Former Cudgewa enforcer Ben Byatt on the day he was escorted from the Walwa pub

One of the toughest players to have pulled on a boot in the league, the Cudgewa ruckman played over 400 matches and coached seven premierships.

The 84-year-old caught up with The Border Mail's BRETT KOHLHAGEN ahead of Saturday's Footy for Fires fundraiser at Cudgewa.

BRETT KOHLHAGEN: I've met a lot of people in the Upper Murray since the fires a couple of months ago and everyone seems to have a story about Ben Byatt. It sounds like you never took a backward step?

BEN BYATT: I didn't mind throwing my weight around if it was needed.

BK: You coached Cudgewa for 12 years and I'm told you were very protective of your players

BB: I had a lot of kids under me who were 15 or 16 years old so I had to look after them. If they got into trouble I would step in. I was no champion or better than anyone else but I was very dedicated to training and things like that. I drank but not from Thursday night onwards.

BK: You would have seen some big brawls in the Upper Murray?

BB: Plenty. It was hard footy up here. When you went down, you went down. There was no bloody acting about it. We had fights but who didn't have fights in those days. These days you would get strung up and put in jail for a week.

BK: Did you get a lot of injuries?

BB: The first hamstring I ever knew was in a pig (laughs). I'd never heard of it. Now, good god. The players were fit back then because they were on the farms and did a lot of manual work. They were fit men.

BK: Do you reckon you had white line fever?

BB: I was dedicated. I didn't try and do things out on the ground, it was just something in me. That's just what I was like.

BK: Best player you've seen in the Upper Murray?

BB: John Cornish. He was coaching Tumbarumba and was a beautiful footballer. He could play anywhere on the ground.

BK: Kevin Mack senior was a hard man like yourself. How did you get on with him when Cudgewa played Corryong?

BB: We were good mates but went hard at each other on the football field. We had a few run ins. He was a lot better player than me though.

BK: You had a lot of success coaching didn't you?

BB: I got seven flags and two doubles (first and seconds). Back then the coach coached the firsts and seconds. Believe it or not we had 54 at training every night on a Thursday and you had to pick two sides. I used to get a bit touchy when I had to go out and read out the sides as players were always missing out on a game.

BK: You didn't tolerate your players breaking team rules did you? I understand you once took a hard-line approach when a few of them played up before a final against Walwa.

BB: I told them no grog after training on Thursday nights. A pimp came down to the clubrooms one night and said a few of the boys were drinking up at the pub. They were three of our best players too. So I got the secretary to come with me as reinforcement and we couldn't see anyone in the bar. Then we went around to the ladies lounge and found them getting into it. The silly buggers. One bloke came out and said: 'Will I bring my boots tomorrow or won't I?' I just told him don't brother. Another was getting a rub down the next day before the game and I told him you won't need that today. The president came to me and said you can't leave the three of them out but I said if they play, I don't. I rucked about five quarters that day just trying to win after what happened. It was the only game we lost all year (laughs).

BK: Any fall out after leaving them out?

BB: One wife got stuck into me I remember

BK: You trained your sides hard didn't you?

BB: We ran up the hills next to the clubrooms a lot. We trained hard and they got a bit worried about me a few times. I didn't stuff around with them. We had a couple of sooks who went down and I would say: 'Get up or get off and they always got up and kept going'. They were all locals and good blokes. I was the oldest player in the side and we had young teams so I had to keep them honest.

BK: Cudgewa has always been close to your heart. How many games did you play?

BB: I wouldn't know, 400 or 500 I suppose. I played my first game when I was 15 and finished when I was 41. There were no seconds back then so you went straight up. When I started I was mothered by the coach a fair bit. He kept playing me.

BK: Some great people at the club?

BB: It's been a great footy club over the years. We had a good secretary in Alan Vogel who was there for 22 years. He was a great man. Greg Hillier and Johnny Star are there now, as well as many others, and they are great stalwarts who have somehow kept the club going. The players were all locals back then but things have changed a lot since I was involved.

BK: Why did you stop coaching after 12 straight years?

BB: I'm not too sure. I didn't get sick of it but I think another bloke wanted to coach. I probably thought my time was up.

BK: Did you like playing or coaching more?

BB: I liked being the playing-coach and doing my thing. I could control a game even if it wasn't doing a lot on the ground. I had some good players like the Moscrop boys (Ian and Brian), Ken Land, the Stars, Tony Smedley and Barry Byatt and players like that.

BK: Ever consider playing for another Upper Murray league club?

BB: Not really. I probably wouldn't have been game. I always thought the crowds dropped off when I stopped playing because people came just to see me get bloody wiped out. Especially Federal.

BK: Why Federal?

BB: They used to hate my guts. Walwa did too.

BK: What did you do to them?

BB: Just the usual sort of stuff. I remember 'Spud' Bryant's Mrs at Walwa. She gave me plenty over the fence. I went to a progressive barn dance one night and saw her. I said: 'Do you still love me' and she said 'Love you, you bastard'. Geez, I used to have some fun. I just took it in my stride. It's funny now though as some of my best mates are the people I played against from other clubs. People like Col Whitsed and Maurie Hore are great blokes.

BK: You were a big believer in having a beer with the opposition after a game weren't you?

BB: It was a big part of it back then. One day I'd had a row at Walwa and one of the Drummonds was on the boundary and wouldn't let me in the door when I came off the ground after I'd barreled someone. He pushed and shoved me and I hit him and down he went. The policeman Jack Hallinan came up and asked me what happened and I explained and he said that's fair enough. He said you aren't gong to the pub for a beer though. I explained I'd been going for the past 25 years and would be going again. So he said the cops would be going too. I went up for a beer and one of the cops drove me home that night. Apparently old Jim Murray offered someone 300 bucks to down me in the pub. I wish I'd found out earlier as I would have gone down myself for 50 bucks (laughs).

BK: You played a senior game with your sons didn't you?

BB: Mark was full-forward, Phillip was full-back, David was on a wing and I was in the ruck. David was 16 back then. It was good, we beat Corryong that day.

BK: You weren't a tall ruckman were you?

BB: I was about three inches too short at 6 foot 1. I had to find something else.

BK: You must have done something right as you spent a season with Footscray?

BB: I had a year there in the reserves but they didn't look after me at all. The Bulldogs were pretty ratty when I was there. Kevin Smith went down to Richmond and looked after him really well.

BK: How many times did you get rubbed out?

BB: I got one week and shouldn't have got that. I did worse things than that though and got away with it.

BK: You spent 10 years as the publican at Tintaldra. How did you enjoy those years?

BB: I loved it. We did well out of it as it put us on our feet. We had one fight there in 10 years and I had that. We had bikies and all sorts there.

BK: You captained the Upper Murray interleague side for a long time didn't you?

BB: The league had some good sides back then. Put it this way, we won a lot more games than we lost over the years.