'The atmosphere reeks with the smell of over-heated sweating bodies, blood and saliva tinctured by the odour rising from the resin tray used by the boxers to maintain their footing. The place is poorly ventilated with windows set too high on the walls for easy access and only one pedestal fan (when it was working) to cover the whole area.
Victorian Football League (forerunner to the AFL) players also frequent this place. The likes of Bruce McLennan aka "Little Sport" because of his resemblance to a newspaper cartoon character. Bruce played on the backline for St Kilda and was also a better than average cricketer and tennis player. Ron Taylor, VFL South Melbourne footballer and Olympic boxer trained there as did Alan Jeans, one time St Kilda captain and coach. He was one of the inaugural members of the Bodgie Squad at Russell Street. A plain clothes unit set up to combat the problem created by the new cult of bodigiesand their female counterparts the widgies, who were making a nuisance of themselves around Melbourne and St Kilda'.
There you are you lot old enough to remember bodgies & widgies. So our old coach Jeansy dealt with them too. Was there no end to his talents eh??
If I can recollect correctly Bruce McLennan, left the Saints to play for Collingwood, or was it vice versa he came to the Saints from Collingwood? I'm sure someone on here will enhance my fading memory. I can never remember him playing for the Saints, I only knew him as a Detective at Russell street and he did tell me he played for the Saints & Collingwood.
I know Bruce was in the Melbourne papers a year or so back......... this time on the other side of the law.
Those of you who live down the Mornington Peninsula way may recall the name........ It was a very sad case. Think Bruce got off the charges...... diminished responsibility or some such thing as he was suffering dementia me thinks'Fess up.......... who was a Bodgie or a Widgie? Not I
