“I was already targeted that day and if I’d have stayed in that pack I’ve got no doubt that I wouldn’t have played another minute of that match – I would have been knocked out as well” – Pakenham rover Rick Tyrrell.
By David Nagel
The Pakenham Football Club has won 30 premierships spanning 100 years from 1909 to 2009 – but none come close to matching the legend and myth surrounding the 1987 premiership triumph over Lang Lang.
The legend surrounds one of the all-time great premiership wins in the club’s very proud history – as the underdogs against a feared opponent who had their measure three times throughout the season.
The myth surrounds one of the all-time great mysteries that sparked a massive and wild brawl that lasted eight minutes early in the first quarter and saw league administrators rushing onto the ground to bring calm to a highly-inflamed situation.
Police lined the boundary upon resumption of play as tempers reached boiling point.
Some funny things happened on footy grounds in September 1987.
Just seven days later a young Irishman named Jimmy Stynes would run across the mark at the final siren of the VFL Preliminary Final, gifting Hawthorn star Gary Buckenara with the opportunity to put the Hawks through to the grand final against Carlton.
Buckenara would convert – breaking Melbourne hearts along the way.
But what took place at Cora Lynn a week earlier – well it’s not so easy to explain.
“People were talking about it all over town,” said Pakenham back-pocket player of the day and four-time premiership player Brian Brady.
“My brother Michael was sitting in the pub during the week of the grand final and heard that Lang Lang was going to try and belt the shit out of us. And it wasn’t just him; a lot of different people were talking about it.
“I knew it was going to be tough but I wasn’t expecting it to go the way it did. I remember Kevin Ablett running about and knocking a few around early and then it just exploded.”
Lang Lang playing coach Kevin Ablett was reported for striking four different players on the day, including Garry Nooy, Grant Porter, Mark Carney and 21-year-old rover Ricky Tyrrell.
The Nooy and Porter incidents happened in the opening minutes of play as Tyrrell recalls.
“Kevin Ablett ran into a pack and he elbowed Garry Nooy in the back of the head and dropped him to the ground, he split Grant Porter’s eye open with a fist, and when I saw that I ran from one flank to the other and followed him in,” Tyrrell said.
“I’ve jumped into the pack and, as I’ve gone to throw my fist, I’ve actually opened up my hand and slapped him hard instead of punching him. As soon as I did that I thought ‘Shit, I’ve got to get out of here”.
Tyrrell took off with two Lang Lang players in pursuit and another, Tim Barwick, charging towards him from the centre. Tyrrell brushed past Pakenham trainer Stan Young, who then collided with Barwick – who was knocked out cold.
“Some people have a laugh when they read that I ran away from the pack but that doesn’t worry me at all,” Tyrrell said.
“I was already targeted that day and if I’d have stayed in that pack I’ve got no doubt that I wouldn’t have played another minute of that match – I would have been knocked out as well. I kicked three goals and had a bit of an impact that day so I’m glad I did what I did,”
Tyrrell said it was almost surreal – even 30 years later – to have his name associated with such a legendary game of football.
“Look, it was that sort of game, it’s been talked about for 30 years now and I reckon it will still be talked about in another 30 years,” he said.
“Stan loves talking about it and I feel pretty good being a big part of it as well. I don’t think they (Lang Lang) liked us anyway but they hated us after that. It was definitely the one that got away for them; they paid the money but didn’t get the prize. They belted us from pillar to post and we stood up, that made it even more special. All they had to do was play footy and they blew it.”
Tyrrell, a thirds premiership player in 1982 when the club won its last senior flag, said it was great to achieve something special with his heroes.
“We would play (in 1982) and then stay all day and watch blokes like Greg Atkins win a premiership, so to play alongside a bloke like that and become a premiership team-mate was pretty special.”
Young was the villain in Lang Lang eyes, but innocent as far as he remembered the incident in a Gazette interview back in 2009.
“The head trainer, Cliffy Smith, was an elderly gentleman and he got us to help out that day because we had four teams in grand finals,” Young recalled.
He said ‘You better get out there; the boys are getting hurt and mop them up a bit’. So I was on my way out there and Ricky Tyrrell comes flying out of the pack after he hit the coach of Lang Lang (Kevin Ablett).
“He had three players chasing after him and Tim Barwick was leading the pack and, of course, Ricky saw me and made a bee-line for me and Timmy was running with his head down and ran slap bang into me … I was innocent.
“There were all sorts of rumours that I had an ice pack and towel in my hand. I got death threats, phone calls and the whole works. People often talk about it but I just laugh it off. They haven’t let me forget it – put it that way.”
Barwick can’t recall anything about the incident.
“You speak to different people who saw the incident and Pakenham people have a different version to Lang Lang people, but apparently Stan Young swung his arm out and some even say he had an ice pack in his hand and sconed me,” Barwick said.
“I’m still absolutely peeved about it. I’ve never spoken to Stan, but Stan’s a bit of a legend over at Pakenham.”
Pakenham president Bob Utber, also a former Pakenham Gazette journalist, said it all happened so quickly.
“It was a bit of a blur because it all happened all of a sudden and it just went “whoosh’ and people came from everywhere,” he said.
“Everybody seemed to be running at 100 miles an hour – it was like a tsunami had come. That’s probably the best way to describe it. Nobody could control it.”
Utber did not see the Young-Barwick incident, but reflected on it in his president’s speech after the win.
“My big regret, when I got up and congratulated the players, is that I congratulated one of our best players in Stan Young. It was a terrible thing to say. It was bit of a tongue-in-cheek comment and that’s the sort of stuff I used to write, but I really regretted it.”
Pakenham would go on to win the grand final by 34 points, but the story will never just stop at that.
The allegations, the resentment, the mystique and surreal nature of what took place at Cora Lynn that day will live in local sporting folklore forever. Pakenham may have won 30 premierships in its history, but none come close to matching the legend and myth surrounding the 1987 premiership triumph over Lang Lang.
