it really hit me, that these people are there to support people like me, all the players, so it was a real lesson that I would, and I swore to myself, that I would never let the people down, that I would give 100% all the time. And it was really an inspiration to me..." On his first day of training at Victoria Park aged 18: "So when we got to Melbourne on the Thursday, he took me out to Collingwood, and I trained out there for the first night and that was unbelievable. I was 15 at the time, and to be with the Lou Richards and Colliers (the Colliers had finished playing, but they were always at the Club) Phonse Kyne and those great players, Fothergill, I could hardly believe it, and I was in some pretty shabby old gear because the war had just finished and things were pretty tough in Nyah West, so yes, Lou Richards and the boys have let me know over the years about that silly-looking green and white guernsey that I was wearing, with motheaten holes in it. But it was really a bombshell to be able to run out on to the nice green grass, because droughts were pretty prominent in the Mallee at that time, and we were almost playing on clay grounds..." References Further reading Strevens, Steve. Bob Rose: A dignified life. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2004. External links Collingwood team of the Century AFL: Hall of Fame Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club Premiership players 1928 births 2003 deaths Copeland Trophy winners Collingwood Football Club coaches Western Bulldogs coaches Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees All-Australians (1953–1988) Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Wangaratta Rovers Football Club players Wangaratta Rovers Football Club coaches One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players