- Banned
- #1
Had a great year in his first year of footy 1996? thought he was a champ would be great to see him get back to that form.
Cat tries to put past behind him
March 18 2003
After seven years at Geelong and with his 26th birthday next month, Darren Milburn has reluctantly taken on the role of a team leader in the youthful Cat line-up.
Picture: ANDREW DE LA RUE
After six years of virtual silence, Darren Milburn talks to Peter Ker about a tragic car accident, avoiding the media and that day at Carlton.
Football clubs are full of young men who don't particularly enjoy talking about themselves, least of all to the media. But, even by football standards, Darren Milburn is a quiet one.
While there are footballers who carry controversy with them throughout their career, for such a low-profile individual, Milburn is one who has carried more than most.
In his seven years at Geelong, "Dasher" Milburn, who turns 26 next month, has played 100 games and kicked 44 goals. But, until now, his interview tally stood close to zero.
And although his reputation as a key member of Geelong's defence has grown steadily, Milburn is still best remembered for two incidents he now says he is trying to put behind him.
In 1997, Milburn, the 48th pick in the 1995 national draft, was involved in a car accident on Geelong Road that left a man dead.
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Just 19 at the time and with his P-plates on the dashboard, Milburn was driving to a training session at Kardinia Park when he lost control and collided with an oncoming vehicle.
The state coroner, Graeme Johnstone found that Milburn had contributed to the man's death. Johnstone said Milburn was not drunk, drugged or speeding and found that inattention on a straight stretch of highway had probably caused him to veer into trees on the median strip and run "almost head-on" into an oncoming car. Milburn was not charged over the incident.
Almost six years on, Milburn says the best way to move forward is to keep the incident as far from his thoughts as possible.
Milburn's counsel at the time, Rod Willcox, described his client as being shattered by the death. Even today, the incident is clearly something Milburn has difficulty talking about.
Milburn said he had tried to put it behind him and "try and play some good footy for the Geelong Football Club".
It's perhaps a reflection on the myopic nature of the football community that Milburn has since come under greater scrutiny, particularly from his detractors, for an incident at Optus Oval four years later.
Just minutes before the end of Geelong's 2001 season, Milburn carelessly crashed into Stephen Silvagni as the Carlton legend was following the ball in play.
Dragged from the field almost immediately, Milburn fanned the anger of the Carlton fans by clapping his hands and making gestures as he made his way off the ground.
The situation threatened to erupt moments later when the fans, enraged at the sight of Silvagni being carried off unconscious, started streaming towards the Geelong dugout, banging the perspex under which Milburn was sheltering.
Although happy to accept the three-week suspension for doing something he "probably shouldn't have", Milburn maintains that he would do the same again if the situation presented itself. "I would have done the same thing every other time," he said.
"It's just part of footy and I'd expect someone in the same position to do exactly the same to me. You go out to win the ball and I guess stop your opponent from getting it and, yeah, it was just a split decision and in the end, it was probably a bad decision, but that's the way it goes, I guess."
Contrary to popular belief, former Geelong player Bill Brownless said Milburn's dislike of the media spotlight had nothing to do with hiding from his controversial past.
"I just think he has always been like that; even before those (incidents), he was a quiet, shy kid," he said.
"The car accident would have been a hard one at the time because he was only young and he wouldn't have known what was happening. The Carlton thing, that was blown up a bit I thought, out of proportion."
Brownless said Milburn's refusal to talk to the media had led people to make their own assumptions and, in turn, fuelled the perception that he carried no remorse for the incidents. "I know he didn't mean to do what he did and he did feel bad about it, but I don't think he had the chance, because he is not the media type, to actually show any remorse," Brownless said.
Brownless, now employed by Geelong in a communications role, said Milburn ranks as the shyest footballer he has ever encountered, even more so than the famously reclusive Gary Ablett.
"You don't even know he is around . . . he comes in, he trains, he'll probably say five words, then goes home. He's unique," he said.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson said Milburn was starting to realise that he is one of the oldest players on the Cats' list and so, by definition, is one of the leaders around the club. "In a different sort of a way, he's a good leader, not by words but by actions," Thompson said.
"He is very quiet . . . I have to say hello to him every day because he'll never say hello to me first."
Milburn said his aversion to the media was simply because "it's not my personality". "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I haven't really got into it. I don't like to get in there and say what's going on; I just leave that to other people, I guess."
While aware that he is not popular with opposition fans, nor a natural leader of men, Milburn is enjoying his new role at the club. "I wouldn't say I'm a natural leader . . . But I just sort of find it happening and hopefully it works," he said.
Growing into his new leadership role around the club is one way "Dasher" plans to move on. Becoming a father is another.
Brownless believes Milburn will handle the two new roles in his life in his own, unique style. "He's about to become a father for the first time and the baby will probably say more than Dad," he joked.
