From booting eight goals in a match against Essendon to his representative honours of 1987 to playing with greats of the game like Greg Williams, Dennis Carroll and Rod Carter, freshly inducted Swans Hall of Fame member Bernard Toohey has treasured memories of his time in red and white.
Toohey was one of four men, alongside James Young, Terry Brain and Ted Richards, added to the club’s revered honour roll at the 2020 Guernsey Presentation and Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, presented by Volkswagen, at The Star on Wednesday night.
When prompted in a SwansTV interview on which career moments he savours most, the trusty defender was quick to recall a clash with the Bombers at the SCG in 1989.
In a year that saw Toohey spend the second half of the season in the forward line and top the club’s goal-kicking leaderboard, the boy from the Riverina snared eight majors in Round 21 to inspire the Swans to a six-point victory.
“When I go back there was the day we came from behind and I kicked eight goals, I think four or five in the last quarter, and we came over Essendon,” Toohey said.
“It’s just the little things like that which really stand out.”
Two years earlier, in season 1987, Toohey represented Victoria in State of Origin football and earned All Australian selection.
Toohey, who played for both Victoria and NSW, was named in the 1987 All Australian team alongside three other Swans: Williams, Healy and Craig Holden.
Chris McDermott was named captain and Graham Cornes was selected as coach, while 2005 Swans premiership coach Paul Roos earned his second of seven All Australian call-ups.
Helping steer Sydney to a second-consecutive finals appearance added to Toohey’s brilliant 1987 campaign.
“In ‘87 I had a pretty good run,” Toohey said.
“I got picked to play for Victoria and then was picked in the All Australian side.
“We just happened to fall over the line in 1987 in the finals. We got a fair few injuries just at the wrong time of the year.”
Toohey was drafted from Barooga in the Picola and District Football League in 1980 and made his senior debut for Geelong in Round 5, 1981.
He played 94 games for the Cats, 129 with the Swans (1986-1991) and 40 at Footscray before rounding out his career at the end of the 1993 season.
While Sydney featured in finals footy in just two of the six seasons Toohey was at the Swans, he played with some of the greatest footballers in the club’s history.
Williams shared the 1986 Brownlow Medal with Hawthorn legend Robert DiPierdomenico in Toohey’s first season at Sydney, and Healy won the prestigious honour in 1988.
But the pool of star Swans extended far beyond Williams and Healy.
“In ’86 we had an amazing side; we just fell over at the wrong time of the year,” Toohey said.
“You go through the great players: Merv Neagle, Jimmy Edmond, Greg Williams, Gerard Healy, Dennis Carroll, my great mate David Murphy. We grew up together, me and David Murphy, and went to a little school in Finley. To have two of us in the Swans Hall of Fame is a pretty amazing effort.”
Toohey was presented his Swans Hall of Fame certificate by 325-match great Jarrad McVeigh – and he said the recognition was overwhelming.
“I’m just so happy,” Toohey said.
“All the hard work you put in and your commitment just to play – all you want to do is play and do the best for your team. You never look for any personal accolades or anything like that, so for this to come many years later and to be respected and honoured by the Sydney Swans is a very big achievement. I’m so rapt.”
