Almanac Footy: ‘A History of Australian Rules Football in Woomera 1948 to 1992’ – Part 3: 1957 – 1959

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. 

 

Part 3  features the years 1957 – 1959

 

Dick has also completed a history of Woomera water polo. 

 

A History of Australian Rules Football in Woomera: 1948 to 1992
By David Turpin

 

1957

 

Village re-appointed Roger O Harris as coach, Works appointed ‘Blue’ Weir and Koolymilka appointed W Voriac.

 

The first game on the newly grassed Pimple Oval occurred on Sunday 23 June 1957 between Village and Koolymilka. At the time it was the first and only grassed oval in the Woomera area and must have been a boon to both players and spectators.

 

The Area and Mail medal count at the end of the minor rounds produced a three-way tie between Howard Smith of Koolymilka, Kevin Field of RAAF and Don Watson of Works. After a countback was applied Smith and Field were still tied so it was decided that Smith would be awarded the Mail medal and Field the Area medal. In 1999 the countback system was abolished and after 42 years Don Watson was retrospectively awarded the Mail medal.

 

The association also appointed the Village coach Roger Harris to provide coaching clinics for the juniors in Woomera. No competition just coaching.

 

Points at the end of the minor round were Village 18, Works 16, Centrals 14, RAAF 12 and Koolymilka 0.

 

Team	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts
Village	9	3	3		677	467	59.18	18
Works	8	3	4		739	473	60.97	16
Centrals	7	3	5		679	665	49.35	14
RAAF	6	3	6		680	698	49.35	12
Koolymilka	0	3	12		526	998	34.51	0

 

Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
1st Semi	RAAF	12	11	83	Centrals	9	11	65
2nd Semi	Village	11	7	73	Works	9	8	62
Preliminary	Works	13	20	98	RAAF	12	12	84
Grand	Village	6	15	51	Works	5	11	41

 

Grand Final: Village defeated Works 6.15 (51) to 5.11 (41).

 

Premiership Coach: Roger O Harris. Premiership Captain: Roger O Harris.

 

Best in Grand Final: Bill Sheehan – Village, Mick McCarthy – Works.

 

Association Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: =1^st Howard Smith – Koolymilka 16 – Mail Medal, =1^st Kevin Field – RAAF 16 – Area Medal, =1^st Don Watson – Works 16 – Mail Medal.

 

Association President: Keith Orr. Association Secretary: Fred S Lines.

 

1958

 

Centrals appointed Fred Brown as coach and elected M Salotti as captain. Fred Brown was a well-known sportsman in Woomera. He was a member of Works 1955 and 1956 premiership sides and was an excellent swimmer and water polo player.

 

Roger Harris continued as Village coach and Works appointed Don Watson as coach. Don was another PMG employee at the Line Depot.

 

Bill Herron played for the WA State Schoolboy team in 1951 and eventually played for West Perth. In 1957 Bill Herron and his best mate Eddie Dickinson had ambitions to play in the VFL in Victoria and they decided to try their luck in the Wimmera league in country Victoria. They then went to Melbourne where they trained with St Kilda and Carlton. Bill Herron received an offer from Carlton however West Parth refused to give him a clearance. They then moved to South Australia in 1958 where Eddie ended up in the Tatiara League in the south east playing for Mundulla where he won 3 Mail medals. Bill ended up in Woomera where he signed to play with Works.

 

Works had a good year and ended up being undefeated premiers, the first time a team had achieved this feat.  Bill Herron won the Area & Mail medals with 24 votes from Rodger Stringer of Village with 14 votes.

 

Robert “Bob” Ortmann of Works kicked a league record 16 goals in a match.

 

Everyone from the club president, Stan Gilliver down, were very proud of these achievements both from a team and an individual point of view.

 

Bill Herron left Woomera after only one season and went to Adelaide where he signed with Glenelg in the SANFL. He ended up captain of Glenelg in 1961 and made the SA Carnival team the same year.

