LONG YEARS PASSING
Bulldog’s legend Jim Gallagher was Assumption 1st XVIII captain in 1948. He was according to annuals of the time, a brilliant schoolboy player – fearless and talented. He later played for Footscray from 1951 until 1960. He played 151 games as a high-class half back, was a key figure in the ‘Dogs’ 1954 premiership side- and represented Victoria several times. Jim’s son Ross also played for ACK in the mid-seventies and played eleven games for the Bulldogs. Jim Gallagher was inducted into the Bulldogs Hall of Fame and has been named among the club’s greatest players of all time. He came to ACK from Tallangatta. Beyond football his working life included several years working in Papua New Guinea’s public service. In recent times he has lived in East Gippsland. Jim made the long trip to Kilmore in 2022 for the opening of the Neale Daniher Pavilion.
He was given a tour of the modern college facilities, vastly different from his time and marvelled at the facilities for today’s students. I spoke at length with Jim, and he recalled his times as a teenager at Assumption. There were 330 boarders and 80 day students. Life was spartan- a long trek to the old shower block where the water was very often cold. Meals were ok-no packaged meals in those times. He said the Marist Brothers were wonderful teachers who set most students up for life. There were no weekend visits home and parents were able to visit on the first Sunday of each month. There were three terms in those times and the long cold winter term could be tough. Movies every Saturday night were much looked forward to, especially when senior girls from the convent were allowed to attend. The footy and cricket on Saturday were a highlight as were the home competition on Sundays. Monday night runs to the Monument Hill were compulsory and Wednesday after school was “street night” when the hordes would invade the shopkeepers in Sydney Street.
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A SNOW COVERED FIELD LONG AGO
After his tour of “ACK now” and a long discussion I asked Jim if he would rather be a student today. His reply was similar to quite a few boys of the distant past. “No, life may have been pretty tough, but we learned a lot, made lifelong friends, got to appreciate our parents sacrifices, learned how to deal with setbacks, how to be resilient and grateful for small mercies. We had no TV, no mobile phones, letters from home were just about a weekly highlight. Many of my school mates have gone to the greater life. Hopefully we will meet again”.
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Pictured is one of the Brothers handing out mail from home to the boarders. “This was a highlight of our week,” said Jim.
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VARIA
WILL THEY RETURN?
The picture below shows teams lining up before a major game at Assumption twenty years ago.
Crowds were invariably large across ACK’s history. Here games were Saturday (noon or 2pm) with vital clashes at 3pm Fridays. Lots of local and area folk were regular followers. The largest recorded crowds were 4000 in 2011 and prior to that in 1985 an estimated 5000 saw ACK versus Xavier. Results were followed widely by former collegian’s and widely covered in the local and area Press. Great spirit was generated through the whole school. Maybe those days will return again one day.
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Three hundred and fifty people packed St Patrick’s church for John Harrington’s farewell. People from all walks of life including Dunlop reps were present. John was highly esteemed by the company. Many gathered for the “wake” afterwards at “The Grove” in Hidden Valley where there were stories told of John’s kindness to people and there is no doubt, he impacted many lives.
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The AFL heavyweights plan to hold a special “Think Tank” at seasons end to discuss the games evolution. I hope they talk to some of the former champions of the game for their insights and they could do well to watch videos of the great 1970 (Magpies v Blues), 1989 (Hawks v Cats) and the Lions triumphs just over 20 years ago- just to show how spectacular the game could be in those eras.
