Mick's yellow and black heart

By David Sutherland

COMEDIAN, actor and writer Mick Molloy didn’t succumb to the allure of footy until grade five. His father was Brisbane-born, and had no real passion for the game. He was also in the air force, and for Mick’s first decade or so his family moved all around Australia following his father’s postings.

But when Mick’s family settled in footy-mad Melbourne and Mick turned up for his first  class, he found himself sitting next to a kid who was a keen Richmond fan. So it seemed only natural for Mick to support them too. The game quickly captured his imagination, and his blood has run yellow and black ever since.

“Now, thirty-odd years later, I still go to the footy with that same bloke I sat next to in grade five just about every weekend,” he says. “And as we’re leaving - usually after a loss - I thank him a lot for getting me to follow the Tiges!”

The roller coaster of footy fandom has given Mick some thrills, and a great many disappointments. He still savours the heady feeling of the 1980 premiership, but feels the pain of the loss to Carlton two years later as though it happened only yesterday. He has attended each of the Tigers’ rare finals appearances since then, enjoying the two wins and hurting bitterly after each loss – just like any true fan should.

“I do take it hard,” he admits. “Wins and losses can really influence the mood of your weekend.”

Mick also played footy as a youngster, and once lined up against a young Stephen Silvagni when playing for the school firsts.

“I kept him to six goals,” he says. “Only trouble was, I was playing centre half forward, and Steve was playing centre half back.”

Mick now matches wits with Dave Hughes, Lehmo, Samantha Lane and Andrew Maher on TEN’s Before The Game. But he also still gets the footy out pretty regularly for a therapeutic kick with friends and family.

Mick is planning to do just that to celebrate Kick Around Australia Day on Thursday August 7. He’ll join his brothers and workmates in a game of kick to kick on the road outside his offices in Collingwood.

“I think Kick Around Australia Day is an absolutely fantastic concept,” he says. “Anything that encourages kids and adults alike to get out there and boot the pigskin around is a good idea.”

As part of its 150 year celebrations the AFL is also encouraging fans to send in photographs of themselves kicking – or even just holding – a footy in an interesting or exotic location. Mick Molloy takes a footy with him whenever he travels overseas, and has kicked a ball in several far flung locations.

“Possibly the most exotic is the Luxembourg gardens in Paris,’ he says. “It didn’t exactly overjoy a few of the other people there. But let’s just say they got their first taste of Aussie Rules footy.”