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Martin Cross may have had his 36-match VFL career with Carlton prematurely end with a back complaint. But the disappointment of being cut by the Blues proved to have a silver lining. As fate would have it, Cross landed at Myrtleford and coached the Saints to their only flag in the Ovens and Murray. The living legend would go on to coach for a record 21 seasons to become the longest serving coach in league history. Cross caught up with The Border Mail's BRENT GODDE during the week. BRENT GODDE: You were born and bred in Ballarat and made your senior debut for North Ballarat at the age of 16. What are your memories of your debut? MARTIN CROSS: It was a fairly scary experience for a skinny teenager. I came straight out of North Ballarat's under-16s and it's fair to say the football was pretty wild and wooly during that era. I remember we had a bit of an enforcer in the side "Spudda" Taylor who had a crooked nose from being a boxer and was coach at the time. "Spudda" said to me 'don't worry son, I'll look after you.' He was true to his word. BG: I believe one of your team-mates was Howard Lockett who also happens to be the father of St Kilda and Sydney legend Tony? MC: His nickname was 'Plugger' which Tony obviously inherited off his old man. We were good mates and Howard's father, Charlie, used to run the greyhound racing at Broadway Park and had a lot of kennels. So Howard and I would go to the greyhound races on most Wednesday nights for a bit of fun. BG: After making your senior debut you played 96 matches with North Ballarat before VFL talent scouts came knocking and St Kilda in particular was keen to see what you had to offer? MC: I signed with St Kilda as a 17-year-old. Alan Killigrew was coach at the time and had coached at Ballarat. I was at work one day and I got called to the front office and there was two blokes to see me, Alan and John Riley who wanted to sign me up. BG: You were on the wrong end of a well executed bump from Allan Jeans in an intra-club for St Kilda that left you with a damaged collarbone and broken ribs? MC: I moved down to Melbourne after Christmas and was staying at the Junction Hotel. I did all the pre-season with St Kilda including the practice matches. I got cleaned up by Allan Jeans and the club sent me home and said I was too skinny to play this season and to come back in 12 months time when I put some extra weight on. But it never happened. BG: Your shot at VFL was interrupted for two-years by National Service? MC: I only ended up doing 18-months but I couldn't do much football training and only played a handful of matches for North Ballarat when I was free of my army commitments. BG: Carlton offered you another chance at VFL when they invited you to play in the end-of-season lightning premiership at the Lakeside Oval. You must have made a good first impression? MC: I played in the lightning premiership and Carlton then invited me down to play in a few practice matches where I managed to get a few touches. I ended up signing with Carlton and the club relocated me down to Melbourne. BG: You make your VFL debut for Carlton in 1961 against St Kilda. What are your memories of your debut? MC: It was a bit ironic my VFL debut happened to be against St Kilda because I still knew a lot of the players after training with the club previously. I lined up against Eric Guy who was a legend for Oakleigh in the VFA. He was a mature age recruit for the Saints and nicknamed 'The Tank.' I played the half-forward flank. Ian Collins who would later be president of Carlton also made his debut on the same day. BG: In 1962 you play in Carlton's grand final loss to Essendon. That must have been an unbelievable experience and how did you rate your performance in the big one? MC: I started on the bench because earlier in the year in about round four I tore all the ligaments in my ankle after being crunched in a marking contest. I ended up missing two months of footy and didn't get back into the senior side a month before finals. I was underdone fitness-wise but because I was a bit of a goalsneak, Carlton were happy to rotate me off the bench. I kicked one in the grand final but Essendon were too good and won by 10 goals. BG: The following year you rupture a disc in your back and restricted to just five matches before being cut by the Blues after 36 matches. Do you think it was a premature end to your VFL career? MC: It was premature and I wasn't expecting to be cut at the time. I hadn't been able to train and the club sent me to numerous specialists to find a cure for my back. It was really painful and I couldn't really bend at all. I started off doing the pre-season for 1964 but I was still struggling with my back. One day at pre-season training one of the blokes on the committee came into the change rooms and told me Carlton was taking me off the list until my back recovered. I knew my back was no good so I decided to head back to Ballarat for 12 months and see how my back was after that. But that never eventuated. BG: Fitzroy were keen