

 

[Shane Heard]

All of Jeans’ teams had plenty of thugs who would engage in cowardly king hits on opponents who weren’t looking or expecting it.

It’s not a coincidence. It was clearly part of his modus operandi.

Yep.. dipper on stoneham

Dipper on Walsh

Robertson’s cowardly attack on Tim

Clayton got dipper back for stoneham though

 

[Tugga27]

That hit on Dermott was great. And he hit Ablett hard as well. Ablett bounced back though.

Ablett was built like a tank.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

If you are gunna be a sniper then don't be surprised that some day you yourself are gunna get sniped

Best revenge act for me was Banks on Rhys-Jones in 86 and hardly one Blues player remonstrated with him afterwards

Charmed by a sociopath!

 

[Tugga27]

Mate …he was the very definition of a human battering ram.

Just like Mathews, Gary Snr..Darren Millane..Voss, Archer...Dipper..Merv Neagle …just thick layered men built to run into things and never get hurt as long as you’re going faster than your intended prey.

Laws of physics and all that.

They would line blokes up and send them to Pluto.

Glorious stuff.

Just out of interest, how was Worsfold perceived by your fanbase?

 

[the avoca drover]

Yep.. dipper on stoneham

Dipper on Walsh

Robertson’s cowardly attack on Tim

Clayton got dipper back for stoneham though

I thought Rotten Ronny got Dipper.

 

[Shane Heard]

I thought Rotten Ronny got Dipper.

He did. That was another beef.

Clayton got dipper specifically as payback for Alan Stoneham.

Sheedy or someone like Kevin Egan probably put the tray around at the Windy Hill social club and put a collection of cash together to pay Clayton a finders fee.

 

[Shane Heard]

Just out of interest, how was Worsfold perceived by your fanbase?

Back in the day …nothing but respect

Hard team to beat etc

But McKenna, Turley, Jacovich, Mainwarring, Kemp, McIntosh, Langdon, Waterman, Lamb , Matera etc …nearly all that list was full of hard arses.

We used to to be that in 84/85’

WC later had to be admired for their hard work success.

Worsfold to me was like a Shane Heard or Jason Johnson. Just head first and flat stick at the man. No fear.

Quietly assuming and

silent , no frills players who kept their feet and hardly ever went down.

Bomber Thompson too.

Mark Johnson, Solomon and Hardwick were similar to JW

Just brutal and hard and relentless.

 

[WireHawk]

I was at the infamous game. Bruns was reported early in the game for unduly rough play on Michael Tuck, I think. The tone was set. The real trouble started when Mark Jackson king hit Chris Langford behind play. I was close by and happened to be watching them for some reason. Jackson hit Langford three times and Langford went down after the third hit.

Matthews later said that he was incensed by what had happened to Langford and the red mist settled over him. Bruns didn't deserve to be the recipient of Matthews' wrath but Jackson was at the other end of the ground.

Matthews crossed the line, but Mark Jackson was the catalyst for the subsequent mayhem.

 

[Shane Heard]

I was at the infamous game. Bruns was reported early in the game for unduly rough play on Michael Tuck, I think. The tone was set. The real trouble started when Mark Jackson king hit Chris Langford behind play. I was close by and happened to be watching them for some reason. Jackson hit Langford three times and Langford went down after the third hit.

Matthews later said that he was incensed by what had happened to Langford and the red mist settled over him. Bruns didn't deserve to be the recipient of Matthews' wrath but Jackson was at the other end of the ground.

Matthews crossed the line, but Mark Jackson was the catalyst for the subsequent mayhem.

The red mist lol

Killer on the field. Lethal.

Jacko was a complete nut job.

I can vividly remember as a kid watching him at Windy Hill start fights behind play with TD or Ronnie just for the sake of it.

Blokes like Gary Foulds used to walk away from him just not interested in any type of biffo.

I was there when an Essendon fan jumped the fence members end to confront the moron. The Essendon crowd used to go nuts.

Jackson was and still is a complete mental case.

 

[Shane Heard]

Here it is…the before and after

It wasn’t McKenna saying Jacko started it hitting Ayers

Some other commentator

Bloody jacko..

 

[Shane Heard]

View attachment 1946762

Definitely Bertocci

Pope Dyer calming the masses as Yabby and Tommy keep a stealy expression of discontent

 

[Robroy22]

I'm sorta "glad"(??) this topic's come up simply to reinforce the perceptions of Alan Jeans and his thuggish tactics. Having been born a long time before most of you, I grew up in an era of tough men playing a tough game and I vividly remember moments of treachery and the evening up that accompanied them. My boyhood hero Bob Rose was roundly perceived by all and sundry as a fair man and a ball player but even HE ran from one side of the MCG to the other in order to confront Ronald Dale Barassi the day Ron decided to knock young Kenny Bennett into the metal railings of the MCG fence. "Barrass" chested several other remonstrating Pies but when he felt Bob Rose's hand on his shoulder and saw who it was, he hi-tailed it for the safety of his own players. Rose was well known to be an accomplished boxer and Barrassi sought discretion rather than valour.

