Through interviews, photos and his own words, Rohan Aldous recalls the publication which encapsulated what it was to be a member of Tongala in the time leading up to the club's drought-breaking premiership of 1983 — and what it now means to be a True Blue in the modern era.
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True Blue ’83 won’t ever be regarded as a literary masterpiece, but its timing could not have been more perfect.
I can’t exactly remember whose brainchild it was, but the booklet managed to capture some of the excitement and magic of the drought-breaking Tongala Football Club premiership of 1983.
Thanks largely to an artist with a rather generous attitude toward a stats and footy-mad 13-year-old, the 32-page booklet was delivered to an eager audience only weeks out from the club’s first premiership since 1961.
Murray Ross was responsible for the artwork and Rod Brasher’s photography work gave the booklet the professionalism it needed to pass the litmus test of the club’s passionate supporter base.
And with the support of 20 businesses, along with extremely patient parents, it became a reality.
It still lives in the drawers of people who were part of the memorable premiership year and brings a smile to my face (and the occasional grimace) 38 years later.
Looking back, I took a fair bit of poetic licence, printing my own GVFL Ieam of the Year, which featured Rochester legends Rod Haring and Mick Keenan, along with Echuca’s Greg Murnane. Along with, as you might expect, a healthy Tongala representation
The pen pics are hilarious, beer featured prominently in the favourite drink category and Commodore was definitely the car of choice with the premiership players of 1983.
Not sure if there is a teenager out there planning a remake of the compilation (after all it was a good luck charm back then), but if there is I am more than willing to lend a hand.
Sons of guns
Walking into the rooms at half-time of a Tongala football match as a wide-eyed 13-year-old in 1983 is as fresh a memory as I have of my teenage years.
It’s right up there with kicking a goal after the siren against Kyabram in a semi-final at Seymour and being sent by Peter Gorski to tag Gary Cooper as a 16-year-old in just my third senior game.
And on a more entertaining note, but just as vivid, watching on as the local police interjected as an overzealous and long-time Tongala supporter — who those in attendance will know straight away — had some choice and clearly unwelcome words of advice for giant Tatura and former Footscray full-forward Shane Loveless.
As he was thrown in the back of the “divvie van” by the local police sergeant, Jack Maskell, I was both petrified and enthralled.
Loveless won the goal-kicking that year, 1984, with 100 goals.
Funnily enough, 14 years later, I was passing the ball to him at Nagambie, where our team broke a 21-year premiership drought in the Kyabram district league.
I bring these memories up because I am feeling rather old as the sons of three of my childhood heroes are now key parts of the unbeaten Murray league ladder leaders.
Corey Nexhip — son of Barry, who I still believe to be the original and clearly best exponent of the don’t argue technique, Jordan Souter — coach of the team and progeny of GVFL Hall of Famer Mick, and Adam Lovison — son of who I considered to be one of the cool cats of those back-to-back Tongala premiership teams, Mick.
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I was rather lucky that at least Souter was still around when I played my first season of senior football, along with the Jones brothers, Tony and John, Morrison medallist Phil Harrison and gentleman giant Jon Cortese.
I remember the myriad of magnificent moustaches which were proudly sported by the likes of coach Des Campbell, Lovison, the Joneses — well just about everyone as a matter of fact.
The image of coach Campbell hunched over in front of his star-studded team, resting one hand on a knee with that familiar single strap of electrical tape wrapped around it, while the other — as best I remember anyway — was holding a cigarette.
They were my heroes, but now they walk into the same change rooms as fathers and supporters of players in the team trying to win a first premiership for the dairy farming town since 1984.
Tongala’s football history is proud and lengthy, having formed in 1894, but it’s not littered with a lot of memorable grand final results.
Hence the extraordinary scenes of jubilation at the Tongala Shire Hall and the Falcon Hotel, more memories (they are coming back in droves as each keystroke is made) that still make me smile thinking about them.
