Up the Mighty Murray! – Episode 11: To Tooleybuc and Manangatang in the Central Murray League

 

 

 

Episode 11     To Tooleybuc and Manangatang in the Central Murray League

 

Way to go Tooleybuc!

 

Map of the Murray River

   

To Tooleybuc and Manangatang

 

Upstream of the Wakool Junction we enter the Riverine Plain section of the Murray River differentiated by a pattern where the river flows in branching channels. This long section extends all the way to Corowa. The Wakool, together with its tributary the Edward River, is the old course of the Murray prior to tectonic uplift (the Cadell Uplift) near Echuca which altered the course of the river. 

 

Paddlesteamers encountered plenty of navigational hazards in this middle section of the Murray, particularly between Swan Hill and the Wakool Junction. Upstream of the junction a navigational hazard known as the ‘Bitch and Pups’ kept the steamer captains alert. Impassable in a low river, the limestone reefs and muddy islands at this spot held vessels up for months waiting for the river level to rise again. One such ‘hold-up’ occurred in 1963 when the PS Oscar W, towing the rescued PS Gem from Mildura to Swan Hill, was stranded at the site for nearly nine months. Other navigational hazards along this stretch of the Murray include its many contortions, the current-twisting narrow channel and the proliferation of snags.

 

Just around a few bends from the ‘Bitch and Pups’, the passing riverboats were once greeted by an old shepherd who, regardless of the time of day, would call out a cheery “Goodnight” from his camp. The tiny fruit-block settlement of Goodnight got its quaint name from those greetings made from the river bank well over a century ago. The land eastwards of the river between Goodnight and Nyah was once part of the large ‘Poon Boon’ pastoral station. In 1853 Captain Francis Cadell, skipper of the PS Lady Augusta, loaded the first bales of wool to be transported on a paddle steamer from ‘Poon Boon’. The station was visited by the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition party after leaving Swan Hill in September 1860.

 

Distance marker beside the river at Tooleybuc

 

Blue and white distance markers line the Murray between Hume Dam and the river mouth in South Australia. The signs were placed on trees by the NSW Waterways Authority and Tourism South Australia in the 1990s. They indicate the distance to the Murray mouth in kilometres. All of the blue signs east of the South Australian border are on the NSW side of the river, while in South Australian they can appear on either bank. The markers are even numbered and in South Australia appear regularly at 2km intervals. The distance markers add a modern element of interpretation for river travellers. Old ‘mileage trees’, showing distances downstream from Albury etched into their trunks, still exist in some places. The distance markings were carved into river red gums between Albury and Wentworth to aid the riverboat captains.

 

Having travelled 1320 km from the Murray’s mouth, as indicated on the blue and white sign, Tooleybuc makes an ideal halfway stop on our river journey. And the Country Club Hotel (seen in the background of the photograph above) would be a perfect place to start. Episodes 11 and 12 are therefore based in the Tooleybuc-Swan Hill area, providing a great opportunity to take a short road trip out into the mallee to visit Tooleybuc’s partner in football, Manangatang.

 

Tooleybuc is a special place for your tour leader. I arrived in the small town as a first-year-out teacher in 1977 and my memories of that day were later recorded in a thin school exercise book.

 

Arrival at Tooleybuc

 

The five hour drive from Temora was surely about to end. I scanned the western horizon for a sign that my destination lay ahead. There! I sighted a landform in stark contrast to the flat and monotonous Hay Plain that I had traversed for much of the afternoon. Soon I approached a sandhill, clothed in an orderly array of citrus trees and vines. The deep green leaves and bright orange of the fruit softened the grey-brown carpet of the surrounds. The ridge carried an atmosphere of suspense and imminent destiny to my fast awakening consciousness. The verdant scenery was not a mirage, but an oasis, giving hope to a reluctant appointee.

 

I had recently crossed the Wakool River at Kyalite and presumed the Murray would lie beyond the red sandy ridge I was now ascending. The summit kept its secret for a moment longer. At the crest of the hill a road sign bearing the name “Tooleybuc” confirmed my arrival. To my left stood a grey coloured corrugated building resembling a country church hall. Immediately ahead lay an intersection. In the weakening sunlight of the mid August afternoon I immediately recognised, to my right, a mixed assembly of salmon-coloured brick buildings and cream-painted weatherboard structures, accompanied by lush sporting fields … the school. My posting! 

 

An Ampol garage decorated one corner of the intersection. Stage right, “Goodnight” was signposted. Goodnight … Goodnight … Goodnight I pondered. My memory responded. It was ten years before that I had seen the name on a road map as we journeyed towards South Australia on a family holiday. The name Goodnight had fascinated me at the time, conjuring up visions of a bright yellow half moon illuminated by milky white stars in the summer night sky of December 1967.

