The column featured a great photograph of Rogers, Murphy and Kelly casting their gaze across Elsternwick Park. For Bob, a noted music aficionado – particularly of the Kelly and You Am I canon – it was a somewhat humbling experience. “It is strange, don’t get me wrong,” he speaks down the phone, fresh from a visit to the barber. “I know both of them a little bit now and have spent a bit of time with both of them, and would call them friends. But I still have those little moments, thinking as I’m standing next to them about how much time I’ve spent listening to the music of these two coaches beside me. But at the time, you’re just talking about the footy and what move the Rockdogs should so next. It wasn’t anything more than that, really. It was nice in its simplicity.”
For Presentation Night, the first of its kind event exploring great footy and music minds, Bob will be joined by Paul Kelly onstage to examine the cultural importance of their respective crafts. “I’m going in blissfully unaware, really,” Bob says of his preparation for the night. “I’m not sure if anyone know what to expect. It’s a bit of an experiment in a lot of ways. But we have the bones of something that could be very good – music, footy, Paul Kelly, Francis Leach – that sounds okay to me,” he relays with a sense of understatement.
While Bob and Paul’s rapport is centred on the footy aspect of Community Cup, the two find their conversations extending to the extracurricular. “We sort of cross over a lot. There’s a mutual curiosity, I’m obviously interested in music and Paul loves music and writing, and he’s a bit of a footy nut. The conversation flows pretty easily between footy and music. But we talk about writing and that sort of thing as well.”
Though the Dogs and their young roster are currently in a bit of a slump at the bottom end of the ladder in 2013, Bob can boast a spotless record of sorts as Rockdogs assistant coach. “Well I walk on the sunny side of the street, so I see it as that I’m undefeated as an assistant coach,” he says in deference to the two consecutive Community Cup drawn results. “It’s up to the Megahertz how they wanna look at it. But that’s how myself, Paul and the rest of the Rockdogs match committee want to take it.”
Bob’s musical palate was informed by a few choice childhood discoveries, and came into full flourish upon moving to the big smoke of Melbourne. “As for the music that was in my house growing up, my dad listened to classical music mostly. The only other stuff he really listened to was a few Van Morrison and Elvis records getting around the house. So I had a bit of an in there. The first CD I ever bought was Bruce Springsteen, then one of my mate’s dads had Paul Kelly’s greatest hits playing all the time. Those touchstones are what got me into it, I guess. Then I moved to Melbourne – and it sounds a bit wanky – but I remember having a beer at The Napier when I was 17 where I asked what was playing and it was Exile On Main Street. Those little moments are what really got me into music,” he recalls.
Melbourne’s two great loves, footy and music, seem to coexist with harmonic resonance – a quality that could well be unique to our fair city. “I grew up in a small country town, Warragul, then moved to Melbourne. So that’s basically all I know, it’s my kind of normal,” he reasons. “People seem to be into the idea of Presentation Night, they stop me and ask me about it. There’s a bit of vibe that it’s something worthwhile. I live in hope that it’s a Melbourne thing.”
The promotional artwork for Presentation Night depicts Bob in place of Bruce on the Darkness Of The Edge Of Town album cover – denoting Bob’s foremost appreciation for Bruce Springsteen. “Paul and I, when we were walking to the game on Sunday, we got talking about The Boss and how both of us had been to the concert recently. I loved it, it was great, I’d never seen him and I always wanted to. But there are lots of shades of Springsteen, and the live one is that very bombastic, Dancing In The Dark, Springsteen. But if I had a preference, it would be the more contemplative, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Nebraska style of Springsteen. I mean, I love Born To Run, but I lean towards the darker stuff a little bit. It was still great to see a 63-year-old do the knee-slide. I probably could have done without the crowdsurfing.”
So how does music influence Bob in his full-time role as an athlete? “It’s a hard question to answer, how it influences me. It motivates, I suppose. But being an athlete, without sounding to dramatic, you tend to spend a lot of time alone thinking about things. All the anxieties, just like everyone else. Music’s a great therapy for that. Going for a run, pumping weights. Whatever you’re doing, it’s a companion. It’s a hard thing to articulate, it’s part of who you are. Who you listen to is part of who you are. I’m sure we’ll get into it at Presentation Night. My dad, my brother, my wife, my coaches have all been great influences on my footy career, but I put Paul, Tim Rogers, Tex Perkins, Springsteen as influences as well.”
BY LACHLAN KANONIUK
