Sport
CS Team of the Century ǀ Rohan Larkin’s legacy lives on throughout Shepparton’s cricket arena
To celebrate its centenary, Cricket Shepparton will be immortalising its greats by selecting a Team of the Century at an event in November.
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The shortlist — consisting of 30 members — recognises those past and present that have had a large impact on the game of cricket both in the region and beyond.
In the lead-up to the ceremony, The News will run special feature pieces on all 30 players, before the release of a commemorative magazine on November 25.
There are very few cricketers across the Goulburn Valley who carry the record Rohan Larkin does.
A seven-time premiership captain at Central Park-St Brendan’s, nine-time premiership player and Victorian representative, there is little Larkin didn’t do throughout his esteemed innings.
His cricketing interests took shape at Shepparton’s St Mel’s Primary School as a youngster, but with his parents avid tennis enthusiasts, Larkin’s sporting journey almost took a different path.
“Mum and Dad were both tennis players, they tried to put a tennis racquet in my hand as much as they could,” Larkin said.
“But I’d always gravitated towards cricket, as a real young fella I recall watching the Kerry Packer World Series cricket on TV and playing with my mates, I think that all had a positive effect on me.”
He was almost destined for a career at Central Park after rising through its junior ranks at Notre Dame College, where he would meet and form a bond with future teammate and lifelong friend Bryan Doyle.
“One of the highlights of my career was being able to share it with Doyley almost all the way through,” Larkin said.
“We struck up a friendship in Year 7 at Notre Dame College and it carried on from there, we lived together in Melbourne when we moved down there and played in a lot of teams together.
“To be able to share that with a mate from school was absolutely awesome.”
Before long, the two teenagers were plying their trade in the senior ranks at Tigerland, going on to clinch a B-grade premiership surrounded by cricketers who now find themselves on the Central Park honour board.
“We’ve always said we can never repay the club for the grounding they gave us as teenagers, we walked into a club with so many superstars and so many role models,” he said.
“We played in a B-grade premiership with blokes like Barry Ward and Steve Serafini, guys who are really tough, hard cricketers who played with the right spirit.
“Then when we progressed through to the A-grade team we were surrounded by superstars, guys like Gary O’Brien and Robbie Douloudis, all these guys had such a positive influence on us and we were lucky to learn from them.”
Having impressed on the Cricket Shepparton stage and learning from its best, representative cricket beckoned and Larkin would soon be selected alongside Doyle to represent Shepparton at Melbourne Country Week.
It was in a Country Week game at Princes Park the two caught the attention of Carlton, where they would end up playing first-class cricket for the next decade.
“Playing at Princes Park, I remember being awestruck to play at a venue you’d see on TV when Carlton FC would play there,” Larkin said.
“To progress from Central Park which had so many great role models and leaders there, they really taught us to play with a real competitive instinct and to strive so hard for success.
“When we got to Carlton, it was the same again, we were surrounded by some really tough, hard, seasoned cricketers and what we thought was competitive instinct was nothing when we got there.
“Blokes like Steve Cashion, Ian Callen, Paul Hibbert and Darren Lehmann were our captains and coaches throughout that time — they were absolutely ruthless.
“Their attitude rubbed off on Doyley and I, we were so lucky to land at a club like Carlton that taught us so many personal qualities that you need if you’re going to compete and be successful.”
After 10 years and 170 games at the Blues, which also included 16 first-class matches for Victoria between 1995-97, Larkin and his family would return home to raise their two boys, Tyler and Joshua, at the turn of the century.
After a short stint at Stanhope as captain, where he would help the Lions break a 35-year premiership drought, Larkin answered the call for Central Park and the club gladly welcomed back one of its favourite sons.
“Doyley and I always spoke about when we did move to Melbourne we would always end up back at Central Park to try and repay a little bit of what they gave us as kids,” Larkin said.
“The club I hold dearly to my heart, my eldest son is the coach there and both of my sons have played in premierships there.
“It’s played a significant part in my life.”
When you look at the Haisman Shield premiership board, Central Park-St Brendan’s stands out and, alongside it, Larkin’s name is etched in history.
Larkin captained his side to seven-straight premierships from 2004 to 2010, clinching another two two years later.
In the short-form, the Tigers also won eight one day premierships and five T20 premierships under Larkin’s guidance.
He was inducted into the Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame in 2019 and was named a life member and member of Central Park’s Team of 25 Years.
He finished his Central Park-St Brendan’s tenure with 7291 runs, including 17 hundreds and 37 half-centuries with an average of 52 to his name.
But throughout a career chock-full of accolades, Larkin says one his most cherished moments on the oval came at the twilight of his journey.
“The highlight of my career was playing with my two sons,” he said.
“We were playing a game out at Tally, it was a home-and-away game, no special day or anything, Tyler was at cover and Joshua was bowling and I was at backward square.
“For so many years I used to watch them out the back window because we had nets in the backyard, from watching them play together as little boys, but then to be out on the ground and be a part of it with those two was a real highlight.
“That’s something that’s really special.”