Tag Archives: drawing

Lachie Hunter and the Impossible Mark on the Dunny Wall

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Testing? Is this thing on? Ah yes…hullo and a very warm welcome to season 2015. It’s been a long time between posts so I thought I’d kick things off with this pearler emailed into me by Western Bulldogs life member and Lachie Hunter Player Sponsor, Scharlaine. She contacted me in reference to a post I did on my brother’s drawing of an imaginary Daniel Hargraves mark which was immortalised on the dunny wall at Blackburn Primary School….until they knocked it down of course. Anyway, it read like this:

Screen Shot 2015-02-23 at 9.15.35 pm

LACHIE HUNTER MARK USE

 

the impossible mark

Quite prophetic brother Pete, and thanks kindly Scharlaine for bringing it to my attention. I’m glad I named it the ‘impossible mark’ because we all know that Lachie Hunter sadly couldn’t hold onto what would have been one of the greatest marks of all time.

But there’s another mark and player I wish to drag into this. Merv Hobb’s famous grab, (below) which he actually held, also bares a striking resemblance to the mark on the dunny wall. To me, the drawing is actually the perfect combination of Hobbs and Hunter’s mark and mark attemp, neatly tying together Footscray footballers in search of aerial glory from the 1960’s through to the current day. Hobbs, Hargraves and Hunter. Three Hs…now this is becoming rather peculiar, a good place to leave it.

merve-hobbs MARK

May football this year be more than winning and losing, deeper than dream team and wider than the AFL. Fill it with colour, confusion and diversity. May it be ritual, family, hobby and beautiful distraction.

“Footy’s on, footy’s here again, back to greet me like an old friend.” Thanks Champs.

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Happy Snap #20 The impossible mark on the dunny wall

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Danny Hargrave!Do you remember when you were a kid and your imagination wasn’t limited by the laws of physics, gravity and the like? The above drawing by my little brother Pete embraces this freedom in creativity as  he imagined his Footscray hero, Danny Hargraves, floating above the pack and plucking a grab in the square. I have to say it also bares a remarkable likeness to the famous mark by taken by Footscray’s Merv Hobbs in the 1961 preliminary final.

Merve Hobbs

What was a bit special about this drawing however was that it was ‘immortalised’ upon the  dunny wall at Blackburn primary school, the same dunny where I had my 1991 BPS premiership photo taken. Amid flutes, skipping, flowers and trees, all lovely, sits this footy gem, or at least sat. The toilet block was demolished some years ago.
Pete pic 22

The giggling artist, 1997, as a 10 year old Doggy fan in Melbourne’s leafy east.

pete pic 2

A broader shot of the dunny wall, which was basically included to show how mangy the rubbish bins were!

And I show you this picture as a source of inspiration. I am currently collecting peoples footy drawings that they did as kids, or drawings their own children have done, for an upcoming post. I have already received some cracking entries, and would love to see your drawings too, with any back story you may have.

Please contact me on twitter @TheHolyBoot or by email-john@cherrystone.com.au.

Happy Snap #19 Punt Rd, Dan Minogue & some pencils

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My five year old daughter the other night asked whether the olden days were in black and white. I think we may have all had that moment as children, our only links with the past being the old black and white photographs we peered at curiously. Well sifting through some old things at my parents the other day, I came across this drawing I did as a teen, and was reminded of my reasons for drawing it. I wanted to bring to life an old black and white photograph of a Richmond v Fitzroy match from 1922, with captain Dan Minogue taking a mark in outstretched arms.

Whilst I’m not particularly pleased with the ‘trees of Yarra Park’ (I clearly had lost interest by this point, a common theme with myself and drawings) I made amends, in my mind at least, with the detail on the old grandstand, when my interest in the project was clearly at a peak. Below is the original snap, photographer unknown.

The result that day was Richmond 5.10.40 to Fitzroy 3.14.32, an aggregate of 8.24! Perhaps goalkicking accuracy isn’t so bad these days. Richmond having won the previous two VFL flags, and Fitzroy claiming their 7th later this year, it was fair to say the two clubs were a big deal at the time!

Punt Road 2000's

I took a photo from the same spot-Williamstown v Coburg, mid 2000's

Note: The grandstand…since renamed the Jack Dyer Stand, was opened in 1914, with a substantial addition in 1927. And Tiger fans…look out for my upcoming post on the Punt Road Oval! The more recent photo shows where the stand extenstion begins to the left.