It is 1952, and Norm McDonald is returning by train from Perth, where he’s just played in the Victorian side at the Australian carnival. The bottles of beer he’s bought for the trip are warm, and there is no fridge on board. What to do?
Drinking warm beer was out of the question, so Norm found a solution in the train’s luggage compartment, where several dead bodies – pack in ice – were being transported back to Melbourne. Perfect! The beers were on ice in no time and McDonald and his teammates enjoyed cold beers on the trip back home.
Norm McDonald was a legendary performer both on and off the field. On the ground McDonald was a breathtaking running defender; fast, skilled and attacking. But off the ground he loved to socialise, loved a drink and would often be seen standing on tables at the end of club functions, dancing and entertaining the crowd. There were no half measures for Norm McDonald – work hard on the ground, play hard off it.
McDonald was a sensational player across the half-back line for Essendon between 1947 and 1953. He was a big game performer – starring in the Bombers’ Premiership wins of 1949 and 1950. In many ways he was ahead of his time. Magnificently balanced and blessed with great speed, he would rebound and run off the half-back line in a style more in keeping with modern-day football. He would back himself to win the football – and that is usually what he did.
But it’s no surprise that McDonald was a daring footballer, for that’s the way he had lived his life.
Born in Richmond in 1925, McDonald spent eight years in the Geelong Presbyterian Orphanage from the age of six. But at 14, he decided he wanted out. So he ran away – simply got on his bike and rode off – and ended up working on a farm near Winchelsea. At 15, McDonald decided that the army was for him and again he took matters into his own hands, altering his birth certificate to ensure he was accepted. He spent four years in the army as a paratrooper.
Based in Darwin during the war, McDonald played in the forces competition and won the best and fairest award. He returned home and played with the Geelong RAAF side in 1945. During that season he went down to Geelong Football Club and asked to be signed up but the Cats weren’t interested. The Sporting Globe was later to write: “It is laughable that Norm McDonald, a dream footballer, went along to Geelong and asked to be signed up.”
So McDonald headed to the big smoke, and the next year arrived at Essendon. A knee injury blighted his 1946 season, but in 1947 he became a regular senior player, winning the best first year player award.
From the start he combined superbly with centre half-back Wally Buttsworth, and the pair quickly became a daunting prospect for opposition forwards. McDonald had outstanding skills for a defender, but his defining characteristic was his running ability. He would turn defence into attack with his blistering turn of speed, often conjuring up a possession from seemingly hopeless positions. And McDonald’s pace wasn’t confined to the football field. He was runner-up in the 1952 Stawell Gift when he was beaten by another Essendon footballer, Lance Mann. McDonald later went on to win a backmarkers’ handicap at Bendigo.
This pace was combined with great strength, best demonstrated when he briefly turned his attentions to boxing. McDonald won his first three bouts in impressive fashion, but hung up his gloves after he lost the fourth.
Still, despite all the brilliance and pace and skill, it is McDonald’s love of social life that remains almost legendary within football circles. This was a bloke who was known to regularly hide a bottle of beer in the toilet cisterns at Windy Hill, so he could sneak a few swigs at half-time!
It’s the kind of approach that must make coaches in today’s professional era shake their heads. But Norm McDonald was good enough to get away with it – and somehow, you can’t imagine him playing it any other way.
Norm McDonald
DOB: 10.12.1925
Number: 4
Games: 128
Goals: 3
Premierships: 1949 and 1950
Finals games: 15
Recruited from: Geelong RAAF team Belmont
First EFC game: v Geelong, Rd 4, 1947
Last EFC game: v Footscray, first semi-final, 1953
EFC Honours: Best first year player 1947, Most improved player 1948, Best and Fairest 1951, Grand final appearances 1947 - 51.
Did you know: Won the Australian Amateur 500m trial, won Bendigo Gift (record time 11.7 seconds), and was runner-up in 1952 Stawell Gift.