 

Towards the end of the season, Koolymilka was unable to field a side and forfeited the last five games.

 

Points at the end of the minor round were Works 30, Village 22, Centrals 16, RAAF 16, and Koolymilka 6.

 

Team	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts
Works	11	4	0		1153	364	76.01	30
Village	7	4	4		776	479	61.83	22
Centrals	4	4	7		505	591	46.08	16
RAAF	3	5	7		651	772	45.75	16
Koolymilka	0	3	7		195	954	16.97	6

 

Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
1st Semi	Centrals	11	13	79	RAAF	5	8	38
2nd Semi	Works	16	11	107	Village	7	7	49
Preliminary	Centrals	10	7	67	Village	8	14	62
Grand	Works	13	16	94	Centrals	9	9	63

 

Grand Final: Works defeated Centrals 13.16 (94) to 9.9 (63).

 

Premiership Coach: Don Watson. Premiership Captain: Don Watson.

 

Best in Grand Final: Bob Ortmann – Works, Archie Ryan – Centrals.

 

Association Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: 1^st Bill Herron – Works 24, 2^nd Rodger Stringer – Village 11, 3^rd Don Watson – Works 11.

 

Leading Goalkickers: 1^st Robert “Bob” Ortmann – Works 34, 2^nd Don Watson – Works 22, 3^rd Rodger Stringer – Village 19.

 

Association President: Keith Orr. Association Secretary: L Sando/Peter Martin.

 

Life Membership: Sergeant Len Brook, Keith Orr (RIP).

 

The grand final was the last game for Doctor Greg Markey who had played in Works 1955, 1956, and 1958 premiership sides.

 

Figure 6 Works Football Club – Undefeated Premiers 1958 – Don Watson Captain/Coach

 

1959

 

Koolymilka did not enter a team in 1959 therefore the competition was between Centrals, RAAF, Village, and Works.

 

Village appointed A B “Tony” Coutts as coach for the year and Centrals re-appointed Fred Brown as coach. Works appointed Bill Leverington who had played in three Works premierships in 1955, 1956, and 1958.

 

The 1959 season was very exciting with the minor premiers not decided until the last minor round game. It is worth a look as it is one of the closest on record; all on the same points and only 2% between the first three teams.

 

Team	Wins	Losses	For	Against	%	Pts
Works	6	6	803	743	51.94%	12
Centrals	6	6	706	683	50.83%	12
Village	6	6	715	710	50.18%	12
RAAF	6	6	635	703	47.45%	12

 

In the Area & Mail medals count two RAAF players, Ken Casselton and Warren Coops, were equal on 12 votes each, with Ken Casselton being awarded the medals on a countback. As was the case in 1957 with Don Watson, the countback system was abolished in 1999, and after 40 years Warren Coops was retrospectively awarded the Mail medal.

 

Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
1st Semi	Village	11	14	80	RAAF	6	11	53
2nd Semi	Centrals	9	14	68	Works	6	14	50
Preliminary	Village	12	11	83	Works	5	17	47
Grand	Village	16	15	111	Centrals	10	11	71

 

Grand Final: Village defeated Centrals 16.15 (111) to 10.11 (71).

 

Premiership Coach: A B “Tony” Coutts. Premiership Captain: A B “Tony” Coutts.

 

Best in Grand Final: John Heppell – Village, Don Lahey – Centrals.

 

Association Best & Fairest – Area & Mail Medals: = 1^st Ken Casselton – RAAF 12, =1^st Warren Coops – RAAF 12, 3^rdRobert “Bob” Ortmann – Works 11.

 

Leading Goalkickers: 1^st Fred Brown – Centrals 13, 2^nd Len Grimes – Works 11, =3^rd A Young RAAF 10, =3^rd H Porter – RAAF 10.

Association President: Len Brook. Association Secretary: Peter Martin/W Murray.

 

Figure 7 Village Football Club – Premiers 1959 – Tony Coutts Captain/Coach

 

Part 1 can be read Here,  and Part 2 Here

 

 

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