I saw some kids at the train station in jumpers with 29 on the back and then wrote this
As Matthew Pavlich left the game
I pitied the young and the unconceived
For they'll never see the great man play
And our stories they will not believe
They'll think that we are telling lies
That the lily, it has been gilded
When we tell of goals from the centre square
That left the opposition team bewildered
No one was better at Aussie Rules
There was no footy skill he lacked
They put him in the All Australian Team
As both a full forward and a full back
He could mark a ball from six men deep
Without bothering to even jump
He'd just point his arms up to the sky
and wait for the ball to go clunk
He kicked goals from anywhere he liked
And could kick them straighter than most
Although there was that season a few years back
Where he kept hitting the bloody post
His goal kicking range was massive
Anywhere within Subi Oval's girth
they say one day when the wind was up
That he dobbed one from West Peth
When it came to kicking bags of goals
Tricks were not something he was short on
But he had this one he used so often
You'd think defenders would have caught on
He'd run under the ball, his man would scoff,
say something rude or droll.
Pav would give the goose a nudge,
then run backwards and kick the goal
And insofar as gentleman go
You'd not meet a better one in your life
But if you stood in his way at a centre bounce
He'd would make a widow of your wife
There were two Pavlich's in the middle
The brute who'd crush you like a bear
And then the gentle Pavlich
Who'd step around you like Fred Astaire
He was the man the coach called upon
When the game plan had gone to crap
He'd just send Pav into the middle
Then go off and have a nap
Pav would turn the game around
He'd have the footy on a string
He'd lift his team and lift the score
Sometimes with a goal from off the wing
When he had the footy doves appeared
You'd hear the singing of some choir
but for some strange reason he never found
the appreciation of not any umpire
He respected the umps and treated them
as valued members of our community
But, they wouldn't listen when he pointed out
That the bastard had had prior opportunity
Winning support of the local fans
was not a problem he would have
Most kids in town have been named Matthew
And there's a thousand dogs called Pav
The Fremantle people love The Pav
Like Italian's love their Nonna
There's no one in Freo respected more
Except maybe CY O'Conner
But there were none who loved Pavlich
Like the players that he made shine
They all lifted and were better men
When they ran with number twenty nine.
So now that Pav's career has closed
Don't leave the ground too glum
Because you got to see Pavlich play
Shed your tears for those yet to come
For he's not the best we've seen so far
He's the great man, Matty Pav
The best there was and ever will be
He's the greatest we'll ever have
