Richard Condon (19 March 1876 – 27 December 1946) was an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er who played for
Collingwood and
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
in the
Victorian Football Association
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
(VFA) and the
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...
(VFL) from 1894-1900, 1902-1906 and 1908-1909.
Talent
Condon was a highly skilled player, a wiry and tenacious man of greater than average height (5'11"; 180 cm), with great speed, brilliant evasive skills, and an outstanding capacity for reading a game.
He played mainly as a "follower".
He is widely credited as the man who contributed the most to the development of the stab-kick which (once the specially designed "blunter" Sherrin Match II football was introduced into the VFL) became the central feature of the Collingwood football team's pattern of play.
An 18 August 1905 newspaper report, referring to him as "that fiery football genius Dick Condon", described his coaching style as a "combination of brimstone oratory and skilful
ictactics".
Physical skills
In physical terms he was an extremely flexible and well-balanced player. He was able to pick the ball up from the ground with either hand, he was able to kick place-kicks, punt-kicks, drop-kicks, and stab-kicks with either foot, and he could handball with either hand.
Abrasive nature
He was far from well-balanced in terms of his threshold for violence (which was directed at his own teammates as often as his opponents), his short temper with club officials and umpires, his view that things must always be seen from his own perspective, his intolerance of failure, and his propensity for continuously abusing umpires, all of which were continuously displayed throughout his long career.
Lifetime suspension
Halfway through the 1900 season, Condon was appointed captain of Collingwood. In his new role as captain, he gave the umpires an even harder time.
He abused field umpire Bill Freame on 7 July 1900 continuously throughout the match against
South Melbourne
South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...
at the
Lake Oval
Lakeside Stadium is an Australian sports arena in the South Melbourne suburb of Albert Park. Comprising an athletics track and soccer stadium, it currently serves as the home ground and administrative base for association football club South M ...
after a number of decisions went against the Magpies, and he was suspended for three weeks by the VFL. Two weeks later, whilst still under VFL suspension, he got into a fist-fight with teammate
Arthur Robson in the middle of Collingwood's three-quarter time huddle; the pair had to be restrained by the umpires, teammates and Collingwood club officials.
On 1 September 1900, during Collingwood's second round-robin finals match against
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
at the
Corio Oval
Corio Oval was an Australian rules football ground, located in Geelong, Victoria, and used by the Geelong Football Club in the VFA and the VFL from 1878 to 1915, and 1917 to 1940. Sited in Eastern Park, the oval was served by trams from 1930 wh ...
, Condon became so upset with the umpiring of
Dick Gibson during the last quarter of the match that he lost his temper and signalled for his teammates to follow him off the Corio Oval, demanding that the Collingwood match committee order the Collingwood players from the field. After umpire Gibson threatened to report the entire Collingwood team for bringing the game into disrepute, the Collingwood committee refused to do so, and instead ordered Condon and the team to either return to the field, or be expelled from the club. At that stage Collingwood was a point ahead of Geelong, but Condon's behaviour so unsettled his team that it did not score again, and lost to Geelong 6.8 (44) to 4.7 (31). It was the loss in this match that eliminated Collingwood from premiership calculations in that year.
In the final match of the three round-robin match series the following week, Collingwood played against
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...
at the Lake Oval. The field umpire for the match,
Henry "Ivo" Crapp, was considered to be the most experienced umpire in the competition. After a decision went against the Magpies in the first quarter, Condon abused Crapp throughout the remainder of the match, culminating in his infamous barrage of insults involving the umpire's daughter.
He was reported for his conduct, and the VFL Investigative Committee immediately suspended Condon for life. A newspaper report of 17 September 1900 suggested that Condon would now be able to "spend the rest of his days thinking about the joy and glory of his lost future in the game", observed that 'Collingwood has turned away from him", and noted that "club discipline has outweighed any sympathy for a fallen hero", provided additional details of the incident:
Appeal and reinstatement
Over an eighteen-month period, Condon appealed against his lifetime ban on three occasions.
His last appeal was successful, and, having not played a single game in 1901, he played his first return game for Collingwood against
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
on 19 May 1902.
Senior football career
* 1894-1896, 1897-1900, 1902-1906: 194 games, 115 goals for Collingwood (45 games, 14 goals in the VFA and 149 games, 101 goals in the VFL).
** At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", the football correspondent for ''The Argus'' ("Old Boy"), selected a team of the best players of the 1899 VFL competition:
Backs:
Maurie Collins (Essendon),
Bill Proudfoot (Collingwood),
Peter Burns (Geelong); Halfbacks:
Pat Hickey (Fitzroy),
George Davidson (South Melbourne),
Alf Wood (Melbourne); Centres:
Fred Leach
John Frederick Leach (6 March 1878 – 14 April 1908) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of Thomas Leach (1847-1916), and Emma Bunkin Leac ...
