Among the millions of people who will be watching and hoping the Western Bulldogs win the AFL premiership, will be Gisborne’s Alec Gardiner.
Gardiner is one of just a few former Bulldogs players who have previously played on football’s biggest stage – he played in the Bulldogs 1961 grand final team that lost to Hawthorn. The Bulldogs’ only other grand final was in 1954 when they won their only premiership.
“It is terrific after such a long wait and so many disappointments along the way,” Gardiner said ahead of the grand final.
“We’ve been waiting this long for someone else to take the mantle. It’s one of those titles you don’t really want to hold on to – the last team to get into the grand final.
“The way they’ve done it so exciting and a bit of a fairytale. Everyone is talking about them and getting on board.”
Gardiner arrived at the Bulldogs, who were known as Footscray back, in 1955 – the year after the premiership.
He had played for Gisborne for three years, including being runner-up in the local competition’s best-and-fairest award at the age of 17.
The Gardiner family is one of the best known in the local sports community. The main sports ground is Gisborne is named the Gardiner Reserve.
His father, Alec Gardiner sr, played 23 games at the Bulldogs in the 1920s.
“There was an understanding if I was any good I would go there [Footscray],” Gardiner said.
“I idolised these guys. After two games, I was in the side which played in the premiership the year before.”
He played alongside the great Teddy Whitten, who captained the side and later coached it.
He recalls that 1961 season as being similar to 2016, with the Bulldogs not expected to be in the grand final.
“We had an average age of 21,” he said.
“Everyone speaks about the Dogs’ handballing these days – we had own sort of handball called the flick pass.
“Teddy Whitten specialised in it, though it was a later banned.
“We played St Kilda and defeated them. We then play Melbourne, the powerhouse of the competition, and we beat them in the preliminary final.”
The Bulldogs fairytale story didn’t continue as a bigger and stronger Hawthorn side ran over the top of them in front of 107,000 supporters at the MCG.
The Bulldogs led by eight points at half-time, but the Hawks eventually won 13.16 (94)-7.9 (51).
As well as losing the game, it was painful for Gardiner, who played on the wing.
“We were really young, fast and quick,” he said. “Hawthorn was known as Kennedy’s Commandos. They were much bigger and stronger.
“We led at half-time, but the dressing room looked like a first aid room.
“I got a bad corkie in the second quarter and got another on top of that in the third quarter and that was the end of me.
“It was pretty disappointing to lose – we’d done pretty well as a team.”
Gardiner left the Bulldogs after the 1962 season and headed to Victorian Football Association to coach Box Hill.
He had played 92 games at the Bulldogs. He also met the then vice-president’s daughter, Jacki, who he would go onto marry.
He said he left mainly for the money, as league footballers weren’t paid much at the time and coaching gave him the chance to earn a bit more. Despite playing just 73 games for Box Hill he was named captain in its greatest ever team line-up.
As well as coaching, Gardiner got into the fitness side of things – and that led to him returning to the then VFL.
He was also chairman of selectors at Fitzroy, where he had the rare honour of being one of the few people in that role to be sacked.
These days Gardiner lives back in his home town of Gisborne. At 82 he said he would have liked to go to the grand final and had the opportunity, but would instead watch every moment from home.
He said he would love nothing more than to see a Bulldogs’ premiership.
“It will be wonderful to see the kids get up,” he said. “They deserve it and it would be just reward for the work that has been done.
“The club was in tatters not too long ago.”
