Russell's Top 25 Saints

[loris]

I had the pleasure of having Jeansy as a work colleague in the early 1980's. He was not a fan of Stewart, who was a cross dressing, alcoholic. Jeansy just couldn't tolerate him as a man, even if he was sublimely skilled.

WW, at ARS you must have worked across the road in the building between the Magistrate's Court & the Old Jail??

Jeans was in the Warrants Section there for many a year, though they may have relocated that section at some stage into the Russell St Complex. All this time he coached Saints & also lot of his period at the Hwaks

My hubby pulled Jeans out of that job late 1979, to have him as his staff-sergeant as part of the planning group for a major event that was being held in Melbourne a few years down the track. Jeansy said to him....... "I'm chuffed to be considered for the position Boss, but I don't think I've got the skills to do it or the time as coaching the Hawks was a very demanding."
Hubby's response. If you can successfully coach 2 AFL's sides, you definitely have man management skills. If you can coach at AFL level and work full time in Police Department the time-management skills seem self evident. Also my man believed the adage - give a busy person a job and it will get done.
It was a job well done by Jeans, who by all accounts ran the office like a well oiled machine, had staff eating out of his hand because of his work-ethic and loyalty to his colleagues. He was not just sitting behind a desk working in Melb, there were endless meetings in Canberra that took up a lot of time. Occasionally the last plane out of Canberra was missed, poor Yabby would have to drive overnight to be back in Melbourne if the Hawks were playing the next day.

After the event, I think Yabby returned to the Warrants Section until he resigned as coaching was becoming too demanding and pressure was being placed on him to be full-time.

Agree, Stewart had used up all his brownie points with Jeans. The ultimatum from what I was told (2nd hand) the Club faced the decision Jeans or Stewart, because Stewart had tried to use Jeans as a leverage to get him out of yet another situation, which compromised Jeans incredibly at the time.

Not the first person to get marching orders from Jeans from the Saints, on non- football matters. He did a clear out of some bad boys in the Club when he took over the coaching position.......not initially as he took over part way through a season. They nevertheless got the 'don't come Monday' before the start of the next season.....so rumour has it.

[bergsone]

Loris ,you must be from Jordy then ?

[perfectionist]

Err. It's Jordie if you don't mind.

[White Winmar]

Hi Loris. I did work at Russell Street in the early eighties (it was still known as the bullring in those days. Showing my age!) I knew of Jeansy because he was something of a celebrity, but didn't work for him at that stage. I ended up working in plain clothes in what in those days was called "district support groups", a few years later. It was my first taste of PC duties, which was seen as a stepping stone into the CIB, as it was known then.

Jeansy was the Senior Sergeant at the Moorabbin HQ and he was in control of all things to do with admin. Nothing escaped his eagle eye and if you were going to do something, or get some resources, he was the man. We called him "Radar O'Reilly" behind his back (affectionately). He always seemed so calm and collected. Nothing seemed to rattle him.

You also made a good point about people using his name to escape trouble, Loris. He hated it. I once heard him bellowing at two young coppers who dropped his name at a booze bus. The walls fairly shook and I was glad it wasn't me that was on the end of it. I also remember when the news came in about the scheme of arrangement, 22 cents in the dollar deal. It was the only time I ever saw the great man rattled.

[bergsone]

No,perfectionist

[loris]

Loris ,you must be from Jordy then ?

Spot on bergs! An area where you had to learn survival skills very, very quickly. High school years, some fellow class mates graduated onto pack raping and multiple murders!!!

Brawls between the local football teams were legendary.

And when the gangs from West Heidelberg came onto the Jordy boys patch............... the police ran for cover

[White Winmar]

Indeed, Loris. The Amateurs kicked West Heidelberg YMCA out of the competition for their repeated brawling and foul play. They returned a few years later under the name of St.Pious Old Collegians. Pure gold! BTW they were just as filthy and violent when they cane back into the competition!

[loris]

Indeed, Loris. The Amateurs kicked West Heidelberg YMCA out of the competition for their repeated brawling and foul play. They returned a few years later under the name of St.Pious Old Collegians. Pure gold! BTW they were just as filthy and violent when they cane back into the competition!

Just love that re-badging of the footy club

If memory serves me somewhat correctly.....many of the families from West Heidelberg were descended from the inhabitants of the old Camp Pell....so me thinks there wasn't an abundance positive role models for the next generation to get any inspiration.

Camp Pell (originally an Army Camp) somewhere near Royal Park was used post WW2, as emergency housing. One could say the detritus of Melbourne life lived there, plus with displaced people mainly from Eastern Europe mixed in, the place was supposed to be a breeding place for all the unwanted elements in Aust society at that time.

I can remember old coppers telling stories when I worked at ARS in the 1960's, that Camp Pell was one of the scariest places to police. No such thing as going in to the area for an incident 2 up. These old coppers said, if any residents did work, they usually worked down on the Docks..................... old Painters & Dockers, enough said.

It was only supposed to be temporary housing but lingered on. Eventually it was pulled down before the 1956 Olympics.............. couldn't have the world knowing such a place existed right near the entrance to Melbourne!!!!!

Part of the Housing Commission area in West Heidelberg was used as the Olympic Village (that was surrounded by huge wire fences).
The rest of West Heidelberg housed many of the former residents of Camp Pell............. violence and thuggery were a natural part of life by all accounts, so White Winmar no doubt St.Pious Old Collegians morphed out of families from those life experiences....... brutal as they were.

I must do some research on Camp Pell, to find out if my recollections are anywhere near the mark. It's spiked my interest. I know it was an area only adults talked about in hushed voices and not infront of the kids. Occasionally a family who had been at Camp Pell moved into our area, I think parents tried to stop kids playing with their kids...such was the stigma placed on them. This was attitudes prevalent during the late 50's remember, easy to be critical of such bigotry nowadays.

But we cruel kids had learnt enough to taunt anyone who came from that area, even if we didn't understand why.

I could be totally off the mark here, but I think that the now deceased criminal Carl Williams, his rellies (grandparents maybe????) came from Camp Pell.......... The old apple doesn't fall far from the tree eh.... if this is correct? Think I read it or heard it somewhere.

I suppose West Heidelberg is a much desired suburb now and the history of its earlier residents/families have been well air-brushed out? And, St Pious Old Collegians F/C are truly pious individuals