Back in the 1970s, rugby union and rugby league reigned supreme in the New England and North West. Which came as something of a shock to Arts student Rod Gillett.
Raised on a healthy diet of Aussie Rules in the Riverina, he arrived at UNE in 1974 to find just a handful of players competing for the President’s Trophy.
“We had four teams featuring students and academics: Robb, Saints (Drummond and Albies), United (Austin, Page and Wright) and the City team, which was essentially older UNE students who had moved into town,” says Rod. Unlike down south, the sport had only been introduced to the university community 12 years earlier.
But, in the ensuing years, the Austin College resident known as Rocket – “I was as slow as treacle” – would become a handy rover for United, a footy broadcaster (2AD), President of the UNE Australian National Football Club and one of the code’s biggest promoters.
“Each team had enthusiastic players of mixed ability,” he says. “Many blokes played rugby on the Saturday and Aussie rules on the Sunday to make up the numbers. But we had very successful university rep teams in that era, which regularly won the Northern Country Championships and an Inter-Varsity title in 1976.”
Rod would play a significant role in the expansion of Aussie Rules into northern NSW, enjoying stints as an umpire, coach, selector and President of NSW AFL while completing his Master of Letters online, also at UNE. That he was inducted into the inaugural AFL NSW Hall of Fame in May in recognition of his services to the game’s administration (1974-2019) came as no surprise to many.
And while the game has taken him around the nation, there remains something special about the friends Rod made at UNE.
“Football connects people and brings them together. I’m still connected with some of the ex-players from UNE. We have a WhatsApp group and have had an AFL footy tipping competition (vying for the Makeham Medal) for the past 30 years. We get together each year in Melbourne on the Friday before the AFL grand-final.
“Those early days at UNE were great. I wanted the game to grow and always had an eye on the future. We did clinics in the Armidale schools, had schoolboy games before our matches and brought in VFL people for visits.
“Sometimes it was a stretch to field four teams, but we managed it. The guys had missionary zeal and we had really good support from a number of academics, including the Master of Austin College, Brian Seppelt, Sam Beasley, Euan Fleming and Jack Makeham. As patrons, players or umpires, they mentored and guided us young undergrads.”
Intervasity team Melbourne 1978
Rod Gillett kicking a goal against Newcastle Uni at Consett Davis 1977
Intervarsity Sydney 1976
Rod Gillett with UNE coach Mitch Hooke at UNE Sports Union Blues Dinner 1977
Girls match 1978 - Rod Gillett umpiring
Footy helped Rod to forge friendships across the university – especially with Rural Science and Agricultural Economics students from the AFL strongholds of Victoria and South Australia – but he was also on Austin College’s Senior Common Room and served as both a Student Union and Sports Union member.
“That sense of contributing to a community came from my great-grandmother Louise Watts and my parents,” he says. “Very unusually for the time, my great-grandmother was made a life member of the Yarra Glen Football Club. She was a passionate supporter, went on the team bus for away games and ran the canteen, so I give her credit for my love of country footy.”
Academically, UNE gave Rod the opportunity to pursue his interest in history and to learn from “all-time great historians” like Russel Ward and Sandy Yarwood and economic historian Ron Neale, who imparted the importance of strong sources, evidence and objectivity. Rod’s Masters dissertation – a social history of Aussie Rules in the Riverina, supervised by UNE historian Bruce Mitchell (a South Melbourne supporter) – deftly combined his twin passions.
“It’s more significant to me than my doctoral thesis,” he says. “I analysed the occupations of the players and officials, demonstrating how Aussie Rules has always been open to players from all kinds of social, religious and ethnic backgrounds.”
Professionally, Rod’s career took him into sports leadership and senior academic roles around the world. In the process, he became a football historian, sessional academic, author – and ardent Sydney Swans fan. He continues to write for the Swans and the NSW AFL History Society.
“Aussie Rules is fast-moving and requires great athleticism; it draws you in and means something. Through it, I’ve made friends all over the place. It’s more than a game. And the fact that most major towns throughout NSW now have Aussie Rules footy teams, for young men and women, gladdens my heart.”
