When Melbourne was found guilty of major salary breaches in 2010, the club was bombarded with stones and rotten vegetables – but they had a shoulder to cry on in the form of Father Bob Maguire.
The Storm became the villains of the NRL overnight when an NRL investigation found two sets of books and extra payments being secretly handed to star players.
The Storm were stripped of the premierships won in 2007 and 2009, three minor premierships and the eight game points they had earned from the 2010 season at that point.
The NRL also stated that they could not score any more league points that season and ordered the club to pay a $500,000 fine and refund $1.1 million in prize money.
“The effort they went to to hide the payments was extraordinary,” then NRL boss David Gallop said at the time.
These payments have enabled them to recruit and retain some of the best players in the game. There is no alternative to the NRL in terms of punishment.’
Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm playing group showed this unity after the sentences for the 2010 salary cap scandal were passed
Melbourne Storm ambassador Father Bob McGuire sprinkles player Cooper Cronk with ‘holy water’ in Princes Park after training
The Storm was friendless and under siege, but they had one loyal partner in their darkest hour – Maguire.
Father Bob was known as the people’s priest before he passed away this week at the age of 88.
That included being a friend to the Melbourne Storm players and staff during the salary cap scandal.
Coach Craig Bellamy recalls how father Bob, a huge Collingwood AFL supporter, also became an ally of Melbourne’s NRL team.
“I remember when I came to the club he was a big supporter of the club, and he was quite a few,” Bellamy said of Father Bob on SEN radio.
But what stands out to me about him is that we went through that salary cap debacle in 2010 and I can’t remember a person who gave more support to the players and the club than Father Bob did at the time.
“I will always remember him for that. The support he gave our players during that time was incredible.
“I don’t think I’ve met too many sober people, to be honest, than Father Bob. It’s a very sad time, to be honest.’
Maguire was a man of the people and touched the hearts of many in Melbourne. He was often seen wearing his Melbourne Storm scarf (pictured)
Singer Angry Anderson, Father Bob Maguire and Social Worker Les Twentyman Are Pictured Raising Awareness About Youth Violence
Former Collingwood President Eddie McGuire also paid tribute to Father Bob, who approved Eddie’s scholarship to Christian Brothers College St Kilda when he was just 12 years old.
Eddie would go on to meet Father Bob as a fresh-faced student in Year 8.
Bob was the chaplain at the school at the time and often urged Eddie and his peers to play soccer in the afternoons after mass.
“We used to like Father Bob because it was 12.15 and he would say, ‘There shouldn’t be any boys in the church playing football in the paddock,’ he said.
“He would do a full mass with communion and a sermon in 15 minutes and send us on our way, he was unbelievable.”
As time went on, Eddie and Father Bob continued to collaborate in charitable endeavors through the Collingwood Football Club and Bob’s foundation.
AFL commentator and former Magpies boss Eddie McGuire paid tribute to Father Bob, who was the chaplain at his school
Father Bob Maguire influenced and assisted so many people during his time as a Catholic priest, including his beloved Magpies and Storm
Eddie shared with Jacinta Parsons on ABC Melbourne that Father Bob embodied the essence of selflessness and giving back to the community, and that those who received help from Bob were never made to feel indebted to him.
“Those who received help from Father Bob Maguire never felt indebted to him,” he said.
“You felt like you came in to be a part of his community.
“For those who were unlucky and had nothing, he was a savior to them.”
Eddie talked about the great bond he had with Father Bob over the years, including their almost identical surnames and the fact that both their fathers were from Scotland.
So he organized a fundraiser to send Father Bob back to Glasgow just before Covid hit and what his mate did next shocked him.
“He cashed the check and handed it to some poor person who needed it more than he did,” Eddie said.
Eddie offered to buy him another ticket and Father Bob said ‘no, no, I’ll do the same thing again’.
“He was a crazy magpie and what he did accept was a club membership every year for all the good deeds he’d done,” Eddie said.
“I loved him dearly, he was a wonderful man.”