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Cat tries to put past behind him
March 18 2003
After seven years at Geelong and with his 26th birthday next month, Darren Milburn has reluctantly taken on the role of a team leader in the youthful Cat line-up.
Picture: ANDREW DE LA RUE
After six years of virtual silence, Darren Milburn talks to Peter Ker about a tragic car accident, avoiding the media and that day at Carlton.
Football clubs are full of young men who don't particularly enjoy talking about themselves, least of all to the media. But, even by football standards, Darren Milburn is a quiet one.
While there are footballers who carry controversy with them throughout their career, for such a low-profile individual, Milburn is one who has carried more than most.
In his seven years at Geelong, "Dasher" Milburn, who turns 26 next month, has played 100 games and kicked 44 goals. But, until now, his interview tally stood close to zero.
And although his reputation as a key member of Geelong's defence has grown steadily, Milburn is still best remembered for two incidents he now says he is trying to put behind him.
In 1997, Milburn, the 48th pick in the 1995 national draft, was involved in a car accident on Geelong Road that left a man dead.
advertisement
advertisement
Just 19 at the time and with his P-plates on the dashboard, Milburn was driving to a training session at Kardinia Park when he lost control and collided with an oncoming vehicle.
The state coroner, Graeme Johnstone found that Milburn had contributed to the man's death. Johnstone said Milburn was not drunk, drugged or speeding and found that inattention on a straight stretch of highway had probably caused him to veer into trees on the median strip and run "almost head-on" into an oncoming car. Milburn was not charged over the incident.
Almost six years on, Milburn says the best way to move forward is to keep the incident as far from his thoughts as possible.
Milburn's counsel at the time, Rod Willcox, described his client as being shattered by the death. Even today, the incident is clearly something Milburn has difficulty talking about.
Milburn said he had tried to put it behind him and "try and play some good footy for the Geelong Football Club".
It's perhaps a reflection on the myopic nature of the football community that Milburn has since come under greater scrutiny, particularly from his detractors, for an incident at Optus Oval four years later.
Just minutes before the end of Geelong's 2001 season, Milburn carelessly crashed into Stephen Silvagni as the Carlton legend was following the ball in play.
Dragged from the field almost immediately, Milburn fanned the anger of the Carlton fans by clapping his hands and making gestures as he made his way off the ground.
The situation threatened to erupt moments later when the fans, enraged at the sight of Silvagni being carried off unconscious, started streaming towards the Geelong dugout, banging the perspex under which Milburn was sheltering.
Although happy to accept the three-week suspension for doing something he "probably shouldn't have", Milburn maintains that he would do the same again if the situation presented itself. "I would have done the same thing every other time," he said.
"It's just part of footy and I'd expect someone in the same position to do exactly the same to me. You go out to win the ball and I guess stop your opponent from getting it and, yeah, it was just a split decision and in the end, it was probably a bad decision, but that's the way it goes, I guess."
Contrary to popular belief, former Geelong player Bill Brownless said Milburn's dislike of the media spotlight had nothing to do with hiding from his controversial past.
"I just think he has always been like that; even before those (incidents), he was a quiet, shy kid," he said.
"The car accident would have been a hard one at the time because he was only young and he wouldn't have known what was happening. The Carlton thing, that was blown up a bit I thought, out of proportion."
Brownless said Milburn's refusal to talk to the media had led people to make their own assumptions and, in turn, fuelled the perception that he carried no remorse for the incidents. "I know he didn't mean to do what he did and he did feel bad about it, but I don't think he had the chance, because he is not the media type, to actually show any remorse," Brownless said.
Brownless, now employed by Geelong in a communications role, said Milburn ranks as the shyest footballer he has ever encountered, even more so than the famously reclusive Gary Ablett.
"You don't even know he is around . . . he comes in, he trains, he'll probably say five words, then goes home. He's unique," he said.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson said Milburn was starting to realise that he is one of the oldest players on the Cats' list and so, by definition, is one of the leaders around the club. "In a different sort of a way, he's a good leader, not by words but by actions," Thompson said.
"He is very quiet . . . I have to say hello to him every day because he'll never say hello to me first."
Milburn said his aversion to the media was simply because "it's not my personality". "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I haven't really got into it. I don't like to get in there and say what's going on; I just leave that to other people, I guess."
While aware that he is not popular with opposition fans, nor a natural leader of men, Milburn is enjoying his new role at the club. "I wouldn't say I'm a natural leader . . . But I just sort of find it happening and hopefully it works," he said.
Growing into his new leadership role around the club is one way "Dasher" plans to move on. Becoming a father is another.
Brownless believes Milburn will handle the two new roles in his life in his own, unique style. "He's about to become a father for the first time and the baby will probably say more than Dad," he joked.
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