Checking the team photo wall, Robert and Joy were delighted to see Robert as a young dark-haired 20 year old player in the 1949 team. Looking at the photo, Robert recalled former teammates Kenny Hopper, Norm Black and Alan Le Nepveu.
One vivid memory Robert related was how the team would travel down to away games in a furniture van. The team sat on two long stools that were not adhered to the floor and when the van hit a bump or suddenly turned a corner, players could loose their seats, much to the mirth of all.
A keen motorbike rider, Robert rode his bike on a Saturday to most games with his wife-to-be Joy riding pillion behind, including following the van all the way to Kardinia Park when the Hawks played Geelong.
For the Geelong game Robert was named on a half back flank. Before the first bounce, Col Austen (who played on the opposite back flank) asked Bob to swap flanks. Bob was to learn that Col Austen had played cunning and had duped him, as Austen chose the slower opponent. Robert was now about to play on Bobby Davis - one of the fastest players in the game, and all Robert recalled of the game was that he continually was chasing Bobby Davis who was then know as the ‘Geelong Flyer’.
Robert and his wife were intrigued with the Club’s guernsey display with two guernseys attracting his eye worn by former teammates. Ted Fletcher's guernsey worn in 1949 and Gordon Anderson's from 1950. Robert reminisced further by adding that he missed the 1950 team photo after an accident on his bike, and how he would have really liked being in both the 1949 photo (the last year of the Mayblooms design) as well as the 1950 team photo (the first year of the vertical stripe).
Robert was recruited from Glen Iris in 1948 playing his first senior game against St Kilda in the final home game for the season. He played 17 games in 1949 followed by another 10 in 1950.
He then joined the British Merchant Navy for three years to further his engineering skills before returning to play football with Camberwell in the VFA. Gaining employment as an engineer with the Abbottsford Brewing Company, he played in their football team in the Saturday morning competition.
Still a very keen follower of the fortunes of the Hawks Robert has been a member of the Past Players and Officials Association for many years being good mates with Ken Freiberg who still serves the Club as Property Steward.
Robert has also played golf for many years at the Rosebud Golf Club and readers of this article will be interested to learn that one of his golfing partners is Chris Mew, a Hawks Legend from the Golden Era of the eighties having played in five premierships. This explained the excitement within the Fisher family whenever one of them saw a mention or a photo Mew in the Museum.
When Robert left the Museum, he headed for the HawksNest to buy a football. As a spritely 80 year old he enjoys having a kick with his six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren on his five acre block at Boneo, outside Rosebud.
