IT’S HARD TO GO PAST THE GODFATHER

EVEN more than 60 years after he coached his final game, there is no more towering figure at Geelong than Reg Hickey.

When the current-day Cats exit the changerooms to start training or play a game, his is the first name they see, adorning the grandstand on the eastern side of GMHBA Stadium.

Ask Bill Goggin, one of Geelong’s most decorated players and revered figures, and he is adamant there is no more important person in the history of the 163-year-old football club.

It is rare for any Geelong person to go past Hickey but on Saturday against St Kilda, Chris Scott will have his chance to notch up win No.185 as coach of Geelong, moving him past Hickey’s tally of 184.

Geelong Addy chief footy writer JOSH BARNES caught up with three past players who took the field under Hickey, who remember his unrivalled impact on Geelong.

HARD BUT FAIR

A MODERN-day coach acts more as a man manger, making sure his deep team of assistants are comfortable and empowered in their job and that the players are happy within their roles in the bigger system.

Scott is respected for his willingness to hand over flexibility to his playing group, allowing them to spend slightly fewer hours at the club than opposition sides, in the belief they will do everything they need to play well.

It was not always this way, with autocratic coaches ruling most of the 20th century and laying down the law.

Hickey was firm with his playing group, but never over the top and players always knew where they stood with the master coach, according to Terry Fulton, one of the few surviving players from Hickey’s 1951-52 premiership sides.

“He was a good coach. He called a spade a spade,” Fulton said.

“He was hard but fair. He wouldn’t stand for any nonsense.”

Given the players knew where they stood with Hickey, he was not a ranting or raving coach.

Fred Le Deux played his 18 VFL games under Hickey and said he did not hear the master coach raise his voice.

“All those coaches would yell, but Reg never raised his voice,” Le Deux said. “He just talked to the players. He was definite but he was quiet, he went about it in a quiet manner. He had a great sense of humour, of course.”

Goggin remembers that sense of humour as a teenager, when the future star rover played his first 19 VFL games in the final two years of Hickey’s coaching reign.

“He used to walk through a door and put his foot up on the door,” he said with a chuckle.

“I don’t think I have seen anyone else do that. He would just put it flat on the top of the door.”

While he may have been hard, Hickey was always understanding, which may have been easy in the early ’50s as the Cats racked up a league record 26 consecutive games without loss.

“When he used to speak, the group used to circle around him and if anyone wasn’t paying attention they soon were,” Goggin said. “He would walk past them and give them a quick jab.

“He was a lovely person in his own way, too, he was so understanding.

“If something went wrong he wasn’t always going crook at you, he might go crook for a little bit but then he would then give you a little bit of encouragement.”

Hickey was also happy to help his players. Le Deux remembers the great coach encouraging his charges to go out and coach in country leagues, where the big bucks were in those days.

Fulton was one of those beneficiaries as he played his last game for Geelong in 1954 at age 24, before going to coach Geelong West to several premierships in the Ballarat league before the club moved to the VFA.

A champion player turned assistant coach, Corey Enright played under Scott for six seasons and coached alongside him for five.

Enright will be out to stop Scott passing Hickey on Saturday as a St Kilda assistant coach but he said the Cats mentor had made a big impact on Geelong.

“(Scott) has obviously been a tremendous figure at that football club and a tremendous leader over a long time,” he said.

“He has been able to bring different people through and let them take on new roles and that shows what a strong leader he has been.”

A FATHER FIGURE

NOT only was Hickey a father figure for his players, he remains essentially the godfather of the Geelong Football Club.

Named captain-coach of the team of the century in 2002, Hickey was a superb defender in 245 games alongside his coaching duties.

While Goggin and Le Deux believe he remains the biggest figure in the club’s history, Fulton put him on par with the great Edward “Carji” Greeves, who has the Geelong bestand-fairest named in his honour.

“He was a giant of the game down here,” Le Deux said.

Always uncomfortable talking about himself, Scott was awkward when asked this week about any comparisons with Hickey.

“He is an icon of our football club – they named a stand after him,” he said. “I don’t for a second entertain any comparison to Reg Hickey.”

Only Mark Thompson sits with Hickey as a multiple flag-winning Geelong coach, but even “Bomber” could not catch Reg’s three titles.

With years to come in charge of the Cats, Scott will likely blow past 200 wins but perhaps nobody will ever match the legacy of the Geelong godfather.