Fifty years ago, the Rushworth Football Club played in its last final in the GVFL. The team that contested the first semi-final in 1957 was remarkable for the fact that it contained three Morrison Medallists – Bill Cruz (1953), Con O’Toole (1955) and Lindsay Turnbull (1957). After a retrospective Morrison Medal was awarded to Gerald Sexton (who lost the 1948 medal on a countback), Rushworth players had won a total of 4 medals in the ten years from 1948-57. This was a great achievement for a club that was always going to struggle against the much bigger towns in the GVFL at the time. It indicates that although the club understandably lacked depth, it nevertheless had some fantastic players.
Another story from Slim Perry supports this proposition. "Chief" Perry and some of his mates went down to one of the local pubs for a couple at half-time when the Tigers were playing City United at Deakin Reserve. A young Slim went along and was enjoying a raspberry while the gentlemen had a beer. Another group of supporters with similar intent came into the bar for some refreshment. The barman casually asked how the game was going. The reply was somewhat incredulous - "Con O’Toole and Billy Cruz are playing City United…and the Demons are in serious trouble!"
Rushworth finished third on the ladder in 1957, just ahead of United.
Tatura was the standout team in the home and away competition with 15 wins and two losses, but could not go on and win the flag. The first semi was played at Tatura, and captain-coach Con O’Toole gave Bill Cruz the honour of leading the team out onto the ground. During the year, the Tigers had multiple avenues to goal, with Ben Holmes (44), D Martin (31), Max Logan (30), Lindsay Turnbull (29) and Barry Colliver (22) all amongst the goals.
Lindsay Turnbull had streeted the field to win the Morrison Medal by 10 votes from the legendary Keith Warburton (ex-Carlton) of Tatura. Despite poor weather, there was a record crowd in attendance, which paid nearly 683 pounds ($1366) to see the game. Sadly, all this wasn’t enough to get
Rushy over the line: United prevailed by 10 points in a tough, low-scoring encounter, with ruckman Kevin Roulent playing the game of his life.
Rushworth’s selected team on the day was – Backs – J Thomas, P Home, R Atkins Half-backs – G Collard, C O’Toole, P Sexton Centres – I Borger, S Hollow, J Flowers Half-forwards – A Sexton, M Logan, B Kearney Forwards – W Cruz, D Martin, B Holmes Followers – L Turnbull, B Colliver Rover – W Egan 19th H Smith 20th M Quirk Amongst the best on the day were Barry Colliver (ruck-roving), Stan Hollow (ex-Prahran), John Thomas, Con O’Toole ("unbeatable in the air"), Peter Home and Pat Sexton.
