Revelling in the Riverina: Episode 15 – A Better Place

REVELLING in the Riverina

 

The vintage years

 

Episode 15:      A Better Place

 

 

Berrigan, NSW (the Saints, Picola and District FNL)

 

Stage 15: Finley to Berrigan

 

Swinging onto the Riverina Highway at Finley we head east a short distance towards Berrigan. In the opposite direction lies Deniliquin, home of Australian country rock music star Jade Hurley. As Hurley recommends in his 1974 song ‘Down in the Riverina’ … “if you’re down that way, don’t forget Berrigan”. 

 

 

Welcomed by its signature bird – the galah – we now enter, as the sign boasts, ‘Better in Berrigan’. Other signs proudly advise travellers that Berrigan is the birthplace of Federation and the home of the rural fire service. Not a bad record for a sleepy little Riverina settlement. Like most towns out this way the highway doubles as the main street. Chanter Street is a scene from days gone by – verandah-clad Federation-style buildings with tin roofs,  pubs no longer pubs, former garage sites, with a mix of retail stores, rural produce outlets and commercial premises. You can easily imagine the streetscape and its inhabitants as they would have appeared in a 1950s photo: old Holdens, big American Fords and red farm trucks parked among one another;  double window shopfronts; pavements populated by men and women dressed in their going-to-town clothes, all wearing hats.  

 

The Australian game is a winter-time institution in country towns across much of the country. It brings a focal point and a strong sense of identity to communities. It is evident in conversations in the shops, the continuous social media reels and posts, the pub footy tipping competition, the must-read reports in the local paper, finals-time banners, balloons and streamers proudly strung out, and so on. The social fabric of the community is strengthened by people supporting the footballers and netballers from the junior grades all the way through to the seniors and A Grade. Berrigan is as good an example as any of the bond between a country town and its treasured football netball club.

 

(Berrigan facebook page, Berrigan Football Netball Club on facebook, Southern Riverina News)

 

The vintage years for Berrigan have been widely spread over the 130 year history of the club. No doubt the years either side of World War I were very productive for the club with 10 Southern Riverina Football Association premierships coming Berrigan’s way in the period 1906-1925. Three more were posted in the 1930s after the Saints joined the Murray Football League. Then the big drought set in and it took a further 29 years before the Saints came marching in again, when Berrigan took out the 1965 MFL premiership. 

 

The 1965 Berrigan team was coached by a highly respected Riverina and former North Melbourne player, Gerald Eastmure. It also featured a tap ruckman who played 81 games with South Melbourne – Fred Way. Fred had a way with his football engagements: his VFL career was interrupted on two occasions – 1965 and 1967-68 – back at Berrigan winning premierships (1965, 1968), and the league best and fairest (in 1968). Fred Way’s weekend routine was to drive down to Melbourne in his truck on a Friday night, unload and stay at coach Norm Smith’s house. He would get up on the Saturday morning, load the truck, play for South Melbourne and then drive home to Berrigan that night.

 

The Saints’ opponents in the ‘65 grand final at Cobram were the riversiders from Tocumwal. It was the fourth time the two NSW sides had met that season, with the final margins – 4, 5 and 7 points all favouring Berrigan before the premiership decider. In another titanic struggle the Saints were victorious with only 8 points separating the evenly matched teams.

 

In 1966 the second eighteen team won the premiership, which prompted the Berrigan FC president to remark that “not only is the club one of the most progressive clubs in the Murray League, but also one of the greatest assets to Berrigan itself” (The Berrigan Advocate, 25 October 1966). He cited the hard work of the club and the community in presenting the ground as one of the best all-weather surfaces in the Riverina. Indeed Berrigan was, and is, a ‘better place’ thanks to its football club.

 

After their sixth, and last, premiership in the Murray League (in 1980) Berrigan endured a long period without much success. The Saints were on the verge of folding before the community rallied behind their football club and secured its future in the Picola and District League. Eventually, in 2011, Berrigan broke through for their first flag in that competition, and fittingly, it was against old rivals, and hot favourites, Jerilderie. At that time the league was split into two zones, North West and South East, with Berrigan placed in the NW division. 

 

In Berrigan’s long football history one player stands out as its most highly decorated ‘son’. Brian Gleeson, winner of the 1957 Brownlow Medal, played for Berrigan before joining St Kilda. The ‘boy from Berrigan’ as he was dubbed, was recruited by the Saints in 1953 upon the recommendation of Berrigan coach Les Foote. Meanwhile, his brother Terry went to Melbourne. As a centre half forward and later an agile ruckman, Brian played 70 games in the VFL before his career was suddenly curtailed by a knee injury sustained during a practice match in 1958.  

 

Berrigan in 2024

 

In round 17 of the P&DFNL, on 27th July, Tocumwal 15.10 (100) defeated Berrigan 3.9 (27). Berrigan have hit the wall in season 2024, with big losses in their last three outings. After kicking 31 goals against Blighty in round 9 they have scored a combined total of just 30 goals in the eight matches since. 

 

Riverina Spotto

 

Two felines scamper off and there are only 4 to go.

 

the last post	Irish pub	a slice of pizza
faithful canine	sheep and dog	the family club
22 yards	two felines	31.12.74
truckie’s stop	submarine	a shearing team
all among the wool	one pub town	Sherrin
three  bees	square	footy hub

 

 

Next episode: Stage 16 – to Rennie

 

 

Previous episodes of Revelling In The Riverina, and more from Peter Clark can be read Here.

 

 

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Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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