The following article was originally published on www.carltonfc.com.au on April 28, 2015, before the recent death of the legendary Muhammad Ali:
Soon after the untimely death of the Herald Sun’s long-serving Walkley Award-winning photographer Peter Ward last month, a tribute penned by the newspaper’s Jon Anderson carried an image of “Wardy” rubbing shoulders with the former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.
That image took pride of place at Ward’s Watsonia home where thousands of his photographs – frozen moments captured through 45 years’ service to the Herald & Weekly Times – had steadily accumulated.
Amongst them was this one, captured by Ward’s colleague Craig Borrow on the same day – a glorious photograph of “The Greatest” shaping up to “Alexander the Great” – that appeared on the front page of the Herald Sun on Grand Final morning - Saturday, September 26, 1998.
The photograph was taken at Essendon Airport on Ali’s arrival for the 1998 Grand Final. Ali’s 72-hour Melbourne sojourn, facilitated by the late Carlton President Richard Pratt’s packaging conglomerate Visy, incorporated his presence at the MCG on Grand Final day, during which time “The Greatest” greeted more than 94,000 people from the back of an open-topped car parading along the boundary pre-match.
Jesaulenko, then employed by Visy, officiated as Ali’s Australian escort, truly appreciated the poignancy of the moment.
“It’s just an amazing experience. I’ve seen people cry and collapse," Jesaulenko told The Age’s Les Carlyon.
“When we arrived at Brisbane airport, Ali walked over to the maintenance workers - about eight of them standing around in overalls. Several of them cried. In sport, he’s the biggest there is.”
This week, Ward’s daughter Jodie saw fit to donate to the Ali-Alex Jesaulenko pic to the club given Jezza’s stellar career as Carlton premiership player and coach. She said she always assumed the photograph was taken by her father “which I assumed was why he kept it . . . but if it was Craig’s I’m sure he would still be happy for the club to have a copy.
“I found the photo here and thought ‘Jezza’ would like it, but I couldn’t get in contact. I then thought it might be of interest to Carlton and as long as it finds a good home that’s the main thing.”
Ward completed his long association with the Herald Sun in 2009 after announcing his retirement. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2011 and lost his life after a brave battle in March. He left behind his wife Wendy, children Jodie, Adam and Darren, and grandchildren Marlee and Cooper.
Borrow, another long-serving Herald Sun photographer who completed his tenure with the Herald and Weekly Times in 2012, could not be contacted for comment for the purposes of this article.
