Palman Qui Meruit Ferat
Hell of a day
Its been a big week for Gerard Healy with the Brownlow Medallist rightly basking in the glory of being one of the 23 inaugural inductees into the Swans Hall of Fame last weekend. The smile was wiped from the media superstar's dial when Psst reminded him that this Tuesday (28th July) will mark the 30th anniversary of the most lopsided game in league history - of which he was on the receiving end.
Round 17, 1979 saw Fitzroy wallop Melbourne at Waverley by an AFL record 190 points, with a then record score of 36.22.238 to the Demons' 6.12.48. It was in Healy's first season and he had played every game, but the youngest player on the ground that day did not escape the ugly aftermath. "I can remember going forward and kicking a goal and thinking. "That hopefully will be just enough to get me through for next week, but no it wasn't. I got dropped for the first time in my career - and the only time - and I was filthy about it too," he recalled.
"David Robb, who was chairman of selectors came up to me on the Thursday night and said "Didn't like the way you were doing your boots up. You just didn't look switched on', and I thought it was a fairly flimsy excuse. He should have just said, "You played terribly."
No Lion down
Healy remembers being in awe of the Lions' dominance that afternoon, even admiring the brilliance of some of their players. "I recall David McMahon kicking goals (two) from the wing. In fact I reckon half the Fitzroy crowd kicked goals as well as the Fitzroy players. Every time I looked up Bob Beecroft (who kicked ten) had the ball in his hands and I was just marvelling at Gary Wilson."
With the Roys leading by 141 points at the final change, Healy, even as an 18 year old, knew he was part of something special during the last quarter. "It was hard to miss that socreboard at Waverley, and when Fitzroy's 30th (goal) went up, I thought to myself "Haven't seen that all that often." When it got to 35 goals, I thought to myself, "it's going to be ugly during the week. Waverley was always heavy, but I think we were playing in cement and they were playing on a very fast track - that's how it felt and that's how it looked."
Bruce Eva - 'Pssst', The Sunday Age - 26th July 2009
