AFL writes a Collingwood favourite out of its history

(This article first appeared on The Roar, April 3, 2015)

It has been well over 100 years since Bob Rush’s playing days for Collingwood came to an end.

Memories of the speedy backman have long since faded, and only the most ardent of footy fans would be aware of the significant place he holds in Magpie history.

Unfortunately for Rush (who passed away in 1975 aged 94), it is a history that the AFL has decided to rewrite, leaving the former Magpie without official recognition of a quite remarkable feat.

Having retired as a double premiership player in 1908 (with 143 games under his belt), Rush stayed on at the club as an administrator. But his main claim to fame was that he coached the Magpies for one game in 1930, filling in for legendary incumbent coach Jock McHale, who was bed ridden with a bad case of the flu.

Nothing special in that you might say, except for the fact that the one game he coached happened to be the 1930 grand final, which Collingwood won after trailing by 27 points at half-time. It was also the record breaking fourth premiership in a row for the Collingwood super team, a run of flags that has yet to be equalled.

Harry Collier, one of Collingwood’s greatest players across that era, believed that the half-time address Rush delivered that day was one of the most inspirational speeches he had ever heard.

Whatever Rush said, it had the desired result. The Pies turned their 27-point deficit into a 32-point lead by three-quarter time – a remarkable turnaround even by modern standards.

But in the AFL’s eyes, all that now counts for naught.

After years of being credited with one game coached for one premiership, Rush’s short coaching career has been struck from the history books.

Instead McHale, who has forever been listed as having coached 713 games for seven premierships, now finds his official record bumped up to eight premierships from 714 games.

The question is why?

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AFL rewriting history by tarnishing a Collingwood favourite’s memory