a day ago
Phil Walsh's death a decade ago shocked and united footy fans divided by their Showdown
If further proof were needed of the pride South Australians take in their Showdown, one place to search would be the everyday speech of the state's football faithful.
Among Adelaide and Port Adelaide fans, certain phrases have passed into popular usage, and attest to the intensity of the passion for the AFL's most celebrated cross-town rivalry.
The mere mention, for example, of the words "Dawson goal" and "Monfries bounce" is enough to evoke episodes of high drama — the first, a swerving after-the-siren free kick that secured an astounding victory for the Crows; the second, a wicked deviation in the ball's trajectory that turned a match in favour of the Power.
But perhaps the high watermark of Showdown mischief occurred off the field in October 2014 when, on early morning television, then-Sunrise presenter and Power powerbroker David Koch broke the news about the man the Crows had selected as their next senior coach.
As Port Adelaide chair, Koch was ideally placed to know that the Power's then-assistant coach Phil Walsh, whose two stints at Alberton amounted to more than 10 years of service, had been wooed by the Crows to fill the vacant role.
"We feel very flattered that the Crows come to us for their senior coach," Koch told his Channel Seven audience, several hours before the Crows made their official announcement.
Walsh's death — which occurred 10 years ago today — remains a rare event in the history of the AFL.
When Crows supporters woke on the morning of July 3, 2015 to the news that their club's coach had been fatally stabbed in his own home at Somerton Park, the shock and anguish were both immediate and palpable.
The sombre mood was starkly at odds with the excitement and buoyancy that had accompanied the media conference that followed Walsh's appointment to the Crows' top job nine months earlier.
"First of all I'd like to thank my family for the support they've given — I hope one day to be able to repay them," said the then-54-year-old, who was candid about the challenge ahead of him.
In a tragic turn of events, Phil Walsh, 55, died from multiple stab wounds after a domestic dispute at his Somerton Park home in the early hours of July 3.
His son, 26-year-old Cy Walsh, was charged with murder.
Cy Walsh was later found not guilty of murder by reason of mental incompetence, with a judge determining that he had been suffering a psychotic episode as a result of undiagnosed schizophrenia.
But in the immediate aftermath of Phil Walsh's death, legal proceedings seemed almost an afterthought.
Instead, one of the most noticeable and spontaneous effects of the shock was the solidarity it induced between the Crows and Power supporter bases.
Usually the most bitter of rivals, both felt the blow directly and personally.
South Australia is a place where football matters, and Adelaide is the archetypal two-team town. Melbourne has nine clubs (or 10, including Geelong), and the media's gaze is divided between all of them accordingly.
But in Adelaide, where both local sides are subjected to almost perpetual attention, the smaller size of the population has at times seemed to intensify fans' feelings of connection to the teams and their players.
The death of Test cricketer and South Australian state team player Phil Hughes during a Sheffield Shield match the previous spring had triggered national as well as international mourning, and the #PutOutYourBats social media trend in honour of the fallen prodigy had spread around the world.
But Walsh's tragedy was, in a sense, Adelaide's own.
"I got a phone call at 3:30am from the police to say that a tragedy had unfolded and that it involved Phil Walsh, our coach," said Crows chairman Rob Chapman at the time.
"That's a phone call no-one ever wants to get."
Inspired by #PutOutYourBats, local football fans embraced a #ScarvesOutForWalshy campaign.
When the state's then-premier Jay Weatherill paid his respects, he very deliberately acknowledged the impact of the grief on both Adelaide teams.
He singled out supporters of the Crows but made a point of extending that sympathy to "everyone who has associated with Phil throughout his career, including his time at the Port Adelaide Football Club".
Further indications of the shared sense of loss were the floral and other tributes that were piled outside the Crows' West Lakes headquarters.
Among the flowers, sympathy cards and memorabilia, the team's red, yellow and blue could clearly be seen mingling with the Port's black, white and teal.
Nine months earlier, when he had cheekily revealed Walsh's move to the Crows, David Koch had done so in his capacity as a TV personality.
Now, amid the flowing tributes, he spoke with statesmanlike dignity.
"Phil was a much-loved friend of the Port Adelaide Football Club, having played an instrumental role in our 2004 Premiership campaign," Koch said solemnly.
"Equally, our thoughts and prayers are with the players, coaches and staff of the Adelaide Football Club."
A decade on, Power coach Ken Hinkley retains fond and vivid memories of Walsh both on and off the field, and this week spoke of his "knowledge and the brilliance of his mind, which was amazing in a football sense".
"The players who played under Phil would say there was no stone unturned when it came to being ready to play football, and I'm sure the blokes who had him at the Crows as well, in a short period of time, would all say exactly the same," Hinkley said on Wednesday.
"It's a sad moment that he's not with us, clearly."
Distinctions are often made between sport and the so-called serious things in life.
Football is indeed a game, but it isn't only a game, and the reaction to the loss of Phil Walsh remains proof of that fact.
But it is proof of a kind that South Australian football fans hope never to encounter again.
