Vale Jack Batten

The tributes and memories have continued to come flooding in for Jack Batten, who sadly passed away last month. Jack led the Club with swagger and style in the early 70s, leading the team to one of our most memorable A Grade flags, in 1974. 

Teammate and friend for more than 40 years, Tony Costello, put together some fond words of remembrance about his good friend:

Jack came to the Blacks from Old Xaverians a year or two after leaving Xavier College. Jack resided in Newman College and studied law with the minimum of effort and the maximum of distraction. Jack was an outstanding schoolboy cricketer, and later magnificent golfer. He excelled at tennis and played every Tuesday night until shortly before he passed away. He was an incredibly competitive man.

When he saw the light and came to University Blacks, he made an immediate impact. He was an excellent half forward, and extraordinarily accurate kick. When casting about for a leader after some years in the wilderness, the Blacks turned to Jack to become the Captain. The fruits of this endeavour flowered when Jack captained the 1974 Blacks A grade premiership team.

My most outstanding recollection of Jack as a player for Blacks was in 1973 against Ivanhoe; a district team who were a touch aggressive and pugilistic. Jack was as usual a very mouthy sledger to his opposition halfback flanker who was trying to ”neutralise” him. Jack was a skinny, tall "lover, not a fighter". The opposition coach (worried that mayhem was about to occur) removed the hot headed Ivanhoe player from the ground at 3 Quarter time . The Blacks duly won, and as we were leaving the ground, Jack had a parting word to his opponent. Whereupon he was floored by a haymaker, just as we were entering the club rooms. Mayhem indeed. Jack was knocked unconscious and took some time to be revived. When he came to, I told him I would take him the emergency room at St Vincent’s as he was severely concussed. Jack was having none of it as he wanted to go to a 21^st in Hamilton and was going to drive himself there that night. In the emergency room he continued to say he had to get to the 21^st.. When I asked whose 21^st it was, he couldn’t remember. He was discharged in the next day, a little groggy but just as cheeky.

When we retired from Blacks footy we used to play an annual cricket match - Catholics v Protestants - mainly old boys of Newman v Ormond College .

When I was batting and Jack was Umpire his instruction to me was “Cossa, no LBW and the  third ball will be a no ball.“ He liked to adjust the odds.

There is no category in which one could place Jack. He loved in order wife Rosie, children  Fiona, Dave, Luke and Nick, cards, red wine, racehorses and footy. He was a fine barrister with a great reputation for integrity ,kindness and generosity. Happily, his three sons Dave, Luke, Nick (or Ninja as he was called), came to play with Blacks during a very successful period. There were many past and present Blacks players and officials in a very large congregation at the memorial mass in Hawthorn on Friday, 19 May. We truly have lost a spiritual leader, a great man, who demonstrated that he was indeed a man for others. Over the last 20 years, he spent many Saturday afternoons in the winter in a black and blue pork-pie hat watching his beloved Blacks. We mourn him dearly.

            - Tony Costello