The Blues spent 1946-2005 in the Goulburn Valley league before joining the Murray league the following season.
Preceding the GV days were five premierships in 10 seasons in the Kyabram District league.
A grand final appearance in 1991 and another last year are as close as they have come of repeating the feats of Campbell and his magnificent team from the early 1980s.
The Souters
As for the credentials of the three fathers, Mick Souter not only played 333 games for the Blues, but kicked an amazing 1007 goals (winning the 1978 GVFL goal-kicking award).
He bagged another 242 at an average 6.54 goals a game while winning back-to-back goal-kicking titles in the Murray league.
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Mick said his son was more of a midfielder than a forward and, as expected, was a huge rap for his work in the coaching space for the past two years.
“Jordan and his team have done a great job of getting some new players in and mentoring the young local players,” Mick said.
“It was fantastic last year and is building nicely this year.”
He rated Echuca’s Gavin Kennaugh, Mick Ryan from Kyabram and United’s Richard Warburton as his toughest full-back opposition.
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Souter Sr is kept more than busy on game days; he and wife “Dougie” have six grandchildren.
The Nexhips
Barry Nexhip, at least to me, was the 1980s equivalent of Dusty Martin.
“Necko” was a super-strong midfielder, could kick a goal and regularly thrust his palm in the chest of opposing defenders to turn and make a clear path to goal.
He played 225 senior games and 50 reserve games for the Blues, bagging almost 400 goals.
Nexhip could tear a game apart, echoed by a couple of historic games where he bagged 10 goals straight from a forward flank against old foe Kyabram.
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Long-time supporters will also remember him kicking nine goals (and eight behinds) after coming back from injury in the team’s grand final season of 1991.
“I went to Stanhope in 1986 for three seasons. We won back-to-back in 1986-87, but I came back to Tonny on permits in 1988 for five games to help them out,’’ he said.
Nexhip kicked 96 goals with Stanhope as a ruck rover resting in the forward line in that 1986 premiership season.
He returned to Tongala in 1989 to play his 200th game and in 1991 was made a life member.
His three sons are all taller, so comparing them to their father is probably unfair.
He served as president of Tongala Football Club for five years and now concentrates his attention at the opposite end to where he played, with his son the team’s full-back.“The backline suits Corey, he is one of the fitter players and uses the football well,” he said.
Nexhip maintains a strong relationship with 1983 Tongala best-and-fairest Ray Smith, along with Mick Lovison and enjoys catching up with premiership teammate and Echuca Hotel owner Dave Connally.
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His 26-year-old son, who was co-captain of the Blues in 2018, regularly receives feedback about his father’s playing days, although he admits they are very different players.
“I’ve watched the 1983-84 flags on the VCR once or twice. I have had lots of comments about Dad’s footy playing days.”
Nexhip Jr said there was a sense of belief and hunger with the 2021 crop of players and his change from key forward to back sat well with him.
“I had been a forward for many years at Tongala, but switched roles to the backline halfway through the 2019 season,” he said.
Nexhip Jr led the club’s goal-kicking in 2018, but individual accolades do not appear a priority with the key defender, who now has more than 130 club games to his credit.
“I just enjoy being involved in team sports. It has been great to keep much of the same group from 2019, the bond between the group has strengthened during the year,” he said.
The Lovisons
As for Mick Lovison I still remember the Dermott Brereton-like strut and the strength with which he generalled the defence of those flag-winning teams.
It’s his coach from that era, Campbell, that best describes his almost Clark Kent persona off the field, which was a polar opposite over the white line.
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“When Bruce (McNeill, club president) and I went up to Echuca to recruit him he was working at an Echuca car yard. We walked straight past him, I didn’t have a clue who he was with the dark-rimmed glasses and outfit,” Campbell said.
“He was very different to the wild man I had seen on the footy field.”
Lovison’s prowess followed him from Tongala, with a decorated coaching and playing career, which included Echuca and Kyabram.
