BENALLA president Graham Pollard says recent Ovens and Murray Hall of Fame inductee Neil “Curly” Hanlon is not in a position to comment on the club’s transfer into the Goulburn Valley Football League.
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Hanlon, one of the O and M’s greatest centremen, said Benalla should have stayed put in the O and M rather than cross into the Goulburn Valley for the 1999 season.
“If you are going to finish near the bottom of the ladder in the Goulburn Valley, you might as well do it in the Ovens and Murray,” Hanlon said.
But Pollard says the Saints’ great does not know the facts and has not been in the loop for several years.
“A few blokes spoke to me at the footy about Curly’s comments and they weren’t overly impressed,” he said.
“They thought he was a bit out of touch, he made a few other comments to guys on the table about the way we run the club and I think one of the guys said to him: ‘you haven’t really been involved since you retired so you shouldn’t really pass comment’.”
A number of home grown Benalla products are now playing in the O and M including Matt Shir (Wodonga), Jarrod Hayse (Wangaratta), Daniel Maher (Albury) and Joe and Jim Martiniello (Myrtleford).
But Pollard says there are varying reasons why they have chosen to pursue their football in the O and M.
“I don’t think it’s because they don’t want to play up here, it’s because it hasn’t worked out for one reason or another,” Pollard said.
Since crossing into the Goulburn Valley the Saints have had a mixed bag, reaching a preliminary final in 2002 and a grand final in 2006.
The Saints are out of contention to play finals this year, under first-year coach Tim Symes, but recorded their best win of the season on Saturday, with a 65-point demolition of Mansfield.
And Pollard says from a club perspective there are no regrets about moving into the Goulburn Valley League.
“It definitely has been the right move,” he said.
“Most Benalla people go shopping in Shepparton, we seem to go that way rather than Wangaratta.
“We’ve got Mansfield beside us and Euroa and Seymour so we have a bit of a local derby. Wang wasn’t too far away but we seem to have more rivalry with Mansfield and Euroa.”
Hanlon began his career with the Saints in 1948 and soon established himself as a champion centremen, with his rivalry with dual Morris medallist Jimmy Deane a highlight.
He won the Saints’ best and fairest five times and represented the O and M 12 times but his greatest feat was playing in three of their first four flags before crossing to the Goulburn Valley.
