Glenn Archer breaks through a tackle from Caulfield’s Ashleigh Cooper. 19975 By Paul Pickering
GLENN Archer made a triumphant homecoming to the Lyndale Football Club on Saturday, inspiring the struggling Pumas to an improbable victory over Caulfield at Barry Powell Reserve.
In what was almost certainly his final game of football, the North Melbourne legend amassed 26 possessions and four goals from half-forward to guide his junior club to a morale-boosting 24-point win.
And as the frenzied crowd which converged on the Halton Road ground will attest, it was a perfectly scripted football drama and a fitting farewell to a champion of the people.
After lining up on former Australian Football League foe and Caulfield playing coach Darren Kappler, Archer duly booted the Pumas’ first goal from a strong mark in the goal square.
He stalked menacingly across half-forward, throwing himself into the fray and bouncing off opponents in characteristic style.
With every Archer contest, the Pumas grew in confidence, and a two-goal lead at the first break was the result.
After slotting the Pumas’ first of the second quarter, the revered Shinboner of the Century had his finest moment of the match on the stroke of half-time.
Having turned his opponent around on the grandstand wing, Archer doubled back into the left pocket, swooped on the ball and converted from the boundary line to give his team a 29-point half-time advantage.
In the third term, Archer deferred to excitable youngster Adrian McCracken, hitting up the mohawked full-forward with two pinpoint passes that led to goals.
But when the Bears drew within three goals in the final term, it was Archer who emerged to mark and kick the sealer and ignite the celebrations.
When the siren sounded, the Pumas had effected an astonishing 114-point turnaround from their round two loss at Caulfield.
But as he was surrounded by a swarm of fans and old friends in the rooms, an exhausted Archer’s first instinct was to praise his team-mates.
“The boys were great and the pressure was sensational,” he said.
“I said to Matt (Caples, Lyndale coach) after the game, I can’t believe they’re second bottom the way they played today.
“You could tell before we ran out that they were going to be up, but it was just a matter of whether they could sustain it.
“And even in the last minute, they were still going in at a million miles an hour.”
For Caples, though, the inspiration was always going to be their returning hero.
“There’s no doubt that when you’re playing with a guy like Arch, you’re going to think, well I better go hard as well,” he said.
Caples, a former schoolmate and Noble Park under-18 team-mate of Archer’s, said he was honoured – if a little embarrassed – to coach the Kangaroos games record-holder.
“I felt a bit of pressure before the game, but Arch is a fantastic guy, he’s pretty humble and he didn’t want to make too much of it. It was definitely a highlight for me,” he said.
But, as Archer admitted, it wasn’t just humility that kept him subdued on the ground.
Despite looking in good nick, fatigue set in early.
“I started doing some coughing in the first quarter and I had a little spew at quarter-time,” he laughed.
“I’m going to be struggling all week, but I loved it.”
After two decades away from the club, Archer was surprised by how familiar it felt to be back at Lyndale.
“It brought back some good memories,” he said.
“I played 10 years on this ground, and it hasn’t changed all that much. A lot of the same people are still here, which is great.”
Having played his first game at Barry Powell Reserve as a five-year-old, Archer said he was content to have finished his football career in the same place.
And judging by the turnout on Saturday, the symmetry was not lost on some of his most ardent supporters.
