Why did Michael Nunan leave Sturt?

[Magellan]

Reckon @Robranisgod could shed some more light on the Nunan question

As far as I can ascertain it was politically motivated. Early in the season, Nunan went on an overseas government funded trip with his ministerial boss. Remember this was the time when most states including ours were setting up sporting academies and Nunan was at the forefront of ours.

When he got back mid season, Jack Oatey is alleged to have said that Nunan would probably spend the rest of the year in the reserves.

One important point to make is that Nunan was of the left politically whereas the vast majority of Sturt were of the right.

Anyway Nunan was either sacked or quit depending on who you talk to.

When Norwood won the Grand Final by a point, Nunan declared that he wished they could have won the game by 1/2 a point just to increase the anguish at Sturt.

Later in life Nunan certainly reconciled with Oatey, but interestingly he wasn't named as rover in a team selected by Oatey as the best players he coached at Sturt.

Cheers for that, RiG.

Who got that roving gig, incidentally? I would've thought Roger Rigney probably would've been Oatey's first choice (5 times premiership rover, IIRC). Nunan probably deserved a spot somewhere, though.

[robranisgod]

Reckon @Robranisgod could shed some more light on the Nunan question

As far as I can ascertain it was politically motivated. Early in the season, Nunan went on an overseas government funded trip with his ministerial boss. Remember this was the time when most states including ours were setting up sporting academies and Nunan was at the forefront of ours.

When he got back mid season, Jack Oatey is alleged to have said that Nunan would probably spend the rest of the year in the reserves.

One important point to make is that Nunan was of the left politically whereas the vast majority of Sturt were of the right.

Anyway Nunan was either sacked or quit depending on who you talk to.

When Norwood won the Grand Final by a point, Nunan declared that he wished they could have won the game by 1/2 a point just to increase the anguish at Sturt.

Later in life Nunan certainly reconciled with Oatey, but interestingly he wasn't named as rover in a team selected by Oatey as the best players he coached at Sturt.

Cheers for that, RiG.

Who got that roving gig, incidentally? I would've thought Roger Rigney probably would've been Oatey's first choice (5 times premiership rover, IIRC). Nunan probably deserved a spot somewhere, though.

The two Rogers, Rigney and Dunn were Oatey's choices as rover. Dunn did play state footy and Rigney played in the 5 flags, but I would have thought that Nunan was the pick of the three but it is of course subjective. Nunan did play in 4 flags at Sturt and 1 at Norwood.

[Magellan]

Thanks to a heads-up from mal, here's an answer from a few year's ago from a 1978 thread.

Unfortunately (for his Sturt career), he realized that there was more to life than football and in 1978 he missed several games at the start of the season while he was undertaking an overseas study tour. When he returned, Jack Oatey told Mick that he was no longer wanted at Sturt as he (Jack) only wanted players who were dedicated to the cause (or words to that effect). Nunan didn't want to leave and I'm sure he would've given Sturt his all for the rest of the season. One can understand both points of view, but in such a situation the coach must always win and Mick was off to Norwood. Incredibly Sturt club chairman David Wark found it necessary to publicly say that "During recent years it has become obvious the philosophies of Mike Nunan have no longer been compatible with the Sturt Football Club."

[Leaping Lindner]

Reckon @Robranisgod could shed some more light on the Nunan question

As far as I can ascertain it was politically motivated. Early in the season, Nunan went on an overseas government funded trip with his ministerial boss. Remember this was the time when most states including ours were setting up sporting academies and Nunan was at the forefront of ours.

When he got back mid season, Jack Oatey is alleged to have said that Nunan would probably spend the rest of the year in the reserves.

One important point to make is that Nunan was of the left politically whereas the vast majority of Sturt were of the right.

Anyway Nunan was either sacked or quit depending on who you talk to.

When Norwood won the Grand Final by a point, Nunan declared that he wished they could have won the game by 1/2 a point just to increase the anguish at Sturt.

Later in life Nunan certainly reconciled with Oatey, but interestingly he wasn't named as rover in a team selected by Oatey as the best players he coached at Sturt.

To add to this I'd heard Nunan had tried to unionise the Sturt players, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Also intrestingly he played a trial for Norwood (against North!!) in 1981 before joining North for the season proper.

[Psyber]

Interestingly, here is a list of the Members for Norwood since the seat's inception:

Member Party Term
Frank Nieass Labor 1938–1941
Roy Moir Liberal and Country 1941–1944
Frank Nieass Labor 1944–1947
Roy Moir Liberal and Country 1947–1953
Don Dunstan Labor 1953–1979
Greg Crafter Labor 1979–1979
Frank Webster Liberal 1979–1980
Greg Crafter Labor 1980–1993
John Cummins Liberal 1993–1997
Vini Ciccarello Labor 1997–2010
Steven Marshall Liberal 2010–2014

* Source: Wikipedia

My lady and I had dinner with Greg and his wife last week.
He still lives in Norwood.

[Magellan]

To add to this I'd heard Nunan had tried to unionise the Sturt players, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I can understand how unionising a footy club could disunite the paying group and undermine the coach. It's also interesting given that footy back in the mid to late 70s was still in that grey area between amateur and professional, with the overwhelming majority of players having full time jobs during the week. I'm not sure what effect a union would've really had, apart from emphasising people's political philosophies.

Having said that, Nunan probably was ahead of his time, because now the AFL players are completely unionised via the player's association.

[Dog_ger2]

The council destroyed Sturt.

Unley oval is a joke now days. The ghost of Jack shakes his head.

[therisingblues]

Politics might have been an issue at one, but not necessarily the other when seeking a player.
Don Dunstan had been Member for Norwood until '79. While the area has always had a smattering of Laborites.
Early in the state's history, Norwood was regarded as a working-class suburb.

Parkside was classified as a slum as late as the '60s. My family stayed on Young street, probably 50 meters behind what is now Cafe Mondale, back in 1980, I remember discussions along the lines of it being "a poor area".
It would seem Nunan was leaving one working class team for another?