"Whose Shout ?" Hello Bomber's here and the infamous Bligh / Thrower shout is about to begin. Yes, after one round each they're arguing. "No, i got the last one!" A nightly event. Every method of record keeping has been tried over the years, but all have failed. Bomber is the only person i know who can be in six different shouts and never buys. A Bomber greeting to someone he has not seen for a while is "How much money have you got in your wallet?" inevitably some is spent on the old mentor. I'd love to mention Bomber's age, but this is the best kept secret. Attempts of trying to get the secret from his mother have failed. He is the only person who has twelve birthdays a year. Bomber is very patriotic to his family birthplace, Ireland. Every St Patrick's day he dons his green suit with green and yellow ribbons on their lapel. The Bligh record collection gets its annual airing, along with the green beer and every paddy at North Shore. Who can forget the late Vin Kelly, twirling broomstick in hand, leading the procession around the rooms to the tune of McNamara's band. Another John Bligh tradition is the nicknames most ex-under 18's are still called by today. These were bestowed upon us at the dreaded initiation night, yes there have been some real rippers over the years - Palooka , Zippy , Ozzie , Ragsy , Stormy , Windy , Super , Weapon , Muncher , Cockroach. The list is endless. Where's the Footy Trip this year? You guessed it Echuca. Bomber has made Echuca our home away from home (especially in the case of the writer) . Jockeying for a seat on the bus starts early, the bus always leaves late waiting for Bomber to get himself organised. There is the usual stop at Rochester for an ale with Gabbo Hay before the Bomber speech as we drive into Echuca. "No trouble" he roars and to this day that is how it has been. Bomber usually "Disappears" for a few hours and to this day we are still unable to catch him "in the act". Come football time and we see the very serious John Bligh. There are no second places with this man, only success will do. His training whilst very hard (we've all cursed him under our breath) usually saw his sides wear down the opposition in finals due to superior fitness. His control and motivation of difficult players (and there have been plenty) is second to none. His main idiosyncrasy come Saturday is his ground wandering during a match. One moment in the coaches box, next nearly being bowled over in play on the wing. Threats have been made to buy a baby harness to keep him off the ground, but i doubt whether a cure can be found. North Shore were blessed with a hand in glove combination of John Bligh and Gordon Hynes. Bomber prepared all his juniors with a taste of the discipline which was experienced under "Woofer". He implanted an attitude of teamwork, success and hard work, his record of junior football is second to none, and i am willing to state that it will never be emulated. The commitment of Bomber to his coaching is tireless from recruiting, training, game preparation, fundraising and especially celebrating. His fundraising efforts over the years have raised thousands of dollars for the footy trips and presentation nights. His innovation of the footy tipping contest is still running. The club has been lucky over the years as the U/18 section has been self sufficient, primarily through the efforts of Bomber.

On behalf of every past and present North Shore under 18 player "Thank You John Bligh" ROWLAND BONE