THE late Geof Motley OAM was a towering figure of South Australian football. Factor in the nine premierships, the four club best and fairests and a Magarey Medal through 258 senior matches in 12 seasons with Port Adelaide, and Motley’s was an on-field CV like no other.
At Carlton, Geof is remembered as the quintessential father figure. In the aftermath of his son Peter’s terrible car accident in May 1987, he was always there by his boy’s side - just as Bob Rose was for his boy Robert in similar circumstances through the weeks, months and years that followed - and there was no greater love.
When Geof and Peter paid a welcome visit to the Carlton rooms following the Round 6 match with Hawthorn in May 2009 (at a time when Peter was undergoing rehabilitation at the Epworth Hospital), the former reflected on the latter’s unswerving loyalty to a club he had represented in just 19 games through 1986 and the opening six games of ’87 until fate cruelly intervened.
In a to-camera interview following the match, Geof turned to Peter and said: “You always have, as we have always been, enormously grateful to the Carlton Football Club for the powerful assistance they gave at the time of Pete’s accident”.
“We’ll never forget that because that will stay forever in our minds and hearts,” Geof said.
Stephen Gough, the then Carlton Football Manager, recalled how club people got around the Motley family following Peter’s devastating collision in Clifton Hill - and how they were able to share in the 1987 premiership success with Peter as a means of offering some satisfaction and respite from the former player’s daily trials.
Gough saw first-hand the breadth and depth of Geof’s support for his son from the moment he had to place the difficult phone call to Adelaide in May 1987.
“I remember I had to ring Geof after the accident. It was about eight or nine at night and he and his wife wanted to jump in the car and drive over from Adelaide there and then. I told them it was best to wait and they came over on the next morning’s flight,” Gough said.
“From that time on Geof looked after Peter and helped him 24/7. He was forever on the case of getting Peter better, and to see that side of the man, even as his own life deteriorated, was a great credit to him.
“Geof’s passing is a great loss because he put so much into Peter’s rehab and treatment. Craig Bradley was also a tremendous support to Peter after the accident, and Geof carried on after Peter returned to Adelaide.”