I was at Moorabbin the fateful day that Johnny Greening was culled. People today have "heard the tale" but they truly have no understanding of what happened or who Johhny was and what this dastardly deed would mean for footy.

Greening was a young tyro reaching his peak in 1972, he was undoubtedly the best young player in the league and a true matchwinner as well as being the most spectacular player to watch. A brilliant Tasmanian junior he had signed at 16 and came to Collingwood in the wake of other Tasmanian sensations (Hart, Hudson, Baldock, Stewart) as the best the state had ever produced. A midfielder of exceptional speed, balance, marking and general ball skills he could play multiple positions (C, Wing, R/R, HF, HB, he even played key forward when needed despite only being a Collingwood 6 footer)

I've seen some here compare Johhny to Nick Daicos in terms of popularity and respect for talent but Greening was far and away the more complete player. He would regularly take "mark of the day" and kick "goal of the day" in the same match and seasoned players from Terry Waters to Len Thompson referred to the fact that he had more skill than the rest of their team put together.

So we're talking an ALL TIME talent being lost from the game because of a filthy KING-HIT by a coward who'd been orchestrated by his THUG of a coach.

John had (minutes before) shaken O'Dea's hand as he always did, he'd then won the ball and kicked it forward and was following it's flight forward as O'Dea stole up behind him and swung a roundhouse right fist into John's right ear. Johnny never saw it coming, never had time to react, never did anything to provoke it and almost paid for it with his life. My memory of the incident is as clear today as it was the moment after it happened. It happened not 15m from us and at the time people at the ground were stunned to witness such unprovoked violence. John was "out" before he hit the ground, his bleeding began quickly and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Players took a few moments to register what had happened. They too had been following the ball in play and none were in close proximity to where John lay and O'Dea stood looking on as if "lightning had struck his opponent"

The game stopped, players ran from all over the field. Ronnie Wearmouth and Max Richardson remonstrated initially with O'Dea but with "Cowboy" Neale and Carl Ditterich as opponents our little blokes were easily brushed aside and Police horses and trainers invaded the ground to see to the injured Greening. As they carried John off, fruit and quite a few cans were thrown in O'Dea's direction by those that knew the truth of the incident, quite a few Saint supporters near us were totally disgusted with him as well.

You can find out the rest if you're interested enough to do so but the John Greening we all knew and loved to see play had his career ENDED for him that day. 10 days in a coma, 6 months in hospital, rehab...the Saints made out they'd paid back for their crime by playing in a charity game to raise money for John's family but nothing ever got done about the crime. O'Dea got 10 weeks for almost killing someone, no criminal charges were ever laid despite hundreds of us (both Pies and Saints) being ready and willing to provide eye witness accounts of the assault. And Alan Jeans only ever got held to account by Peter McKenna on WOS. The media went quiet, the VFL did NOTHING and Jeans went on to be feted as a master coach.

In my lifetime watching and playing this great sport I've only ever been ashamed of my sport and it's caretakers on a handful of occasions. The racial slurs that indigenous players have been forced to put up with is one, Mathews and Bruns to me is a lot like Banksy and Rhys (payback on too many steroids) but in terms of what its meant to the game (the loss of one of the greatest ever players) then O'Dea's king-hit on Johnny Greening will forever be the one time I would've liked to have seen criminal charges laid against a player and his coach. They BOTH had blood on their hands.

 

[_Mike_]

Jeans was a policeman, rising to senior seargent in the Vic Police force.

And allegedly very traditional in discipline, read into that what you will.

 

[Shane Heard]

I'm sorta "glad"(??) this topic's come up simply to reinforce the perceptions of Alan Jeans and his thuggish tactics. Having been born a long time before most of you, I grew up in an era of tough men playing a tough game and I vividly remember moments of treachery and the evening up that accompanied them. My boyhood hero Bob Rose was roundly perceived by all and sundry as a fair man and a ball player but even HE ran from one side of the MCG to the other in order to confront Ronald Dale Barassi the day Ron decided to knock young Kenny Bennett into the metal railings of the MCG fence. "Barrass" chested several other remonstrating Pies but when he felt Bob Rose's hand on his shoulder and saw who it was, he hi-tailed it for the safety of his own players. Rose was well known to be an accomplished boxer and Barrassi sought discretion rather than valour.

I was at Moorabbin the fateful day that Johnny Greening was culled. People today have "heard the tale" but they truly have no understanding of what happened or who Johhny was and what this dastardly deed would mean for footy.

