Greening Incedent in Paper

Dave The Man · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 2:22 pm

That the 1st i've seen pictures of it and Jeez That Poor excuse of a Person in Oday just about killed Greening.

O'Day only got 10 F**ken weeks - O'day should of gone to Jail and Banned for Footy for LIFE

Woods Of Ypres · Joined: 27 May 2003 Location: Yugoslavia

DTM are u talking about the picture where Greening coming off on the stretcher? That one makes me feel sick in the stomach.

spoljar · Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Location: Lynbrook

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't O'Dea also make their team of the century? If yes, it pretty much sums up that club as a whole.

fence-banger · Zito Kypro Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: northcote

I don't know if O'Dea made StKs Team of the Century, but I did hear that he was made a Life Member of his Club. Is this right? How in the heck can that happen?
John Greening was a clean ball-getter, a complete champion, right up there with the best.
He would've won the Brownlow Medal by a stretch that year, he was that far ahead at that point.
Instead, a ruined footy career and a head injury for life.
Does anyone know for sure about O'Dea? Did he really get rewarded in the end? YUK

Dave The Man · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 2:47 pm

Woods Of Ypres · Joined: 27 May 2003 Location: Yugoslavia

spoljar · Joined: 16 Mar 2004 Location: Lynbrook

Dave The Man · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 2:57 pm

Did he Do by Himself O'Day or was it Coaches Orders?

fence-banger · Zito Kypro Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: northcote

Don't know whether it was a Coach's tactic or not.
From memory, watching World of Sport the following morning, StKs Coach backed his player and hinted that ours deserved what he got.
I recall, even though we're talking about the biffo days, there wasn't anything biffo about it.
Greening was targeted, it was mean, not clean in the sense of just giving someone a dumb whack.
Nooooo. Big difference.
He spent months in Rehab having to learn to walk & talk again, a million miles from the champion player that he was.
His brain injury is forever.
I hate thinking about it.

optimax · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Location: northern suberbs

wonder why O'Dea never came out and told his side of the story.

Seems he went out to kill greening on the field and theer seems no explanation for it still now, or was O'dea really just a thug?

fence-banger · Zito Kypro Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: northcote

I don't know that John Greening really told his story either.

I recall that StK were a pretty strong side at that time and the game was played at Moorabbin.
Big day. Crowds lined-up outside the ground before the opening of the gates.

The incident was sickening. It wasn't an accident blow and it wasn't just a biff. Greening was our star player.

die4pies · Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:05 pm

Magpie Greg has some excellent material on that fateful day.
I have spoken with Len Thompson on what his thoughts were as he was the player closest to John at the time and his first impression was that John had been killed. Even to the day he passed it shook up Len just to talk about it.

It was very early on in the game and John had just gathered from a tap from Thomo and thrust the Pies into attack. It is quite clear, but never proven that Alan Jeans ordered O'Dae to 'takle out' the raging Brownlow favourite. Both Alan and Jim were members of the Victoria Police and we all know what level of credibility the Cuntstabulary have in this state.

Thankfully O'Dae is not in their team of the century.

MACDAICOS · Joined: 18 May 2007 Location: PONSFORD.

A pure coward! That's all i'll say, I hope to his dying day he never forgets what he did.

Magpie Greg knows alot about what happened that day.

fence-banger · Zito Kypro Joined: 14 Feb 2008 Location: northcote

Yes, I've always felt that Alan Jeans had a case to answer as well as O'Dea.
WOW. I knew that Jeans was a Policeman, but had no idea that O'Dea might've been too.
John Greening, star player, heading for a Brownlow, playing the game, close to death from a cowardly act.
Jeans backed his player and pointed at Greening as deserving.
I'm pretty sure that O'Dea is a hero at that Club.
I can't see why it is that StK haven't worn it, cos they should have.

nulla · Joined: 05 Apr 2003 Location: In My Reg Grundys

For those who never had the privelidge to see Greening he was poetry in motion, a true athlete with way above average skills. He was as clean as a whistle and unbeatable on his day.

One of my all time favourites and I can remember watching the return he gallantly made at Vic Park. The whole of Vic Park was as one when John ran on the ground. In watching the replay I think it was Williamson who commented when Greening took a mark 60 metres out ... "The Greening of old would kick this without any trouble... then Greening did just that.. with one of his magic torps., but in the end it was all to much and he played around 10 or so games before retiring.

On his return match he had 24 possessions and was near B.O.G.