Revelling in the Riverina – Episode 1: ‘In Tumba-bloody-rumba’ cheer’n ‘kanga-bloody-roos’

REVELLING in the Riverina

 

 

The vintage years

 

Episode 1

‘In Tumba-bloody-rumba’ cheer’n ‘kanga-bloody-roos’

 

 

Tumbarumba, NSW (the Kangaroos, Upper Murray Football Netball League)

 

Stage 1: Holbrook to Tumbarumba 

 

Our road trip through the Riverina commences at Holbrook where Stage 1 takes us to the town of Tumbarumba (or simply ‘Tumba’ to the locals) in the Snowy Valleys. Australian poet and novelist John O’Grady gave Tumba its tmeses (integrated adjectives or words within words). Hence ‘Tumba-bloody-rumba’ and ‘kanga-bloody-roos’. John Wolfe penned the lyrics to a bush ballad of the same name about The Man from Tumbarumba, a typical bush character, but also a bragging chap, who claimed to have done absolutely everything. As one verse tells – “He was a champ at baccarat, Australian Rules and rugger.”  

 

Fittingly, the town’s Australian Football club is known as the Kangaroos. The Roos popped up in the midst of a hostile rugby league stronghold some 53 years ago, where they struggled for what must have seemed like an eternity before winning the hearts and minds of the local community and eventually premierships in the Victorian-centered Upper Murray Football Netball League.

 

But wait a while, we have to get there first …

 

Every road trip needs a start, a series of waypoints, a final destination and, of course, a vehicle to comfortably carry its passengers. The origin I have chosen is the classic Australian highway town of Holbrook, situated just off the Hume Freeway. Our vehicle, an electric blue 1971 Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III, is parked outside the Riverina Hotel in Holbrook’s famous long main drag, aka Albury Street. We are in rare company, as only 300 cars of that model were made, and just seven in electric blue with black trim. We’ll return the keys of the built-for-Bathurst touring car to the front bar in about 5 months time!

 

Before setting off we’ll call in to the servo and pick up a Spotto game card to help entertain our passengers. The 85km drive to Tumbarumba should take just an hour. Let’s get familiar with the sights and sounds of our 351 cubic inch V8 Ford:

 

 

 

Out of the ‘danger zone’ and focusing once more on the highway ahead, we wave ‘bye to HMAS Otway on our way out of town and make the run up to Tumba full of expectation and excitement for our road trip through the Riverina. As we near Tumbarumba, it’s time for a shot of locally inspired bush music. We join Warren Fahey and the Larrikins as they sing ‘Tumba-Bloody-Rumba’:

 

 

The welcome to Tumba sign says ‘experience the magic’. After arriving in the old gold mining and timber town, now the home of fine wines (chardonnay is the top of the crop) and delectable berries, we head straight for the Kangaroos’ home ground. But hang on … we should stop first at where Australian footy started in Tumbarumba – at the showgrounds.

 

Australian Football came late to the Snowy valleys of the far eastern Riverina, although there were some pioneering attempts to seed the code in the hill country around Tumbarumba as far back as the 1920s. For instance, a team from Tumbarumba played a game at Rosewood in 1926.

 

In 1971, when the Sherrin came to town for good, the newcomers were forced to share the Showgrounds with the long established rival code. The co-tenants, with their proud history in the Groups 20, 13 and 9 Rugby League competitions, were not at all hospitable towards the interlopers and made them feel decidedly unwelcome. Determined and resilient men, including Merv Hannan, Alan Waters and Peter Terry, led the Kangaroos through very challenging times in the early years. 

 

Brent Godde (Border Mail 3 Sep. 2012) summed up Tumbarumba’s long road to the holy grail: 

 

“… the rugby-league dominated town has been the perennial whipping boys at home and even bigger easybeats on the road – with 200-point plus floggings a common occurrence.”

