SA Footy

After enjoying the Ken Eustice book so much recently I managed to pick up the Bob Hank book a couple of days ago and have read most of it.
Must admit I'm very disappointed with it, no insight, no real feel, just a basic recount of a lot of the games Bob played.
Most of the story is games played and they just progress along the lines of:

At quarter time Torrens were inaccurate and were 5pts down.
AT half time Norwood were also innacurate and the scores were 8-11 to 4-15
In the 3rd quarter the kicking improved and the scores at 3/4 time were 11-2 to 8-16.
In the last quarter Torrens kicked away and won by 40pts.

etc, etc, etc.

Anyone else read it an have the same opinion?
Some good photos in it but after reading the Ken Eustice book a huge letdown I must say.

Any other reads on SANFL clubs/players people recommend?

So far I've read a few including the Williams dynasty (awful effort by Rucci), and by a country mile the Ken Eustice Story and Ken Farmer Files are by far and away the best.

Have you read SA Greats - The Magarey Medalists by John Wood, Wedgie? You'll have to try and find a second hand copy as it's been out of print for a while. But it's well worth hunting down.

Leaping Lindner wrote:Have you read SA Greats - The Magarey Medalists by John Wood, Wedgie? You'll have to try and find a second hand copy as it's been out of print for a while. But it's well worth hunting down.

Cheers mate, will do, I plan to eventually hunt down as many books on SA legends and the SANFL as I can.

Wedgie wrote:So far I've read a few including the Williams dynasty (awful effort by Rucci), and by a country mile the Ken Eustice Story and Ken Farmer Files are by far and away the best.

I thought the Williams book was pretty good. There is a lot of good stuff in their about winning culture and self belief, that I found really beneficial when working in elite sport (if you can call the NTIS elite sport). read that book and you get an idea on why port have been so successful since 1950.

I susppose I qualify that by reading the book knowing that if Rucci had his life over again he would come back as a member of the Williams family so as I was reading I was filtering the bias out. On that note I can understand where you are coming from.

I'm biased too as I personally think Williams has been our best coach since Cornesy, my ears are still ringing after our pathetic effort in the last quarter of the 94 elimination final. He was really big on a hard basic footy, team effort and pride in the guernsey. We **** up getting rid of him.

I enjoyed reading about the Williams dynasty and don't get me wrong I think Fos is an absolute legend both as a player and a coach.
But I just thought it was poorly written.
Fos would easily be the most written about legend in other books from his time and the respect others had for him from him time is huge.
His influence on Port and SA Footy in general is quite amazing.
Just didn't like the way the book was written, if you read the Ken Eustice book or Farmer files you'll know what I'm talking about.

What the Bay books on their history like, haven't had a read of those yet, also looking forward to reading the Norwood books.

Wedgie wrote:
So far I've read a few including the Williams dynasty (awful effort by Rucci.

Greg Nicholson did very well out of it

I never actually read the Ken Farmer book, but i do remember reading somewhere that Farmer didnt really enjoy playing footy, he saw it as quite a chore.

GWW wrote:I never actually read the Ken Farmer book, but i do remember reading somewhere that Farmer didnt really enjoy playing footy, he saw it as quite a chore.

I think the fact he lost his brother when he was on the same bike in an accident had a lot to do with that.
A lot of people don't realise Farmer could have been one of the best coaches of all time if he kept at it, only coached North for a small time in the last 40s and early 50s for fantastic results.

His scrapbooks which are huge and still preserved to this day are something to behold.
I've never seen anything like them.

Here's a couple of links to photos of the Farmer and Robran display from a couple of years ago, the 2nd link has heaps of photos with the Farmer Scrapbook pics in the 7th and 8th row of thumbnails.

http://www.rocketrooster.com/NAFC/News/farmerrobranexhibition.htm

http://www.rocketrooster.com/NAFC/PhotoAlbums/FarmerRobranExhibition/index.htm

It's no wonder the Farmer Files book turned out so good with so much historical info to refer to.

