Pictured: Dave Strickland (right) and Charlie Darby.
May 12 will mark the 125th anniversary of the one and only game by a St Kilda player who excelled in another sport and triumphed in an iconic Australian event amid huge controversy. RUSSELL HOLMESBY uncovers the fascinating tale of Dave Strickland.
Dave Strickland’s sporting CV had many intriguing elements that included playing one game for the red, white and black.
The peak of his fame was reached in another sport as the winner of the iconic footrace the Stawell Gift. Now that the dust has settled after national interest in Gout Gout’s quest to win the Stawell Gift, it is worth recalling the Saintly connection with The Gift.
He was also the father of Shirley Strickland, a superstar runner who won seven medals across three Olympics including three gold, making her the most successful Australian runner of all time.
This year is the 125th anniversary of Dave Strickland’s victory in the legendary 120 yarddash..
The Dave Strickland genes were obviously a key factor. His Stawell Gift win all those years ago happened to be surrounded by huge controversy.
He had been a Victorian originally and ran as an amateur for East Malvern Harriers. Like countless other men of the time he headed to the Western Australian goldfields in search of his fortune. He went with his father and brother and it was no easy trip. They got transport from Perth to Coolgardie but then walked 117 miles (188 kilometres) to the outback mining town of Menzies.
Dave’s running talents were always apparent , but he needed guidance . He met noted coach Mick Hurley, and Hurley immediately identified that Strickland’s standing start technique needed to be changed.
Strickland set his sights on the 1900 Paris Olympics and was told he could compete in the trials at distant Brisbane , but he would have to pay his own fare . The cost would have been too much and his coach advised him to target the Stawell Gift instead. Hurley and Strickland sailed from Esperance to Adelaide. They stayed at Brighton Beach and trained quietly on the local oval.
As a professional athletics event , the Stawell Gift has always been a focus of bookmakers, and punters at the call of the card at the Mathews Hotel the night before the big race, were happy to dig deep into their pockets. Dave Strickland was one of the three favorites . The handicap system, as usual was a matter of contention. In the opening heat Dave Strickland started off 10 yards, McDonald off nine and a half yards and McMannus off three yards. The long-striding Strickland bolted over the finish line by several yards.
Immediately after the race McDonald and McMannus lodged protests against Strickland for having not given true accounts of his previous performances and having run under another name in Western Australia.
McDonald dropped his protest when he found he hadn’t run second and McMannus asked for three weeks to prove his case against Strickland. He had the flimsiest evidence and he admitted later that he was acting on hearsay.
On Easter Monday Strickland charged away from the opposition and won his semi-final with plenty to spare, then easily won the final by three yards. Albury runner Charlie Darby protested on the same grounds as the earlier complainant. That evening the Stawell committee announced that it would withhold the prize money for a month while the allegations against Strickland were investigated. Because the club had refused to pay the prize money the bookies did not pay out to punters either, which threw Stawell into uproar.Eventually the protests were dismissed by the committee three weeks after the event.
It appears that Strickland had remained in Victoria waiting for the decision, and the payout. On May 12 he lined up for the Saints on a half- back flank against South Melbourne for his one and only League appearance.
History doesn’t tell us whether he had the breakaway acceleration of a Wanganeen-Milera or a Sinclair, but it’s fair to say the South Melbourne half forwards would have been trailing in his wake.
