As this year’s review of Rushworth Football Netball Club’s 125 years of history concludes, it seems most appropriate to reflect on the career and impact on the club of its favourite son, Bill Cruz. Over the years, much has been written and spoken about Bill’s career. Some of the highlights are listed separately on this page.
For those who did not have the privilege of seeing Bill play, there is probably no-one better qualified than Peter Home to provide a pen-picture. Peter played nearly as many games for Rushworth as Bill, starting and ending his career at roughly the same times, and received life membership of the GVFL at the same time as Bill and Graeme Collard. In defining a “legend” – a much overused term – Peter believes that to be a true legend, someone has to be remembered and spoken of, and their deeds recalled, decades later. Bill certainly fits that definition.
Bill’s leadership qualities emerged very early in life, when he organised scratch matches between the young kids around Rushy – often split on a geographic basis. Sometimes it was west (of High St) versus east; sometimes it was north (of Moora Rd) versus south. Peter always preferred the latter, because it meant he could play on Bill’s side. This was before the days of any organised junior footy, apart from an occasional school match.
Roy Hawking took a great interest in the kids who played their matches in a clearing on the Old Lead, at the eastern end of town. He arranged games for them to play against other towns, with one of the highlights being a 1950 U18 victory over a team from Eaglehawk, which had previously been undefeated. Bill was BOG in that game, and the team for that day is depicted in an attached photograph.
According to Peter “Bill excelled in this more competitive environment to the extent that he was playing senior GVL football at 15 years of age.” Bill worked tirelessly at improving his skills until he was equally accomplished on both left and right sides. Given the physical nature of his employment in the forest, which was supplemented with rigorous training, Bill was extraordinarily fit and hard. Bill Barlow recalls that Bill was the hardest coach of any he had ever trained under, and that included the likes of Bernie McCarthy. One of Bill Cruz’s often-quoted maxims was “You play as you train” and he did just that – training and playing hard, relentlessly and fairly.
Peter Home says “he continued to be a class act in the GVL for many years…He was ahead of his time with his multi-skills, play-on ability and endurance – and his courage was NEVER questioned. Part of Bill’s desire to play on was born of necessity. Rushworth had a full forward in the 1950s who had a tendency to drop easy marks when on the lead. Rather than admonish a teammate, Bill’s approach was to continue to honour the leads, but follow his own pinpoint pass into the forward line, pick up the spillage, weave through the pack, and often score the goal himself.
It should be noted that Bill, “as centre or roving, where he played all his footy, came up week after week against the best – either players just having left VFL to coach in the country, or champions in the making ready to take on any challenge – he held his own with them all.” Bill’s approach to the game was the same regardless of how the team was going. He “never whinged or whined, never let an opponent know if he had been hurt.” He would “just get up, get on with it and win yet another possession.”
There seems little doubt that Bill could have played VFL football, but rejected an offer to try out with Richmond. Peter Home reflects that, had he accepted the offer, Bill would have been roving to the league’s pre-eminent ruckman, Brownlow Medallist Roy Wright. This would have been a potentially brilliant combination. Roy Files was an ex-radius player for Rushworth in 1961, and had played 10 senior games for North Melbourne. Playing at full forward that year, he led the GVFL goalkicking. Confirming the view that Bill had league potential, he said “I’d rather lead to Rushworth’s No 14 than any other player I’d known.” Incidentally, Peter believes the 1961 side was Rushworth’s best post-war GVFL team, even though they just missed the finals.
As his fame spread, Bill rejected offers to play in the Waranga NE and Ovens & Murray Leagues, for Alexandra and Corowa respectively. Rushworth players who had played in the glory years of the 1930s also acknowledged that Bill was one of the few players of the post-WW2 era who would have been a certain starter in the great teams of that era.
In the less tolerant days of the 1950s, Bill was the subject of considerable racial abuse. Opposition players and supporters incorrectly assumed that, because of his dark skin, Bill was of aboriginal descent. On one occasion, an opposition supporter was continually racially vilifying Bill throughout the game, but made the unfortunate mistake of doing it in the hearing of Bill Corner. The latter Bill’s annoyance gradually built up as the game progressed. Around three-quarter time a young Gail Corner, who was playing nearby, whirled around when she heard her mother screaming out “Put him down, Bill! Put him down! You are going to kill him!” Bill had finally snapped, picked the bloke up by the scruff of the neck and was shaking him violently, while informing him that there would be serious trouble if he made another racist comment about Bill Cruz. At Mrs Corner’s pleading, Bill eventually dumped him unceremoniously on the ground. Scared witless, the offender bolted and was not seen at the Rushworth football again. Meanwhile, Bill Cruz played on, oblivious to the taunts, and with his total focus on the ball.
