General News
3 July, 2026
Premiership Lions reunite after 60 years
Tales of yesteryear will be flowing next month when the Warrack Eagles host the 60-year premiership reunion. On Saturday, August 15, legends of the 1966 side will gather at Anzac Park for a luncheon when the club hosts Nhill.
Premiership players Max Wright and Ian Bibby said there will be many stories on how the Lions defeated John Kennedy’s highly fancied Stawell team at City Oval by 27 points.
“We’re putting on dinner for everyone who comes, plus a guest speaker, John Neilson,” Mr Wright said.
“It will be great to catch up with some blokes that we haven’t seen since the 55-year reunion.”
“Unfortunately, some of them passed on, Kenny Smale and [Barrie] ‘Fish Bone’ Fry,” Mr Bibby said.
“Which is why it's important for us to keep getting together,
“Plus, the older we get, the more bags we kicked in the grand final.”
While the Maroons had lost the grand final to the Tigers in 1965, the Redlegs were the clear favourites.
Stawell had won every game in the 1966 season until they faced Warracknabeal in the semi-final.
Mr Wright said John Kennedy was a master motivator, a skill that helped him coach Hawthorn to a premiership in 1961.
“I remember John Kennedy in [the changerooms], and he got him revved up,” the premiership centreman said.
“They're all jumping up and down. You couldn't hear.
“He had the greatest speech I'd ever heard… we all knew we had to get through that first quarter because they just came out like raging bulls.”
Mr Bibby, who played centre-half back in the premiership side, recalled the Stawell side was tall across the park.
“They always had someone who had just played or would go on to play in the VFL,” he said.
“Names like Mike Pickering, Terry Carr, Ian Brilliant. I had to line up against ‘Delicate’ Des Dickson.
“You didn't say anything in his way, or you’d get your nose punched in.”
Attendees can also look at the Lions’ old club gear, including socks, shorts and the woolly jumper.
Neither man is sure whether their old gear will still fit 60 years later.
“Most of us blokes are 80 plus, so half are going to be walking in there with walking sticks,” Mr Wright said.
“We’ll have dinner, a chat and wander off home, a bit different to 40 or 30 years ago, where you stay all day and all night and have a kick.
“There were 38 players who took the field in the premiership year, so we’re hoping to get 20-25 on the day.”
To RSVP for the 1966 premiership reunion on August 15, contact Mr Wright on 0417 824 141, Mr Bibby on 0419 006 676, or the Warrack Eagles Football Club.