He’s a VFL grand final winner and life member of one of Australia’s most famous sporting clubs, but that hasn’t stopped Eric Moore from taking up a role helping out others in the Sunshine Coast community.
The former Victorian kicked two goals for the Richmond Tigers in their 1969 VFL premiership win, playing alongside greats of the game including Kevin Bartlett and Francis Bourke, but now the unassuming 74-year-old is driving a bus, taking clients from a local care service on much-needed day trips.
“It keeps me occupied. There’s nothing worse than being retired and having nothing to do,” Mr Moore said.
The story of how Mr Moore ended up as a bus driver on the Sunshine Coast starts at a small town in the west of Victoria.
“I grew up in a little town called Coleraine, which is in the western district in Victoria, and from there I went down and played with Richmond,” he said.
Mr Moore racked up 84 games for the Tigers, including the 1969 premiership win, before shifting to South Melbourne (who became the Sydney Swans) for 17 games. He then went into coaching, with stints for Box Hill in the VFA (Victoria’s second-tier league behind the VFL) and Wilston Grange in Brisbane.
It was in 1999 that he moved to the Coast with his second wife.
“Now I’ve got married again for the third time … I’ve been married for 10 years so I live up here,” the father-of-two said.
“I like it here in my own house at Little Mountain and my wife likes it. It suits us fine. The people next door to me, and the other side of me, we are all the same age and we go out fishing together once a week, solving the world’s problems.
“We have worked out that we’ve got what we call beer o’clock at 4 o’clock every day.”
It was through ‘beer o’clock’ that Mr Moore happened into the bus-driving job.
“Across the road we know a lady who is one of the nurses, and her father is at Bromilow, and he told me they were desperate for a part-time bus driver,” he said.
Mr Moore said his job allows clients of the community care service to have an outing.
“What it does is pick up the older people, or people who can’t get out, or to give their partner a rest, and take them out to different activities during the week. I pick them up and take them back,” he said.
“We might just take them up to a cafe up the hills (in the hinterland) or the surf club up at Coolum, and we pick them up and drop them back.”
Mr Moore generally takes the six-hour trips two or three days a week, alongside a team of carers.
“I enjoy it, getting out there with the people, taking them out,” he said.
“All I do is help the carers if I have to. I put down the steps and roll the wheelchairs on and put the wheelie things on the back of the bus, and away we go.
“They enjoy their time out. Having said that, it gives me something to do, it gives me a purpose in life – I’ve become redundant in the past three years. I was a sales manager for a gas company up here for many years and when COVID hit, because I was a bit old they said ‘we might have to let you go’.
“I love it when they get out there – they all have a good old chin-wag and crack a couple of jokes and it’s very satisfying.
“I feel like I’m contributing to society. I hope that I can keep doing it for them.”
What does it mean to Mr Moore to be a life member of the Tigers?
“I have life-member tickets to go to the grand finals and the games, so I went to the last three grand finals and took my wife to the last one, so she was just so happy about that,” he said.
“She met all the players and all that sort of stuff. But I don’t think I’ll go again because it’s just too big a day to go down to Melbourne.
“I think the older you get the harder it is. I would rather sit at home and watch it on the TV now.”
And his favourite player?
“My favourite player was Jack Riewoldt because he is in there having a crack and does a lot of stuff off the field, and he is getting on a bit but we have got some good players,” he said.
“I follow them pretty closely and I think we have got probably one of the quickest midfields going this season, so look out.
“We only missed out last year because (Brisbane Lions forward Joe) Daniher had a ball land on his foot and it went straight through the goals and we lost by only a few points, so that was a bit disappointing.
“But anyway, we are not far from it again and I think that we will be very good contenders.”
Mr Moore said he still keeps in contact with some of his legendary premiership-winning teammates.
“Kevin (Bartlett) and I are friends, and he lived near me when I was down in Melbourne, so he lived in a place called Glen Waverly just around the corner from me,” he said.
“We grew up a bit together with his family and my family down there.
“And Frances Bourke, I speak to him probably every two weeks or three weeks, so we keep in touch. He has his own room down on Punt Road.”
Mr Moore said being a bus driver has been the perfect change of pace for him.
“I am pretty fit for a 74-year-old, I walk every day and play golf, I ride a bike. I guess I am lucky, a lot of my peers haven’t even made it, so while I can do something I am out having a crack,” he said.
“I am a pretty basic person. I do what I have to do and if it doesn’t work it doesn’t work and if it works it works. At this point in time I am enjoying my thing at Bromilow. If it doesn’t work you do the next thing, don’t you?
“I have got a good sense of humour and you have to have a good sense of humour. I am a bit deadpan sometimes and people don’t get my jokes but that’s okay.”
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