to offer you a VFL lifeline? MC: I could have gone to Fitzroy because I used to bit of running with Kevin Murray on the Coburg Oval because we both lived in the area at the time. But it wasn't an option because of my back. BG: How do you look back on your VFL career? MC: I was disappointed to only play 36 matches for Carlton and how it all finished. In my first season with the Blues I finished fifth in the best and fairest, second in the goalkicking. I was going to have an even bigger second year because I trained with a professional runner over the pre-season and got myself super fit and was flying in the practice matches and the first couple of rounds. Then I got injured and my VFL career was over in an instant. I would like to think I would have played at least 100 matches if I didn't get injured. BG: I believe Morwell were close to signing you in 1964 until your wife, Maureen, intervened after she spotted coal dust all over the washing on the clothes line at the Donaldson residence where you were being interviewed? MC: Graham Donaldson who I played with at Carlton was coach of Morwell and was keen to sign me so I agreed to have a chat with him. I ended up telling Graham I would play for Morwell. But when we got home, Maureen, said she had spotted coal dust on the washing and on the window ledges - it was everywhere and she refused to move there. So I had to ring Graham up and tell him I couldn't play for Morwell otherwise I would end up divorced. He wasn't too happy at the time but we remained good friends. BG: You instead sign for Myrtleford. How did you end up at McNamara Reserve? MC: I had a phone call from both Did Simpson from Albury and Ron Branton from Myrtleford who were both keen to recruit me. I drove down to Albury one weekend and met with some Albury officials on the Saturday and the following day met with Myrtleford. Myrtleford took me on a bit of a road trip through Bright, Porepunkah and Mt Buffalo. I thought to myself if I'm going to move, this is the place to be so I signed with Myrtleford. IN OTHER NEWS BG: You end up joining Myrtleford and finish third in the Morris medal and win the Saints best and fairest in your first season? MC: I was still having trouble with my back and was having weekly sessions with a masseuse as well as seeing the chiropractor Alan Brady and wearing a brace when I played. I was lucky my teammates kicked the ball to me a lot BG: How many best and fairests did you win during your career? MC: I won one with North Ballarat as a 17-year-old, one at Myrtleford and one at Dederang-Mt Beauty. BG: In 1966 you were appointed coach of Myrtleford in controversial circumstances? MC: I think it was written into the constitution that every three years the club would revise the coaching position. I had no intentions to coach and was happy just playing and thought Ron Branton was doing a terrific job and there was speculation he was the frontrunner to take over as Richmond coach. But somebody on the committee must have had him in the gun which I was oblivious to at the time. BG: How did you end up coach when you weren't interested in the position? MC: Even though I didn't want to coach, the committee coaxed me into applying for the position by telling me it would be a good to go through the process to gain experience in case I wanted to coach in the future. I agreed to apply and not in my wildest dreams thought I would get the job. I remember I was in bed at 11pm one night and there was a knock on the door. It happened to be my boss from the Myrtleford Shire who was also on the committee. He said 'congratulations on being appointed the new coach.' You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard that. BG: How did Ron Branton take the news? MC: The next morning I went down to see Ron who had the shoe shop and he was absolutely shattered. I tried to apologise and he said to me "all good mate, I know it wasn't your doing." As I said someone on the committee didn't like how Ron went about it and I never really got to the bottom of who it was and why. BG: You coached the Saints to three consecutive finals series but at the end of 1969 you were contemplating pulling the pin on coaching? MC: From memory we got beat by seven points by Wang Rovers in the second semi-final or the preliminary final, I'm not quite sure. Straight after the match through sheer disappointment I told the president I was done with coaching. Len Ablett just let the dust settle and then a couple of weeks later we met up and he coaxed me into coaching again in 1970. BG: Was Myrtleford gaining a reputation as chokers in finals at the time? MC: We were always thereabouts come finals but to be honest were one or two players short to take the next step and play in a grand final. Kevin Smith arrived and that's exactly what we needed, an absolute champion. Denis Chamberlain was a school teacher and got transferred to Myrtleford. Denis had previously played for Footscray reserves and was a pacey rover which we were also lacking. BG: What kind of side did you have in 1970? MC: We were a big side and to