The comparison between he and son Adam is probably the closest of the three, though an argument could be made should Jordan Souter choose to play as a stay-at-home forward.
Lovison’s son, Adam, is captain of the senior side and is often compared favourably to his father, as both are centre half-backs.
They are natural leaders, Lovison Sr was assistant coach of the back-to-back Tongala premiership teams of 1983-84 and was regularly lauded for his no-nonsense defensive style.
“Adam is big and strong. He is very popular with the boys,” Mick, who lives in Kyabram and works in construction at Melbourne Airport, said.
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Lovison Sr coached Echuca in 1982, taking it from a two-win season the year prior to 10 wins and just outside the five. He coached Kyabram for two years and had three years at Tongala.
“We lost Bruce McNeill, he moved to Brisbane, in 1985. Des and I got too caught up in off-field things and we finished third. If he had of been there maybe it would have been different,” Lovison Sr said.
Lovison Sr followed McNeill to Brisbane and played with Brisbane team, Sherwood Magpies under 336-game VFL star John “Mopsy” Rantall in 1986.
Of the 2021 Blues, Lovison Sr said he had a very good feeling and was “really hopeful”.
“I’ve only seen three or four games; I’m not much of a watcher. But I talk to Adam after every game.“They are the best team Tonny has had since the ‘80s,” he said.
Lovison Jr, now 30 years old, has played eight seasons at Tongala and is regularly reminded of his father’s exploits in the same position he is currently playing with the senior team.
“I’ve been told a few times we play alike,” Lovison Jr said.
Lovison Jr was more often umpired than coached by his father at junior level.
“He has been an unofficial coach for my entire career, he probably only coached me in three or four games.”
Lovison Jr has played in four senior grand finals, losing them all. Something he plans to change, with his only win in a 2017 reserves grand final.
As for the Blues in 2021 he said they had really grown as a group, the year off probably helping and there was a strong understanding between the group as to its strengths and weaknesses.
“A few of us are around the 30 mark, only a couple are older than that. Most are under 25, so good signs for Tonny teams to come,” he said.
Off field it has been busy as well, married in November last year to Jacqui and with an eight-month-old daughter, Delilah.
Des Campbell
Two photographs hanging on the back wall of the public bar at the Tongala Hotel have been a first port of call for Tongala football recruits for almost four decades.
They are pictures of the Des Campbell-coached Goulburn Valley league premiership sides of 1983-84. And they are the last premiership success the club has enjoyed.
The legendary portraits, with a proud Campbell front and centre, are also a magnet for those who fondly recall what was the Blues’ most glorious in their history.
Being 37 years since the last grand final win there is much excitement surrounding the club’s unbeaten Murray league season.
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There is a synergy to the tenures of current coach Jordan Souter and Campbell.
They share a similar battle cry when in full swing for the Blues, Souter known widely as the “Cat” and Campbell, now 71 and a grandfather of eight, was revered throughout Goulburn Valley ranks as the “Panther”.
He has missed only two of the club’s games this year and is well placed to speak on the team’s status in the Murray league. And he is predicting a Tongala-Cobram grand final.
“If that’s the way it turns out I’ll be doing my best to get as many of the 1980s players to the granny as I can,’’ he said.
Campbell said he had attended a few Thursday night training sessions and the feeling of the club reminded him of the club’s glory years.
“Their recruiting has been spot on. Every player they’ve got is not only a good player, but a good person,” he said.
“There were hundreds of people at training, it was unbelievable.
“I thought ‘what a great feel the club has’. It looked similar to our time and hopefully they can get the rewards that we did.”
Campbell said the 2019 version of the senior side did extremely well to make the grand final when it, in his opinion, was not in the top two sides.
“There was a lot of pride in the way they went about it. It was a good basis for this year.”
Campbell said he would be as happy as anyone if the Blues could break the drought.
He did, however, stand his ground on the team he led to the back-to-back titles.