Yes, I have read The Bob Hank Story and it is one of the most poorly written and amateurish books you'll ever come across. I only paid $10 for it here in Melbourne. But as you say - great photos.

Wedgie wrote:But I just thought it was poorly written.

Agree 100%.

Found it very repetitive - you get the same information umpteen times in different years.

Proves once and for all that a journalist is not necessarily a writer.

Anybody read 'Knuckles?'

I have read the bob hank story as well wedgie. I agree with you it wasn't well written and the book didn't have much feel for Bob's career. The williams story i have also read and yes it proves Rucci shouldn;t even write in a newspaper i have never been a fan of his stories i feel he could write alot better but doesn't ahve the urge or the willingness to learn.
A good read even though it is about AFL/VFL and a few different leagues is Heart and Soul by Robert Shaw. I borrowed it from the library and i enjoyed the book he talks about many different things and he does make you feel as you are seeing what is going on. He does write a bit about Port Magpies and i will admit it is better than Rucci.

Strawb07 wrote:feel he could write alot better but doesn't ahve the urge or the willingness to learn.

Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe he's just a bad writer.

I know he spent five years in New York in the late-80s and early-90s but you'd think if he was worth a pinch of s@#$ - or had any sort of ambition - Rooch would have been snapped up by one of News' big papers like The Ostrayan, Daily Teletrash or Hun.

Sorry if its been mentioned here somewhere, but who wrote the Bob Hank book?

Magpiespower wrote:
Anybody read 'Knuckles?'

Take your point Wedgie on the literary style of Rucci. However I think he is better than Jim Rosevar who wrote the Gil Langley book and the Neil Kerley book.

Don't get me wrong, both books are very interesting especially on blokes who were effected by the depression and WW2 and the fact I don't like to criticise anyone who has had the "Jack Dancer" curse but both books were written in a very basic style. A bit like Ian Chappells early efforts, his 1968 and 1972 tour diaries and his 1976 autobiography.

Hi folks
Have any of you guys tried On Southern Fields - A Journey Through SA Sport (Michael Sexton). A fine read. 20 short (6-12 pages) stories/descriptions of famous and not so famous sa sporting events. Available "At The Toss of A Coin" IMHO the is daylight between this and the next best sa spots publication that I'm aware of.

1980 Tassie Medalist wrote:

Magpiespower wrote:
Anybody read 'Knuckles?'

Take your point Wedgie on the literary style of Rucci. However I think he is better than Jim Rosevar who wrote the Gil Langley book and the Neil Kerley book.

Don't get me wrong, both books are very interesting especially on blokes who were effected by the depression and WW2 and the fact I don't like to criticise anyone who has had the "Jack Dancer" curse but both books were written in a very basic style. A bit like Ian Chappells early efforts, his 1968 and 1972 tour diaries and his 1976 autobiography.

The thing I found with Knuckles is the number of errors in not only the history of the game but also in general knowledge, indicating the book was poorly researched. Knuckles II made an apology for the number of errors and then went on to contain just as many mistakes as the first one

Wedgie wrote:Here's a couple of links to photos of the Farmer and Robran display from a couple of years ago, the 2nd link has heaps of photos with the Farmer Scrapbook pics in the 7th and 8th row of thumbnails.

http://www.rocketrooster.com/NAFC/News/farmerrobranexhibition.htm

http://www.rocketrooster.com/NAFC/PhotoAlbums/FarmerRobranExhibition/index.htm

It's no wonder the Farmer Files book turned out so good with so much historical info to refer to.

They are fantastic, it was a privelege to see them first hand.

Adelaide Hawk wrote:The thing I found with Knuckles is the number of errors in not only the history of the game but also in general knowledge, indicating the book was poorly researched. Knuckles II made an apology for the number of errors and then went on to contain just as many mistakes as the first one

There won't be a Knuckles III since Mr. Rosevear passed away recently.

FWIW I quite liked Knuckles, particularly the chapter on the West Adelaide 1983 side.