St Kilda premiership hero Kevin Neale was universally generally known as ‘Cowboy’ and given the crash-or-crash-through method he performed the sport, it was virtually the proper nickname for him.
Neale, who has died, aged 78, after a protracted sickness, was one of many membership’s best and most beloved gamers throughout 13 seasons, 256 video games and 301 objectives.
The origins of the ‘Cowboy’ nickname had been unclear. But the child from South Warrnambool who first got here to the massive smoke had an uncommon gait that wouldn’t have been misplaced within the wild west.
But his coach Allan Jeans – who would turn out to be a father determine to him – additionally as soon as accused him of enjoying recklessly ‘like a Cowboy’ in a recreation.
The nickname caught; to those that beloved him his Christian title grew to become virtually superfluous. He was merely ‘Cowboy’.
His robust, uncompromising, virtually gun-slinging status as a bodily pressure made him probably the most feared opponents within the recreation, but in addition endeared him perpetually to Saints teammates and followers.
But this larger-than-life character was way over simply the enforcer that St Kilda wanted him to be.
‘Cowboy’ turned out to be an distinctive participant who excelled at full ahead or full again, whether or not Jeans wanted him, with considered one of his best particular person moments coming in solely his second season on the membership when was a member of the Saints’ fabled 1966 premiership aspect.
Neale’s sizeable half in St Kilda’s one and solely flag – achieved with a one-point win over Collingwood – is the stuff of legends, even when historical past and circumstance meant a lot of the eye went to his good pal Barry Breen, who kicked the profitable level within the dying moments.
Neale, then 21, and enjoying solely in his thirty fifth recreation, kicked 5.4 – half of St Kilda’s recreation tally of 10 – in a efficiency that helped to finish what was then footy’s longest premiership drought.
He by no means cared that a lot of the main target through the years had gone to Breen’s behind greater than his handful of objectives. The factor that aggravated him most was that extra premierships didn’t comply with.
As Neale instructed this reporter years in the past: “I look back on it now as something that was great when it happened. I came down in 1965 … I’d played in seven grand finals in a row where I came from (South Warrnambool), and played in one in my first year (we got beaten) and then we won in my second year. I thought you played in a Grand Final every year.”
The Saints got here near a second flag in 1971 when it made the grand closing towards Hawthorn, and Neale made his mark in that recreation another way to his 5 objectives in 1966.
He was again enjoying in defence on the time and ‘Cowboy’ grew to become the villain of the sport when he whacked goalkicking nice Peter Hudson behind the ear, concussing the Hawk star.
Hudson, who equalled Bob Pratt’s 150-goal-season file in that recreation, performed on in some misery, however kicked into the person on the mark when capturing for the outright file.
The Saints ended up dropping the sport in what was a brutal encounter.
Neale, whose profession spanned 1965 to 1977, received the Saints greatest and fairest in 1973, was the membership’s main goalkicker on 4 events and as soon as held St Kilda’s file for probably the most video games and most finals when he retired, which have each since been handed.
He later returned to the Saints and labored within the advertising and marketing division and was additionally president of the Past Players Association.
He organised numerous reunions for previous gamers together with the 1966 premiership aspect, however all the time dreamt of hanging over the flag mantle.
As he stated in 2009, “We (the 1966 team) would like to be remembered for being the first premiership and not the only one. It’s well past time they won another one.”
Sadly, that hasn’t occurred within the years since.
But the bonds fashioned along with his teammates endured and when Neale was recognized with dementia 5 years in the past, they by no means ceased to keep up a correspondence and go to him in Albury, together with a pilgrimage of flag heroes earlier this yr.
As the Saints stated in an announcement: “Truly a larger than life character in every way, Cowboy was always able to engage with people across various generations.”
“His health struggles in recent times were well-publicised, and his teammates regularly visited him in Albury as a group.
“Through the difficult times, his wife Georgina was a constant pillar of strength and the club extends its deepest sympathies to her and the Neale family.”
Originally printed as St Kilda mourns demise of Kevin ‘Cowboy’ Neale
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
