1998 Senior Boys Football

Probably the biggest “could have won it” team of all. 

Equal 3rd in Herald Sun Country Shield, losing a close Semi Final at Dandenong, with Back Pocket Shane Costantino picking up the team’s BOG Medal awarded by Coach Gary Michael.

The team featured one future AFL player in the midfield, plus 3 key forwards that were all already getting interest from AFL clubs.

Missing from the team were two of those 3 forwards – Year 12s Nathan Parker and Stuart Cooper.

Parker was a 196cm Murray Bushranger with draft prospects, who the Bushies didn’t allow to play. Fair enough considering what happened to Scott Thompson the year before. Parker played 1 AFL Reserves game for Carlton that year (kicking 1 goal), as well as for Melbourne.

Cooper was devastatingly banned from the side by Senior School Leadership due to school issues. In one of the great tales of our School Sport history, Coach Gary Michael recalls being tapped on the shoulder at the Semi Final game by North Melbourne full back Mick Martyn, asking “where’s Cooper?” North Melbourne had sent Mick to watch Cooper, with eyes on drafting him a fee months later. Gaz had to tell Mick he’d been left back in Wangaratta.

That decision to disallow Cooper from playing likely cost the team becoming Herald Country Shield champions, but also Cooper the chance of being drafted to the AFL. He would later be Rookie Listed to North Melbourne, but not for another 3 years.

Most involved, and anyone looking at the talent in this team, seem assured it would have won it all with Parker and Cooper, or any one of them.

There was other serious talent in the team.

Year 11 Jon McCormick was the one future AFL player. He had the year before won the McCormick Medal (League Best & Fairest, U17s Junior League) as a Year 10, to go with his Ken Farrell Medal (League B&F U15s) three years prior at Year 8. Two years prior as a Year 9, he played in the O&M U15 Schoolboys (equivalent to today’s V-Line Cup), and won the best player award. The following year (1999) he would finish 3rd in the Bushrangers B&F and of course go on to play 26 games for Carlton, come Runner-Up in the VFL Liston Trophy, and win an O&M Morris Medal. Most judge “Hopper” as someone that could have played many more AFL games, if not for injuries (particularly stress fractures in his feet) curtailing his ability of be fully fit while at Carlton.

Andy Murray was playing Murray Bushrangers that year, after dominating the O&M Thirds for Wangaratta Rovers earlier in the season. Two years prior he had won the 1996 McCormick Medal at Year 10, and three years prior played Schoolboys with McCormick. Son of the famous Bob, St Kilda Premiership player (1966) and St Kilda Team Of The Century Full Back, Andy is described by teammates that year as a freak who was as dominant in the Thirds as anyone they remember. Towering marks over the top of packs at Centre Half Forward, bombing goals from miles out, and playing like a man against kids. St Kilda had obviously been tracking him as a potential Father-son prospect.