Australian football is now firmly established on the north coast of NSW. The game, which had humble beginnings but grand ambitions when it was started just over 30 years ago, continues to make headway and has now cemented its place on the sporting landscape.
Local Footy: The day that Welcome Advice saved Bushpig coach’s honeymoon
August 6, 2009 by 27 Comments
The Rivcoll Bushpigs, the club from the old Riverina College of Advanced Education (now Charles Sturt Uni) in Wagga, enjoy such a reputation as a social club that their opposition in this Saturday’s Farrer League fixture, the Northern Jets, is holding a get-together at the Bushpigs’ annual Old Bores Day.
Local Footy: The Maffra story – it’s all about beating Sale
July 21, 2009 by 3 Comments
by Rocket Gillett In preparing my recent posting on the Rochester/Echuca rivalry I had planned to compare it to a very similar rivalry – and the most comparable is the Sale/Maffra rivalry – the parallels are striking similarly in terms of longevity, small town v big town, changing competitions, etc However, I got carried […]
Local Footy: Rochester should be the Demons for a day
July 14, 2009 by 9 Comments
By Rod Gillett The local derby is in my view the essence of Australian football. This is much more pronounced at the grassroots level than at the AFL level, whether it be in the country, the amateurs, the suburbs, and even between schools. It’s particularly poignant in the bush. Training intensifies, supporters start talking about […]
Middle East Correspondent: The Bahrain Blues are coming
July 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment
by Rocket Gillett The Australian football frontier has just been extended to Bahrain. The Bahrain Blues Australian Football Club has been formed and will enter the Middle East AFL competition next season when it starts in October – after Ramadan. This will bring the number of teams in the Middle East AFL to 7 […]
Middle East Correspondent: Huey’s cherry-ripe for the Swans job
July 1, 2009 by 5 Comments
By Rod Gillett The news that Sydney Swans chief executive officer Myles Baron-Hay is stepping down at the end of the season will spark speculation in the Melbourne media about a replacement from the football managerial stocks, with all the usual suspects being given a run. The best man to run the club in my […]
Middle East Correspondent: What’s in a name for footy clubs? Plenty
June 25, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Rod Gillett When the Ardlethan and Ariah Park-Mirrool football clubs in southern NSW agreed to amalgamate for the 2004 season they could have combined their names in the fashion of another (quite famous) Riverina club, Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong. Instead they came up with the moniker Northern Power, as they had decided to adopt a Port […]
Middle East Correspondent: Koroit pair almost steal premiership cup from Dubai Heat’s grasp
June 23, 2009 by 5 Comments
By Rod Gillett It was more than a truly international clash on football’s latest frontier; it was a classic Bush Boys versus City Slickers encounter. The inaugural Middle East AFL grand final pitted the unbeaten Dubai Heat, who are based in the United Arab Emirates, against the Muscat Magpies from neighbouring Oman. Dubai is an […]
Local Footy: University of New England footballers spread the word
June 22, 2009 by 5 Comments
By Rod Gillett Most uni footy clubs are renowned for getting up to some hi-jinx. The Bushpigs based at Charles Sturt University’s Wagga campus claim to be “Australia’s most socially innovative football club” while the University of Queensland’s Red Lions took the their nickname from the Glencoe pub – an historic hotel on the New […]
Middle East Correspondent: Riverina review puts Farrer clubs in danger
June 21, 2009 by 1 Comment
By Rod Gillett There will be no forced mergers of club, according to the Review of Australian Football & Netball in Southern NSW released in Wagga on Friday. It’s a review that proposes a blending of the current Riverina and Farrer football leagues into a new competition to be known as AFL Riverina. In a […]
Middle East Correspondent: Rick Quade deserves place among Swans’ greats
June 17, 2009 by 2 Comments
By Rod Gillett Rick Quade stepped down from the Swans’ board of directors only last year, after almost 40 years of service for the South Melbourne/Sydney Swans Football Club. Since beginning as a player in 1970, he’s been captain, coach, chairman of selectors and a board member. Recently he heeded another call to serve the […]
Local Footy: Bushpigs face extinction
June 10, 2009 by 3 Comments
by Rocket Gillett The Wagga Uni Bushpigs broke a 38 game losing streak when they beat The Rock-Yerong Creek by five points in their Farrer Football League fixture last Saturday. It was their first win since 12 August 2006 when they beat Temora. It was a huge day for the Pigs as they […]
General footy writing: Middle East correspondent: Make it a grand national final
May 20, 2009 by 3 Comments
By Rod Gillett The AFL’s threat to play the Grand Final in Sydney after the contract with the MCG expires in 2032 begs the question: why not play the Grand Final around on a rotational basis so that each city in the competition gets to host the game? If the game is truly to become […]
Middle East Correspondent: Branch’s grassroots work honoured by Sydney clubs
May 14, 2009 by 1 Comment
by Rocket Gillett There has been a proliferation of cups and medals and even sporting venues and facilities named in honour of former club heroes or officials in recent years. I reckon that has been a good thing. It’s great to see people recognised for their contribution to the game. Personally I like to […]
Old East Fremantle Would Have Been A Contender
May 3, 2009 by 6 Comments
by Rod Gillett and Dave Warner When Paddy Ryder was awarded the Anzac Medal for his game for Essendon in this year’s match against Collingwood it occurred to me that here was yet another top-class player produced by the East Fremantle Football Club. I thought there was a story in it. I contacted […]
Sydney Uni align with Collingwood — and stick with blue and gold colours
April 22, 2009 by 5 Comments
By Rod Gillett When the Collingwood Football Club first sat down with the Sydney University Australian National Football Club to talk about the proposal to field an under-eighteen team in the Sydney AFL competition the uni officials made it quite clear that the team’s colours would be blue and gold. This was not an issue […]
Rochy’s local heroes do it for the jumper
April 18, 2009 by Leave a Comment
When the Rochester footy team took to the field in last year’s Goulburn Valley Football League Grand Final, it ran through a home-made banner that proclaimed “Local heroes”. Their rivals, hot favourites Seymour, who were aiming for their fourth flag in a row, ran out through an AFL club cheer-squad banner. But it was […]
Bush Boys Beaten By Heat In Dubai by Rocket Gillett
April 7, 2009 by Leave a Comment
It was more than a truly international clash on football’s latest frontier; it was a classic Bush Boys versus City Slickers encounter. The inaugural Middle East AFL Grand Final pitted the unbeaten Dubai Heat (based in the UAE) against the Muscat Magpies from neighbouring Oman. Dubai is an emerging 21st century megapolis while Muscat is […]
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