BRETT KOHLHAGEN: There has never been a bigger rugby league name than Purtell on the Border. I imagine you and your brothers, Peter, Brian and David, took it up as kids because of your father, Ron's, strong influence?

GARRY PURTELL: Dad was a hard task master as far as rugby league went and he expected the most and best out of us. When we were younger we all used to work together as brick-layers with Dad being the boss. We had a few arguments at work. If you lost a game on a Sunday, you would have to turn up on the Monday and bricks would get thrown at each other because there would always be one of us who played badly. A lot of builders from those days would remember us as we were always fighting. Dad had a steely resolve and I respected him because of it. We all tried to give him our best.

BK: What was it like playing with your three brothers at Albury Blues?

GP: It was good. I was the baby of the family so I had three looking after me. I got sledged by the opposition a fair bit because of it but it didn't worry me. Not many people get to play in premiership sides with their brothers and I was lucky enough to play in four of my seven with them.

ALSO IN SPORT:

BK: Who was the best player out of the four?

GP: I'd love to say myself but Brian played for St George and travelled around and coached Eden and everywhere. He had the record on the board to say he was the best. Peter was the best goalkicker I've seen play for the club and David was a great front rower. He was the tough one of the family. He took rubbish from no-one and wouldn't take a backward step. He was sent off more times than anyone and had a short fuse. It didn't take him long to get going (laughs).

BK: You didn't go too badly either, winning two Group 13 Wayling Medals?

GP: I'd say I was a bit lucky because we had some great sides. It was good to play well in strong sides.

BK: Tell me about the rivalry between Albury Blues and Albury Roos in those days?

GP: There was nothing like it. I'd love to go back to those days again where the Roos and Blues would clash. The ground would be packed out as you would get all the Aussie rules people coming along expecting a big brawl during the game and they used to get what they were looking for.

BK: And the odd one off the ground as well?

GP: Yeah, we had that too. Spectators used to get into it. It didn't matter if it was finals or during the year, something was always going on. They were two clubs sharing the same ground and it just built up from there. Let's face it, in a town like Albury you are always looking for the bragging rights.

BK: Does one brawl stand out?

GP: They used to have an old shed at the end of Greenfield Park where you would have a drink after the game. One night it was packed with supporters and next minute it was on for young and old. It got right out of hand. I don't know what started it but I remember everyone just bolting out of there. It was hard to have a drink together back then without something happening.

BK: How did you feel when the merger happened then?

GP: Well, everything goes forward in a way. To get it straight, there was sort of no merger really because the Roos had actually folded. Everyone says there was a merger but at that stage there wasn't. Roos had folded and Blues kept going on their own. In time a lot of Roos people came back to Thunder and I think it's quite good as you need a good, strong rugby league club in town and Thunder are giving people that now.

BK: I sense you miss the two-club town though?

GP: It's just a shame that we haven't got two sides here anymore. It created so much interest with Blues and Roos playing as everyone looked forward to getting down to Greenfield Park. People from all sports would come for a look. Every game would be just like a final with the crowd when they played. Normally you would never go away disappointed as people went to see the teams just bash into each other and that's virtually what happened.

BK: What's the biggest suspension you received?

GP: I got six weeks in 1981 for a head high tackle on a bloke from Tumbarumba. That's the longest time I spent out of the game.

BK: I imagine you would have missed playing?

GP: I went out and played Aussie rules for the first time at Bethanga after getting an invite from Geoff Lowcock. I played one game that year against Culcairn who were coached by Lloyd Curtis. They were one of the top sides and we were on the bottom and we beat them. I got a bit lucky and kicked five goals that day from centre half-forward.

BK: How many games did you play for Bethanga?

GP: I ended up with 50 games and loved the club. I must admit one of my greatest joys in sport came at Bethanga. Without a word of a lie and some people will be able to relate to this, we beat Culcairn that game and everyone was happy and singing the Saints' song. Then we are sitting down and the secretary or president Eric Wood came around handing out $5 notes to the players for the win. He had a bundle of them and, unbeknownst to me, that's what they did. I can still picture him coming around. I never thought $5 would mean so much to me but it did.

BK: You never thought about giving rugby league away and playing Aussie rules did you?

GP: I must admit I did but because of my strong family ties to the rugby club I couldn't. I copped enough for playing out there as it was and actually got fined by the club a few times.

BK: You persisted though didn't you?

GP: I tried a few things like asking Bethanga to keep my name out of the goalkickers in The Border Mail so nobody knew I was playing out there. It wasn't about the money or anything like that, I just wanted to pay Bethanga back for giving me a go as I was pretty down after being given six weeks for my first suspension. That was a pretty big thing for me at the time. As a young bloke I liked Aussie rules too.

BK: You had a dream run at Albury Blues with premierships didn't you?

GP: I won seven but from 1981 to 1986 we finished on the bottom. Everyone has a run and you have to make the most of it when you've got it.

BK: Any regrets in your sporting career?

