Some surnames are in the walls at Valleys; Lewis, Strudwick, McCabe and Canavan.
Joe Canavan came to the Diehards in 1972 a young second rower ready to join the royal blue machine that was marching forward towards the promised land again after premierships in 1970 and 1971.
It wasn’t an easy team to find space, but Canavan did that and stayed there.
Joe Canavan Q&A
Who is the best Valleys’ family; McCabe or Canavan?
Well, we have eight children but only two footballers, so I think the McCabes would have us covered if it came to a game. I played a lot of football with John McCabe and his four brothers beat our four brothers.
How did you get from Dalby to Brothers in 1970?
I was playing for Brothers in Dalby and we won the competition in 1969, Brothers officials came to present the trophy and said how about you come to Brisbane and play for Brothers. So, I came down to Brothers in 1970 and played mostly reserve grade in 1970 and then first grade in 1971.
How did you get to Valleys? They were back-to-back premiers that wasn’t an easy team to break?
A few of us got offers from Valleys, I thought it seemed like a good idea. I had played against them in 1970-71, I didn’t think about it too much, it just seemed like a good opportunity.
It was a great era for backrow talent - who gave you some trouble?
Ian Robson and Richie Twist were great to play against. Des Morris was hard work. In 1972, Wests were the team to beat and we knocked them over in the finals just to come up against Des’ Tigers in the Grand Final.
1972 grand final is the most famous grand final. Fyfe’s field goal stabbed at the heart of Valleys, where were you and how did you deal with it?
I was about 10 metres from Fyfey and I think I have forgiven him. To be honest, I think it was a complete accident. Who kicks their first ever field goal in a grand final after fulltime? Hell of a time to give it a crack. It was a great day and to make the grand final in my first year at Valleys was fantastic. I played in 1979 too, but didn’t play in the grand final, and then I retired. Those Valleys teams were different teams, 1972 was going for three in a row and great players and 1979 was young, like Choppy and Wally and Struddy drove the whole thing. I did my ACL in 1973 and there wasn’t too much you could do then for a knee, so I sat out a lot of football. Essentially, I retired but I kept playing reserve grade at Valleys and some first grade but knees then were the end of you.
Who is your favourite teammate?
I played with Keith Walker at Brothers in Dalby, he is Gary Walker’s brother, so Sam’s great uncle, and he was a great player. He came with me to Brothers in Brisbane but didn’t like it and went back to Dalby, but he would have made it in Brisbane easily. Len Dittmar was great. Jeff Gill was a great teammate, Ross Threlfo was one of my favourites. John Crilly and Russell Hughes - Hughes belted me twice when I played for Brothers against Valleys.
You coached reserve grade at Valleys. When you retired did you enjoy coaching?
I coached the Valleys reserve grade in 1980, which was my first year out of the game and I really enjoyed it a lot. It takes up a lot of time and I would have liked to do it longer.
What was your job while you played?
I was working at an accountancy firm in Dalby and Brothers said we will get you a job so thought how good is that - they got me a job at the Golden Circle cannery and I lasted about a day. I worked for Patricks on the wharf for the rest of my working life.
Do you still go to Valleys' Old Boys Day?
Yeah, it’s one of my favourite days of the year, I love it. We get about 140 old boys and a lot more players from the 1980s coming now. Ron Gurnett lived with me for about 13 years and we catch up for a beer once a week.
Would you rather play in 1972 or 2024?
I wouldn’t swap 1972 for anything, it was great fun to be a footballer in Brisbane. We had great times.
Henry Holloway - seems a bit different at times?
He was scary, I never knew what he was saying. He would give these speeches and then walk out of the sheds and I would be sitting there thinking I didn’t get any of that. He was a giant man, but we loved him. You knew he was maybe involved in some of the darker things in life away from football, but we just worried about his coaching. I remember for a period of time he was banned from the clubhouse at Valleys, so we used to go to the Albion pub for a beer because our coach couldn’t drink at the ground.
Your younger brother Brian was a Diehards man too, who is the greater Diehard?
I think definitely me. Brian played and was the trainer at Valleys before the Broncos started but I played for longer and coached, so me for sure.