Greening was a young tyro reaching his peak in 1972, he was undoubtedly the best young player in the league and a true matchwinner as well as being the most spectacular player to watch. A brilliant Tasmanian junior he had signed at 16 and came to Collingwood in the wake of other Tasmanian sensations (Hart, Hudson, Baldock, Stewart) as the best the state had ever produced. A midfielder of exceptional speed, balance, marking and general ball skills he could play multiple positions (C, Wing, R/R, HF, HB, he even played key forward when needed despite only being a Collingwood 6 footer)

I've seen some here compare Johhny to Nick Daicos in terms of popularity and respect for talent but Greening was far and away the more complete player. He would regularly take "mark of the day" and kick "goal of the day" in the same match and seasoned players from Terry Waters to Len Thompson referred to the fact that he had more skill than the rest of their team put together.

So we're talking an ALL TIME talent being lost from the game because of a filthy KING-HIT by a coward who'd been orchestrated by his THUG of a coach.

John had (minutes before) shaken O'Dea's hand as he always did, he'd then won the ball and kicked it forward and was following it's flight forward as O'Dea stole up behind him and swung a roundhouse right fist into John's right ear. Johnny never saw it coming, never had time to react, never did anything to provoke it and almost paid for it with his life. My memory of the incident is as clear today as it was the moment after it happened. It happened not 15m from us and at the time people at the ground were stunned to witness such unprovoked violence. John was "out" before he hit the ground, his bleeding began quickly and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Players took a few moments to register what had happened. They too had been following the ball in play and none were in close proximity to where John lay and O'Dea stood looking on as if "lightning had struck his opponent"

The game stopped, players ran from all over the field. Ronnie Wearmouth and Max Richardson remonstrated initially with O'Dea but with "Cowboy" Neale and Carl Ditterich as opponents our little blokes were easily brushed aside and Police horses and trainers invaded the ground to see to the injured Greening. As they carried John off, fruit and quite a few cans were thrown in O'Dea's direction by those that knew the truth of the incident, quite a few Saint supporters near us were totally disgusted with him as well.

You can find out the rest if you're interested enough to do so but the John Greening we all knew and loved to see play had his career ENDED for him that day. 10 days in a coma, 6 months in hospital, rehab...the Saints made out they'd paid back for their crime by playing in a charity game to raise money for John's family but nothing ever got done about the crime. O'Dea got 10 weeks for almost killing someone, no criminal charges were ever laid despite hundreds of us (both Pies and Saints) being ready and willing to provide eye witness accounts of the assault. And Alan Jeans only ever got held to account by Peter McKenna on WOS. The media went quiet, the VFL did NOTHING and Jeans went on to be feted as a master coach.

In my lifetime watching and playing this great sport I've only ever been ashamed of my sport and it's caretakers on a handful of occasions. The racial slurs that indigenous players have been forced to put up with is one, Mathews and Bruns to me is a lot like Banksy and Rhys (payback on too many steroids) but in terms of what its meant to the game (the loss of one of the greatest ever players) then O'Dea's king-hit on Johnny Greening will forever be the one time I would've liked to have seen criminal charges laid against a player and his coach. They BOTH had blood on their hands.

Best post I’ve read on BF in 20 years.

Thank you for your vivid recollections of moments of absolute violence that rocked the VFL world at the time.

It’s one thing to recall a slap or brutal coat hanger moment that happen every qrt.. but there are definitely moments of sheer brutality that shocked crowds back in our day.

I say “ our day”..but im more 1977 onwards memories.

Blokes like you who recall 60s and mid 70s incidents saw the real stuff.

Not that we reminisce in those incidents with glee…it’s more about the history of the game and how things have been cleaned up over time…for the better.

Because players like Greening and others had their career cut short by absolute thuggery.

 

[hairy biker]

I was at the Bruns/Mathews game and I have never been to a match that was more likely to turn violent.
The main instigator was Mark Jackson and it was seeming inevitable that something like the Bruns hit would occur, even though Bruns was at no fault whatsoever.

The reason Mathews was charged was because Mick Miller, a very straight down the line copper, was Police Commissioner at the time as well as a well known Hawthorn supporter and didn't want any suggestions of favouritism, when the media called for action.

In relation to the O'Dea/Greening incident I was of the understanding it was an off-field personal matter that led to the king hit.

 

[Shane Heard]

I was at the Bruns/Mathews game and I have never been to a match that was more likely to turn violent.
The main instigator was Mark Jackson and it was seeming inevitable that something like the Bruns hit would occur, even though Bruns was at no fault whatsoever.

The reason Mathews was charged was because Mick Miller, a very straight down the line copper, was Police Commissioner at the time as well as a well known Hawthorn supporter and didn't want any suggestions of favouritism, when the media called for action.

