My earliest memory of Barry Davis is of him and Epis dressed in towels, being interviewed on TV in glorious black and white, in the showers under the MCG after the 1962 GF win. l had the honour of meeting and playing against Barry Davis and Ken Fletcher one Easter in Kyabram. A group of us used to go up there every year to play tennis. The two of them were a formidable doubles combination. that would have been around 1982. l talked with him after our game, they won, but l forget the score. He and l both had many of the same thoughts about our list at that time, that we had sufficient talent for sustained success, but we were both concerned that Sheedy wasn't getting the right results from them. Does that sound familiar to anyone else we know?
Davis was a self taught player and good enough to get himself up to B grade pennant, this was after his illustrious football career. Who knows how good he could have been had he taken up that sport instead of football. l am glad he didnât as it would have been Essendonâs profound loss. He was my second favorite player in the 1960s. He also suffered some horrendous injuries, much like Mark Harvey would do years later, he was as brave a ball player as they come, tough but also fair, l donât believe he was ever reported / suspended. His drop kicks were a thing of beauty and he would regularly kick them 70 mt. He was often a finalist on the World of Sport kicking segment.
Then Essendon recruited Des Tuddenham, as playing captain - coach. It was bad enough they recruited someone from Collingwood, but they snubbed Davis for the captaincy at the same time. Davis had been a loyal clubman up to that time and was rightly considered to be the next in line for the captaincy after Fraser. Instead, we lost him to North who also poached Doug Wade and Stan Alves under the 10 year (first trial of a free agency) rule. History records that Davis moved himself from being a brilliant and attacking half back flank, into a ruck roving role where he excelled, and was judged by many to be best on ground in Northâs first ever flag. While North won 2 flags and spent many years as a contender and played multiple finals, Essendon drifted into a wasteland worthy of anything imagined by T.S. Eliot. The 1970âs was one of the darkest eras in the clubâs entire history, had the club decided to stick by Davis, instead of import tough guy Tuddenham no one knows how things might have turned out. Stargazer 5 mentioned once that she was always disappointed in the way Davis walked out on the club. Like the story above points out, he valued and maintained his integrity and honour, a pity the club didnât value them as highly as he did, otherwise he would have stayed. l consider him part of Essendon royalty, and chose him on a HBF in my greatest Essendon team of all time, opposite Neale Daniher. He will forever be a champion in my eyes.
Thanks Jackie and say hello to Tiff for me.
Cheers from China, CJ.
I think you're revising history a bit. When Tuddenham came on the scene EFC were already in the wasteland under Clarke and Birt. Tuddenham came along and instilled a bit of fire and brimstone into a soft list and the results were immediate. As a young kid I can clearly remember, such was the impression he made, some of Tuddenham's delivery in the rooms at Windy Hill and he certainly got that list playing above themselves. That period was one where captain coaches were still employed to get quick delivery of messages to their players out on the ground. His message wore off after a couple of years and combined with a few issues off the field he went back to the filth. In many respects Tuddenham made EFC realize it could go outside Windy Hill to improve its footy department. Enter Bill Stephen and Kevin Sheedy.
Des Tuddenham was a thug as a player and a terrible coach. His tough-guy tactics fired up the team during his first year but from then on it was steadily downhill until he was sacked. His appointment was a classic example of the âsilver bulletâ approach: the idea was that we would get a guy with near enough to magical powers and all our problems would be solved.
I can think of a recent example of that sort of thinking that also hasnât turned out quite as hoped.
Barry Davis was a truly great player. That half-back line with Shelton and Epis was the best there was. Shelton was hard and tough and big; Epis was a close, niggling tagger-type, and Davis was all class. He used to play off his opponent, figuring that if he wnet and got the ball himself then it didnât really matter what his opponent was doing. He was a beautiful classic mark, superbly balanced and composed, and his kicks were long and penetrating. He wasnât the only player badly treated by the club at that time: Jack Clarke was sacked as coach uncermoniously; Alec Epis was refused a small pay rise and retired; and Davis was passed over as captain in favour of Tuddenham who was too old for the job anyway. He wasnât a good coach; probably too decent a human being, not ruthless enough.
