{xtypo_dropcap}T{/xtypo_dropcap}he VFL second semi final of 1972 at VFL Park between Richmond and Carlton was a dour defensive tussle which saw the Tigers with only 1.8 (14) on the board to half time. 

Richmond fought back in the second half to force a draw, the final scores being 8.13 apiece.

It was only the fifth draw in VFL finals history.

In the following week's replay, Richmond appeared to put a mortgage on the '72 flag with a vigorous, confident display that yielded a 41 point win.  When the same two sides met again a fortnight later in the 'big one', most neutral observers expected to see a repetition, but instead what transpired was one of the most freakishly unpredictable games in football history.  Richmond, in accumulating a tally of 22.18 (150), would have emerged victorious from every single preceding VFL grand final bar one, but Carlton, whose coach John Nicholls audaciously opted to take on the Tigers at their own game, had 25.9 (159) on the board by three quarter time, and added three last term goals to win with a comfort that was as complete as it was unexpected.  Incredibly, this was the first time since 1920 that Carlton had defeated Richmond in a major round game.

Lining up in front of a house of 112,393 was a momentous occasion for West Australian Ray Boyanich. 

It’s an experience he has never forgotten, and not for all the right reasons. When Carlton captain coach John Nicholls surprised by stationing himself in a forward pocket, it was Boyanich who had the onerous task of minding the champion ruckman.

“It was one of those days,” Ray reflected recently. “The ball was going from end to end and forwards were having a feast.” Alex Jesaulenko kicked eight goals, Robert Walls seven, and Nicholls grabbed six for the Blues in a bombardment at the MCG.

Boyanich had originally been signed by Hawthorn in 1969, but chronic hamstring problems prevented him from exhibiting the form he had shown at West Perth and with Western Australia. The magic hands of Victorian healer Bill Mitchell were instrumental in reviving Ray’s career, and with the Hawks having given up on the recruit, it was Richmond who benefited. 

An agile, high leaping ruckman or forward, it was Ray Boyanich’s foresight in his original signing by West Perth that enabled him to play in the VFL when he did. His contract with the Cardinals stipulated a release in the case of being offered a contract in the VFL, and there were several at the time, including Syd Jackson and Colin Beard, who were forced to stand out of football because of a ban on clearances from WA to Victoria for younger players. 

The Kalamunda junior had already had an allegiance to West Perth as a supporter, but it was former Cardinal player Arthur Simpson(brother of Doc Simpson, donor of the Simpson Medal), Ray’s coach at   Wesley College, who set up a meeting with coach Arthur Olliver and secretary Len Roper.

It wasn’t just football skills that the young Boyanich possessed; he was an outstanding junior athlete, with State titles in the shot put(in which he held a State record), long jump, high jump, triple jump, and held many interschool records in these events.               

The seventeen year old’s initial league game was notable for his first acquaintance with Swan Districts enforcer Fred Castledine. “He cleaned me up on the wing,” Ray recalled. Playing on a half forward flank, at centre half forward, or as a ruck rover, the six foot four Boyanich impressed in his initial season, and was instrumental for the red and blues late season resurgence. “We had a virtual semi final in the last home and away game, and went down by eighteen points in front of a record Leederville crowd of 21,446,” he said.

Ray Boyanich wore Western Australian colours for the first time in July, 1967, when part of a seventy four point win over South Australia. Starting in a forward pocket, he shared the rucking duties with Bill Dempsey, Keith Slater, and John McIntosh and figured in the home side’s best player list, as well as contributing two goals.  It was after the interstate clash with Victoria the following season that several players, including Boyanich, were targeted by Victorian recruiting officers, in Ray’s case, Collingwood, Hawthorn, and Footscray. The Simpson Medal for best on ground in that game went to John Nicholls, a name that would haunt Boyanich in later years.

The offer from Hawthorn was a good one, so Ray was at Glenferrie in 1969, but it was to be a miserable year for the big man. Hamstring problems dogged him constantly from day one, and at the end of the season Hawthorn were understandably reluctant to renew the contract, and wanted to clear him back to West Perth. Not keen on going home with his tail between his legs, Boyanich was keen to try out elsewhere, and walked into training at Punt Road looking for a game.

Unbeknown to Ray at the time, the Richmond committee sounded out their South Fremantle recruit, Colin Beard, about the ability of the prospective recruit, and received a glowing recommendation. After a couple of try outs, the Richmond heirachy presented Boyanich with an offer even better than the Hawthorn deal, so he stayed with the Tigers for a three year stint, during which he played some of his best football, notching up sixty one games over four seasons.

South Australian club Woodville tempted Boyanich with a package that would enable him to gain qualifications as a teacher after the 1972 grand final, so he joined the Woodpeckers for the following season, but the luck he’d enjoyed with injuries at Richmond deserted him immediately on arrival in Adelaide. A dislocated shoulder suffered in round three of the 1973 season kept popping out all year, resulting in an operation for the problem during the off season. In the first scratch match next winter it popped out again, and he ended up on the sidelines for the entire year.

A comeback in 1975 was unsuccessful, and he returned to Victoria, resuming with Richmond in mid- 1976, and playing the last six games of the year with the league side.

Former West Perth teammate Murray Leeder persuaded Boyanich to join him at Darwin club, Nightcliffe, in the summer of 77, and he played one season with them before taking over as captain coach the following season. The career of Ray Boyanich, encompassing four States, turned full circle in 1977 with a return to Leederville Oval, where he played until hanging the boots up in early 1981.   

A phys ed teacher, Ray taught at Roleystone District High School before retiring.

The Bickley property his father ran as an orchard for many years was transformed into Piesse Brook Vineyard in 1974. With his sister Di Bray and her daughter Larissa, Ray and wife Lee replaced the trees with vines. In late 2007, Di’s daughter Lara resigned from her winemaking position at Cape Mentelle in Margaret River to take over responsibility for the business

Now known as  Aldersyde Estate, it specialises in reds from handpicked, estate grown fruit.

The wines are made on the estate with minimal winemaking interference, crafted from grapes which the family has been growing on the family property for almost 40 years. Wines are estate made, come from vines 20 years or older on the property and include Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Malbec & Chardonnay as well as dome blends and a rose.

Ray and Dee have four daughters, all of whom have inherited the Boyanich genes. Carli was a champion high jumper who played with Perth Lynx basketball team, Chelsea was a State League basketballer, Jaime was also a talented basketballer, while Rebecca seems to have inherited the bad luck with injury that dogged her dad’s sporting career, with fractures having a devastating effect on a promising career in basketball. Lee was no slouch in the sporting sphere either, representing Australia at water polo.

Ray Boyanich came up against some pretty good exponents of the game during his career, and  John McIntosh, Allan Mycock, Ron Boucher, Carl Ditterich, and Stephen Michael would have been a handful for anyone. 

Injury was Ray Boyanich’s greatest adversary, but nevertheless a resume that includes a grand final on the MCG, a drawn semi final in front of  a hundred and twenty thousand, and donning the black and gold of his State is an enviable one.  “I had the privilege of being coached by the great Tom Hafey and playing alongside some of the absolute legends of the game both at Richmond and West Perth,” he said. “Names such as Royce Hart, Kevin Bartlett, Frances Bourke, Ian Stewart, Kevin Sheedy, Dick Clay, and Bill Barrot at the Tigers and Brian Foley, Brian France, Bill Dempsey, Polly Farmer, and Mel Whinnen at the Cardinals.”   

Ray’s best achievement? “Let me ponder that over a glass of Piesse Brook Shiraz.”