The Ballad Of Tom Wills
Verse 1
Born in the chill of '35
Descendant of mothers rejects
Molonglo Plains near our capital
His families sheep to protect
Early in his life they moved south
To lands of newer climes
Living rough under canvas
Our first people spending time
He learnt their voices and gestures
Spent time with their songs
Their games he became familiar
Relationships grew strong
In '46 Tom moved east
To start a new school
Busy streets of Melbourne
His uncle's care to rule
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 2
His father had grand plans
So overseas Tom did go
The prestige of Rugby School
Waiting for him to show
In '52 aged sixteen
He played cricket at Lords
Destroying the MCC
With his guile with the ball
Tom resisted a tempting invite
From his adopted England
Choosing to lead his school
To the greatest power in the land
Hare and Hounds his other passion
An early form of football
Tom's body perfectly fashioned
His skill unparalleled
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 3
Consumed by his sports
Studies gradually waned
Tom turned down Cambridge
To pursue his love of games
Tom's life turned to wandering
Playing first class as he went
Drinking, playing, spending
Would become his new bent
Tom steamed home
In the summer of '56
Melbourne town had boomed
Off the back of gold digs
Tom's reputation preceded him
Was soon playing for his state
The cricket mad colony
Was there for him to take
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 4
He was the hero of the colony
Leading Victoria against the north
Playing for numerous clubs
As his status went forth
Playing as an amateur
He loved to socialise with the pro's
Drinking and incidents followed him
He fueled authorities woes
The winter of '38
Bought a new sport to the state
It was called winter practice
Australian football was first played
The Melbourne club was first
Richmond and Geelong soon followed
He never knew what
It would become tomorrow
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 5
At the beckoning of his father
Tom retired from all sport
Headed north to run a station
West of Bundaberg
In October '61
A tragedy did occur
Tom was collecting supplies
17 settlers were murdered
The massacre at Cullin La Ringo
Was the largest we have seen
The local first peoples
Retaliating for previous deeds
Revenge was swift and savage
With at least 70 slain
This trauma haunted Tom
His dreams were never the same
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 6
Tom left Cullin La Ringo
Tainted with surrounding violence
Leaving a trail of poor management
Alcohol adding to his severance
He returned to native Geelong
Sarah his partner by his side
Where he played the game he invented
No teams to which he would bind
Tom formed a team of indigenous
Recruited from the area of his birth
They toured playing exhibitions
Creating both political and financial worth
The tour was sadly dogged
By skepticism and scandal
The crowds gradually waned
Unlike Tom's love of alcohol
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 7
With money running out
He joined the Melbourne Cricket Club
To become their resident pro
His lifestyle catching up
As the captain of Geelong
Tom developed football
'74 saw his retirement
His legacy embedding the rules
Tom toured country towns
And played against England
His success was very mixed
As his lifestyle demanded
Increasing management disputes
Decreasing sporting standards
Pushed him from sporting fields
That he had once commanded
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall
Verse 8
He continued to be involved
In the sports that he loved
Increasing debt and creditors
Forced a move back to Melbourne
Tom's last official game
For Heidelberg who he coached
Coincided with his last letters
Babbled words it was noted
Sarah his partner for life
Concerned for his welfare
Committed him for treatment
Diagnosis was the tremors
In May eighteen eighty
In the grip of delusions
Tom took his own tormented life
Into his heart he drove scissors
Now all these years on
We celebrate the man
Not for the cause of his downfall
But for the legend that we gained
Chorus
Tom Wills was his name
Our first hero of sport
His cricket prowess was startling
He was a legend in football
His final days were tragic
Tough life came to call
In the backstreets of Melbourne
Even sporting idols can fall