Beautifully thought out and written, Jackie. But really, chilli in ice-cream??? Next youâll be telling us that Tiff likes the chocolate Vegemite!
My earliest memory of Barry Davis is of him and Epis dressed in towels, being interviewed on TV in glorious black and white, in the showers under the MCG after the 1962 GF win. l had the honour of meeting and playing against Barry Davis and Ken Fletcher one Easter in Kyabram. A group of us used to go up there every year to play tennis. The two of them were a formidable doubles combination. that would have been around 1982. l talked with him after our game, they won, but l forget the score. He and l both had many of the same thoughts about our list at that time, that we had sufficient talent for sustained success, but we were both concerned that Sheedy wasn't getting the right results from them. Does that sound familiar to anyone else we know?
Davis was a self taught player and good enough to get himself up to B grade pennant, this was after his illustrious football career. Who knows how good he could have been had he taken up that sport instead of football. l am glad he didnât as it would have been Essendonâs profound loss. He was my second favorite player in the 1960s. He also suffered some horrendous injuries, much like Mark Harvey would do years later, he was as brave a ball player as they come, tough but also fair, l donât believe he was ever reported / suspended. His drop kicks were a thing of beauty and he would regularly kick them 70 mt. He was often a finalist on the World of Sport kicking segment.
Then Essendon recruited Des Tuddenham, as playing captain - coach. It was bad enough they recruited someone from Collingwood, but they snubbed Davis for the captaincy at the same time. Davis had been a loyal clubman up to that time and was rightly considered to be the next in line for the captaincy after Fraser. Instead, we lost him to North who also poached Doug Wade and Stan Alves under the 10 year (first trial of a free agency) rule. History records that Davis moved himself from being a brilliant and attacking half back flank, into a ruck roving role where he excelled, and was judged by many to be best on ground in Northâs first ever flag. While North won 2 flags and spent many years as a contender and played multiple finals, Essendon drifted into a wasteland worthy of anything imagined by T.S. Eliot. The 1970âs was one of the darkest eras in the clubâs entire history, had the club decided to stick by Davis, instead of import tough guy Tuddenham no one knows how things might have turned out. Stargazer 5 mentioned once that she was always disappointed in the way Davis walked out on the club. Like the story above points out, he valued and maintained his integrity and honour, a pity the club didnât value them as highly as he did, otherwise he would have stayed. l consider him part of Essendon royalty, and chose him on a HBF in my greatest Essendon team of all time, opposite Neale Daniher. He will forever be a champion in my eyes.
Thanks Jackie and say hello to Tiff for me.
Cheers from China, CJ.
I think you're revising history a bit. When Tuddenham came on the scene EFC were already in the wasteland under Clarke and Birt. Tuddenham came along and instilled a bit of fire and brimstone into a soft list and the results were immediate. As a young kid I can clearly remember, such was the impression he made, some of Tuddenham's delivery in the rooms at Windy Hill and he certainly got that list playing above themselves. That period was one where captain coaches were still employed to get quick delivery of messages to their players out on the ground. His message wore off after a couple of years and combined with a few issues off the field he went back to the filth. In many respects Tuddenham made EFC realize it could go outside Windy Hill to improve its footy department. Enter Bill Stephen and Kevin Sheedy.
Des Tuddenham was a thug as a player and a terrible coach. His tough-guy tactics fired up the team during his first year but from then on it was steadily downhill until he was sacked. His appointment was a classic example of the âsilver bulletâ approach: the idea was that we would get a guy with near enough to magical powers and all our problems would be solved.
I can think of a recent example of that sort of thinking that also hasnât turned out quite as hoped.
