THE Ovens and Murray Football and Netball League’s acceptance of players drinking grog on the eve of an important inter-league match has stunned a former player, coach and administrator from some of the competition’s glory years.

The one-time representative powerhouse blew a golden opportunity to have shot at the No.1 title next season with a 10-point loss last Saturday.

Coach Brendan Fevola admitted consuming a “few beers” at a team dinner at the SS&A Club the night before and was captured still out in the early hours of match-day.

The jungle drums have been banging loud all week he wasn’t the lone ranger in taking advantage of the green light to consume alcohol.

But O and M officials haven’t been prepared to ask the tough questions, publicly at least, about what happened on the fateful night or been prepared to concede they didn’t have the support network to ensure the entire team including Fevola had the best possible preparation.

O and M general manager Aaron McGlynn said “we can’t babysit them” and Fevola doesn’t understand the fuss being made about a game of country footy even though he was in charge.

But former star player Simon Bone, three-time championship winning coach Bob Craig and ex O and M general Ron Montgomery have different perspectives.

Bone learnt one of his biggest lessons as a 19-year-old when he and teammate Stephen Clarke slipped out of the team hotel on the night before a game at Mildura in 1987.

They were emergencies, but the next morning found themselves in the cross-hairs of an irate coach, John Byrne, who read the riot act.

“We weren’t playing so we thought it didn’t really matter,” Bone recalled.

“But had someone pulled out at the last minute I would have been useless if I played and then felt I let the team down.”

Bone was a regular O and M representative in a career which included playing in premierships at Wodonga and Wodonga Raiders and later coaching Raiders.

His interleague games remain some of his most cherished memories.

“Playing with blokes Robbie Walker, “Dasher” Spencer, “Juice” Kingston, Mick Wilson, Johnny Brunner, John Martiniello, who are all guys who love a drink, you just never would have done it,” he said.

“It wouldn’t enter my mind to go out and have a few beers the night before a game.

“It is about gaining respect and gaining respect is about playing as well as you can and helping a team win.

“You can’t shy away from the fact if you don’t perform to your best people are going to ask why.”

Craig coached the O and M to three championships wins in an era when it had to win three games to become No.1 and in some seasons earned the right to play a pre-season game at either Waverley Park or MCG.

He said a team rule banning grog the night before wasn’t required due to a “results driven” mindset of the player group at the time.

“Preparation was the key to getting those results and that came from an individual’s own preparation,” he said.

“It shouldn’t be under-estimated how much those blokes put in to win those four championships.

“The players wanted success and the leaders in those times _ Sanson, Wilson, Fruend, Ash, Page, Brunner — prepared accordingly.

“I don’t shy away from the fact we didn’t cover ourselves in glory after one match in particular.”

Craig is referring to the return trip from Geelong after the 1997 championship win when the players and support staff were booted off the team bus at Benalla in the middle of the night with grog again a factor.

Montgomery was in his second season as league general manager and had an irate VCFL breathing down his neck about the events which led to the players being kicked off.

“I wasn’t on the bus, but I certainly remember the fallout,” he said.

“We ended some careers that night because it was what we had to do.

“The O and M means so much to so many people and it hurts like hell to keep hearing about what supposedly happened the night before this game and still go down by only 10 points.”