THE SYDNEY Swans have paid tribute to the legendary Graeme John who has died after a long illness.
Graeme was born on March 15, 1943 and was a sporting prodigy in his home city of Perth. He attended Hillcrest Primary and Mt Lawley Senior High School. Mt Lawley was in East Perth Football Club’s (fondly known to this day as The Royals) Metropolitan Zone so that’s where he was destined to play.
Graeme excelled at both football and cricket and was a member of the WA State School Boys Cricket team in 1955. As a teenager he played first grade cricket for Mt Lawley and was selected in the WA Sheffield Shield squad. Teammates at Mt Lawley included former Swans number one ticket holder the late Trevor Bidstrup and Test players Laurie Mayne, Terry Jenner and Ashley Mallett.
He debuted for East Perth as a 16-year-old in 1959, a year in which the club won the WAFL premiership. There was no shortage of mentors. The club’s captain/coach was the legendary Jack Sheedy. His vice-captain was Graham Farmer, unquestionably one of the greatest players of all time. Other notables that Graeme played with as a raw kid were Johnny Watts who would accompany Farmer to Geelong and play in its 1963 Grand Final side, Mal Atwell who would captain/coach Perth to three consecutive premierships between 1966-68, 1958 Sandover Medallist Ted Kilmurray, and one of the few men to play cricket and football for two states, Neil Hawke, who in 1959 would kick over 100 goals.
As a teenager he was selected four times for Western Australia.
In 1964 aged 20 he moved to Melbourne to play with the Swans. Some of his teammates included Bob Skilton, John Heriot, Frank Johnson, Max Papley and Jeff Bray (Tom Papley’s grandfathers), John Rantall, Peter Bedford, and Russell Cook.
His VFL career was seriously hampered by a major knee injury early in his stint at the Lake Oval.
In 1965 playing at centre half forward he represented Victoria in four games and was runner up to Bob Skilton in the club B+F.
At the start of that year a journeyman player from Western Australia by the name of Eric Sarich arrived in Melbourne following his dream to play in the VFL. Eric says “when I arrived in Melbourne from Perth I was well and truly lost with no real prospect of a football career or employment. I knew Graeme to the extent of having played against him a couple of times in the WAFL but that was all. Somehow Graeme heard I was in town and made it his business to find me and literally took me to the Lake Oval and introduced me to the people charged with recruiting. And made it clear I was someone that the Swans should lock in immediately. I got a start and played the next four years for the club (Eric was also selected to play for Victoria)). They were the best years of my life and so many opportunities opened up for me and changed my life forever. A kinder, more helpful person you could not meet. I will forever be in his debt.”
In 1966 at the Hobart ANFC Carnival Graeme played in a further 4 games for Victoria at centre half forward and was selected in the All Australian Team. By the age of 23 he had played in 12 state games which was then the pinnacle of a player’s standing in the game.
He was appointed vice captain of the Swans in 1968.
Given the degenerative state of his knee he retired prematurely in 1969, aged 26.
In 1970 Graeme joined South’s sometimes nemesis Port Melbourne, but injury limited his career with the Borough to eight games.
In 1973, aged just 29, Graeme was enticed to assume the role of senior coach - a position he held for three years. He was one of the youngest non-playing coaches ever appointed in the post war era. One of his then emerging players Rick Quade said “While he had a big influence on the field as our coach he also had a massive off field impact. Very interested in player welfare. Gave his time and expertise readily. A great family man and an unwavering Swans person.”
Graeme’s imposing range of skills as a footballer are well known and documented. Not as well recorded, however, was his impressive vocal range as a tenor who could effortlessly bring rich operatic flair to a rendition of the club song and so much more. Swans Ambassador and Bloods for Life contributor and occasional warbler, Mike Coward, can attest to the power and purity of Graeme’s voice. While the mid-60s often was punctuated by heavy defeats, Mike remembers the joy and mateship of those who happily formed a chorus in the dressing room to support their crack centre half-forward win, lose or draw.
Graeme became President of the club in 1978 and held office until 1981.
We can find no record of any person at any VFL/AFL club playing, coaching and presiding over a club. And being selected in an All Australian team into the bargain. It’s an extraordinary contribution on so many levels and an amazing record.
In addition to his football career, Graeme occupied senior roles in the commercial world, having an extremely distinguished business career.
He began his working life in transport and reached a senior position within TNT. Graeme employed multiple players at TNT, some of whom stayed in the transport industry as employees or operators. They included Tony Franklin, Ian Thomson, Reg Gleeson, Barry Beecroft, Dennis Carroll, Wayne Carroll, Ray Deagen, Rick Quade and Len Thomson. He then joined Australia Post, rising from Australia Post Chief of National Operations to its Managing Director. As a consequence he and Di lived in Sydney for many years. Graeme held the position he held from 1993-2010. Over that period the productivity of the organisation increased dramatically as did its financial position, and the diversity of its product lines and services.
Across his career Graeme was a board member of Aurizon, Racing Victoria, Seven West Media, Kahala Post Group, International Post Corporation, and SAI Cheng Logistics International.
Graeme was a member of the AFL Commission from 2001-2011 and was a Trustee of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 2003, he was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to business and the community (and it could have easily included Australian football).
Graeme was inducted into the Swans Hall of Fame in 2011.
Of all Graeme’s achievements, the one that many Swans supporters would rate the most significant was his support of South Melbourne’s relocation to Sydney. There has probably been no more diehard supporter of the club than Graeme as his record demonstrates. While his natural instincts were to do everything to keep South at the Lake Oval, eventually it became obvious to him that the club was not sustainable in its present form. The only two options therefore were a merger with another VFL club (with South invariably becoming very much the junior partner and with the loss of so much of its extraordinary history and heritage); or it could relocate to Sydney which was consistent with the VFL’s desire to create a national competition. Eventually Graeme publicly declared that that was the only option. While he took his fair share of abuse from supporters obsessed with staying in Melbourne no matter what the consequences, such was his standing that history will show that it had a considerable influence on the ultimate decision.
Graeme and Di were regular attendees at Swans games in Melbourne post the relocation and while there would have been many people who derived great joy out of the 2005 Grand Final victory when the 72-year Premiership drought was broken, it’s hard to believe there’d be any Swans supporters more deliriously happy with the outcome and more than quietly satisfied that the challenging process of relocating the club was worth it. Our Team of the Century Full Back who was a teammate and longstanding friend of Graeme’s said “he was a really good friend. And I had the privilege and pleasure of having him as a teammate during his career at the club. He was a great player in the hardest position of the field. Brilliant and brave. At the same time he was a terrific clubman. He was not only an accomplished singer but a very funny joke teller. He was always welcoming of new players to the club and all our younger aspiring footballers. I was proud he was my mate.”
Vale Graeme. Swans stalwart champion player. Coach. President. Benefactor. Visionary.
