Geelong’s winning streak of 1952/53 is the longest on record in VFL/AFL competition. Winners of the 1951 premiership, they were a dominant side, their unbeaten run beginning with Collingwood, who they beat in round twelve of 1952, and twenty three consecutive wins later it was the Pies who burst the bubble. The unbeaten sequence was actually twenty six, a draw in round eleven of 1952 with Essendon spoiling the card.Collingwood repeated the dose in the second semi final and the grand final of 1953.  One of the Cats stars of that period was centre half back John Hyde.The former Port Arlington junior was recruited from Hamilton College, and his physical, no backward step approach to the game suited him to a key defensive position in the side of skilled players that Geelong was at that time.     The Geelong half back line of Hyde, Russell Middlemiss, and Geoff Williams, considered by many critics to be one of the best defensive lines to play in the VFL or AFL, was one of the strengths of the side. After amassing a hundred and eight games over seven  seasons, Hyde, fairest and best winner in 1950 and arguably best on ground in the 1951 grand final, was to shock the club and it’s fans by accepting a captain coaching job at WANFL club, Claremont, in 1955.“I’d gotten a bit stale, and decided to accompany my mate Jim Noonan on a trip to Perth,” John recalled. There was no shortage of offers from Western Australian clubs, with West Perth and Swan Districts showing plenty of interest, but it was Claremont who won the prized signature, with the transfer of Claremont ruckman John O’Connell to Geelong, although never a direct swap, smoothing the clearance process somewhat.  For a member of one of the most successful and professional clubs in the Victorian Football League, Hyde walked into  a culture shock at Claremont Oval. The first meeting between the prospective coach and the committee would have had Hyde wondering what he’d gotten himself into. The main clubrooms out of action due to a fire, the Claremont club were also having problems with the grass on the oval, so had some sheep grazing on it. With the meeting due to be held inside, it was unfortunate that the sheep had managed to make their way through the building and in the process left their calling cards throughout. It certainly didn’t make the club smell like roses, and the suggestion of an adjournment over the railway line to the Claremont Hotel was agreed to unanimously. It was a much more laid back atmosphere  at the struggling Tigers than Kardinia Park.  Unable to turn the club’s playing fortunes around completely in the two seasons he was there, John nevertheless installed a different outlook in the attitudes and performances of the players, with several youngsters such as Les Mumme, Murray Ward, and Kelvin Allsop going on to become players of the future. Hyde burst onto the local football scene, winning the club’s fairest and best in 1955, and was one of Western Australia’s best in their win over South Australia at Subiaco in August of that year. He was also in the side for the return game the following Tuesday, in which the Croweaters had their revenge. During his tenure at Claremont, John met Morna Pearce, WA and Australian women’s hockey captain,      and one of the Pearce sisters from Moulyinning who all played for their State and Australia.  May, Jean, Morna and Caroline Pearce came to prominence in women’s hockey in WA from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s. May, Jean and Morna  all went on to captain both State and national teams, while Caroline ‘Tib’ Pearce played at State and national levels. Morna Pearce was the winner of the inaugural WA Sports Federation Sportsman of the Year, represented WA from 1951-56 and was selected as a member of the Australian team for the same period. Morna was the Australian Team Captain in 1956 in Sydney for an IFWHA International Tournament against 30 nations achieving 1-3 vs England ; 1-0 vs Holland , 2-0 vs Canada ; 8-0 vs Ireland ; 0-0 vs Scotland ; and 0-1 vs South Africa. Morna’s brother Joe Pearce debuted for Swans in 1939, but his career was interrupted when he enlisted in the military during World War Two, joining the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalian in October, 1940. Despite being wounded and imprisoned for three years in a Japanese POW camp, after the war ended Pearce picked up where he'd left off with Swan Districts  in 1946, staying with the club until his retirement in 1951, having played a total of ninety one league games.  Joe Pearce won the Swan Medal as fairest and best at Bassendean in 1949 and 50, and played twice for       State representative sides. The Swan Districts club presents the Joe Pearce Courage Award after each season, and the Anzac Day game is named the Joe Pearce match.  He became a legendary coach in the Great Southern after his league retirement, guiding Moulyinning to nine flags in succession, on the way to thirteen out of twenty. His brother George also served his country with the RAAF, and was also a good footballer, playing a hundred and forty games for Claremont between 1947 and 1954.  Joe’s son Tom was part of the Tigers 1981 premiership, playing in a grand final in each of his three                  seasons of WANFL football, but losing  two in a row in 82 and 83, ironically both to his father's old club, Swan Districts.  A consistent defender with good ball skills and football nous, it was the pressures of the farm that curtailed a promising league career after just forty five games.Playing with Kukerin from 1984 to 1995, Tom Pearce won seven club fairest and bests, while as coach for three years he took the club to three grand finals, winning two of them. Due to his father’s ill health, John Hyde returned to Victoria in 1957, and was installed as playing coach of Western Districts Football League club Hamilton. Premiers in 1958, the club stormed home the following season after finishing the home and away matches in fourth place to win over Imperials in a historic all- Hamilton grand final. Hyde was recently honoured by the club with selection as captain coach of their All Time Star Side.  After a productive three years at Hamilton, John was elected to the Geelong Football Club committee, where he served for two decades, including eight years as chairman of selectors. “They were exciting times,” he reflected. “Polly Farmer, Dennis Marshall, John Watts, Gary Malarkey and others came over during those years, and were great players.”A tough but fair player throughout his career, Hyde was never officially reported, but admits he was fortunate on one occasion. “The ump wrote the charge up on a bit of paper,” he recalled. “Geelong captain Freddy Flanagan was incensed, and berated the bloke in white.”“He ended up screwing the paper up.” Melbourne’s Jeff McGibbin and Ray Poulter from Richmond were two of John’s toughest opponents, while Geelong team mate Bernie Smith was best he’d played with.   A former salesman, John  isn’t completely in retirement mode just yet, keeping himself busy delivering new Fords to buyers, and has swapped his boots for bowling shoes at Bareena Bowling Club. John and Morna have three sons, John, Mark and Tony, and a daughter, Christina.  While John and Morna Hyde were outstanding on the sporting scene, son John has become one of Western Australia’s hardest working and most respected politicians.  Elected as the Member for Perth in February 2001, as part of the then new Labor Government, he was re-elected to Parliament at the 2005 and 2008 State Elections. Before entering State Parliament, he was Mayor of the inner-city Town of Vincent, President of WA's Local Government Association and vice-president of the Australian Local Government Association. John was sworn in as Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General, Minister for Health and Electoral Affairs on Mayday, 2007 and held that post till Labor’s loss of the 2008 election.He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism, Politics and Literature) from Deakin University, and a Diploma of Education from Murdoch University. Fairest and best in two State League competitions, John Hyde is one of Geelong’s most respected sons, and despite a relatively short stay in Western Australia, is remembered as a very good player. A hard hitting defender at the Cats who represented Western Australia as a centre half forward, he also showed his coaching ability at Hamilton, and gave Geelong fine service as a committeeman.