Revelling in the Riverina: Episode 18 – The German Pioneers

REVELLING in the Riverina

 

The vintage years

 

Episode 18

The German Pioneers

 

 

Jindera, NSW (the Bulldogs, Hume FNL)

 

Stage 18: Rand to Jindera

 

We fire up the GTHO for one last foray into Riverina football heartlands. Our vehicle has not missed a beat in over 1500km of driving along the highways, country roads and rural lanes of the Riverina. Evidence of our journey is the war paint on the unfazed Falcon – smashed grasshoppers and small black insects, with the odd fluffy bird feather set against the red dust recolouring of the electric blue duco and the windshield. Brown water splatterings tatoo the mud guards and panels. Nothing a good car wash back at Holbrook can’t tidy up.

 

Off we go to Jindera, but let’s ignore the map and make a day of it by taking the long way round. We point the Ford southwest towards Balldale, the first of the three ‘B’s’, that is, Balldale, Brocklesby and Burrumbuttock – all three towns having an historical connection with the Hume League. We will have a chance to hear the rollicking yarn of how Balldale were undefeated premiers in 1972 and then suddenly were gone from the league a season later. For ‘Brock’ and ‘Burrum’, a merger in 2006 was the way to avoid demise, and four flags later the decision to join forces can be considered a big success.

 

We are in country that was settled by bands of German families who travelled from South Australia in the late 1860s searching for land to select and to grow wheat. The pioneers made the long trek in wagons and initially settled at Walla Walla and Jindera. Today, their descendants make up a sizeable component of the Greater Hume community, and not surprisingly, can be found in the football and netball teams at places including Walla, Walbundrie, Brocklesby, Burrumbuttock and Jindera. A glance at the Hume League team lists and you will soon find a host of German names – Koschitzke, Schneider, Lieschke, Kohlhagen, Merkel, Kreutzberger, Kotzur, Klemke, Terlich, Knobel, Klimpsch, Wenke, Schilg, Feueherdt, Hoffman, Muller and many more.

 

Sit back and let the mile posts pass by as we listen to Dire Straits live at Sydney in 1986, ‘Going Home – Local Hero’:

 

 

 

Why play ‘Going Home’ you ask? Well … our journey is nearing its end not far from where we started, and for your Albury-born driver, we are skirting close to his ‘home ground’.

 

The rusty iron roof of the Balldale Hotel comes into view. It’s just gone 11am, time to stop for an ale at the first of ‘the three B’s’. 

 

Balldale’s once proud footy club disbanded in 1977. The club was formed in the early 1900s, playing initially in the Corowa and District FA. After being a member of the Ovens and Murray FA/Rutherglen FA immediately before World War I, Balldale migrated to the Coreen and District FL where they participated in three episodes separated by stints in the Corowa and District FA, the Riverina FA, the Hume FL (1945, 1947-1974) and the Chiltern and District FL (1946). Balldale won ten premierships across its football journey. For a rollicking footy yarn, tune in to Robbie Mackinlay’s Glory Days podcast: Balldale 1972 – “The Final Quarter”.

 

Brocklesby, just up the road, is our next stop.  We are now in ‘Koschitzke country’. The Brocklesby Football Club’s vintage years were in the 1920s when they featured in nine grand finals in succession – but won only two. Later, the Brocklesby ‘Kangaroos’ were long standing members of the Hume League after joining that competition in 1945. The club merged with near neighbours Burrumbuttock in 2006 to become the Brock-Burrum ‘Saints’. The fortunes of the merged club turned sharply upwards less than a decade later when they won four HFNL flags in six seasons (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018).

 

Leaving Brocklesby, we push on to the third of the three B’s – Burrumbuttock. A stroll past the historic Holy Cross Lutheran Church, built in 1870, is a must before we head to the footy ground. We soon arrive at the Brock-Burrum Saints homeground, located beside the primary school and the adjacent Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre. To enter we must squeeze past the sentry-like gatetaker’s box.

 

 

Entrance to Burrumbuttock Recreation Reserve, 2018

(pic – author)

 

The Burrum recreation reserve looks much like I remember it back in the late 1960s when I went there to watch Saturday afternoon cricket matches – a tree encircled oval with typical country ground facilities and a no-frills scoreboard. The hosts enjoyed a reputation among visiting cricket teams for their wonderfully generous hospitality, which often included prized German cake.

 

 

Burrumbuttock Recreation Ground and scoreboard, 2018

(pic – author)

 

 

Burrumbuttock first joined the Hume League in 1937. They resumed after the World War II recess in 1947, the same year the Hume Netball Association commenced. The Burrumbuttock ‘Swans’, like their merger partners Brocklesby, had won only two flags in the Hume League before the clubs joined forces. And, a strong force they eventually became, with four premierships quickly won. This season they have struggled – only 2 points (from a draw) so far – after making the semi finals in 2023. 

 

It’s late afternoon as we drop back through the gears and pull up at Jindera, home of the Bulldogs. Boy this place has grown since my visits back in the 1960s! Then it was a small country village, removed from Albury yet part of its sporting sphere. The Jindera Sports Ground was a place where I spent many a summer Saturday afternoon watching my father’s team play cricket. There was no lush green grass in those days or towers housing bright football training lights, like we see on this late winter afternoon. I remember a pavilion shed for afternoon tea, some swings for the kids to play on and a big brown cricket ground … And a pub and a shop over the road. Now we see new homes spreading out in every direction … even a modern shopping village. But one thing that has not altered is the town’s tribute to the early European history of the area – at the Jindera Pioneer Museum – which remains a major attraction.

 

The Jindera Football Club is the only surviving (and constant) member of the Hume League (1933-2024). Jindera has enjoyed great success in the Hume FNL, winning 11 premierships, second only to Osborne’s 16 flags. The vintage years of the Jindera Bulldogs were in the ten year period 1955 to 1964 when they claimed seven flags, starting the dynasty in fine style with three in a row.

 

Two former Jindera ‘Bulldogs’ footballers were recently inducted into the NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame – Harry Gardiner and Bill Barton. The two players had stronger and longer connections with other clubs in the district – Harry at Culcairn and Bill at North Albury, among others – but both had successful stints [* premiers] with Jindera – Gardiner in 1957*, 1958 and Barton in 1963*, 1964*. Bill Barton won seven premierships in the Riverina, which included coaching Mangoplah-Cookardinia United, Burrumbuttock and Walla Walla, as well as Jindera.

 

Jindera in 2024

 

Jindera are in contention in 2024. On Saturday 17th August the Bulldogs 11.14 (80) defeated the Billabong Crows 5.4 (34). A finals place for Jindera is now  assured.

 

Not far away, Corowa-Rutherglen notched the first win of their comeback season in the Ovens and Murray FNL at Corowa on Saturday 17th August.

 

Riverina Spotto

 

 31.12.74 is out with the old. We have reached the last spotto – three bees (Balldale, Brocklesby and Burrumbuttock) it must be.

 

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 week: Revelling in the Riverina recap

 

We return to Holbrook where we will hand back the keys to the big blue Ford Falcon GTHO. It’s now full time … a moment for reflections of our vintage football celebrations. And before we close, to pose some questions on the future directions of footy leagues in the Riverina.

 

 

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

 

 

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