Cross sees shades of ’84 in these young Hoppers

While the present bunch at North Albury is unlikely to stun the Ovens and Murray world and pinch a premiership this year, Cross, who coached the Hoppers to their most famous premiership in 1984, said they were showing similar spirit in the face of adversity.

North Albury will reunite at Bunton Park today to help celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Hoppers’ thrilling three-point grand final win over Wodonga.

The premiership, forever remembered for the goal Morris medallist Rudy Yonson kicked in the dying stages of the grand final, came after a mid-season crisis that saw North Albury announce a debt of somewhere between $70,000 and $90,000.

It led to a host of players walking out on the club midway through the year.

North Albury, which suffered similar problems over the summer, has performed far better than most expected this season and Cross lauded the club’s fighting spirit.

“There are a lot of similarities,” Cross said.

“Most people around the footy world wouldn’t know a lot of these guys playing now — I don’t know a lot of them, but they’re really performing well.

“We were like that in ’84.

“We had a lot of guys that went on to become very good players.”

Cross, who was inducted into the Ovens and Murray Hall of Fame in 2007, said former AFL star Jason Akermanis had undoubtedly played a big part in keeping the Hoppers’ spirits up.

“They’ve won the two games but there’s probably been another four they easily could have come out on top,” he said.

“Most of those games they’ve kicked a decent score.

“They’re going well and obviously Aker is doing a good job with them.

“If they can hang on to what they’ve got and get a couple of bigger guys next year they’ll probably be a very good team.”

Cross said the adversity was likely to make North Albury a stronger club down the track.

“I think at most places it does,” he said.

“Tough times draw people together.

“There tends to be a bit of a determination to make things right so they work out in the end.

“It can be a fantastic driving force and I’ve got no doubt that’s what happened to us.

“It felt like a lot of people had walked out on us.”

Many are lamenting the recent dominance of Albury and Yarrawonga, however, Cross said it would eventually end.

“Sometimes it looks hopeless, but it’s not,” he said.

“Any time you run out on the ground, you can win.”

The Hoppers will don special guernseys today, fittingly, against the Bulldogs at Bunton Park.

There are a lot of similarities. Most people around the footy world wouldn’t know a lot of these guys playing now ... But they’re really performing well. We were like that in ’84. We had a lot of guys that went on to become very good players. MARTIN CROSS