Some Things Should Never Have Changed

[damienc]

I don’t spend a lot of time yearning for nostalgia.

The past is the past.

But sometimes I see something that reminds me of what we have lost, should not have lost and probably won’t see ever again.

I’m talking about the torpedo punt and the drop kick. I was given a gentle reminder of those lost arts watching a replay of the 1954 Grand Final between Melbourne and Footscray.

The match was full of torps, drop kicks and stab passes.Yes. Remember the good old stab pass? Super accurate and always resulted in a safe chest mark. And not a drop punt to be seen. Quite remarkable.

I’m sure if you were to ask a young modern day footy follower to explain a stab pass,I doubt whether they would even know it involves kicking the footy.

So, whatever happened to the good old torpedo punt and the drop kick? And why are they no longer part of the modern game?

I’m not sure there is a plausible answer to that question.

To me, there is nothing more exciting or spectacular than watching a player kick a torpedo high into the air and see the spinning ball travel 70 or 80 metres.

I was lucky enough to see it person. Some of you might remember the doggies Bernie Quinlan.

Now Bernie could really kick a footy. And his favourite kick was the torp. Spectators would yell woosh when Bernie unleashed the footy.

St Kilda’s Jeff Fehring was also a good exponent. In fact Fehring holds the unofficial record for the longest kick ever in a game of Australian rules football.

We were playing the filth in 1981, at Moorabbin. Fehring was awarded a free and kicked a torpedo that travelled somewhere between 86 and 89 metres. It then bounced a further three metres and scored a goal. Fehring only kicked three goals in his very short career and that was one of them.

There are those who will say the game has changed. And of course it has. Much faster, more skilful.

But quite frankly the drop punt is a boring way to kick the footy. And that appears to be the only kick in the repertoire of the modern day AFL player.

And don’t try using the argument that the drop punt is more accurate. It isn’t. A well executed torpedo punt travels as straight as an arrow.

Like I said. I don’t yearn for the past but the game definitely lost something when players stopped kicking torps.

[saynta]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

[st.byron]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Same. My dad came to the city from Terang to play for the Saints. He'd kicked eight goals in the Hampden League Grand Final in 1936. That's why I had a St.Kilda jumper before I could walk.
My next door neighbour and I would stand out in the street in Glen Waverley and Dad, even in his fifties, would hit us on the chest with stab passes. For ten year old kids they were like being hit with bullets.

[Saints58]

I don’t spend a lot of time yearning for nostalgia.

The past is the past.

But sometimes I see something that reminds me of what we have lost, should not have lost and probably won’t see ever again.

I’m talking about the torpedo punt and the drop kick. I was given a gentle reminder of those lost arts watching a replay of the 1954 Grand Final between Melbourne and Footscray.

The match was full of torps, drop kicks and stab passes.Yes. Remember the good old stab pass? Super accurate and always resulted in a safe chest mark. And not a drop punt to be seen. Quite remarkable.

I’m sure if you were to ask a young modern day footy follower to explain a stab pass,I doubt whether they would even know it involves kicking the footy.

So, whatever happened to the good old torpedo punt and the drop kick? And why are they no longer part of the modern game?

I’m not sure there is a plausible answer to that question.

To me, there is nothing more exciting or spectacular than watching a player kick a torpedo high into the air and see the spinning ball travel 70 or 80 metres.

I was lucky enough to see it person. Some of you might remember the doggies Bernie Quinlan.

Now Bernie could really kick a footy. And his favourite kick was the torp. Spectators would yell woosh when Bernie unleashed the footy.

St Kilda’s Jeff Fehring was also a good exponent. In fact Fehring holds the unofficial record for the longest kick ever in a game of Australian rules football.

We were playing the filth in 1981, at Moorabbin. Fehring was awarded a free and kicked a torpedo that travelled somewhere between 86 and 89 metres. It then bounced a further three metres and scored a goal. Fehring only kicked three goals in his very short career and that was one of them.

There are those who will say the game has changed. And of course it has. Much faster, more skilful.

But quite frankly the drop punt is a boring way to kick the footy. And that appears to be the only kick in the repertoire of the modern day AFL player.

And don’t try using the argument that the drop punt is more accurate. It isn’t. A well executed torpedo punt travels as straight as an arrow.

Like I said. I don’t yearn for the past but the game definitely lost something when players stopped kicking torps.

Yes I remember that game the big guy really lunched it a highlight.
I think the torp was not as accurate as the drop punt but it was great to see blight also was a exponent of the torp.

[Saints58]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Same. My dad came to the city from Terang to play for the Saints. He'd kicked eight goals in the Hampden League Grand Final in 1936. That's why I had a St.Kilda jumper before I could walk.
My next door neighbour and I would stand out in the street in Glen Waverley and Dad, even in his fifties, would hit us on the chest with stab passes. For ten year old kids they were like being hit with bullets.

We used to play Glen Waverley in the South eastern footy league I was with Ashburton/Ashwood always tough games.

[damienc]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Fantastic.

[1965 Saint]

Drop kicks seemed to suddenly disappear from the VFL in the late sixties. It lasted a bit longer in WA where the dry grounds were more conducive. I remember going to the 1970 Round 1 SK V NM match where John Macintosh was playing his first game for us and Barry Cable his first for them. They seemed to be the only players on the ground using the drop kick. In WA it disappeared when the likes of Hassa Mann and Eric Sarich came from Victoria circa 1970 to coach WAFL sides and forced the drop punt onto their teams. I remember there being a lot of debate about it at the time. The argument was that you could get the ball onto boot quicker when under pressure.