 

The hike up to Tumbarumba was a football trek taken, not once but twice, by one of Holbrook’s most respected former players, John Cornish. In 1972, towards the end of his long and highly successful career in the Riverina, Cornish went up into the Snowy Valleys to captain-coach the Kangaroos. After returning to Holbrook (the ‘Brookers’) he was enticed again three seasons later by Tumbarumba and made the short trek for one more crack in 1976-77. To Tumba’s great benefit, Cornish was not the only ‘Brooker to make such a football move. Legendary Holbrook player Bertie Haynes accompanied Cornish to Tumbarumba in 1976 and enjoyed a stellar season in the Upper Murray League.

 

It took 48 attempts before the senior side first tasted victory – at the back end of the 1974 season. The club had to wait a further three seasons for their first finals appearance. A significant turning point in the Kangaroos’ fortunes was their move to the Sportsground, just down the road, in 1980. At last they had a facility they could claim as their own and, with that, their own identity in town. 

 

Finals appearances became more common in the late 1970s, culminating in Tumbarumba reaching the Grand Final in 1980 under new coach Bruce Forbes. The fairytale first premiership did not eventuate that year, and then the nineties produced more challenges, including a season in recess in 1996. Two further grand final losses, in 1998 and again in 2008, did not dampen the spirits of the Roos with the promise of a maiden flag keeping them in the hunt.

 

The vintage years finally arrived in 2012 and 2013 with back-to-back premierships. The club’s first senior Grand Final victory was against Cudgewa (by 13 points). The second was over Bullioh (by 33 points), icing the cake on an undefeated season. 

 

Finally, in 2012, the town of Tumbarumba was a sea of blue and white as the Kangaroos won the respect of the local community and, in their quest for the flag, the support of all other clubs in the Upper Murray League. The Roos came from 33 points down at half-time to finish over the top of Cudgewa with their superior fitness, just as they had done in previous meetings during the season. That was something for Tumbarumba folk to brag about – champs at Australian Rules and rugby league.

 

The drought-breaking flag of 2012 was sparked by the appointment of local talent Matt Molkentin as coach in 2011. After the premiership victory Molkentin said, “I was overwhelmed just to be appointed coach of my home club but to get the first flag in the history of the club is something special and something I will cherish for the rest of my life.” (Border Mail, 3 September 2012)

 

The club’s 2013 premiership ensured they were not known as ‘one hit wonders’. There was certainly no complacency in the Roos camp, in fact they took the bold decision at the start of the 2013 season to replace almost half the team with “the type of players we needed” rookie coach Shane McIntosh revealed (Border Mail, 9 September 2013). 

 

Further finals appearances followed for Tumbarumba before a slump in 2017-18 saw the club as consecutive wooden spooners. Then, post-pandemic, the Roos experienced the magic again, taking out the 2022 flag. It was a double celebration for the Roos with the netballers also winning the premiership. In 2023 Tumbarumba finished the home and away rounds in second place, but were knocked out of the finals by Bullioh.

 

 

 

 

How does a struggling country footy club achieve premiership success, often against bigger towns and more seasoned opponents? Pay a posse of imported players and leave out the locals or show faith in homegrown youth? The balance can be a precarious one. The big risk in the former approach is alienating your home support and, simultaneously, becoming a departure lounge for a procession of paid imports.

 

Tumbarumba’s strategy was to appoint a leader from within and to bolster the local talent with a harmonious, energetic and committed group of players from further afield. Then, upon achieving success, take nothing for granted and mould a new team for the challenges ahead. Brave decisions! 

 

Readers, I thoroughly recommend Robbie McKinlay’s podcast Glory Days – Tumbarumba 50 not out for a deeper understanding of the battling times and vintage years of the Tumbarumba Football Club.

 

 

Tumbarumba in 2024

 

Round 1 (20th April): Tumbarumba 14.15 (99)  defeated Corryong 7.11 (53) at Tumbarumba 

 

Riverina Spotto

Here’s your Spotto card clues. Mark one off in each episode as we revel in the Riverina.

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 2 – to Cootamundra

 

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