Almanac Footy: A History of Australian Rules Football in Woomera 1948 to 1992 – Part 17: 1990 – 1992
David ‘Dick’ Turpin is a Brisbane friend of Almanacker Allan Barden. During the late 60s early 70s David spent a few years working in Woomera when it was quite a thriving community.
David has researched and written a history of footy in Woomera from the years 1948 to 1992.
The Footy Almanac will publish David’s extensive history over a number of weeks.
Dick has also completed a history of Woomera water polo.
1990
The same teams as in 1989 competed in 1990.
Di Steer was elected chairperson of the Rockets.
Woomera Rockets appointed Blue Jolly as coach of the team.
Olympic Dam won the lightning carnival.
The Rockets Best & Fairest was won by Geoff O’Regan with Gary Bush second and Peter Koenig third.
The Area & Mail medals were won by Tim Richter of Olympic Dam with 14 votes, followed by Tim McLeod of Roxby Districts with 13 votes, and Kym Mitchell of Andamooka with 12 votes.
At the end of the minor round, Andamooka was on top of the table followed by Roxby Districts, Olympic Dam, and Woomera Rockets. Andamooka convincingly won the grand final to be undefeated premiers. Details are not available.
| Team | Wins | Byes | Losses | Draws | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Andamooka | ||||||||
| Roxby Districts | ||||||||
| Olympic Dam | ||||||||
| Woomera Rockets |
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| Grand | Andamooka | 29 | 19 | 193 | Roxby Districts | 11 | 10 | 76 |
Grand Final: Andamooka defeated Roxby Districts 29.19 (193) to 11.10 (76).
Premiership Coach: Unknown. Premiership Captain: Martin Lloyd.
Best in Grand Final: Unknown – Andamooka, Unknown – Roxby Districts.
League Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: 1st Tony Richter – Olympic Dam 14, 2nd Tim McLeod – Roxby Districts 13, 3rd Kym Mitchell – Andamooka 12.
Leading Goalkickers: 1st Paul Niekel – Roxby Districts 63, 2nd Tony Richter – Olympic Dam 49,
3rd Gavin Zani – Andamooka 29.
League President: G Weir. League Secretary: J McLeod
THE MORTLOCK SHIELD
Lincoln City defeated Woomera & Districts 18.14 (122) to 3.7 (25).
Great Flinders defeated Woomera & Districts 12.12 (84) to 4.4 (28).
1991
Teams who registered for 1991 were Roxby Districts, Olympic Dam, Andamooka, and Woomera Rockets.
The Rockets appointed Geoff Steer as coach and Peter Koenig was elected captain. The Rockets looking for a home club voted to utilise the Koolymilka club.
The lightning carnival was won by Olympic Dam.
Tom Blackie, who had captained Koolymilka to the 1983 premiership was awarded player life membership of the league having played for 10 years and played in over 100 games.
The Rockets Best & Fairest was won by Phil Jenner with Tom Blackie second and Geoff O’Regan third. The best Under-21 player was Peter Menz.
The Area & Mail medals were won by Rodney Bain of Olympic Dam; second was Victor Buza of Andamooka; and equal third were Robert Greene of Roxby Districts and R Lee of Olympic Dam.
The leading goalkicker was Paul Niekel of Roxby Districts with 63 goals.
Points at the end of the minor round were Roxby Districts 24, Andamooka 20, Olympic Dam 16, and Woomera Rockets 0. There was only a qualifying final and a grand final played and Roxby Districts went on to win the grand final by 40 points.
| Team | Wins | Byes | Losses | Draws | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Roxby Districts | 12 | 3 | 1903 | 870 | 68.62 | 24 | ||
| Andamooka | 10 | 5 | 1550 | 973 | 61.43 | 20 | ||
| Olympic Dam | 8 | 7 | 1304 | 1242 | 51.21 | 16 | ||
| Woomera Rockets | 0 | 15 | 565 | 2247 | 20.09 | 0 |
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| Qualifying | Andamooka | 21 | 15 | 141 | Olympic Dam | 12 | 10 | 82 |
| Grand | Roxby Districts | 15 | 7 | 97 | Andamooka | 7 | 15 | 57 |
Grand Final: Roxby Districts defeated Andamooka 15.7 (97) to 7.15 (57).
Premiership Coach: W Rose. Premiership Captain: Unknown.
Best in Grand Final: D Pridham – Roxby Districts, Unknown – Andamooka.
League Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: 1st Rodney Bain – Olympic Dam 20, 2nd Victor Buza – Andamooka 13, =3rdRobert Greene – Roxby Districts 12, =3rd R Lee – Olympic Dam 12.
Leading Goalkickers: 1st Paul Niekel – Roxby Districts 63, 2nd Tony Richter – Olympic Dam 49,
3rd Gavin Zani – Andamooka 29.
Player Life Membership: Tom Blackie – Koolymilka, Centrals, and Woomera Rockets.
League President: G Weir. League Secretary: L Howard.
THE MORTLOCK SHIELD
Mid-West defeated Woomera & Districts 11.15 (81) to 7.6 (48).
Lincoln Districts defeated Woomera & Districts 14.10 (94) to 12.8 (80).
1992
Whilst most leagues were suffering from a reduced number of teams or amalgamation, the W&DFL found itself with 2 extra teams. They were Leigh Creek and a team from Port Augusta, Bungala.
Games were played at Woomera, Roxby Downs, Leigh Creek, and Chinnery Park, Port Augusta.
The Woomera Rockets appointed John Shepherdson as coach. Early in his career John had played for West Torrens seconds in the SANFL, had coaching success with the Demons in the WJFL and Woomera North in the WFL, and had a wealth of experience.
The Rockets acting captain in the first part of the season was Shane Maschotta to be followed by Gary Bush later in the season.
Olympic Dam won the lightning carnival held early in the season.
The Rockets Best & Fairest was won by Gary Bush; runner-up was Grant Barker.
The Area & Mail medals were shared by Kelly Hill and Stephen Daly of Olympic Dam; third was Peter Lindner also of Olympic Dam. Kelly Hill had also won the medals in 1980 whilst playing for Mt Gunson.
Leading goalkicker was Brett Hornhardt, followed by Tony Richter and John Caputo, all of Olympic Dam.
The Rockets won 3 of their first 6 games but could only win 1 of their last nine games and finished 5th on the table.
The table at the end of the minor round was:
| Team | Played | Wins | Losses | Forfeit | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Olympic Dam | 15 | 15 | 0 | 2309 | 633 | 78.48 | 30 | |
| Roxby Districts | 14 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1306 | 915 | 58.98 | 20* |
| Andamooka | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1136 | 1256 | 47.49 | 14 | |
| Leigh Creek | 15 | 6 | 9 | 1121 | 1278 | 46.72 | 12 | |
| Woomera Rockets | 15 | 4 | 11 | 711 | 1650 | 30.11 | 8 | |
| Bungala | 14 | 3 | 11 | 886 | 1747 | 33.65 | 6* |
Bungala* forfeited 1 game against Roxby Districts due to a misunderstanding.
Olympic Dam was undefeated at this stage; had the top 3 players in the medal count; the top 3 goalkickers; and went on to win the grand final as undefeated premiers.
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | Andamooka | 16 | 13 | 109 | Leigh Creek | 12 | 17 | 89 |
| 2nd Semi | Olympic Dam | 28 | 14 | 182 | Roxby Districts | 7 | 5 | 47 |
| Preliminary | Andamooka | 12 | 17 | 89 | Roxby Districts | 4 | 17 | 41 |
| Grand | Olympic Dam | 16 | 17 | 113 | Andamooka | 11 | 12 | 78 |
Grand Final: Olympic Dam defeated Andamooka 16.17 (113) to 11.12. (78).
Premiership Coach: Rod Bain. Premiership Captain: Rod Bain.
Best in Grand Final: Unknown – Olympic Dam, Unknown – Andamooka.
League Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: =1st Kelly Hill – Olympic Dam 30, =1st Stephen Daly – Olympic Dam 30, 3rdPeter Lindner – Olympic Dam 29.
Leading Goalkickers: 1st Brett Hornhardt – Olympic Dam 74, 2nd Tony Richter – Olympic Dam 62,
3rd John Caputo – Olympic Dam 48.
League President: G Weir. League Secretary: L Howard.
Woomera Rockets Football Club 1992 – The last Woomera team in a Competition – John Shepherdson Coach
THE MORTLOCK SHIELD
Kangaroo Island defeated Woomera & Districts 15.9 (99) to 9.10 (64).
Woomera & Districts defeated Lincoln City 16.10 (106) to 3.9 (27).
Previous Episodes can be read Here.
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Tim McLeod must have been there for a while. Was he still a policeman then?