HUNTING FOR HISTORY
Once footy clubs fold, they don’t often come back. But Inverleigh did. And today the Hawks will play in their first grand final since coming out of recess 15 years ago. ALEX OATES charts the club’s journey back from the brink
ARTHUR Hodgson saw the writing on the wall.
It was January of 1995 at Leigh District Football Club and the numbers were thin on the track.
A new season was fast approaching and Hodgson, the 1992 premiership coach lured back to lift the club from its knees, sought an urgent meeting with president Don Biddle.
After several meetings the agonising decision was made — Leigh District would fold.
“It was heartbreaking . . . so disappointing,” said Hodgson, Inverleigh’s last premiership coach.
“In my eyes, after winning the grand final we were set to go in division one and really have an impact. We felt like we could’ve reloaded and gone again, but from ’92 to ’95 we had guys go on and play GFL footy and we had a couple of retirements. It was just a difficult time.”
Today, 15 years since the side came out of recession in 2002 reborn as Inverleigh, the proud country club will challenge for its 13th senior premiership.
Hodgson will be in the crowd at St Albans Reserve, standing alongside club stars Mick Fiolet and Neil Cations.
Fiolet and Cations will have an added interest in the clash against Bell Post Hill, with their sons Jack and Billy playing in their first senior grand final.
The youngsters hope to emulate the deeds of their legendary fathers, who were part of the Leigh District team that broke a 31-year premiership drought in 1992.
Fiolet, a life member, former president and ex-senior coach, said he was a “proud parent” as the Hawks go in search of history.
“I want it to be a great day for Jack, like it was for me in ’92,” Fiolet said.
“I keep all the paper cuttings of my mate Jack for whenever he’s mentioned in the paper.
“I’m actually looking at the photos of my premiership in ’92 as we speak. They are all up on the wall at work.
“There’s a photo of Neville Whitley putting a medal around my neck. I’m very proud of Jack.”
By five o’clock today, Mick hopes that Jack will have a medallion around his neck.
And he’s desperate to see skipper Justin Di Blasio and coach Mark McDowell raise the premiership cup in what would be the ultimate reward for decades of sacrifice.
“It would mean that all the hard yards we put in to resurrect the club have paid off,” Fiolet said.
“History would tell you that once clubs fold that’s it forever, so to get the club back up and running was a mammoth effort and to be in the position now where we could win a premiership . . . it’s amazing.”
Hodgson echoed Fiolet’s sentiments.
“I am forever grateful to the people who got the club back up and running. I’m grateful because it allows me to stay connected to those great people that I was involved with,” he said.
“I honestly think that a premiership on Saturday would be reward for all those people. And I’d like to think that the last premiership, which Neil Cations and Mick Fiolet were part of, helped get them to where they are today.”
The late Geoff Hill, who was president of the Hawks in 1982 and ’83, was the architect of the 2002 revival.
“He was instrumental,” Fiolet said.
“We had another meeting at the old ground on a Sunday and Geoff was on the back of the tray truck spruiking the ad- vantages of getting the club up and running again, and it grew from there.
“We thought we needed a high-profile coach so we appointed Wayne Tyquin and then we had to wait until the GDFL accepted us into the league.
“All the clubs voted and accepted us back and then we had to have 70 registered players to formulate the club, so it was a mammoth effort.”
It’s been a slow build for the Hawks ever since, with McDowell leading the club to its first finals campaign in 2014.
They bowed out in the preliminary final last season before taking another big step forward to challenge the Panthers.
Hodgson, who arrived at Inverleigh in the summer of 1991, recalled the moment he carried a struggling side back to the promised land.
He had 14 players at his disposal that had never played a senior final.
“They were two of the best years I had in footy, ’91 and ’92,” Hodgson said.
“We had a really good side. Our foe, our enemy, was East Geelong. They were Eastern Suburbs back then and they were coached by Mick Thompson.
“He was without doubt the best coach that I coached against.
“He was so competitive and he got the absolute best out of his players.
“We had a really fiery second semi-final and there were eight or nine reports, and Eastern Suburbs had seven of them. We ended up beating them by a fair margin, mainly because they had so many players off the ground, and we advanced to the grand final and they lost to Modewarre in the preliminary final.
“Because a lot of their good players got suspended, Modda beat them, and we weren’t expecting that. I thought Eastern Suburbs would be our opponent, so it was a real change of focus.”