1975 Trial match fight involving trainer

[bays2011]

Seems trial matches were taken very seriously back in 1975! At least i think it is 1975 and the teams appear to be West Torrens and West Adelaide. Can anyone remember/shed further light on this incident?

[bayman]

i miss those days at the footy

[Adelaide Hawk]

Yes, the trainer was Dick Michalczyk who was standing out of football awaiting a clearance from East Perth to West Adelaide. He ended up playing a bit of footy for North Melbourne in the VFL.

[redandblack]

Correct, reported without playing a game for us

[FOURTH ESTATE]

What is unusual is that West Adelaide changed their jumper to the stripes version in 1974 under Fos Williams. West Torrens also changed their jumper in 1975 to a blue jumper with two yellow braces. The one in the video is the one they changed to in the early 70's blue with a yellow eagle on the left breast. But John Cassin did play for the Eagles from 1975-76 unless he played for them in a pre season game earlier than 1975. Just my observations.

[rd]

Seems trial matches were taken very seriously back in 1975! At least i think it is 1975 and the teams appear to be West Torrens and West Adelaide. Can anyone remember/shed further light on this incident?

This was actually a 1973 trial match between West Adel and Essendon at Richmond Oval - John Cassin was playing for Essendon prior to his move to Torrens. Essendon won the game by a big margin but people only remember the "on-field efforts" of Michalczyk who was waiting for his clearance from East Perth to Westies.

[JK]

Footy looked so much better back in those days

[Adelaide Hawk]

Footy looked so much better back in those days

That's because it was. Here's part of Bass' blog on the North game ....

In perfect conditions it was great to get off to a high scoring start on Saturday at Prospect Oval. I don’t think I have ever experienced seven goals in the first quarter while coaching Norwood and it was an experience I hope to enjoy again. In the second quarter though the coaching box felt a little like sitting in the crowd with the sewing ladies at an Adelaide Crows game; “kick it, just kick it, oh please, kick it!”

Even coaches don't like the way the game is played

[bays2011]

Seems trial matches were taken very seriously back in 1975! At least i think it is 1975 and the teams appear to be West Torrens and West Adelaide. Can anyone remember/shed further light on this incident?

This was actually a 1973 trial match between West Adel and Essendon at Richmond Oval - John Cassin was playing for Essendon prior to his move to Torrens. Essendon won the game by a big margin but people only remember the "on-field efforts" of Michalczyk who was waiting for his clearance from East Perth to Westies.

Thanks for clarifying this RD. I had originally thought it must be from '73 or '74 as the footage is black and white, but as an another poster mentioned, I knew Cassin started with Torrens in 1975. Had no idea Essendon were invloved!

[rd]

Glad to help out. The relationship between the 2 clubs soured so much due to this match that I'm fairly sure that Essendon & West Adelaide never played each other ever again - perhaps there's a Westies fan who could confirm this.

[MagareyLegend]

Dick by name dick by nature!

[nickname]

Michalcyk greatly disappointed the club by signing with North Melbourne while awaiting his clearance to West. I believe he then wrecked his knee in either the first or second game of the year playing for North Melb.

[am Bays]

Correct, reported without playing a game for us

1975, you got your 20 year service certificate that year at Westies didn't you R&B??

[Booney]

Correct, reported without playing a game for us

1975, you got your 20 year service certificate that year at Westies didn't you R&B??

Retrospectively.

[Jimmy]

So essendon had their sash and the bloods had the stripes, both in black and red, talk about a clash haha

[nickname]

So essendon had their sash and the bloods had the stripes, both in black and red, talk about a clash haha

No, West are wearing the sash.