be honest it reminds me of the side Myrtleford will have this season. A big side that probably lacked a bit of pace but was extremely tough as well. BG: How did the 1970 season unfold? MC: I think we lost our first five matches and I was cursing myself for taking on the coaching job again. But then somehow we won nine or 10 matches in-a-row and we were back in the hunt. BG: How did you turn things around? MC: We knew we were good enough but we were lacking confidence but the more wins we strung together and you could see the players regain their confidence. It just sort of snowballed from there. I don't know how big an impact it had but just before the half-way mark of the season I was reading about isometrics which helps with agility and strength. BG: Isometrics? I'm guessing that would have been fairly innovative at the time? MC: It was. I just thought to myself, every club in the competition trains the same way and I was looking for an edge I suppose. So we booked St Mary's Hall for one hour every Wednesday night and the whole side did isometrics for an hour. It was gruelling but we did that for six weeks in the middle of winter. I was always a believer that in winter blokes tend to eat more and train less because of the cold and you can lose a bit of fitness. This was my way of combating that. BG: What impact do you feel it had on the group? MC: It's hard to say but I feel psychologically it made a big difference. We seemed to come from behind quite regularly that season and even in the grand final we were 19 points down at the last change against the best side in the competition. To come out and kick seven goals in the final quarter on a hot day, on a big ground with a big side with not a lot of pace was testament to our belief we boasted superior fitness compared to our rivals. BG: In 1970 you finally deliver the success starved Saints their one and only flag. The celebrations must have been huge? MC: It was like what we saw a few years ago when the Western Bulldogs broke their 62-year drought. The long-time supporters who hadn't seen a premiership in their lifetime crying and carrying on - it was like that for weeks. I remember I owned the Dederang Pub at the time and it was packed to the rafters - people came from everywhere to celebrate. Even the Dederang locals were just as excited as us to finally see Myrtleford have some success. BG: It would be fair to say when Myrtleford are up and about they arguably have the biggest supporter base in the competition? MC: I think last season's finals series proved that - there were some of the biggest finals crowds in the past decade because Myrtleford was up and about and everybody loves an underdog. BG: Can you believe this season marks 50-years since the historic grand final victory? MC: We have obviously got the premiership reunion this year and it's hard to imagine what some of my teammates who I haven't seen for ages are going to look like. Sadly four have passed away but I can't wait for the night. My message to the present team will be make the most of your opportunity because this is what you are going to look like in 50-years. BG: Myrtleford is set to start the season as flag favourites. Do you think the Saints can live up to the hype and win their second flag? MC: I hope they can but Lavington, Wangaratta are quality sides while Wangaratta Rovers look the likely improvers. Yarrawonga is up and about and can also threaten for the flag. BG: What would it mean to you if the Saints claimed a fairytale flag and broke their 50-year drought? MC: It would be amazing and you can't live on past glories. I remember watching the Saints play Lavington in the 2005 grand final and Darryn McKimmie kicked a goal after the final siren to win the match. A few people commented to me after the match that I would be glad that I was still the only person to coach Myrtleford to a flag. My response was "I'm not hanging onto something that I hope nobody beats. I hope they get to savour a grand final victory and can feel the same euphoria we experienced all those years ago." BG: I believe when you were coaching Myrtleford you left some important cargo at home in the rush to get to Benalla on time? MC: Having five daughters and a son, Martin Jnr, who was the baby of the family, it was always hectic on Saturday mornings trying to get everybody ready in time to go to the footy. This particular Saturday we were playing at Benalla and Maureen always used to get the kids clothes and lunches ready on the Friday night. We were running a bit late and it was my job to pack the kids and everything else into the panel van we owned at the time. Anyway we are on the highway heading to Benalla and Maureen turns around and asks the girls if the baby is all right. It's at that moment we realise the baby has been left sleeping in his bassinet on the kitchen table at home. So I pull over and Maureen kicks me out with my footy bag and I start hitchhiking to footy. Martin Jnr was still asleep on the kitchen table when she got back home. BG: You also coached North Albury to a flag in 1984 