Entering his 30TH VFL/AFL season, chief executive Cameron Schwab reflects on 1982 - his first year involved at the highest level and with Melbourne in this Q&A with Matt Burgan

MB: Well Cameron, you’re about to enter your 30th VFL/AFL season this year - can you believe it?

CS: It’s terrifying to think that.

MB: Can you take us back to 1982 and how you started your career at the Melbourne Football Club?

CS: Basically, there was a job advertised in ‘The Sun’, which it was in those days. Melbourne was looking for an assistant to the football manager, who was a fellow by the name of Ray Manley. I was doing my HSC as it was then at Camberwell Grammar. There was a lot of excitement around the Melbourne footy club at that time. I’d come from a really strong Richmond family background and I made a choice to apply for the job. I’m sure the fact my surname Schwab was a great assistance at the time.

What are your memories of the interview process?
CS: I remember going to meet [general manager/CEO] Dick Seddon at 26 Jolimont Terrace. The thing I remember is that there was a massive picture of Norm Smith in the foyer and his club blazer. I just got caught up in it straight away. You knew how rich the heritage of the club was. I still had about three or four months of schooling to go, but I was appointed to the role knowing that I would start on January 11, 1982 - subject to getting my driving license.

What was your first role at the club?
CS: Effectively, I started as the good old-fashioned office boy. I mainly worked in the football area. I started the year after Melbourne won the under 19s premiership, so there was a group of players coming through who I was the same age as. I was quite quickly able to establish a good friendship group. It was probably not dissimilar to people going into first-year uni.

Can you recall your first day at Melbourne?
CS: I can’t remember anything specific, but I remember I went down to ‘Alexander’s’ or ‘Roger David’ or one of those and made sure I had a new suit. I also polished the shoes. But my father really explained to me the expectations. They were mainly about how hard you were expected to work. I was as green as grass and it was my first real job, so I had no expectations and I did what I was told.

How quickly were you involved in the day-to-day football department?
CS: Right from the outset, I was really fortunate that Ray would involve me in various discussions. Even in that first year, I was sitting in on match committee with Ron Barassi, Ray Jordon, Stan Alves and Barry Richardson, as they were trying to pick the team. In 1982, we had quite a positive year, because 1981 was a tough season, after winning just one game. But in 1982, we were showing some good signs. I can’t say that I added any value to the organisation at that stage, because I was just learning how to work, as much as anything. But I probably learned a few hard lessons along the way as well.

What was one of the first key tasks you had at Melbourne?
CS: One of the first jobs I actually had was ringing through the teams. You’d ring through the firsts and the seconds, so you had an immediate interaction with the media, the coaches and I was clearly interacting with the players. For an 18-year-old, you couldn’t have had a better understanding and there was a bit of Hollywood about it too.

Who were some of the players you can remember vividly from 1982?
CS: We had some real characters around the club, including Brent Crosswell at centre half-forward. We had Mark Jackson at full-forward and Peter Keenan in the ruck. Shane Zantuck, Gary Baker, Gerard Healy, Steven Smith and Peter Giles were around the club and of course Robbie Flower. On top of that, Brian Wilson won the Brownlow Medal, so it’s extraordinary when you think about it now. And then the next year, the club recruited Peter Moore and Kelvin Templeton, so there was a lot of activity around the club. And there were some big personalities around the club - along with Ron Barassi, Dick Seddon and Ray Jordon. So for a young bloke from Mt Waverley, it was an amazing introduction to the game.

You were involved in recruiting during your early days with Melbourne. How quickly did you get into that area?
CS: Ray Manley took me recruiting in September and October in 1982. We went up to the Goulburn Valley, which was our zone and we’d visit the houses of the prospective players, who would come down and play in the under 19s the next year or the year after. In my very first year, the first house we went to was in Kyabram and it was Garry Lyon, who was a 15-year-old. And then we went to the Parklake Motel, where we interviewed Rodney Grinter. These guys became icons of the club. In Garry’s case, he was 14 or 15 years old and Rodney was 16 or 17, but he looked like he was 25. I’m sure he drove to the motel! As Ray Manley and Ray Jordon interviewed these guys about coming to play at Melbourne, it was then part of my role to sit down with them and get them signed up. That really created the opportunity to get into recruiting. That was the biggest break that I got. At the age of 18, you’re involved in the recruiting process.

How did your job evolve from the first year?
CS: The next year, I had more involvement with the under 19s and I started to watch more junior players. By 1984, I was pretty well full-time in recruiting. The game changed when (former Swans and then St Kilda player) Silvio Foschini took the playing rules to court and it opened recruiting up and in 1986 we had a drafting system. I really started on recruiting when I was 19 or 20 years old, so I was very lucky. It seems young and I was young; I was a very young looking guy. So I remember knocking on doors and saying: ‘Hi, I’m Cameron Schwab, I’ve come up to see you’. And there was shock on their faces, because they were waiting to see the next bloke, not a young fella.

Fast forward to today. How did those first few years set you up for today?
CS: The strength of that period gave me a deep respect for the people who make the game - the people in and around your club. That means the property stewards and trainers. At that stage, there was a higher level of volunteering. You learned from guys like Sam Allica and Alan Henderson - as much as Ron Barassi. But then to do recruiting and know that you had a major say in young peoples’ lives, particularly when you had to bring them down from the country, like Garry Lyon at 16, and change their lives … every aspect of what I did then now plays a role. It stems back to that time, but it also stems back to my Dad, who played a major part in it. Most importantly, you realise it was part of who you were. At 18, you realise that the Melbourne Football Club was who I was and that was critical. The most important lessons I learned in life were learned in and around this club - in my working life and many around my personal life.

In closing, do you feel this period was critical to where you are today?
CS: My Dad always said: ‘When in doubt, act as though you’re the secretary’. I’d still like to be called the secretary actually. But he said: ‘Act like you’re the secretary of your local football club and never think you’re any different to that’. I’d like to think I have a deep respect for what it is and I’d like to think I’ve kept that attitude even now.