Bomber on a mission

By Peter Sweeney
IT MAY have been Mother’s Day – and he’s close to his mum, Jan – but Essendon were playing on Sunday.
And when Essendon’s playing, the only thing to stop ‘Bomber’ from being there, is if Pakenham are playing at the same time.
Brett Templeton is his name – but few know that. In fact, even he demands you call him Bomber, rather than by his given name.
The Bombers weren’t doing too well at half-time on Sunday. The West Coast Eagles weren’t worrying Bomber nearly as much as the umpires were. He telephoned his South Gippsland farming father Bruce to tell him so.
Told the umpires mightn’t be the sole reason Essendon were struggling, Bomber, 30, was having none of that. After all, who listens to fatherly advice on most days – let alone on Mother’s Day?
Brett, sorry, it’s Bomber, was born with his fine motor skills – the physical skills required for co-ordinated small muscle movements, such as picking up small items – being slower than normal.
Jan and Bruce Templeton worried for years their eldest son wouldn’t be self-sufficient. And though he admits if it wasn’t for Lite ‘n’ Easy, he would struggle in the kitchen, when it comes to picking up on anything related to football, Bomber’s the quickest in the business.
There are two footy “heroes” in his eyes.
He is rarely not seen in an Essendon jumper with no. 5 on the back. But it’s got nothing to do with James Hird, the former star and present coach.
“It’s because of Terry Daniher. He’s my all-time favourite Essendon player,” Bomber said.
Closer to home, and he only has eyes for Tom O’Loughlin.
“We both wear no. 31 for the Lions,” Bomber said.
“When we (Pakenham) won the premiership in 2009, Tom asked me to go up on the dais with him. And then he gave me his premiership medal – to keep.
“I couldn’t believe it when he told me that. I will never forget that day.”
A blown-up framed colour photograph of Bomber punching the air and O’Loughlin looking at him admiringly, has pride of place in Bomber’s Pakenham unit – where there’s black and red coloured everything, arguably more stock than you’d find in the merchandise store at Windy Hill.
Only the grandstand is a more permanent fixture at Toomuc Reserve than Bomber. He never misses training nights, playing days.
A Bomber since the day he was born, because of “mum’s mum”, ‘Bomber’ attends everything. “I’ll do whatever job has got to be done,” Bomber said.
“I’ve got a learning disability and don’t play footy. My speed’s not all that good. The only bloke I can beat is my old man.”
Bruce ‘Turkey’ Templeton was a legend down at Nar Nar Goon.
“He might have been there, but he coached at ROC for a year and he wasn’t a legend there. He doesn’t tell many people about that,” Bomber said.
Bomber, who works at a packing place in Keysborough for people with disabilities, has a younger brother, Matthew.
“He lives in Tasmania and clips horses for shows and sales,” Bomber said. “Matty gives the horses haircuts. He’s pretty good at what he does.”
And we reckon Bomber is too.
When he was 16, Bomber said he had one goal – to make his mum and dad, brother and grandparents proud of him. That they are, their love as deep for him as his is for Essendon and Pakenham.
Who said you had to be on the field to kick goals?