On Monday night of last week, we lost Cornelius John Curtain. Better known as John and even better known as Junior. John was a sporting identity with an amazing breadth of long-standing close friends across the country but particularly in Victoria and NSW, and actually in every state of Australia, and in the UK and other offshore locations.

His entire schooling was at Xavier School, Kew in Melbourne. Xavier has been a breeding ground for some outstanding Swans players. Austin Robertson Sr attended there. As did premiership players Ted Richards, Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery, Alex Johnson, and Bob Skilton Medallist Andrew Schauble.

His sporting background was predominantly in Australian football, cricket, and racing. He did, however, take a strong interest in most sports. Ian Chappell took him on a tour of the US to watch baseball and Steve Edge, the great St George and Parramatta player, taught him the finer points of rugby league. His second honeymoon was spent following the Australian cricketers on a tour of the Caribbean. Having seen some of the greatest English soccer players when he lived in London in the 1960s, he had a keen interest in the then Premier League (now EPL) and the fledgling A-League. He was a very shrewd punter and was part of Neville Gibson’s extraordinary pool of leased horses which won multiple Group 1 races.

During this time, he lived in London and flatted with the great Bob Cowper. He became a close friend of the late Bernie Coleman who was the visionary Chair of the Surrey Cricket club. Consequently, John mingled with, on the face of it, virtually every English cricketer player/commentator/administrator and journalist. Although his cricketing highlight in the UK was watching a Test at the Oval as a guest of Bernie Coleman with Bernie’s two other guests budding young musicians Mick Jagger and Charlie Watts. He also played with unknown success with various touring cricket teams. Through Bernie, John followed Crystal Palace. Not one of the best-known English clubs in this part of the world.

Returning to Australia he began a business that would grow into the highly successful Melbourne Brick. 

He was an early and longstanding member of legendary Melbourne sporting club the Vingt Cinq club. His Australian football roots ran deep. He umpired across Victoria. His father Con was President of Footscray for five years; his stepfather Jack Mueller was a legendary Melbourne player whose best mate was Norm Smith. As a consequence, John grew up with Peter Smith and the great Ron Barassi. When Ron was appointed coach of North Melbourne, John became manager of the senior side; a role that he also undertook for another great mate Malcolm Blight when he was appointed coach of Geelong.

John and his late wife Karen moved to Sydney and so John became involved with his fifth VFL/AFL club. Karen was a Swans tragic, so it was a natural transition for John to become involved. Through his connection with then CEO Ron Joseph at North, John was encouraged to assist in marketing and promotions, and he drifted into media.

One day in late 1994 Ron (Joseph) advised the Chairman that he was returning to Melbourne effective immediately. Where do you find a replacement over a weekend? Whereas Ron had focussed largely on football, which was his brief, the new CEO would need to have a greater responsibility for revenue raising per medium of membership/casual attendees/sponsors/merchandise/functions and media. As we say, John went home on Friday night as a marketing consultant and came into the office on the following Monday as CEO.

A seminal year for the club came in 1995. Our turnaround on the field has been well articulated. It laid the foundation for our first Grand Final in 51 years in 1996. The non-football turnaround at the club happened simultaneously.

John Curtain in one year set in train much of the current day approach to these aspects of the club. Not the least being bring enthusiasm, vision and respect to the role you are playing. One example of that was the creating of the Swanslink program where members or causal attendees could have their admission to the SCG bundled with their transport to and from the ground.

Shaun Welch (Marketing) joined the club in 1994 having arrived from Melbourne. He says:

“John and I hit it off straight away. His management style was very much about people and relationships. Internally and externally. Our group was a mixture of locals and Melbourne expats. None of whom had been involved in a big successful football club. They included Craig Holden (who’d had success in 1986-7 as a player), Stephen Brassel, Tommy Reid, Heather Brown, Siobhan Dowling, Frank Burton, Leslie McGrath, and David Dwyer.

“John was a no-nonsense tough love person. He embraced our group and kept us together through thick and thin, pushing us hard to raise the bar to support what was happening on the field. Some fell by the wayside. Behind the calling a spade a bloody shovel style he was incredibly loyal. Karen helped pro bono with much of John’s administration. Despite his tough exterior, he was a deeply caring, supportive, concerned bloke, especially if he knew someone was struggling. If you were part of his team, he’d go to the ends of the earth for you. And he sure knew how to laugh, and I’d always get off the phone with a smile on my face.”

Stephen Brassel (media) was one of the first appointments in 1993. Stephen says:

“When John (or Junior as he called him) came to the Swans it wasn’t being run on the smell of an oily rag, it was being run on the rag itself. We couldn’t afford the oil.

“One thing about John was if he didn’t know somebody, he was only ever one phone call away from knowing somebody who did. Be it the PM or an A-grade celebrity to help promote the Swans brand. Everything he did was to enhance the Swans. Once he develops a contact it went into his trusty Rolodex in perpetuity.

“He was a hands-on leader in part because we couldn’t afford the staff that most other clubs employed. It wasn’t unusual to work 18 hours straight leading up to a game. John was always first in and last out. He got things done without ever seeking any credit. When you talk about unsung heroes of the Sydney Swans, there were not many who were part of building the true foundations on which our club stands, but John Curtain was one of them. A pillar of strength, vision, and commitment.”

Richard Colless (Chairman) says:

“Shaun and Stephen have pretty much nailed it. John’s lifetime relationship with Ron Barassi made the co-existence between the on and off field sides of club in 1995 all the more easy.

“He left his fingerprints over much of the club and what Kelvin inherited was so much more structured than what John had taken on. John used to say that one of the greatest couple of hours in his life was with Karen and Ron at the 2005 Grand Final. Sitting with the masses and seeing how emotional Ron (and Karen) got when the final siren rang. He sought out key people to bring them into the fold further, including Frank O’Halloran, John Datsun, Leon Daphne, Mal Binnie, Bern Bruning, Geoff Polites, and many others.

“After leaving the Swans, John and I, (and RDB) had a business that was totally unrelated to sport. We became close friends and watched a lot of cricket across Australia and in the UK. He had more friends that any person I know. They ranged from a plethora of Test captains and AFL greats to inconspicuous people. If you were a friend of John’s there would be the irregular call. Nothing mechanical but he made a huge effort to stay in touch and check on people’s well-being.”

Tragically Karen died at home in John’s presence. They had had a wonderful life together. They both loved sport and dining out with friends (often at Il Duca).

Late in the piece John met a beautiful lady called Susan Rennie. And love blossomed. Susan worked as a nurse and was John’s carer. And our condolences go to Susan and John’s family

And so, to the big question: which team did John support? Categorically Sydney in the AFL notwithstanding the many friends he’d made at North in particular. North in AFLW because Susan’s daughter Kimberley is a star player. And Old Xavs in the Amos.

There’s a lot of truth in the old adage they don’t make them like that anymore.

Well played John and thanks.