Barry Davis was a truly great player. That half-back line with Shelton and Epis was the best there was. Shelton was hard and tough and big; Epis was a close, niggling tagger-type, and Davis was all class. He used to play off his opponent, figuring that if he wnet and got the ball himself then it didnât really matter what his opponent was doing. He was a beautiful classic mark, superbly balanced and composed, and his kicks were long and penetrating. He wasnât the only player badly treated by the club at that time: Jack Clarke was sacked as coach uncermoniously; Alec Epis was refused a small pay rise and retired; and Davis was passed over as captain in favour of Tuddenham who was too old for the job anyway. He wasnât a good coach; probably too decent a human being, not ruthless enough.
Beautifully thought out and written, Jackie. But really, chilli in ice-cream??? Next youâll be telling us that Tiff likes the chocolate Vegemite!
If Tuddenham was a terrible coach, what does that make Clarke, Birt, Stephen and Davis? At least Tuddenham got an absolute rabble playing finals in his first two years.
My earliest memory of Barry Davis is of him and Epis dressed in towels, being interviewed on TV in glorious black and white, in the showers under the MCG after the 1962 GF win. l had the honour of meeting and playing against Barry Davis and Ken Fletcher one Easter in Kyabram. A group of us used to go up there every year to play tennis. The two of them were a formidable doubles combination. that would have been around 1982. l talked with him after our game, they won, but l forget the score. He and l both had many of the same thoughts about our list at that time, that we had sufficient talent for sustained success, but we were both concerned that Sheedy wasn't getting the right results from them. Does that sound familiar to anyone else we know?
Davis was a self taught player and good enough to get himself up to B grade pennant, this was after his illustrious football career. Who knows how good he could have been had he taken up that sport instead of football. l am glad he didnât as it would have been Essendonâs profound loss. He was my second favorite player in the 1960s. He also suffered some horrendous injuries, much like Mark Harvey would do years later, he was as brave a ball player as they come, tough but also fair, l donât believe he was ever reported / suspended. His drop kicks were a thing of beauty and he would regularly kick them 70 mt. He was often a finalist on the World of Sport kicking segment.
Then Essendon recruited Des Tuddenham, as playing captain - coach. It was bad enough they recruited someone from Collingwood, but they snubbed Davis for the captaincy at the same time. Davis had been a loyal clubman up to that time and was rightly considered to be the next in line for the captaincy after Fraser. Instead, we lost him to North who also poached Doug Wade and Stan Alves under the 10 year (first trial of a free agency) rule. History records that Davis moved himself from being a brilliant and attacking half back flank, into a ruck roving role where he excelled, and was judged by many to be best on ground in Northâs first ever flag. While North won 2 flags and spent many years as a contender and played multiple finals, Essendon drifted into a wasteland worthy of anything imagined by T.S. Eliot. The 1970âs was one of the darkest eras in the clubâs entire history, had the club decided to stick by Davis, instead of import tough guy Tuddenham no one knows how things might have turned out. Stargazer 5 mentioned once that she was always disappointed in the way Davis walked out on the club. Like the story above points out, he valued and maintained his integrity and honour, a pity the club didnât value them as highly as he did, otherwise he would have stayed. l consider him part of Essendon royalty, and chose him on a HBF in my greatest Essendon team of all time, opposite Neale Daniher. He will forever be a champion in my eyes.
Thanks Jackie and say hello to Tiff for me.
Cheers from China, CJ.
I think you're revising history a bit. When Tuddenham came on the scene EFC were already in the wasteland under Clarke and Birt. Tuddenham came along and instilled a bit of fire and brimstone into a soft list and the results were immediate. As a young kid I can clearly remember, such was the impression he made, some of Tuddenham's delivery in the rooms at Windy Hill and he certainly got that list playing above themselves. That period was one where captain coaches were still employed to get quick delivery of messages to their players out on the ground. His message wore off after a couple of years and combined with a few issues off the field he went back to the filth. In many respects Tuddenham made EFC realize it could go outside Windy Hill to improve its footy department. Enter Bill Stephen and Kevin Sheedy.
