WITHIN three seasons of making his senior debut at Rupanyup, John ‘Jumbo’ Sudholz found himself playing in the Victorian Football League under the coaching eye of legend Bob Skilton.
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Sudholz’s rise from country Victoria to the top league in the nation was swift, but for some it wasn’t unexpected.
“Back in 1963 after my first game with Rupanyup when I was still 16 our coach was a guy from South Australia,” Sudholz said.
“He saw me play and he made a comment at the pub and said pointing to me, ‘See this guy here, he played his first game today and in three years time he will be playing league football’. I didn’t even acknowledge it at that stage.”
Sudholz started playing reserves football with Rupanyup at just 14 and in 1963 the side won the senior premiership.
“I played 14 games in 1963 and Rupanyup won the premiership, but I didn’t play in that,” he said.
“I became a regular the next year and then in 1965 I went down as a guest of Essendon in the finals. Essendon won the premiership that year and I went into the rooms and was able to see the players get organised before a game.”
Prior to the 1966 VFL season, Sudholz trained with as many as seven clubs.
“I came from a strong football-supporting family and I was determined if I was going to Melbourne I wasn’t going to be playing in the seconds,” he said.
“I trained with seven different clubs from September through to March before the 1966 season. On the Thursday night before the first game I signed with South Melbourne.”
Sudholz said joining a club coached by Skilton and later the great Norm Smith was pivotal for his career.
“Bob Skilton was my first coach and at that stage he had won two Brownlow Medals and was by far the best player ever to play at South Melbourne,” he said.
“At the time he was probably up there as one of the best players to have ever played the game. In 1968, South Melbourne appointed Norm Smith. There are two people in this world I hold higher than anyone else – my father Cyril and Norm Smith.”
Sudholz played in South Melbourne’s 1970 first semi-final, a 143-90 loss to St Kilda in front of more than 104,000 spectators.
“Playing the final was the highest pinnacle I achieved in my career,” he said.
“It was at the MCG and I think it’s still a crowd record for a first semi-final. We hadn’t been in the finals for 25 years so it was a pretty big thing for the club. If it wasn’t for Norm Smith we would not have made the finals in 1970.”
Sudholz originally went to the VFL as a ruckman, but he wasn’t tall enough and became a key forward. He topped South Melbourne’s goal kicking tally for four consecutive seasons from 1967-1970.
“I always had that determination, which I learnt from my dad,” Sudholz said.
“I wanted to be the best at whatever I could do. I didn’t even ask dad as a farmer’s son whether I could go and play football in Melbourne – I just went. In 1970 when we made the finals I kicked 60 goals that year and I finished fifth in the league behind Peter Hudson, Doug Wade, Alex Jesaulenko and Peter McKenna.”
Sudholz played in a golden era for full forwards and 1970 was the first time three forwards (Hudson, Jeasulenko and McKenna) kicked more than 100 goals in a VFL season.
Sudholz played two games for South Melbourne in 1971 before returning back home to Rupanyup with his family.
“After a lot of debate and discussion we decided to come back to Rupanyup,” he said.
“I can remember speaking to Norm about it and he said he knew I wasn’t completely happy at the time.
“I was offered the Murtoa coaching job, and in those days Murtoa and Rupanyup were both in the same league. I was keen to do the job because my father won two best and fairest awards at Murtoa. Before I said yes I talked to the Rupanyup people.
“I then came to an agreement with Rupanyup. 1970 in Melbourne and 1971 at Rupanyup were the two best years of my career. I lost the Toohey Medal on a countback that year, but since then they gave out retrospective medals and they presented me with one about a decade ago.”
After his return to Rupanyup, Sudholz suffered a mental breakdown and depression. He is now an ambassador for beyondblue and frequently shares his experience.
“If I hadn’t had depression I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to speak in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra, nor at Constitution Dock in Hobart,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to nearly every service club around this district about it. I know how to manage my depression now.”
Sudholz said he often copped knocks to the head during his career, something he thinks might have contributed to his depression.
“I was a well-known player and if the opposition couldn’t beat me legally they tried to beat me illegally,” he said.
“One of the last Wimmera league games I played I was knocked out and spent four nights in hospital with concussion. Now I wonder if because of those head knocks it affected my mental health.”
Sudholz gave up football in 1974 and was lured back to coach the seconds at Rupanyup in the mid-1980s.
“They talked me back into playing in the seconds,” he said.
“We made the grand final at City Oval and I was trying to do what I was doing when I was 25 and I was about 38. I finished up in hospital with a punctured lung and broken ribs. We won the grand final and after the senior game all the seconds players rocked up to the hospital at 5pm.
“After winning the grand final they had had a few drinks. That was in the mid-1980s and that was my last game.”