Flashy First Nations Great

To be featured in this weekend’s SANFL Budget

By PETER ARGENT

Universally known as ‘Flash’, Michael Graham is probably the quickest footballer we’ve seen in South Australian footy.

Graham has been a First Nations trailblazer, a man who has achieved a huge amount – all with a smile on his face. He still can be seen at the footy pretty often and it’s fair to say he is one of the most popular players the game has seen – supporters of all clubs clamour to him for a chat and he’s always happy to oblige.

A wonderful character from an era when there were so many more of them, Graham’s remarkable impact on our national game has been so remarkable he was named in Sturt’s, the Northern Territory’s and Australian Indigenous Teams of the Century and is in the Double Blues’, the AFLNT, South Australian and Australian Football Halls of Fame.

Remarkable achievements for the cheeky kid who was born in Wallaroo and started his journey on Narungga land at Point Pearce. “I’m the second-youngest of 15 children, among 11 boys and four girls,” said Graham, whose family moved to Penola in the South-East when he was young. “My Dad is Cecil and mum is Doris. Most of us grew up in Penola. After an under-14 premiership at Penola Eagles, I started playing A-grade at 16.”

And he quickly – as you would expect – made his mark, winning the Mail Medal as fairest and most brilliant in the league in 1970 after finishing third the previous two seasons. “The family were all Sturt fans, so it was special for (master coach) Jack Oatey and (long-time official) Vic O’Donnell to come down to Penola to sign me up.” Graham feels indebted to Oatey, who he described as “a second father to me”.

There was plenty of footy ability in his family. “Most of my brothers could run a bit and had some skills,” he said. “Colin (his nephew) played alongside me in 1985 at Sturt and naturally I ran into (another nephew) Phil at Central District a number of times. There are plenty of connections as my brother Fred’s grandsons are AFL premiership players Shane and Troy Bond.”

Flash’s talents weren’t restricted to footy, also playing cricket when he was young – not surprisingly he was, “a quick bowler, moving the ball mainly off the seam”. He played in country cricket championships.

It didn’t take Graham long to force his way into the Double Blues’ league team when he moved to Adelaide, promoted for the Round 3 1971 match against West Torrens at Thebarton Oval, replacing premiership player Trevor Clarke. That would start a 282-game SANFL career, thrilling fans with his blistering pace, mercurial high-flying ability and goalkicking magic for the next decade and a half. His pace on a wing was a key factor of Sturt’s success in the 1970s, then later in his career he was a constant danger at half-forward, finishing with an impressive 455 goals. He was a key member of the 1974 and ’76 premierships, coming back from Darwin to celebrate the special 1976 triumph at a 50-year reunion in June.

“1974 was a rainy day and we were going against the wind in the last quarter but Jack told us to attack,” Graham said. “It was my first senior flag, which was very special.”

A part of the Sturt legend was Oatey holding a special obligatory players’ meeting on the Friday evening before grand finals, where planning was done for the next day. “Yes, I missed the Friday night meeting and Jack certainly got in my ear,” Graham recalled. “On grand final day in ’76, I was among the first to the ground when a few of the guys famously got caught in the traffic. It was a phenomenal crowd (about 80,000) and having all those spectators inside the ground is something we’d never experienced before or after. To beat Port was pretty special as well.”

Graham loved playing on the wing because “you’re always in the play”. “Over the years ‘Vivs’ (Central’s Peter Vivian) and I clashed a number of times and had good tussles. Bruce Light from Port Adelaide was another who I played against on many occasions and I always enjoyed the challenge. When I played at half-forward earlier in my career Glenelg’s Brian Colbey, who was a police officer, stuck to me like a leech.” Graham played 11 games for South Australia in a wonderful era for interstate footy when, “you played against the best of the best across the country”.

After kicking five goals in an outstanding performance in a losing side in the 1983 grand final against West Adelaide, Graham travelled to Mildura to play in what is generally recognised as the first Aboriginal All-Stars game, against a combined Richmond and districts team. “That was special against a combination that included Mark Lee and Dale Weightman,” Graham said. “I drove up to Mildura overnight after the grand final. We had a wonderful team, captained by (WA great) Stephen Michael, among a host of stars and we kicked 37 goals that day.”

The Blues livewire had missed travelling to Papua New Guinea with (SA First Nations greats) Roger Rigney and Wilbur Wilson under the guidance of Sir Doug Nicholls in 1973 because of a broken collarbone. “That was the year I was runner-up to Barrie Robran in the Magarey Medal – I’d tell everyone ‘it took Robran to beat me!’”

Confirming he was not a fan of pre-season training, Graham spent off-seasons in Darwin playing for the famous St Mary’s Green Machine. He starred in three premierships (1978–79, 1983–84 and 1985–86), won the Nicholls Medal as NTFL best and fairest in 1973-74 and was Chaney Medallist as best-afield in the 1978-79 grand final victory. His 230 games for St Mary’s makes him a 500-plus games senior footballer.

“I love the Double Blues to this day – I have many great memories of the club and my team-mates, along with all the support staff,” he said. “The comradeship, friendship and memories are what it’s all about – I have many lovely memories of my time in football.

“My other main coach at Sturt, John Halbert, was a wonderful speaker – I never heard him swear and we got on really well.”

Graham also played in Alice Spring for six years at four different clubs – South, Federals, West and Pioneers. “I also played at Waikerie for a season in the Riverland alongside Robert Muir and Chris Long,” he said. “I coached in NSW at Ariah Park for a year, taking the family across.” He also played Super Rules from the age of 35 to 70 to complete an incredible football CV.

Graham, who continues to travel between Adelaide and Darwin, said at 74 his health is generally good, although a decade and a half ago when he had a hip replacement he came out of hospital too early and endured two heart attacks. He is as passionate about his family as he is about his footy. “I have 10 children, six of my own, a couple of stepkids and two who have been adopted,” he said proudly. “One of my daughters had 10 kids. There are 27 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. There are already three great-great grandchildren in the Graham clan and another three on the way.”

The family is growing at quite a speed. As you would expect.