Walsh much more than a magic Dragon THERE was an underlying sadness in Ian Walsh's later years, which came to an end on Wednesday when he lost his battle to a long illness. He was 80, and as great a footballer as you could describe in his day. Captain-coach of the greatest club side ever put together, captain of the first Kangaroo team in 50 years to win the Ashes against Great Britain, named one of the 100 greatest players of all time in the game's centenary celebrations in 2008. But greatness gives no promises in life. I spoke to him in grand final week last year as part of a "Where Are They Now" piece to mark 50 years since he captained St George to their 1962 grand final. It was the seventh of the Dragons' unprecedented 11 in a row but his first after joining the club that year from Eugowra. He had just lost his driver's licence after 60 years and planned on getting it back. He had many small pains and untold aches, but all he wanted to talk about was heading to Bob Fulton's property, four hours north of his home in Forbes, to hang out with a small club of bush footballers like Fulton, Noel Cleal and Jamie Lyon.That's where we first met, and each time we met there again it became clear how the bush trips were one of the final joys in his life. With his licence gone, Fulton and Cleal offered to swing by Forbes and pick him up. But, not wanting to be a burden, he was always a little too proud to accept their offer. Walsh had been joining them for years, paying his way each time with his role as self-appointed cook. Fulton had been calling on him so long that Kerry Packer, who also tagged along from time to time, had years earlier labelled him the best bush cook he'd met in his life. An open flame and a recent kill were all he needed to whip up a meal that had Packer or anyone else that elbowed up to the table wiping their plate clean. "He could make something out of nothing," Fulton said. Football was never the dominant topic despite the wealth of football knowledge gathered at any one time. He was melancholy last year. He knew he wasn't well. The conversation lasted much longer than the piece warranted, an old man reflecting on a life that was marked by tremendous success on the football field, early success in business off it, and then a long struggle afterward. To hear him talk football it was easy to believe he never progressed much further than Eugowra, where he was playing in 1959 when he played for Country, NSW and then Australia. Modesty was paramount. He played a Test against New Zealand and then later that year was Australia's hooker on the Kangaroo Tour to England. The Lions were tough in those days. Nothing like they are now. They played hard and sometimes fair and their football was well ahead of what was being played in Australia. "I was lucky," Johnny Raper said yesterday. I was at the back of the scrum but I used to see what was going on up front. He'd just say, 'Cop it sweet and use it to our own benefit. Don't turn away from them. Look them in the eye'. On Walsh's advice the Kangaroos took note of every dirty trick the English employed. He stayed in Eugowra for two more seasons, still playing for Australia, before joining the Dragons in 1962. He captained them to the grand final in '62 and '63 and then led Australia to England again. This time, the Australians were better prepared, and far better equipped, to meet Great Britain. It was the most significant Kangaroo Tour in history. The first series win in 50 years, the first on British soil. Walsh, a gentleman all his life, had influence beyond the football field. "He taught us how to control ourselves," Raper said. When he went off, he went off the right way. It was a trait not common among early touring sides. More recent ones, too. Significantly, the true testimony to Walsh's talent was that for all three Tests he pushed Team of the Century hooker Noel Kelly to prop, and it happened more than once. And while he never believed he ran second to Kelly, he never complained about his selection ahead of him, either. In many ways, he was St George of that era. Raper last spoke to him just a few months ago. Graeme Langlands was home yesterday when he got a call from Walsh's daughter. Another great one gone. Another bond broken.