 

The Murray River lay out of sight, but the line of River Red Gums gave certainty of its proximity. Turning left, I continued observantly along the main street passing neat houses and a sequence of shops … general store, butchery, post office, on the passenger’s side, until sighting the low-set, cream coloured “Country Club Hotel.”  A vertical neon sign advertising “Orlando Wines” stood on the roof of the building. Characteristically, a row of cars were parked nose to the kerb at 45 degrees waiting for the Saturday afternoon drinkers to return. On my side of the car an imposing dark grey structure spanned the river. The signs followed in order – “Tooleybuc Bridge” – “Murray River” – “Victoria”. I was curious. What lay on the other side of the bridge? Was there more of Tooleybuc on the Victorian side? After crossing the single lane bridge, and following a couple of turns in the road, I met an avenue of gums. With the setting sun ahead, I soon knew all of Tooleybuc lay behind me. 

 

Retracing my path across the bridge I joined the parked cars outside the hotel, my booked lodgings for the first few days. After pushing the ‘pull’ door I made my anxious entrance. The bar was full. A hubbub broken by raised voices and laughter filled my ears. Three barmen worked up and down. All were tall. The eldest was a giant of a man. “What’ll you have?” enquired the deep-voiced one I guessed was the publican.“A middy” I replied. “A pot?” “Yes, a pot” I nodded, reminded of the equivalent Victorian term. A frothy glass was placed in front of me on the red bar top. After six months of Reschs back in the eastern Riverina, to find Carlton Draught beer on tap was a win. In an instant my transfer to Tooleybuc started to look up.

(an extract from the journal of an old Riverina chalkie)

 

Tooleybuc Bridge

 

There are 38 road bridges along the course of the Murray. The meccano-like Tooleybuc bridge, built in 1924, is one of the lift span bridges constructed on the inland waterways to accommodate the larger riverboat traffic in times of high rivers. Other lift span bridges on the Murray River are located at Paringa, Curlwaa, Nyah, Swan Hill, Murrabit, Barham, Tocumwal and Cobram-Barooga. 

 

Tooleybuc offers South Australian bound travellers an attractive riverside setting and rest stop on the alternative route to the Sturt Highway. Citrus orchards, vineyards and nut groves line the Murray in a narrow strip on both sides, making a green vista in contrast to the surrounding dryland farming country out in the mallee. And the Tooleybuc route is certainly the way to go! 

 

Recent almond tree plantings at Goodnight, NSW

 

A new crop on the block, almond growing, is proliferating in the area, just as it is in the Sunraysia and the Riverland. Move aside rice and cotton as the big water guzzlers, almonds are even thirstier. Almonds use between 12 and 15 megalitres of water per hectare per year compared with around 10 to 12 ML/ha for rice and 7 to 8 for cotton. However, the land devoted to almond growing is far less than both rice and cotton and does not involve the off-river storage of water permitted by floodplain harvesting licences. Nevertheless, the sustainability of the booming almond farming industry is in serious question.

 

Thinking of Tooleybuc and Manangatang, the connection between the Murray River and the Mallee can be seen in ways other than football. A parrot species endemic to the region is the Regent Parrot, also commonly known as the ‘Murray Smoker’. This vulnerable species moves on a daily basis between its River Red Gum and Black Box nesting habitat along the Murray (also the Murrumbidgee and the Wakool rivers) and nearby mallee woodlands where it forages for food. The species is under threat, particularly from the loss and degradation of its mallee woodland foraging habitat. It is also impacted by changes to river flow regimes and a range of unintended impacts associated with agricultural activities. 

 

Generations of Australian children, from both the country and the city, have been introduced to native birds through the bird cards provided in packets of tea. In the same way, many have idolized VFL/AFL footballers by collecting footy cards. The hobby of collecting bird cards, swapping and creating albums has promoted a greater appreciation of birds and their conservation. Hands up readers if you and your siblings, or your children, were avid bird card collectors. My three kids were. The Gould League of Birdlovers was another stimulus for bird watching and record keeping by young people. The league aimed to provide environmental education directed towards reducing the collection of birds’ eggs.

