The Tallangatta and District league has always bred them tough, but few have been tougher than Mitta United's Hugh Giltrap. He caught up with The Border Mail's BRETT KOHLHAGEN this week.
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BK: You started playing senior football for Mitta United as a 15-year and gave it away in 1994. Did you play anywhere else?
HG: I did a pre-apprenticeship course at TAFE and got a job with a carpenter in Wodonga when I was 17. Apprenticeships were as scarce as hen's teeth back then. I went down to Wodonga and started playing seconds, but the carpenter ran out of work. Once I lost my job I went back home as the Dart was going at the time. So I've only really spent half a season away from Mitta.
BK: So how many matches did you play for Mitta?
HG: Lots. I wouldn't have a clue to be honest. Our club has never counted individual matches. We are more content counting premierships (laughs). I was lucky enough to play in six.
BK: Is there one that stands out?
HG: They were all good. The first one was in 1978 under Terry Smith. I wasn't even 18 at that stage. That was a pretty daunting day.
BK: Against Tallangatta Valley in the Bloodbath?
HG: It was on for young and old. Blood was always going to be spilt after things that happened during the year and it got pretty nasty. Tallangatta Valley wouldn't even get changed in the dressing rooms next to us. They got changed up in the Sandy Creek Hall. They ran down the hill and jumped the fence when we were warming up on the ground. It was just electrifying. Everyone, everyone came to the ground that day, it was packed. They knew there was going to be fireworks.
BK: I'm tipping it didn't take long for the fireworks to start?
HG: It was on before the first bounce. One of their blokes was niggling Mike Duncan and told him he had a big yellow streak down his back and he just turned around and went bang. That lit the fuse. There were fights all over the place. Ken Goyne was coaching them at the time. He broke his leg in a car crash during the year and came back late in the season. He was a tough old bugger.
BK: Were you involved in the brawl?
HG: Everyone was. John Scales got opened up and one of their players got a broken leg after one of our blokes ran through him.
BK: Did you win by much?
HG: It wasn't a great deal. In the first quarter when they were looking for blood I think we played footy and that was probably the difference. Everyone knew it was going to be on and it was.
BK: You've had some good coaches at the club?
HG: We have. Terry Smith was a good coach but I was just coming into it then. Mick Maddox taught us a lot about moving the ball. He was as tough as nails even though there wasn't much of him. Johnny Smith coached us in 1986. Geoff Lowcock and Peter Copley had a really big influence as well.
BK: The 1988 premiership must be special after what you went through to make the grand final. Tell us about the lead-up to that game?
HG: I was coaching that year and did my knee on the Thursday night before the second semi-final. I think I had an operation that Saturday night and spent a week in hospital. We won that day and a few of the boys came to the hospital that night to tell me all about it.
BK: And you managed to get up in time to play in the grand final?
HG: I did. We played Holbrook. That was a big year for us because we lost to Wodonga Demons the year before and everyone was still filthy about what had happened. We got stitched up that time, I got stitched up actually.
BK: What happened in '87?
HG: I was suspended for two matches for hitting Laurie Hannon in the second semi-final. I got caught and I did hit him there was no doubt about it. He came running in and Matty Hodgkin was going to cop it unless I stepped in. It. It was just one of those instinct things.
BK: I sense there is more to this story?
HG: Well, for some reason they had the tribunal hearing that night at the Sandy Creek Hall. We hardly had time to find an advocate. You normally had three or four days to prepare. We should have just said we weren't doing it and waited until the league had independent tribunal members. We were filthy about it and when we lost the grand final we were really filthy.
BK: You've always had a reputation for being a tough player. How do you look back at that time?
HG: I suppose it was part of my game bustling and boring in. I got plenty of whacks over the years. I never went chasing blokes and king-hitting and things like that weren't in my system. If someone was cracking one of our young blokes or myself, I'd give it back.
BK: I guess you learnt early you had to protect yourself?
HG: I learnt as a kid if blokes whacked you and you didn't at least try to whack them back you would cop it all day. Mitta always protected their own players too.
BK: How many times did you get reported?
HG: Twice. Once in the under-16s and then in 1987.
BK: How long did you coach for?
HG: Only two years. I fell into the job really because the club couldn't find a coach after 1987. Johnny Smith was trying to sell his farm and he was at the end of his tether after doing it for three years. I was fairly chuffed when they asked me. We won one and made a preliminary final the other year which wasn't bad.
BK: 1988 sounds like a big year. You coached the club to a flag and won the Barton medal.
HG: It was a very good year.
BK: How many league and club best and fairests did you win?
HG: Two league medals outright and I shared another one with three other blokes. I won two best and fairests at Mitta and came runner-up nine times.
BK: You're walking with a bit of a limp. I presume that's from your footy days?
HG: I had my ankle fused about five years ago. My legs are buggered actually. I used to do a lot of road running to keep myself fit. Sometimes I'd run 10km in the off-season. That probably wore them out a bit. I tore my ligaments once and I was milking cows in plaster and on crutches. I had two wet plasters in a week so I just cut them off and put up with it. Times were pretty tough at that stage and I had to keep working.
BK: You often used to play with a 20c piece strapped to your knee. What was the logic there?
HG: It would just lock and the 20c seemed to keep it in place. I just did it for a few years. I'm not sure if it was ligaments or whatever but it seemed to do the job.
BK: Is your brother, Michael, still the club doctor?
HG: Yep. He still gets to most games. He's been doing it for a fair while now.
BK: Has he handed out more stitches than you on the footy field?
HG: I think I've copped more than I've given out, don't worry about that.
BK: Who was the toughest player you played with?
HG: Craig Walsh would be the stand-out. He was 6-foot 3 and built like a brick s--thouse. No one messed with him. He was strong and had a bit of shit in his system too. Mitta's had some great players over the years though, all of them were really passionate about the club. Pound for pound Lawrence Hodgkin was good. He was a very good sportsman. I think he played in eight or nine premierships.
BK: Toughest opponent?
HG: There were lots of them. David Brown from Culcairn was a good player. He played centre half-forward and was a good mark and kick. Stuie Allen was a bloody good player too. He played for Ainslie and was 6'6" and could run like a bloody hare. He gave me a bath in a final one day.
BK: You played centre half-back, in the ruck and on ball. Did you have a preference?
HG: On the ball was nice. I used to ruck-rove in my early days. You could sort of dictate how you went about it while at centre half-back you are concentrating on trying to beat your man for a start. I wasn't quick but I could read the play.
BK: Finally, you hear a lot about players from the Ovens and Murray heading to Mitta and loving the social side of the club. You must have a good social committee up there. Can you share a story or two?
HG: Johnny Scales was the compere on a bus trip one night and it took off up the Omeo Highway. He was reading the Mulga Bill Bicycle Poem and saying apparently Mulga Bill used to live around these parts. Rossy Hodgkin was up the road already and got his clothes off and starting riding this bike down the highway in front of the bus. It was a classic.
BK: I can imagine the boys still get a laugh out of that one. What about an incident in the pub one night between Micky Hodgkin and Jamie Swinnerton?
HG: 'Stumpy' must have got a lamb's heart from the butcher and handed it to 'Swinno' one day because he thought he needed one. 'Swinno' had the s--ts a bit and later that night at the pub he threw it across the room at him and hit him fair in the head.
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