Farewell Nugget, a legend to the end
WHEN it comes to the greats of Lara Football Club, there’s few greater than Bill ‘Nugget’ Mathieson.
A member of the Cats’ Hall of Fame, Mathieson booted 720 goals in a distinguished 236-game career.
The powerful forward won two premierships, secured two senior best and fairests, won the goalkicking trophy on nine occasions, including in 1965 when he bagged 119 majors as an 18-year-old, and coached the club at both senior and reserves level.
An icon in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, ‘Nugget’ passed away on May 20, aged 83.
“He was a great footballer,” Lara historian Bernie Walker said.
“We were at Geelong West on Saturday and Kevin Kirby was telling us that he (Nugget) played in their 1958 premiership.
“And I don’t know how long he played at West for, but he went to Williamstown and he kicked six goals in his first game.
“He was a big man . . . and he was solid. He’s in our Hall of Fame, he’s a life member and a champion player.”
The bloodlines run deep at Lara with “Nugget” one of four generations of Mathieson to grace Bisinella Oval.
His father Jimmy led the club to its second ever premiership in 1929, while his four siblings all pulled on the blue and white hoops.
Nugget’s son Paul is a former games record-holder, while Paul’s son Matthew is a current senior player at the club.
To add to the family ties, Nugget’s grandson Dan Weigl also plays with the Cats and is the new Lara Cricket Club captain-coach.
The Mathieson name is held in high esteem to this day, with a handful of trophies in their honour.
And the club hasn’t ruled out creating another award in Nugget’s honour.
“We haven’t spoken about it yet, but we will,” Walker said.
“The Mathieson Memorial for the most consistent player is named after his father Jimmy and the best and fairest — the McIntyreMathieson — is named after his uncle Alan Mathieson and Gordon McIntyre.
“Nugget’s brother Jimmy Jnr, who is known as ‘Shirty’, captained-coached the ’65 premiership side and he played nearly 300 games as well.
“Jimmy was the eldest, then there was Nugget, Mickey, ‘ Butch’ (Ian) and ‘ Jack’ (Adrian), and they all played football at Lara.
“And his father captaincoached the premiership in 1929. So they go back a long way and the playing history of them all is quite strong.”
Walker, who grew up with Nugget’s children, said he had fond memories of the goalkicking machine.
“I always remember him playing when I was a kid,” Walker said.
“He was always at full forward and it was probably the reserves at that stage of his career, and he was captaincoach at that point.
“He kicked 112 goals in a season and he kicked 20 goals in a game against Modewarre as well.
“I just remember in 1986 we won our first flag since 1952, and he was always part of the club because Paul played in that flag.
“Apart from playing and all those achievements, he was there to follow his sons. Peter, his eldest son, played a lot of footy at Lara.
“He (Nugget) was the games record-holder at Lara for 15 years until his son Paul broke it.”