In an obituary that appeared in “The Age”, former City United opponent and journalist Tom Carey made much of the nickname “Puffin’ Billy” – apparently one that Bill was not all that enamoured with. It came from a habit of grunting audibly when he was putting in the maximum physical effort – as he did frequently. Peter Home recalls a game against City United at Deakin Reserve. “Bill won a hard ball deep on the Shepparton rooms flank. Siren had sounded. He kicked a monstrous dropkick for a goal. Some people said they could hear the grunt he made as he kicked it, back in Rushworth. Everybody applauded, including the opposition.”
“Lackie” Ranson, a burly Tatura ruck-rover who did battle with Bill in the 1950s and ‘60s remembers the day that Bill broke his leg. And by the way, Lackie’s legs are like tree trunks. It was a wet day, and the players were doing whatever they could to move the ball forward. Both players ran hard at the ball and tried to kick it off the ground. Unfortunately for “Lackie”, he managed to get his foot to the ball first, just as Bill’s thumping kick at the ball connected with his leg and broke it. Bill’s first reaction was to apologise – “Sorry, Lack!” He clearly recognised that both players were intent on being first to the ball, and hard at it, which resulted in the unfortunate accident.
Off-field, it seems that the end-of-season of tradition of mad Monday – although in this case it was a Saturday morning – was alive and well in the 1950s. Peter Home takes up the story – “Bill, Dick Martin…myself and Ivan Backman…decided to check out Chateau Tahbilk winery. We had a leisurely trip down…and proceeded to sample the cellar – whites, reds, sherries, ports. Couldn’t decide what to buy so sampled them all again!...left in good spirits expecting to be home for lunch. Well, by Chinaman’s Bridge, some corks happened to come loose in the bottles we had bought. Shortly after that we were LOST. Could you believe it – lost between Nagambie and Rushworth – and the more we became lost the more corks came loose. Bill blamed Dick – he was supposed to know the area, working for the State Rivers…Dick blamed Bill – he should know all the bush tracks like the back of his hand. We couldn’t blame Ivan as he was new to the area – and I had my hands full keeping the vehicle on the road…Lots of trees in that part of the world. We finally got home about 4.00 pm, and as lost travellers often are, not in particularly good shape. Naturally our wives were not amused.”
The 2004 KDFL Grand Final was an integral part of the Bill Cruz story. With Bill terminally ill with cancer, four of his grandsons played for his beloved Tigers as they broke a 27 year premiership drought. There wasn’t a dry eye at the ground when Tavis Perry came off the ground and through the interchange, with the game won in the last quarter. He ran straight to embrace Bill, who had been watching the game from a chair on the back of a ute, surrounded by a loving family. The executive of the KDFL had thoughtfully provided a special medallion for Bill, for his services to the game, which was presented when the team collected the coveted premiership cup.
Bill’s legacy to Rushworth FNC is huge. He represented a link with the old days, when half the side were timbercutters in the ironbark forest south of Rushworth, and tough as nails. But he also showed great innovation in his approach to the game, pioneering many of the tactics and skills of the modern game.
We tend to have a view of what sort of football club we are associated with by the type of characters that it produces. Bill epitomised many of the traits that that we associate with Rushworth footballers and people in general. He had a great sense of humour and love of storytelling, constantly strived to achieve his absolute best, was humble and modest about his achievements and perhaps above all, his loyalty to Rushworth throughout his career – despite the club’s lack of on-field success - was an inspiration. In short, the sort of personal qualities that we can all aspire to, and that will help to make us better human beings.
Bill’s 2004 funeral, fittingly held on the Rushworth football ground, was an amazing occasion, which will always be remembered by anyone who had the privilege of being there. His grandchildren showed that they have inherited some of those admirable personal qualities that Bill exhibited through his life, as they shared their fond memories of growing up in a very special family and club environment. Peter Home delivered a wonderful address of behalf of Bill’s old teammates, which has formed the basis for this story. Sincere thanks to Peter for sharing this for posterity. He concluded with –
“The final siren has gone. Well played Bill. Your memory will live on at the Rushworth Football Club. This is our tribute to a good friend and a fine footballer. Rest easy old team mate.”
BILL CRUZ – CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 321 games for the Tigers – the club record - mostly in major league country football (GVFL)
- 19 seasons of senior football – every one with Rushworth
- 1953 Morrison Medal for league best & fairest
- Two Colliver Cups (Club B&F) and four Curtis Cups (Highest vote getter in the league B&F provided the player had not already won the Colliver Cup)
- Regular selection for GVFL inter-league football teams
- 1957 - Given the honour (by coach Con O’Toole) of leading the Tigers onto the ground for their only finals appearance in the GVFL in the post-WW2 era
- Captain-coach in 1965-6 in the HDFL
- Premiership captain-coach in 1965 in the HDFL
- Life Member of the GVFL, with over 280 games in that competition
- Coach of Rushworth’s Team of the Era selected by a panel of past players and officials in 2002.
- Gatekeeper for over 30 years
- Changing rooms at the Ironbark Stadium are named after Bill
- Life Member of Rushworth Football Club
