BARELY a week goes by when Alfie Trebilcock, a club icon in his own right, doesn’t stop to reflect on the all-time great, who he met at Alberton in 1968.
As Port Adelaide prepares to honour Ebert this weekend in its Round 2 clash versus Hawthorn, Trebilcock instinctively knows what the four-time Magarey Medallist would want from the team.
"The best thing we could do is win and all play well,’’ he said, adding that for all Ebert’s individual accolades, his greatest desire was team success.
"I’ll most probably talk to the players a bit about that as I come in touch with them before they go out on the ground. I’ll get around ‘em and say 'this is a big day for Russell – let’s win for him'."
Trebilcock was "feeling the ropes" in the Magpies’ sprigging department as a butcher-turned-boot-steward from Broken Hill when he met Ebert, who had arrived at Alberton from Waikerie in the Riverland.
"I didn’t have a lot to do with Russell for the first two or three years, but after that time, we got pretty close," Trebilcock said.
"In one year, he went through seven pairs of boots. That’d have to be a record. He was such a big fella and he used to run hard, so he’d wear them out pretty quick."
Trebilcock said Ebert trained in moulded soles but played in knock-in spriggs. As time went on, he began to have Achilles problems.
"I came up with the idea of putting a heel on his boots - and it fixed him up," he said.
An inconspicuous detail on Ebert’s Adelaide Oval statue, which became a spontaneous shrine following his death from leukemia in November last year, is a measure of the duo’s mutual admiration, trust and respect.
"He came to me when they were making it and he said: 'Alfie, you’re going to be very pleased with what I’ve just done. When they make the statue, I’ve told them, the boots they put on, make sure there’s a heel on them'.
"After it was unveiled, we had photos taken with the statue and he showed me the raised heels on the boots, which I’m very proud of."
Within an hour of returning to the club, Trebilcock said Ebert appeared at his door.
"He came down with three photos. You know what he put on them? He wrote: Alfie, you were a big part of this, Russell Ebert. I was overwhelmed to think a fella like Russell would do something like that for me, but that was Russell," he said.
"He was a very passionate person. If you helped him, he was loyal to you.
"Even when he retired, he’d come into the boot room and we’d have a conversation about how things were going, especially when Brett, his son, started to play. He’d come in and ask 'How’s Brett going, is he being good to you?' and I’d say 'Of course he’s good, he’s an Ebert!'"
Trebilcock is reluctant to choose a favourite memory of his friend, but said one image is hard to beat – Ebert lifting the Thomas Seymour Hill Trophy above his head after captaining Port Adelaide to the famous drought-breaking flag in 1977.
"I joined in ‘68 but we never won a premiership till ‘77. That was a long time for Port Adelaide to go without winning a flag. When Russell held that cup up that day, I was so proud and honoured – for him, the team, and for myself as part of the support staff."
Their final conversation is still raw but fitting.
"He was real sick, and one day, at training, he rang me up. He wanted to know how I was getting on," Trebilcock said.
"We had a chat for about ten minutes. Even then, talking to him and that, I got emotional. It was great to hear him and it was great that he thought of me when he was crook. That was the last time we spoke.
"Russell didn’t care who you were. He’d bring everyone to the club for a look and a chat, and you’d think what a wonderful person he is. The club was really lucky to have someone like that.
"I’ve been blessed, really. I looked after Russell. I looked after Jeff. Then there was Craig, then Brett and then Brad. I had something to do with their football, every one of them. I’m immensely proud.’’
Trebilcock will turn 80 in May and said he had no plans to slow down.
"I feel proud of the fact that this is my 53rd year and I’ve never ever had an argument with a player," he said.
"I not only love them, I love the club. It’s everything to me. There’s not a thing I wouldn’t do for Port Adelaide."