In relation to the O'Dea/Greening incident I was of the understanding it was an off-field personal matter that led to the king hit.

Ok ..so the MM theory is completely plausible considering his standing in the force.

What’s the off field story of greening ?

Might as well
Spill it.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I'm sorta "glad"(??) this topic's come up simply to reinforce the perceptions of Alan Jeans and his thuggish tactics. Having been born a long time before most of you, I grew up in an era of tough men playing a tough game and I vividly remember moments of treachery and the evening up that accompanied them. My boyhood hero Bob Rose was roundly perceived by all and sundry as a fair man and a ball player but even HE ran from one side of the MCG to the other in order to confront Ronald Dale Barassi the day Ron decided to knock young Kenny Bennett into the metal railings of the MCG fence. "Barrass" chested several other remonstrating Pies but when he felt Bob Rose's hand on his shoulder and saw who it was, he hi-tailed it for the safety of his own players. Rose was well known to be an accomplished boxer and Barrassi sought discretion rather than valour.

I was at Moorabbin the fateful day that Johnny Greening was culled. People today have "heard the tale" but they truly have no understanding of what happened or who Johhny was and what this dastardly deed would mean for footy.

Greening was a young tyro reaching his peak in 1972, he was undoubtedly the best young player in the league and a true matchwinner as well as being the most spectacular player to watch. A brilliant Tasmanian junior he had signed at 16 and came to Collingwood in the wake of other Tasmanian sensations (Hart, Hudson, Baldock, Stewart) as the best the state had ever produced. A midfielder of exceptional speed, balance, marking and general ball skills he could play multiple positions (C, Wing, R/R, HF, HB, he even played key forward when needed despite only being a Collingwood 6 footer)

I've seen some here compare Johhny to Nick Daicos in terms of popularity and respect for talent but Greening was far and away the more complete player. He would regularly take "mark of the day" and kick "goal of the day" in the same match and seasoned players from Terry Waters to Len Thompson referred to the fact that he had more skill than the rest of their team put together.

So we're talking an ALL TIME talent being lost from the game because of a filthy KING-HIT by a coward who'd been orchestrated by his THUG of a coach.

John had (minutes before) shaken O'Dea's hand as he always did, he'd then won the ball and kicked it forward and was following it's flight forward as O'Dea stole up behind him and swung a roundhouse right fist into John's right ear. Johnny never saw it coming, never had time to react, never did anything to provoke it and almost paid for it with his life. My memory of the incident is as clear today as it was the moment after it happened. It happened not 15m from us and at the time people at the ground were stunned to witness such unprovoked violence. John was "out" before he hit the ground, his bleeding began quickly and his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Players took a few moments to register what had happened. They too had been following the ball in play and none were in close proximity to where John lay and O'Dea stood looking on as if "lightning had struck his opponent"

The game stopped, players ran from all over the field. Ronnie Wearmouth and Max Richardson remonstrated initially with O'Dea but with "Cowboy" Neale and Carl Ditterich as opponents our little blokes were easily brushed aside and Police horses and trainers invaded the ground to see to the injured Greening. As they carried John off, fruit and quite a few cans were thrown in O'Dea's direction by those that knew the truth of the incident, quite a few Saint supporters near us were totally disgusted with him as well.

You can find out the rest if you're interested enough to do so but the John Greening we all knew and loved to see play had his career ENDED for him that day. 10 days in a coma, 6 months in hospital, rehab...the Saints made out they'd paid back for their crime by playing in a charity game to raise money for John's family but nothing ever got done about the crime. O'Dea got 10 weeks for almost killing someone, no criminal charges were ever laid despite hundreds of us (both Pies and Saints) being ready and willing to provide eye witness accounts of the assault. And Alan Jeans only ever got held to account by Peter McKenna on WOS. The media went quiet, the VFL did NOTHING and Jeans went on to be feted as a master coach.

In my lifetime watching and playing this great sport I've only ever been ashamed of my sport and it's caretakers on a handful of occasions. The racial slurs that indigenous players have been forced to put up with is one, Mathews and Bruns to me is a lot like Banksy and Rhys (payback on too many steroids) but in terms of what its meant to the game (the loss of one of the greatest ever players) then O'Dea's king-hit on Johnny Greening will forever be the one time I would've liked to have seen criminal charges laid against a player and his coach. They BOTH had blood on their hands.

Greening finished 7th in the Brownlow that year despite playing 14 games (13 actually, you can’t count the St Kilda game as he was taken out so early). He polled 14 votes.

Extrapolated over 22 games, that’s 23 votes, he would have finished second.

He was 21 years old.

 

[Atomboy]

Ablett was built like a tank.

And was a dirty thug.

The Kristian Beardsley hit was horrible