(Collingwood),
Firth McCallum
Firth William McCallum (27 December 1872 – 11 July 1910) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion playe ...
(Geelong),
Harry Wright
William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, t ...
(Essendon); Wings:
Charlie Pannam (Collingwood),
Eddie Drohan
Edward Patrick Drohan (17 July 1876 – 28 July 1938) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club and Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) before becoming an umpire and a coach.
Droha ...
(Fitzroy),
Herb Howson
Herbert Howson (11 August 1872 – 8 May 1948) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Football
A wingman, Howson played with South Melbourne for four seasons in the Victorian ...
(South Melbourne); Forwards:
Bill Jackson (Essendon),
Eddy James
Edwin Ernest 'Eddy' James (14 February 1874 – 16 September 1937) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Geelong in the years before and following the formation of the VFL.
Football
James started his career as a backman, playing ...
(Geelong),
Charlie Colgan
Charlie Colgan (9 February 1878 – 25 July 1935) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
At the end of the 1899 season, in the process of naming his own "champion player", th ...
(South Melbourne); Ruck:
Mick Pleass
George Victor "Mick" Pleass (12 November 1874 – 27 August 1925) was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne and Essendon in the VFA and Victorian Football League (VFL).
Football
Pleass was a follower and played his ea ...
(South Melbourne),
Frank Hailwood
Frank Hailwood (3 April 1873 – 21 May 1944) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Collingwood Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
One of the eight children of Joseph Hailwood (1834–1912), and Ellen ...
(Collingwood),
Joe McShane
Joseph Francis McShane (29 November 1868 – 26 July 1950) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of Philip McShane (1835-1908), and Mary Ann McShane (1836-1912), née McCabe, Joseph Francis ...
(Geelong); Rovers: Dick Condon (Collingwood),
Bill McSpeerin
William Joseph McSpeerin (25 September 1874 – 3 June 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Fitzroy Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family
The son of James McSpeerin (1846-1909), and Catherine McSp ...
(Fitzroy),
Teddy Rankin
Edwin Walter "Teddy" Rankin (11 March 1872 – 31 July 1944) was an Australian rules footballer, originally with Riversdale, who began playing with Geelong in the VFA in 1891, and later played in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Family ...
(Geelong).
From those he considered to be the three best players — that is, Condon, Hickey, and Pleass — he selected Pat Hickey as his "champion player" of the season.
'Old Boy', "Football: A Review of the Season", (Monday, 18 September 1899), p.6.
* 1899-1900: Was intermittently captain of Collingwood.
* 1905-1906: Captain-Coach of Collingwood (37 games, 26 wins, 11 losses)
**His abrasive character caused so much discontent at Collingwood that he was asked to leave at the end of 1906.
* 1907: Spent season in Tasmania as a field umpire.
* 1908-1909: 32 games, 26 goals for
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
.
* 1908-1909: Coach of Richmond (36 games, 12 wins, 24 losses) in its first two years in the VFL competition.
**His abrasive character caused so much discontent at Richmond that he was asked to leave at the end of 1909.
* 1910: Non-playing coach of New South Wales Football League team
East Sydney.
* He was the only Collingwood ten years/100 games played/Copeland Trophy winner not to be made a life member until the 2013 Collingwood Annual General Meeting, 107 years after his last match for Collingwood and 67 years after his death. The award was accepted by his great-nephew, Bob Condon, on behalf of the Condon family.
Death
He died in Sydney on 27 December 1946.
Funerals: Condon, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', (Monday, 30 December 1946), p.12.
/ref>
See also
* 1908 Melbourne Carnival
The 1908 Melbourne Carnival was the inaugural Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition, held in Melbourne in August 1908. It was known at the time as the Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival b ...
* The Footballers' Alphabet
On Saturday 23 July 1898, the Melbourne weekly newspaper '' The Leader'' published ''The Footballers' Alphabet''.
The poem, which had been written by its influential (Australian Rules) football correspondent, "Follower", delivered a brief comment ...
Footnotes
References
'Follower', "The Footballers' Alphabet", ''The Leader'', (Saturday, 23 July 1898), p.17.
* Hogan, P., ''The Tigers Of Old'', The Richmond Football Club, (Richmond), 1996.
* Ross, J. (ed), ''100 Years of Australian Football 1897-1996: The Complete Story of the AFL, All the Big Stories, All the Great Pictures, All the Champions, Every AFL Season Reported'', Viking, (Ringwood), 1996.
External links
*
*
Australian Football League Umpires Association: Henry Crapp, VFL's First "Prince of Umpires"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Condon, Dick
1876 births
1946 deaths
Australian rules footballers from Melbourne
Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents
Collingwood Football Club (VFA) players
Collingwood Football Club players
Collingwood Football Club Premiership players
Collingwood Football Club coaches
Richmond Football Club players
Richmond Football Club coaches
Two-time VFL/AFL Premiership players
People from Carlton, Victoria