Community
12 March, 2026
Merv ends legendary tenure
MERV Hampson has stepped down as Mortlake Returned and Services League (RSL) president after 19 years in the role.
Mr Hampson moved on from the role last week with John McGuigan earning the nod as his successor.
The RSL has been an important part of his life for the past 60 years, having joined shortly after leaving the Navy in 1967.
He’s spent 21 years in total as president, in addition to just about every other role which can be listed.
Mr Hampson said he felt the time was right to step away.
“I’m nearly 86 and I thought I’d get out before I get too old and start making mistakes,” he said.
“I’ve had two other spells of 12 months and I’ve been president in this spell for 19 years, so I thought it was time to go.
“I joined the RSL after I’d been in the Navy for nine years and started a casual job at the pub – the publican was an RSL man and he brought me to an annual meeting.
“I was in straight away and on the committee.”
Mr Hampson said the RSL had about 80 members in those days and the RSL hall was “chock-a-block”.
“When I first joined I was president in 1975 because in those days they were looking for younger ideas,” Mr Hampson said.
“To be quite frank, I couldn’t handle it – I didn’t know enough.
“In 2004 I went back into the seat again but passed it off after 12 months.
“When I returned to the role in 2007 I was an older member by then and we had very few members – probably only eight or nine.
“I took it on, myself and an old secretary in Bill Vale – who had been secretary, treasurer, president, everything – we were determined to keep it going.”
While Mr Hampson leaves boots to fill which no member would claim could easily be filled, new president John McGuigan received a unanimous vote from his peers with the complete support of his predecessor.
Mr McGuigan is a former army combat engineer who has been a member of the Mortlake RSL since 2006.
Last year he held the secretary role with the support of long-time officer bearer, Bill Vale.
“It’s a very healthy club at the moment,” Mr McGuigan said.
“We’re self-sufficient and well supported through donations and token sales from across the district.
“It keeps us going and we don’t really want for anything.”
Part of the appeal for Mr McGuigan stepping into the role had been those around him.
In particular, he’d said he would only take on the presidency if he could get the right secretary – knowing the president is a figurehead while the secretary oversees correspondence and finances.
“It’s a great time, really,” Mr McGuigan said.
“Dan Galea, who is ex-army, will be our secretary after Merv suggested him – after we went to vote with Dan, I said I’d be happy to be president.
“We’ve got a great vice president, secretary, treasurer and the committee boys are all good.
“I can’t complain – we’re in safe hands with fantastic members.
“There’s some big age gaps but we all just get along as if we’re all still 23.”
Mr McGuigan said he had no plan to fix what isn’t broken as he steps into the role.
“Nothing will change except for where we sit, really,” he said.
“I’ll continue it exactly how Merv has left off with no change.
“Merv is a great example of leadership – he listens, he’s unbiased and everyone else has taken it on board because of that.
“There’s no politics, a little bit of football and we operate as a united front – I don’t think we’ve ever had a vote fail.”
Mr Hampson, reflecting on his accomplishments over the past 19 years, said he was proud of all he and his fellow RSL members had achieved.
“We’re sailing along quite well and we’ve achieved quite a few things in the 19 years I’ve been here,” he said.
“We’ve refinished the hall, the kitchen, put in a new roof and converted the toilet to be all-abilities.
“After 25 years of navigating bureaucracy we’ve got our new Avenue of Honour replanted and we’ve had the monument refurbished.
“But my biggest highlight was getting the Order of Australia Medal in 2019 for services to the RSL and veterans – I’m pretty bloody proud of that.”
The culture which has been carefully cultivated for leaders within the walls of the RSL, built on mateship and mutual respect, is just as proud of an achievement for Mr Hampson.
“I’ve always made a point that everyone has their say, so we’ve never really said we’ll vote on something to count the votes – we would discuss it,” he said.
“Often I would have an idea so we’d talk about it – people would point out if it was a bad idea and I would say we’d give it away.”
Mr Hampson said he had complete confidence in the leadership Mr McGuigan will bring, having already long earned his stripes for his recruiting efforts.
“He came along and did some recruiting, helping us build our way back up from a handful of members to 44 members,” he said.
“He knew names I had never heard of, none of us had, all of whom were local.”
Among the influx of new members are Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, a younger membership who will look to embrace technology without rocking the boat in terms of how the RSL functions.
The decision to step away from the presidency has long been in the works for Mr Hampson, but he also has no intention of stepping away from his beloved RSL any time soon.
“A long time ago I told John we would have to work out someone to step in as part of a succession plan but last year I told everyone it would be my final year,” he said.
“I’m going to hang around – I’ll still be appeals officer, so I’ll still sell poppies down the street for ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day.
“I like my weeks sitting down the street, talking to everyone, knowing so many people say they’ve got to buy their badges from ol’ Merv.”
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