Des Tuddenham was a thug as a player and a terrible coach. His tough-guy tactics fired up the team during his first year but from then on it was steadily downhill until he was sacked. His appointment was a classic example of the âsilver bulletâ approach: the idea was that we would get a guy with near enough to magical powers and all our problems would be solved.
I can think of a recent example of that sort of thinking that also hasnât turned out quite as hoped.
Barry Davis was a truly great player. That half-back line with Shelton and Epis was the best there was. Shelton was hard and tough and big; Epis was a close, niggling tagger-type, and Davis was all class. He used to play off his opponent, figuring that if he wnet and got the ball himself then it didnât really matter what his opponent was doing. He was a beautiful classic mark, superbly balanced and composed, and his kicks were long and penetrating. He wasnât the only player badly treated by the club at that time: Jack Clarke was sacked as coach uncermoniously; Alec Epis was refused a small pay rise and retired; and Davis was passed over as captain in favour of Tuddenham who was too old for the job anyway. He wasnât a good coach; probably too decent a human being, not ruthless enough.
Beautifully thought out and written, Jackie. But really, chilli in ice-cream??? Next youâll be telling us that Tiff likes the chocolate Vegemite!
If Tuddenham was a terrible coach, what does that make Clarke, Birt, Stephen and Davis? At least Tuddenham got an absolute rabble playing finals in his first two years.
None of them were very good. Jack Clarke got us to a grand final in 1968, but we finished 11th out of 12 teams in 1970, his last year. John Birt was another great player but coached for only one year during which we only won four games. Bill Stephen was coach when we got Paul van der Haar and I think Tim Watson and Simon Madden, but they were all just kids. Barry Davis got the team to play some very good football, but not nearly enough of it.
Under Tuddenham our chief claim to fame was to be involved in brawls. We did scrape into the finals twice, thatâs true, to be thrashed in the first final on both occasions.
Jackie thanks subtle point well made and revealing
I guess it's about one of the club's greatest and best loved players who realized he wasn't as good a coach as he was a captain or a player.
Itâs about a man who part way through a poor third year as a coach publicly challenged his players and said if we donât make the finals I will quit.
Itâs about a man who put the club ahead of his own personal pride, ambition or money.
Davis was a great man and history is interesting to study - especially for those younger blitzers who arenât aware of his story.
As Tiffany said âI love it when Jackieâs enigmatic.â
Yep Barry Davis really put the club ahead of personal stuff, when he walked out for the money as club captain to go to North.
Any comparison, subtle or otherwise that Jackie is making is BullShite, as Davis was a great player, but a crap coach from day one, and he was a very below average school teacher.
Just to add to this thread I played tennis with Barry at Tweed Heads today as he was up here on holidays with his brother. He still plays a good game at 75. I am 62. A big thrill for me. I remember watching him when I was a little fella.
Barry Davis taught me in high school. Years later i was at Essendon training (circa 1980 i think) and he saw me standing watching and come over to me and asked how i was going and what i was doing. I could not believe he would even remember me. He is a good guy
Barry Davis was a truly great player and a truly decent human being. Yes, he left Essendon, but it was at a time when Essendon was a complete shambles as a club, and he played in Northâs first ever premiership team. Itâs great that heâs enjoying life at 75. He gave me a lot of enjoyment when I was a lot younger than 75.
Never forgave him for not turning up to club corner on world of sport on Sundays because he was a church goer, as was Birt.
Brilliant player though loved the number 32 kicking those raking drop kicks off the half back flank.
This is nonsense! Barry Davis left because Tuddenham didnât want him. Tuddy played him out of position in 1972 and Davis saw the writing on the wall and left.
I would not cared one bit, except he was my high school PE teacher and was a "âholier than thouâ sort of bloke, who lectured on playing for the jumper and other stuff like that. He should have been a priest.
My memory was that when he agreed to coach Essendon it was with the condition that there would be no involvement with the club on Sundays as that day was kept for his family.
