Heart of a Lion

By DAVID NAGEL
HUGHIE Bourke stares you in the eye when he tells you what it meant to play football for Pakenham in the ’50s and ’60s.
“If you lived in Pakenham, you played for Pakenham, and if you played for anyone else … you were a marked man and you paid the price,” Bourke said on the eve of this Saturday’s reunion of the 1952, ’62, ’72, ’82 and ’02 premiership sides.
“And believe me, there were a few who did pay the price.”
Bourke, 77, one of 10 inaugural members in the Lions Hall of Fame, started his career with the Lions in 1952 – a premiership year – and won the first of five best-and-fairest awards along the way. He won the last of his best-and-fairests 16-years later in 1968, his final year at the club.
“I think I got a few sympathy votes that first year, because I was the kid,” the humble Bourke, who played in five flags with the Lions, said with a glint in his eye.
“In ’52, I played on one wing and Colin Cope played on the other, Norm ‘Widow’ Jackson was the pin-up boy, our best player, and he played in the centre that year.
“I was only 17 so I couldn’t even go to the pub after the game; I had to go to the milk bar instead.”
The Bourkes and Moncktons dominated those stellar years, there was always four or five from both families in the team, and Bourke remembers what it meant to be a part of that group.
“My father and uncle played in Pakenham’s first premiership team in 1909 so this place was ingrained in us,” he said.
“We appreciated what was happening and there was no money involved, we played for the love of the club. Footy was real important.”
Bourke still goes to most games, home or away, and thinks the players of today are so much faster and skilful.
“That might have something to do with the training,” he said.
“Cracker Jackson was our coach back then, he was a great orator and great coach, and we were all scared of him, but he wasn’t big on training until about six weeks before the finals.
“He’d rev things up, get serious, and it seemed to work pretty well.”
Bourke enjoys today’s football but also relished the contest that you knew was coming your way. Tactics weren’t a big thing back in the day.
“Basically you got the ball and you kicked the bastard, the main thing was to never shirk an issue, it was all about guts and determination back then,” he said.
“We had some great battles. One year we lost a grand final to Drouin by one-point and I kicked one goal five in the last quarter. I didn’t even go to the booze up that night.”
Bourke’s memory seems endless. He remembers the supporters getting lifts in the back of a cattle truck to games; he remembers the great rivalries with clubs like Nar Nar Goon and Cora Lynn and he remembers the big crowds that would flock to matches.
But the best memory he has, is what it meant to play football for the Pakenham Football Club.
Hughie Bourke certainly paid the price.