Payne’s high five

By DION HAYMAN

David Payne still rates his fifth goal against Central in the 1984 first semi-final as the “biggest” of his career. Playing just his 14th league game, the then 19-year-old fired Norwood ahead in the shadows of full-time, the second of four remarkable majors in the final seven-and-a-half minutes. “That goal sticks in my mind,” Payne declared.

Battling a defiant Central and despite the benefit of a four-goal breeze in the final quarter, Norwood appeared in trouble after 13 minutes when Stephen Connelly broke from centre and scored the Bulldogs’ only goal into the wind all day.

It put the Dogs 12 points clear and they still led by 11 after 21 minutes when Duncan Fosdike soared above second ruck Bruce Joycey to pull down a vital mark on the outer wing. Fosdike’s pass found Peter Laughlin who set up Neville Roberts for his second goal from 20 metres after he outpointed Mark Prior.

What followed was the defining moment of the match. Joycey was left to battle Neil Hein at the bounce with Richard Cousins having a breather on the bench. Tom Warhurst charged off the back of the square and attacked the ball like a Spanish bull, only to be saddled by a John Platten tackle.

Warhurst wriggled free enough to punt a speculative kick forward that fortuitously landed in the arms of Garry McIntosh. He immediately handballed to Michael Aish, who released a beckoning Payne. The teenager steadied and launched a 50m drop punt that flirted with the left-hand goalpost before straightening, prompting him to leap skyward in delight. It was his third goal for the quarter.

“That put us in front, that was a huge goal,” Payne recalled. “I just had a dip at it and it worked. The biggest goal of my career, for sure. You miss it and it changes the whole concept of the game. You don’t know, we might not have won that game.”

Ninety seconds later, Peter Laughlin, who had given Michael Wright a torrid time all day as a foil for Roberts, pounced on a loose ball after a rare dropped mark from his cohort and Norwood had some vital breathing space. With 29 minutes gone and the Bulldogs resigned to their fate, the same two players combined and Roberts booted his third as the siren confirmed Norwood’s remarkable run remained alive.

“There was a feeling around the club that no-one was going to beat us,” Laughlin said from his Queensland home. “There was a strong belief that we could do it, we could win from fifth. I felt confident we were going to win each week.”

Laughlin, who unusually came into the game after just 30 seconds replacing Hein at full forward after Norwood lost the toss, was a reluctant recruit at Norwood in 1981. He played with Neil Balme at Richmond and kicked 36 goals in 1978 but by 1980 had slipped out of the Tigers’ side as they motored towards the VFL premiership.

“I had spoken to Melbourne and Essendon but in the finish I was more or less told I had to go to Norwood,” he said. “I was kind of 50-50 between staying in Melbourne or coming to Norwood but because Richmond made it hard for me, I ended up coming to Adelaide. I didn’t question it like I should have but, as it turned out, it was a good decision.”

Richmond’s motivation had much to do with building goodwill with Norwood owing to its interest in securing Aish, who had kicked a phenomenal seven goals among 36 touches to help topple South in the elimination final.

But it was Payne’s five goals that sank Central. And while few expect a teenager with No. 52 on his back to score that many goals in a final, it should not have come as a total surprise. Payne rose through Norwood’s ranks spectacularly that season, beginning in the under-19s where he booted bags of nine, seven and eight before being promoted to the reserves.

Another five games at that level yielded returns of five, three, five, four and six before his league debut against Glenelg at the Bay in Round 9. Two goals that day were followed by hauls of five against North and Port before his high five against the Bulldogs.

A pinpoint left-foot snap into the teeth of the wind in the opening quarter set him up for a bumper afternoon.

“I kicked a couple early and you think, ‘I’m on today’. It spurs you on,” Payne said. “Balmey said the other day at the ’84 reunion, we were quite resilient in that final series. I don’t think we ever gave up, we just kept plugging away and if you do that, things can happen. Balmey had a lot of trust in us as players. He backed us in all the time. He trusted you and knew you’d do the right thing and I think that’s a real positive being coached by someone like him. He was such a warming sort of fella. That’s a nature that not a lot of coaches have. I rarely got berated by Balmey. Look, if you played a shocker he’d berate you. But rarely did you get rung out by him.”

Hence Balme’s rare blow-ups were so much more memorable – like when the Redlegs slid to 6-8 after a 95-point hiding at Elizabeth that season. “He went absolutely ballistic that day and I was actually s…ing my pants because I’d never seen a bloke go off like that. There were water bottles going all over the shop and clothes and towels and tape. He was a very angry man that day.”

Norwood lost only once more that season en route to its history-making premiership from fifth. Payne credits an address from dual premiership coach Bob Hammond as another key plank in the Redlegs’ premiership tilt. “He gave us a bit of a talk in the Blue Room just before the finals. He laid it on the line and told us what to do and how to go about it. I reckon that had a lot to do with it. Just that little bit of input from Bob, who was a legend in those days. He was a bit of an icon.”

After the game, Norwood captain Danny Jenkins noted: “This was perhaps our biggest hurdle. They’ve caused us more trouble this season than any other team.” Central was gallant, playing without skipper Peter Krieg, a late withdrawal, and the suspended Brett Hannam, Jamie Thomas and Stephen Nolan following a brutal qualifying final against Glenelg. Coach Kevin Neale told his charges: “I am never happy at losing but I am very proud of the magnificent way you tried your guts out.”

Despite Norwood’s heroics, The Advertiser’s match report screamed, “Central comes of age”. But a fortnight later, the Redlegs stole all the headlines.

NORWOOD  2.1    8.3   10.5       16.9 (105)

CENTRAL  6.4    6.6   12.12     13.14 (92)

BEST – Norwood: Warhurst, Fosdike, K. Thomas, Winter, Payne, Aish, Laughlin. Central: Connelly, Platten, Hurn, Roe, Bubner.

SCORERS – Norwood: Payne 5.1, Laughlin 4.1, Roberts 3.1, G. Thomas, Gallagher, Michalanney 1.1, McIntosh 1.0, Jenkins 0.2, rushed 0.1. Central: Fraser 3.2, Moulds 3.1, Connelly 2.1, Roe 2.0, Graham, Platten 1.2, van Dommele 1.0, Beythien, Cousins 0.1, rushed 0.4.

UMPIRES – Laurie Argent, John Hylton.

CROWD – 24,930 at Football Park.