Though many of us spent their childhood dreaming of one day kicking the goal the ultimately wins the game, the reality is, very few of us ever find ourselves in this situation. Never being fortunate enough to be “in the right place at the right time” so to speak, I did have the privilege to be on the ground at Moore Park in 1993, when in fact, Big Mac Mcleod had his finest moment: delivering the crashing blow in the form of a 50m drop punt after the siren that downed Diamond Creek by 2 pts.
He was a versatile big fella our Mac. As a pinch hitting ruckmen he was a “Collingwood Six Footer” so to speak, rucking against Neanderthals. However, he found his name as a plodding CHF, moving glacier like across turf. He’d regularly drop back into the hole to support the defence, which drew praise from his defenders, and the ire of his forwards as it took him til half time to get back up the ground. But you could count on Big Mac, and no more so, than on that day on 1993, when he clutched a big one from the air, at the Spratling St end.
History tells it in very different ways, depending on who you talk too. Billy McLeod said it was 75m out kicking into a gale. Others describe it as a Timmy Page helicopter that just cleared the goal umpires head. All say it was a BIG GOAL.
I also recall that night at Cramer’s, Paul Storey drinking out of Big Mac’s shoe. Though generous in his offerings, not all of us took up Pauls request to drink out of the “chalice”.
Mac Facts
- § Played 250 games for West Preston Jnr / Snr Football Club.
- § Started sponsoring West Preston in 2003 as a director of Allscope Finance. Macs company specializes in car and equipment loans and has many accreditations with leading lenders in the Australian Market
- § Founding member and treasurer on Bundoora Park Thunderbolts, with his good mate Andy Culph (another past West Preston Player – 2 illustrious games I think.). Bundoora Park Thunderbolts currently has 150 kids / Aus Kickers and only goes to U/14 at this stage. The WPLFC club is very proud of his achievements as a founding memeber of the Northern Football League best Jnr club of 2012.
GET DOWN AND SUPPORT ALLSCOPE FINANCE. THE BIG FELLA HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED US
Last Modified on 01/09/2015 16:33