Pioneer on a new frontier

Leigh Matthews, the coach of the Australian side to play in the international series at Croke Park over the next two weekends, is known as Lethal. The nickname was coined by an unimaginative journalist who thumbed through the dictionary in search of an adjective beginning with L after Matthews had brutally shouldered the twinkle-toed West Australian rover Barry Cable in 1971. The name stuck, as alliterative labels are wont to do in the hands of journalists.

These days, Matthews might just as well be known as the Juggler. He arrives in Ireland with a 23-player squad on Wednesday just weeks after accepting the post as coach of Brisbane in the Australian Football League (AFL). In recent weeks he has also fulfilled newspaper, radio and television commitments as the season has built up to the grand final, won by Adelaide over North Melbourne last Saturday.

In the past week, Matthews has taken training sessions for the Australians in Melbourne and, in his role as Brisbane coach, has thrown himself into the trading season that begins as soon as the grand final is over.

It has been difficult to evaluate his player list because he has had no previous involvement with the club, but Matthews doesn't mind flying blind. It's all part of the challenge, the rough and tumble of the game he loves.

"I just got the urge to be involved again, to be involved in the result rather than just be a spectator," he says from Melbourne. "I'm 46 years of age. I thought, `Well, if you don't do it now, you're probably never going to do it, so have your final fling'."

Matthews admits that, if he had had any inkling that he would coach an AFL club again, he would not have taken the Australian role. But he is proud to be the leader of the national code and says he is not flying across the world for a rest. "The reason I'm involved - the reason all of us are involved - is that we don't get a chance to represent our country, and here's an opportunity we've got to grab with both hands. The honour of representing your country, that's the stimulus."

Matthews says each of the Australians' four training sessions has been trial and error. He is relying on the guidance of Jim Stynes, who left Dublin at 18 to become a Melbourne champion, and Gerard Healy and Robert Dipier domenico, who played in the international series in the 1980s. The Dipper is well-remembered by Irish fans for his curly hair, bristling moustache and bullocking frame.

The squad is spending all its time adjusting to the round ball.

"We're taking it session by session," Matthews says. "It's a very interesting project."

The Australians have the view that the international series is essentially Gaelic football with the Australian tackling rule thrown in. Matthews says his side must work to their strengths by tackling fiercely and running hard. The All-Australian players who have been forced to drop out of the touring squad have been replaced inevitably by runners, which is more in tune with the requirements of the international series than a forest of tall timber. Even with these extra runners, Matthews says the Australians will be too tall for a game in which the ball doesn't hang in the air.

"We realise that, but it's basically a game for an All-Australian side to play another country. If you get down to tin tacks, the 6 ft 8 in guys will probably spend a fair bit of time on the bench."

Matthews himself was a 5'11["] rover who ended his career as a full forward. The task of a rover is to scout the packs for the balls that the bigger team-mates drop in marking contests. They are the smallest players on the ground, but Matthews revolutionised roving because he was built like a tank. Far from waiting for the crumbs, he split packs with his fierce attack on the ball. He was a natural leader during his career with Hawthorn and was officially captain from 1981-85.

In 1982, his desire to inspire the Hawks during a last-quarter charge against Essendon at Windy Hill was rewarded with two goals. Then his attack on the ball became so fierce that he snapped a goal post in two after hurtling full throttle for a loose ball.

The Hawks went on to win and Matthews' reputation as a bruiser was etched deeper into the annals of legend.

In 1983, Matthews captained Hawthorn to victory over Essendon in the grand final. Hawthorn and Essendon were to play in the next two grand finals also, with the Bombers trumping the Hawks in both. By then, Matthews was spending more time in the goal square than as a rover. It is unknown for a full-forward to be less than 6ft, but Matthews was strong enough and cagey enough to inspire still more victories. Eventually, his slowing body frustrated him, and in a moment of madness during a spiteful match at Kardinia Park, the Hawthorn legend blighted his career by hitting Neville Bruns as the Geelong rover ran past. The ball was way upfield and Matthews says he still doesn't know why he did it, other than frustration.

Bruns spent weeks in hospital. Matthews has apologised, but makes no excuses. He has never shied from the fact that his act was cowardly and has asked to be considered for the fact that he took as much punishment as he dished out during his career.

It was a great career, worthy of inclusion in the game's top five. From 1969 to 1985 he played 332 games and kicked 915 goals, the most of any player not to spend his career at full-forward. He won eight best player awards at a club that was littered with champions and notched four premierships from his seven grand finals.

In 1986, he began his coaching career with Collingwood, the club with the biggest, most feverish following in Australia. In 1990, he was promised the Collingwood coaching job for life after taking the Magpies to the promised land. After 32 years and 10 heartbreaking grand final losses, Matthews delivered a premiership.

The promise was hollow and in 1995 he was sacked. He quickly found his feet in the media and has actually taken a pay cut to accept the coaching job at Brisbane. Newspapers reported that Matthews accepted a three-year deal worth $1.5 million, but the coach says this figure is "exaggerated, a bit romantic".

He does concede, however, that he is being paid a salary commensurate with some of the league's best players, which puts him in the $300,000 to $400,000 a year bracket. He looks forward to the challenge of leading a northern city in a competition that has its roots in the south and west of the country.

In the meantime, he looks forward to forging a different frontier, against a foe from farther north than Brisbane. He wants to lead Australia to success against Ireland, and with his record, you'd have to give `Lethal' Leigh Matthews every chance.