“We will always be able to hang our hat on being the last GV premiership side. And, while they are the best team in the Murray league this year, we would have beaten them easy,” he said with a smirk.
Tongala beat Lemnos in 1983, champion forward Tony Jones kicking seven goals and captain Daryl Reid lifted the Hastie Cup after 12 years and 221 games.
The 1983 qualifying final against Seymour remains a game of folklore for its physicality.
“They say that game was as hard as what people have seen. Whoever lost was going to struggle to come up the week after,” Campbell said.
“We had the break and Seymour lost the preliminary.
“Donny Wilkinson got reported in the same game as ‘Trouter’ (Morrison Medallist Phil Harrison).
“All Donny wanted was to play senior football and he played every game in the back pocket.
“He was reported for something pretty minor and got suspended.
“Trouter got off, despite ‘Butch’ (Kevin Inness from Seymour, who Harrison had been reported for striking) hardly being able to talk because of the broken jaw.”
In 1984 it was a 39-point win against Shepparton United for the back-to-back titles.
Campbell did have an interest in another of the Tongala grand final appearances, in 1991, when his 16-year-old son, Brad (he is also father to Natalie and Blake), was in the team that lost by nine points to Seymour.
Campbell’s playing career was extraordinary, 169 games for United and 82 for Tongala.
He made 11 GVL appearances between 1969 and ‘79 and twice won the coveted Shepparton News award, 1968 and again 10 seasons later.
In 1967, as a 17-year-old, he played in a premiership with United, then coached United to the flag as a 24-year-old in 1974.
He missed the 1973 finals after being suspended for eight weeks following an after the game incident when he unknowingly struck a boundary umpire.
“It was after the game and the Mooroopna crowd was fairly volatile,” Campbell said.
“At that time both teams walked off through the same race.
“They were all around me and someone grabbed me by the shoulder.
“I was having a go at the umpire about reporting one of our players at the time. I didn’t think he had done much of a job.
“This bloke swung me around and my immediate reaction was to go whack to get him out of my way.
“Turns out it was the boundary umpire.”
Campbell played in a Melbourne reserves premiership in 1970, the same year he made his VFL senior debut.
He had a second stint in the big league, between 1975-77, notching 50 senior games.
But the 1983 victory remains vivid in his memory.
“It was incredible, so special, hard to describe,” he said.
“Just how relevant it was to the town, to every person.
“We (Campbell’s family) were still living in Shepp at the time, I just wanted a bit of time with the players and officials.
“I invited them to my place, for an hour to ourselves. I’ll never forget that, it was so special.
“Then it was pretty much 20 to 30 vehicles Indian-file from Shepp to Tongala.
“It was dark and you had no idea what was inside the shire hall. It was massive. Everyone from the area was there.”
Campbell said club president at the time, Bruce McNeill — who passed away several years ago — was as big an influence on the win as the players.
“They loved him, he’d do anything to keep them happy.”
Campbell said despite the widespread stories of the amount Tongala spent on its playing personnel, he did not consider it a fortune.
“I think it was about $40,000 (I am not sure he realised that equates to $140,000 now).”
To put that figure into perspective a house was worth about $47,000 in 1983.
“The bottom line was that 13 or 14 guys were playing for nothing and that’s the way they wanted it. We weren’t going to win it without paying a few bob,” Campbell said.
“We had a good base of locals, half-a-dozen had come through the thirds and all ended up playing 150-200 games for the club.”
Campbell said he doubted that at the end of the fortnight, when players were paid, that they would have walked out with any money in their pocket.
“They all liked a bit of a punt, the money went back over the bar so to speak. It wouldn’t have cost the club as much as what some people might think.”
Campbell is regularly reminded of the quality of those 1983-84 premiership teams.
“When I’m watching a final and talking to people who have seen a lot of football I might say about a modern day team — ‘that is as good a team as I’ve seen in the Goulburn Valley’.
“They look at me and say, ‘Des, they are not as good as the sides you had at Tongala. And nobody ever will be’.”
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