which was a remarkable feat considering the club was on its knees and announced mid-season player payment deals wouldn't be fully honoured. How did you keep the group focussed? MC: Firstly a couple of really good operators came to the club in Merv McIntosh and Stan Gogoll who were smart businessmen who took over running the committee. The rest of the committee had basically gone. After the clean out there were the players, property steward and myself. The club was broke and nobody wanted to stick around. BG: What led to the club being in a parlous financial position? MC: I don't want to point the finger at anyone but North Albury won the flag in 1980 but it cost them a fortune. A few of the supporters left the club because the local kids weren't getting a go. But even though some of the paid players left half-way through 1984 we had some talented kids like Rudy Yonson, Anthony MacTavish, Adrian McIntosh and David Gould. The club also boasted some loyal senior players in Peter Westland, Tim Taylor and Terry Farrell. We also had Rod Page who had followed me to North Albury from Myrtleford. BG: Big Rod Page strikes me as an interesting character. I believe you two were fairly close? MC: Rod went somewhere to coach at the start of that season but I knew he couldn't coach. Rod could play footy but he wasn't much of a talker when it came to addressing the players. He used to call me dad because my wife Maureen and I used to look after him and had to hire a tutor so he could learn to read and write. Rod grew up with his grandparents in Tasmania and left school after fourth grade. I got a phone call from him in 1984 and he said 'Dad, they have sacked me as coach.' It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because he played a key role in us winning the flag. BG: Rod was a big unit? MC: I met him at the Boomerang Hotel and when he was at Myrtleford his was around 15 stone but he had put a bit of weight on and was nearly 18 stone. He said to me 'can I come back to North Albury?' and I said 'on one condition, you need to lose two stone mate.' To his credit he did and he used to ruck all day for us. BG: It was a fairytale flag with Rudy Yonson bobbing up with the winning goal in the dying stages? MC: Sometimes adversity can galvanise a group and that's what happened in 1984. The guys that were getting paid had gone and everyone left wanted to play for the club. Rudy kicked the winning goal but you still have to be close enough to do that. We sort of just hung in there all day and we were behind at half-time and then it rained a bit. Wodonga were a big side and we were small and when it got a bit slippery it helped get us over the line. BG: Ben Hollands is your grandson and Elijah you great grandson? MC: Yes, that's correct, Joanne is my eldest daughter and obviously Ben's mother. BG: Elijah just received some bad news in that he needs to undergo a knee reconstruction. He was being touted as a top ten draft hopeful this year and set to follow in your and Ben's footsteps and play AFL? MC: Elijah has really developed as a footballer the last two years and is fairly quite and doesn't have a lot to say. He is slow to talk, quick to listen and I've always told him you learn more by listening than you do by talking. Elijah is a bit like Ben in that they are very adept on both sides of their body. BG: You would have been no doubt saddened to hear of the imminent closure of the North Albury Sports Club recently. MC: I was at one of their meetings a few years back when they were raising funds and everybody threw in a few dollars to help them get out of trouble. But obviously they are not trading as well as they hoped. How do you compete with the Commercial Club and the SS&A Club? You can't match the prices of the bigger clubs and still hope to make a profit. BG: Your religion has also been a major focus during your life? MC: My relationship with God has taught me about leadership and respect. I'm happy to talk to anyone about it who may be lacking guidance in their life. BG: Are you a teetotaler and if so have you always been? MC: I'm not a beer drinker but I will have a glass of wine. When I was playing for Myrtleford I used to drink beer a bit as well as when I was the publican at Dederang. I never drank while I was at North Ballarat or Carlton. I never drank at all while I was coach of North Albury. BG: Do you get to the footy much these days? MC: Almost every Saturday I watch a game somewhere locally. I like to watch Myrtleford if they are playing somewhere in Albury-Wodonga. BG: Thoughts on the modern game? MC: I think it's fantastic although some matches are a bit scrambly. BG: You celebrated your 80th birthday last year. What is your secret to still being so fit and healthy? MC: It's probably in the genes and my mother lived to be 90. I still like to go for a walk/jog most mornings, it might not be fast but I try and be consistent. I also do a few sit-ups and push-ups. I've always thought that you only get one body and you should try and look after it.

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