[saynta]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Same. My dad came to the city from Terang to play for the Saints. He'd kicked eight goals in the Hampden League Grand Final in 1936. That's why I had a St.Kilda jumper before I could walk.
My next door neighbour and I would stand out in the street in Glen Waverley and Dad, even in his fifties, would hit us on the chest with stab passes. For ten year old kids they were like being hit with bullets.

We used to play Glen Waverley in the South eastern footy league I was with Ashburton/Ashwood always tough games.

Snap. We lived in Ashburton. I grew up there and I played under age for St Michaels YCW team on the Sundays and Asburton in the SE suburban league on the Saturdays

[saynta]

Drop kicks seemed to suddenly disappear from the VFL in the late sixties. It lasted a bit longer in WA where the dry grounds were more conducive. I remember going to the 1970 Round 1 SK V NM match where John Macintosh was playing his first game for us and Barry Cable his first for them. They seemed to be the only players on the ground using the drop kick. In WA it disappeared when the likes of Hassa Mann and Eric Sarich came from Victoria circa 1970 to coach WAFL sides and forced the drop punt onto their teams. I remember there being a lot of debate about it at the time. The argument was that you could get the ball onto boot quicker when under pressure.

St Kilda had some fantastic proponents of the drop kick. Kevin Roberts and Jimmy Ross come to mind. There were others but Loris has a better memory than me these days.

[saynta]

I remember one day dad kicked a bullet like pass to me that went over my head and staight through my hands, and then through the embedded wire glass bathroom window to finally end up in the bath tub with my mother.

I remember the perfect round hole. The footy must have been really travelling and the one time the stab pass went over head high, unfortunately.

My father was confronted by my very angry mum but the blame fell on me for my failure to mark the f****** ball.

[shanegrambeau]

I discussed the drop and place kick once here.
Obviously the drop punt is the most reliable and also the one where a player can kick and ‘offset’, allow for wind and the late slice or hook in their kicks.

Mind I can’t see why the place kick isn’t used for set shots.
When Membrey and co kick at 55% for get table shots, perhaps the fewer mechanics (no drop etc) involved with a place kick would help them?

[st.byron]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Same. My dad came to the city from Terang to play for the Saints. He'd kicked eight goals in the Hampden League Grand Final in 1936. That's why I had a St.Kilda jumper before I could walk.
My next door neighbour and I would stand out in the street in Glen Waverley and Dad, even in his fifties, would hit us on the chest with stab passes. For ten year old kids they were like being hit with bullets.

We used to play Glen Waverley in the South eastern footy league I was with Ashburton/Ashwood always tough games.

Glen Waverley Rovers? Wearing black and white stripes?

I also played cricket for Mt.Waverley and our fierce rivals were AYC. Ashburton Young Cricketers.

[Saints58]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Same. My dad came to the city from Terang to play for the Saints. He'd kicked eight goals in the Hampden League Grand Final in 1936. That's why I had a St.Kilda jumper before I could walk.
My next door neighbour and I would stand out in the street in Glen Waverley and Dad, even in his fifties, would hit us on the chest with stab passes. For ten year old kids they were like being hit with bullets.

We used to play Glen Waverley in the South eastern footy league I was with Ashburton/Ashwood always tough games.

Glen Waverley Rovers? Wearing black and white stripes?

I also played cricket for Mt.Waverley and our fierce rivals were AYC. Ashburton Young Cricketers.

That's right Glen Waverly rovers we combined with Jordanville and played at the high st road oval they were rough old games then couldn't do it now.

[bangaulegend]

As much as I love the torp ,the drop kick & the stab pass the game is just too fast to execute those skills with any consistency. The torp still has it's place at certain times but the drop kick the stab pass & the flat punt are a thing of the past. The drop punt might be vanilla but it's effective & efficient & here to stay IMO

[st.byron]

Growing up, we had a huge backyard and my dad was a very good footballer in his day, Played in the centre.

Melbourne brought him to the city from Ararat as a 17 year old.

He had a killer stab pass and could knock me on my arse from 30 metres.

The ball never travelled more than chest high.

Same. My dad came to the city from Terang to play for the Saints. He'd kicked eight goals in the Hampden League Grand Final in 1936. That's why I had a St.Kilda jumper before I could walk.
My next door neighbour and I would stand out in the street in Glen Waverley and Dad, even in his fifties, would hit us on the chest with stab passes. For ten year old kids they were like being hit with bullets.

We used to play Glen Waverley in the South eastern footy league I was with Ashburton/Ashwood always tough games.

Glen Waverley Rovers? Wearing black and white stripes?

I also played cricket for Mt.Waverley and our fierce rivals were AYC. Ashburton Young Cricketers.

That's right Glen Waverly rovers we combined with Jordanville and played at the high st road oval they were rough old games then couldn't do it now.

Rough indeed......Jordy sharps, Homesglen skinheads .....those boys scared the crap out of me.

[saynta]

We had a few Jordy Tec boys play with us. Good footballers too.

Loris came from down that way and I had a couple of girlfriends from down that hill.

We lived near the Church in Ashburton and it was a tough hill to cycle back up.

[terry smith rules]

The stab pass would be ideal on the hard drained grounds of today

I’m not sure why it couldn’t come back for those 20 metres passes on the run, rather than a ballooning drop punt that has too much hang time