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Noel Leary Returns Iconic Football

There is currently a display of Tasmanian Aussie Rules football memorabilia at the State Library.  A Southern Cross Television news item made reference to this and in doing so the name Noel Leary gained a mention. Noel had somehow become the possessor of the actual football used in the memorable 1990 victory by Tasmania over Victoria at North Hobart.  The report stated that the item had been recovered from the bottom of Noel’s wardrobe.  What was Noel’s connection to that day – he was a selector and  the runner for the Tassie coach – his close friend Robert Shaw. 

 

Many will find the following match summary interesting.

2010 Memorable Game – Tasmania v. Victoria, 1990

The 1990 State of Origin game between Tasmania and Victoria at North Hobart Oval is famous as a memorable victory for Tasmania in arguably the purest form of interstate competition for Australian Rules football.

 

A relatively young Tasmanian team was led by coach Robert Shaw and captain Darrin Pritchard to a stunning win against a Victorian team led by David Parkin and Gary Ayres. The game was played before a parochial crowd of more than 18,000 at North Hobart Oval.

 

Game Results

State of Origin Date: 1 October

Tasmania: 5.4 7.7 12.10 20.14 (134)Victoria: 1.3 7.8 8.14 14.17 (101)Venue: North Hobart Oval Attendance: 18,651

Best Tasmania: Manson, Pritchard, Lynch, Wright, Alexander, Hudson

Victoria: Toohey, Kerrison, Ayres, Langford, Liberatore

Goals: Tasmania: Alexander (4), Fell (3), Hudson (3), McCarthy (3, Barwick (2), B. Gale, M. Gale, Manson, Nichols, Wright.

Victoria: Lyon (4), Toohey (3), Romero (2), Foster, Kerrison, Liberatore, Longmire, Monkhorst.

Team Line-ups

Tasmania B: M. Mansfield, B. Stephens, S. Macpherson

HB: T. Spearman, J. McCarthy, M. Gale

C: D. Pritchard (Captain), S. Clayton, G. Wright

HF: D. Barwick, B. Gale, P. Hudson

F: C. Alexander, S. Fell, A. Lynch

Foll: J. Manson, S. Atkins, T. Nichols

Interchange: S. Wade, S. Byers, D. Noonan, D. Davies

Coach: R. Shaw

Victoria B: S. Kerrison, C. Langford, G. Ayres (Captain)HB: J. Kennedy, M. Martyn, B. Toohey

C: M. Knights, T. Wallace, B. Allison

HF: R. Lyon, P. Foster, S. Wigney

F: P. Dear, J. Longmire, J. Romero

Foll: D. Monkhorst, A. Condon, A. Liberatore

Interchange: B. Young, S. Wright, M. Gallagher, B. Bower

Coach: D. Parkin

 

(Highlights of the match can be viewed on YouTube.)

 

The Tasmanian team contained two Old Virgilians - Trent Nichols (SVC 1981-86) and Matthew Mansfield (SVC 1978-86) as did two sons of another Old Virgilian  Don Gale (SVC 1945-51), Brendan and Michael. Don played in the 1957 Centenary Carnival in Melbourne  and achieved All Australian selection, becoming the first player from the North West Football Union (NWFU)  to do so.

 

Back to Noel Leary. Noel himself had an outstanding football career, as the details below validate, and had retired by 1990. 

 

Associations: - Ulverstone/Sandy Bay/Melbourne/Clarence 1968-85

  • 19 games for Melbourne, 1970-73
  • 43 games for Ulverstone, 1968-69
  • 85 games for Sandy Bay, 1974-78
  • 98 games for Clarence, 1979-85
  • Clarence playing coach, 1979-83
  • Sandy Bay TANFL premierships, 1976, 1977, 1978
  • Clarence TANFL premierships, 1979, 1981, 1984
  • Sandy Bay ‘Bay’s Best 25 1948-97’
  • Clarence ‘Team of Champions 1947-2002’ (half back)

He was an inaugural inductee to the Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame in 2005 and to quote from the related citation :

A tough and dogged defender, Noel Leary’s promising VFL career was unfortunately ruined by injury, but after returning to Tasmania he played a valuable role in multiple premierships with Sandy Bay and Clarence as both player and coach.

 

Noel and two of his brothers attended the College as boarders : John (SVC 1961-63), Noel (SVC 1962-67) and Terry (SVC 1964-67).

 

Noel owned & managed a Land Surveying Practice from 1980-2020. The firm is now called Leary Cox & Cripps.and his elder son Matthew (SVC 1988-93),  also a surveyor, works for the firm.  Younger son, Peter (SVC 1994-97) works in the building industry and daughterPeter works in the building industry & daughter, Megan, is a lawyer in the Ombudsman’s Office. 

 

Noel was a member of the St Virgil's College  Board 1993 and its Chairman in 1994 and 1995 - this was during the actual restructuring of Catholic Secondary Schooling in the South.

 

Pictured top: Noel with his siblings. (Back ) Terry & Noel (Front ) Terese, David, Danny & John Noel’s wife, Jan, taught at St Virgil's (2000-2009)