Stripped: The year Port Mac's footy larrikins went nude for their club
Updated
In 2003, the players of Port Macdonnell Football Club sat down and were asked a question, "are you willing to take your kit off?"
At the time, going nude for a good cause was all the rage, with sporting clubs, fire brigades and even local gardening societies producing calendars full of folks with artfully placed items protecting their privates.
Jumping on the bandwagon, the club in South Australia's south-east rounded up their bravest players, brainstormed some scenarios and employed the services of two local photographers to shoot the images.
Player and local CFS firefighter Grant Fensom said he remembered showing up early one Sunday morning to meet the photographer with the local brigade's truck, with just a few hours of sleep under his belt.
"Port Mac in the middle of winter isn't the warmest of places; it was very cold and the water was very cold," he said.
Although he described the photographer as very professional, Mr Fenson, who is now the CFS group officer for Kingsley, said he probably should have taken more notice of where the hose was wandering.
"Yes, I copped some flak about the whole positioning of the hose," he said.
"It looks like it's coming out of my rear end!"
Mr Fensom said he recalled all the younger players being quite gung-ho when first asked, but then disappearing when it came to their clothes actually coming off.
"If I remember, all the 20-year-olds chickened out. It was a bit of fun. I think they sold quite a few but I reckon I burnt my copy," he joked.
Cop takes it off
Mount Gambier policeman and A-grade player Paul Marston said he recalled the day of his own photoshoot with absolute clarity.
With an pilot theme, the man who became known as "Mr June" had to ditch his kit in a very public place — the runway of Mount Gambier's Airport.
"I was very embarrassed," he said.
"They may have been an audience from the terminal; I'm sure one girl there was having a perve out the window.
"The lady organising it was quite excited about the idea because it was different to the rural theme, and she brought the pilot hat and jacket. I just had to bring the briefcase."
Having left the police force and the region some years ago, Mr Marston said he lived in dread of his colleagues finding out about his nude debut.
"Most of the cops there played for Glencoe. Up until I left, I was expecting some sort of ribbing but it never came," he said.
"Unless they all giggled behind my back and didn't tell me; no one ever knew about it."
Auctioneer becomes Mr August
The month of August belonged to Mount Gambier auctioneer Scott Miller, who posed with his gavel among a pen of bewildered sheep.
"It had to be in tune with my job; it was something a bit different," he said.
He still cops a bit of flak from his clients and his wife, who was not thrilled to see her husband's butt immortalised in print.
"She probably thought 'typical Scott', " he said.
Making cameo appearances at the back of the shot were Darryl Riley, Grant Fensom and umpire Bruce McLaughlin, who also posed for his own shot with a carefully placed flag.
South-east Umpires League manager Terry Willoughby said Mr McLaughlin's decision to appear in the buff did not impact his career.
"He's still umpiring to this day and he hasn't been arrested," he said.
The calendar, which came with the warning "not to be sold to persons under 18 or to the fainthearted" sold like hotcakes.
Although it is 13 years after the calendar was in circulation, it often pops up in conversation said Mr Fensom who, at the age of 43, has not ruled out another calendar appearance.
"For the right charity, I would do it again," he said.
But Mr Marston and Mr Miller said they might need to dedicate a bit of time to the gym first.
"Grant still looks like he's 15 [but] give me a month and I'd do it," Mr Miller said.
More Friday Rewind history stories
- Remembering the dashing Roger Pitt, Australia's first double amputee pilot
- The Half-Way Town and Gambier's Mountain: South Australian town names that never stuck
- Trapped tradie makes a great escape from Centenary Tower
- Light and dark: Frank Hurley's photographs of the Limestone Coast
- A mob of sheep, a plane crash and a black-eyed businessman
- Are you South Aussies, or what? Princeland proposal divides Mount Gambier
- The night a circus elephant escaped and strolled around Mount Gambier
- Snowflakes and a shower of frogs? Strange south-east weather tales
- Newspaper offered reward for mystery 'monster' of Mount Gambier's famous Blue Lake
Topics: human-interest, sport, offbeat, community-and-society, photography, port-macdonnell-5291
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