GP: Not really. I don't think I would have had it any other way. Five cricket premierships with SS&A, four at Melbourne Country Week and seven with Albury Blues is pretty complete. When I'm asked about regrets probably the only one is how quickly it all comes and goes.

BK: Even though you won A grade basketball best and fairests, cricket was your other great sporting passion. Were you better at rugby league or cricket?

GP: Everyone would probably say rugby, but I'd say cricket was closer to my heart mainly because of the camaraderie. Don't get me wrong I loved rugby, but I used to put so much more into the cricket particularly when I was coach.

BK: You started playing cricket at Lavington as a 14-year-old didn't you?

GP: I started as a wicketkeeper under Arnie Fletcher. We used to get some hidings and one day Arnie asked me if I wanted to have a bowl. I wasn't that keen as everyone was getting flogged but I did alright and never looked back.

BK: You took over 500 wickets and took five or more wickets on 28 occasions, I'd say it was a wise move?

GP: It turned out OK.

BK: After a couple of seasons you headed bush?

GP: It was a bit too serious for me at Lavington at that stage. The rugby club had a side at Gerogery so I went and played for Gerogery Blues in the Hume league. We played on the ground next to the pub and it was pretty hard to get blokes out on the ground some times. We won two in a row and had some great times.

BK: Tell us about your wicketkeeper?

GP: John Cardwell used to smoke when he was keeping and between balls would put his cigarette at the base of the stumps. He would stand up at the stumps and, when the bowler was coming in, blow it in the batsman's face.

BK: Not everyone was happy with you playing in the Hume league though?

GP: After a couple of years the officials told me some of the players thought I was a bit quick on the mats and wouldn't play so I decided to go back into town.

BK: You joined North Albury before moving to SS&A?

GP: I was happy playing at North Albury even though we never seemed to get over the line. Then in one of my first Country Weeks I was rooming with Algy Arendarcikas and Jack O'Halloran, who were both SS&A players, and I was hoodwinked into signing with them for the following season in 1980-81. A few blokes have been recruited at Country Week over the years.

BK: It was an interesting move because the 1976-77 grand final between North Albury and SS&A had a bit of controversy at Alexandra Park. Tell us about that?

GP: We got done on first innings, then it rained for a day and Graeme Broster came out and started belting the ball around for North. Anyway the ball was hit for a six over the fence and we couldn't find it. They went looking for the ball and after a short time both teams were scouring for it. Algy was wasting time and pretending to look in long grass, but had his foot on the ball all of the time. It got a bit heated there for a while and SS&A held on to avoid being bowled out.

BK: Bit hard to swallow?

GP: I've never forgiven Algy for it (laughs). I liked that competitiveness about SS&A and, when I think about it, that's why I was probably convinced to play for them later on.

BK: SS&A were ruthless weren't they, winning five premierships in eight years under your captaincy?

GP: Definitely. I didn't regard myself as a great cricketer but I thought I was a good leader and we had some fantastic players at that time. We were close off the ground. If we had 15 players train, we might get 13 go out to Maudies (night club) after training on a Thursday night.

BK: Melbourne Country Week and O'Farrell Cup was a big part of your life as well. The 1990 provincial victory over Bendigo at the MCG stands out I would imagine?

GP: To walk onto the MCG would have to be the highlight. Not many people get to experience that. We had some terrific times in Melbourne with a great bunch of blokes with Joe (Wooding) leading the way.

BK: Off the ground was almost as memorable?

GP: I can't go into too much detail there. I do remember getting home one morning with 'Craigy' (Bob Craig) when everyone was going for breakfast. It was a long day in the field.

BK: You liked to push the boundaries in cricket. Ever get a holiday?

GP: I got reported in a North East Cup final for calling the umpire a cheat. I got six months which was the off season. I never got reported in Albury and Border though which probably surprises a few people. We had a lot of umpires who had played the game back then and were all pretty good. It was hard cricket and everyone understood that.

BK: What's the biggest dust-up you had on a cricket field?

GP: We played in a grand final against Wodonga at Alexandra Park one year and it involved a good friend of mine now in Frank Fisher. I appealed for a catch off him in slips, he thought it had hit the ground and I politely told him what I thought he was about. The umpires gave him not out so we let him know about it and it was on for young and old. There was chesting going on and things got very heated. The next ball he edged it to me and we gave him a nice little send-off.

BK: You rate that 1994-95 premiership as the most satisfying don't you?

GP: They were all memorable but that was pretty special. We beat East Albury in the semi-final by a couple of runs after Aaron Beard stumped Mal Jervois down the leg side. East had a very good side and we were lucky to get through. Wodonga had beaten us the previous year and were cocky about winning another one. They came over in a hired mini bus with eskies full of champagne and things like that as they thought they would beat SS&A easily. Anyway, we made 228 with Andrew Lade making 75 and rolled them for 196.

BK: You like a beer and punt and have never backed down from any biffo, how did you fit into life as Albury's deputy mayor in the late 1990s?

GP: It was an eye-opener but I'm glad I did it. Steve Felstead rang me about getting involved and it went from there. I wanted to give something back to the community as sport had given me so much enjoyment over the years.