FOOTBALL
BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
UNLIKE the protagonist of his debut novel, Traralgon football legend Kelvin Templeton’s return home was one of celebration for a great personal achievement.
The Brownlow/Coleman Medallist was in the Latrobe Valley last week for a discussion and promotion of his recent release, Collision.
More than 30 locals arrived at the Traralgon Library to hear from Templeton, who was equally thrilled to be down himself, in conversation with ABC Gippsland journalist Rachael Lucas.
The former Footscray and Melbourne champion visited a few Traralgon hotspots and met up with some friends in his travels, telling the Express how good it is to see the development the town has undergone since he was younger.
“It’s great to back. Every time I come back, it’s great to see how advanced Traralgon has come,” he said.
“I had a look at the performing arts centre and the aquatic centre, it’s certainly a place that’s continued to go ahead.”
Collision tells the story of 1970s suburban footballer Joshua Shamrock, a star goalkicker whose career abruptly comes to an end following a tragic on-field incident, forcing him to grapple with his past and life after football.
Templeton, who grew up in Tyers, said that his passion for reading and writing came during his primary school years and subsequently at Traralgon Technical School, which is now Traralgon College.
Describing himself as a “prolific reader of fiction and non-fiction”, a Year 9/10 English teacher, Mr Maybury, foresaw Templeton’s future aspirations beyond his illustrious sporting and business career.
“We had to write short stories and so forth for English, and (he) made a point in picking the stories that I’d written, which ended up in the school magazine at the end of the year,” Templeton said.
“He had a chat to me a said ‘look, you might have some talent, so at some stage in your life, you should give it a try’, and of course, other things got in the way … but at the end of it, I thought I’ll try that.”
Templeton added that the belief Mr Maybury indicated about his authorship stayed with him through to penning his first book.
“I always remembered what he said, it shows how important it is, how important it can be for someone – a mentor, a teacher, a senior colleague at work – just to say some encouraging words,” Templeton said.
He stamped that the events in Collision don’t mirror anything particular in his own life, other than a vague throughline.
“The character in the book comes from a town that’s not unlike this town (Traralgon), so I was able to draw on that,” Templeton said.
“But, most of it is completely made up, as it should be, it’s fiction.”
He did point out one passage that was taken from his childhood.
Long before his glory days in the VFL, and even prior to booting over 100 goals as a 16-year-old for Traralgon seniors, Templeton recalled kicking the football around in the paddock of his family’s Tyers property all evening, before being called into the house by his mother once it was getting dark.
As such, a similar occurrence is memorised in the book.
Templeton also noted that despite being from a regional area, much like Joshua Shamrock, he also couldn’t wait to get to the city when picked up by Footscray in 1974.
Across his 12-year playing career, Templeton featured in 177 games for a return of 593 goals for the Bulldogs and Melbourne, before later becoming chief executive of the Sydney Swans post-retirement.
Following his sit-down interview at the Traralgon Library, the floor was open for questions from the audience.
The aforementioned tale of Templeton’s long hours spent outside with the footy was prompted by an elderly gentleman, who had been told by one of their mates claiming they were the one doing kick-to-kick with the future VFL player in the paddock.
Another man then stood up, Mark Birmingham, reminding Templeton of them playing together at Glengarry Junior Football Club, arriving up to the front to shake his hand.
Birmingham, the father of current Glengarry senior coach Alex, showed off a photo of the Magpies under 14 team, which Templeton played in as a nine-year-old due to no other junior sides on offer at the time.
Both joked that it was a tough slog back then, with Templeton noting they probably won just a single game on the year.
Templeton was most recently in his hometown for Traralgon Football-Netball Club’s quarter century celebrations last year, as was his former Footscray teammate and fellow Brownlow/Coleman Medallist Bernie Quinlan.
The two were also joined by other Bulldogs luminaries and Traralgon players Rick Kennedy, Geoff Jennings and the Cordy brothers, Graeme, Brian and Neil.
Templeton expressed his immense pride in coming out of the Maroons machine.
“Traralgon football club itself has been hugely successful with well over 30 premiership cups,” he said.
“It was good to be part of that and to see the people from other eras that played for Traralgon … and (seeing) how the environment of the club was today.
“It’s clearly going to be a successful club for many years in the future.”
Still with deep roots in Traralgon, a relation of Templeton (through marriage) was first at the door to get into the Q&A and book signing to hear from him.
Collision is available to purchase online, at your local bookstore or to borrow from your local library.
