In Jim Main's series, 'Swan Songs', on great players from the past, this week he talks to former Swans best and fairest, Max Papley...

Max Papley
Born: July 31, 1940
Played: 1964-67
Games: 59
Goals: 66
Number: 11

The hugely talented Max Papley was one of the brightest comets to flash across the South Melbourne firmament.

Papley barracked for the Swans as a boy, but had two other great loves that bookended an all too brief career in the red and white.

Firstly, Papley fell in love with VFA club Moorabbin and joined the Swans only in extraordinary circumstances and, secondly, his main passion was cricket, the love of which eventually curtailed his VFL career.

The young Papley went to the same school (South Melbourne Tech.) as club legend Bob Skilton albeit a couple of years behind the eventual triple Brownlow Medal winner and wanted to play in the same side as him with Melbourne Fourths.

However, the coach told Papley he was too small and the youngster wandered off to play with Port Melbourne YMCA before he and his family shifted to the Moorabbin area.

It was there that he fell in love with the now-extinct VFA club and quickly built himself a reputation as an outstanding full-forward, even though he stood just 179cm (less than six feet).

Papley was such a talented footballer that he captained the 1963 Moorabbin premiership side, at just 23 years of age.

However, his football world was just about to fall apart, as he explained: “Moorabbin at that time came up with a plan to share its ground with St Kilda, which was to move from the Junction Oval.

“The idea was that the ground would be built to VFL standard and that St Kilda would play there on a Saturday and Moorabbin there on a Sunday.

“This led to all sorts of trouble and the VFA was so upset with Moorabbin working with a VFL club that it was expelled from the competition.

“I therefore found myself without a club and that was when the Swans finally convinced me to play with them. I had always barracked for them, but I really loved the Moorabbin club and was happy there.

“I had signed a form with South before my parents shifted, so I was tied to the Swans and finally saw one of my sports dreams come true in playing for my boyhood team.”

Papley was such an outstanding success with South that he won the club’s 1966 best and fairest award and, the following year represented Victoria in matches against Tasmania and South Australia.

Sadly, the 1967 season was his last with the Swans, although he did not know it at the time.

He recalled: “South wanted me to continue and I was more than happy to do so, but I had one condition - that I would do all the pre-season work and play in the practice matches as long as they were not at the same time as my cricket commitments.

“I was captain-coach of the Moorabbin club in the Sub-District competition and I probably loved cricket more than football, so it was a difficult choice.

“Then, in the February before the start of the 1968 season, I was working in the chemical industry with clients in the Williamstown area. I got to know the Williamstown Football Club president and he told me that its coach had retired and would I consider taking on the job.

“I told South about the offer and, because the club would not relent over the cricketing issue, I took the Williamstown job and moved there without a clearance.”

Papley was just 26 years of age but, of course, it was in a far less professional era and he had his family to think of in making the move.

Papley spent five years with Williamstown before moving to a farm near Bunyip, in eastern Victoria, without any thought of being involved in football.

However, he was not in the country long when the Bunyip club convinced him to be non-playing coach and, a few weeks into the season, he pulled on the boots again.

“It was the worst football decision I ever made,” he laughed. “I got treated like a punching bag and I decided to pull the pin very quickly.”

Papley now lives in the Bunyip township with wife Laraine. They have four adult children - Cathy, Vicki, David and Karen - 12 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

He still follows the Swans’ fortunes, but recently had his loyalty tested when grandson Ben Ross was drafted by North Melbourne and played 15 games with the Kangaroos.