 

Regent Parrot (source: Tuckfields Tea Cards)

 

Another day at the footy in the Central Murray League

 

 

Match of the day: Tooleybuc-Manangatang v Koondrook-Barham

Saturday 24th June 2023

at Manangatang

 

Saints     v     River Raiders

 

Tooleybuc (the Bucs) from the Central Murray League and Manangatang (the Saints) from the Mallee League merged prior to the start of the 2004 season. Tooleybuc formed a football club in the late 1920s, initially playing in the Lines FA which was composed of clubs along the Murray River between Kerang and Natya. In 1933 Tooleybuc joined the Nyah-Piangil FA where they enjoyed instant success winning the inaugural premiership. The association became the Mid-Murray League and after the war grew to a nine club competition with Tooleybuc participating. The green and gold Bucs had to wait until 1965 to claim their first Mid Murray League flag, with a 32 point victory over Lalbert. That was the club’s one and only premiership in the MMFL, although they were runners-up on several occasions in the late 1960s and again in 1987 and 1990. And as the old Tooleybuc footy club song went: “…we’ll show them the way to go home!”

 

A favourite son of the Tooleybuc Football Club is Geelong’s John Sharrock. The skilful half forward joined the Cats in 1963 and immediately impressed with his strong marking and superb left foot kicking. Sharrock’s timing was perfect as Geelong won the flag in his first season of VFL football. His fourth season at Kardinia Park, 1966, was his best, finishing third in the Brownlow Medal count. Sharrock played 94 games for the Cats before a knee injury in 1968 curtailed his league career. He then coached Ovens and Murray League club North Albury in 1969-70.

 

(source: Scanlen’s Football Card 1968 series A)

 

Manangatang has experienced a long and varied history as a football club. Ask an old shearer how many sheds he has rung and his likely reply of “Too bloody many to count!”, would be matched by the story of Manang’s football journey. The club was formed in the early years of the 20th Century and is recorded as having competed in the Eureka and District FA, the Manangatang FA, the Northern Mallee FA, the Northern District Football League, the Manangatang-Waitchie FL, the Nandaly-Bolton FL, the Manangatang FL, the Tyrrell FL, the Northern Mallee FL and the Mallee FL. Manangatang were premiers in 1920, 1957, 1963, 1967, 1989, 1994, 1996 and 2002. Two Manangatang-born boys, and sons of the town publican, are former AFL players Craig Sholl (North Melbourne) and his brother Brad (North Melbourne and Geelong).

 

What could possibly cause a club to seek a merger within 12 months of winning a premiership?

 

In a nutshell the merger was forced by demographic change in the Manangatang district. Larger land holdings and smaller families meant fewer footballers coming through to fill the ranks. Clubs like Manangatang and Balranald had been importing players from larger towns, Swan Hill and Mildura in particular, and as far away as Melbourne, to remain afloat and competitive. The 2002 Manang team had only a handful of players who lived in the small Mallee town of 300 people. Contrast that with footy in the fifties in the Manangatang area – at least 10 clubs existed within a 50km radius of the town. Localities whose names roll off the tongue rhythmically, such as Chillingollah, Chinkapook, Annuello, Mittyack, Nandaly and Kooloonong, all had football clubs at the time.

 

A Manangatang son, Adam McNicol, has written a history of his hometown in which he sheds light on the boom and bust of the mallee wheat growing settlement. ‘Manangatang’ (2011) is a lively and vividly illustrated, character-filled tribute to his stamping ground. As McNichol notes, farm consolidation in recent decades has driven the population decline and drift to the larger Mallee towns.

 

In the aftermath of the 2002 premiership, Manangatang Football Club president Lindsay Plant sensed both the problem and the solution. He commenced talks with Tooleybuc and eventually sold the merger to members, many of whom found it very hard to say “yes” to the proposal. His argument was “we have to merge with strength” realising that if the club waited until it was a bottom of the ladder ‘basket case’, a merger was likely to quickly fail. Tooleybuc were struggling in the CMFL, faced with similar demographic pressures, but took the leap with their neighbours from the mallee. The Saints colours and nickname were adopted by the new Tooleybuc-Manangatang FC, which helped to ease the pain for Manang people. Home games are played at both towns with Tooleybuc getting the bigger share. The merger was not only a lifesaver but an instant success story. The club were grand finalists in their first season and three years later the Saints won the 2007 CMFL premiership. 

 

The towns are 50 km apart, which has required footballers, netballers and their families to spend a lot of time travelling to and from training and matches. But on the positive side, the merger has given Manangatang 20 years of football that it might not have had without taking the plunge with the Bucs. That way of looking at their recent football history might well be a tonic for other country football clubs, facing a similar demographic challenge, battling to remain as stand alone entities.

 

In 2022 Tooleybuc-Manangatang finished last with only two wins for the season. The Saints are finding the going tough and the football skies suggest a further merger could be on the horizon. Maybe another CMFL club, possibly Nyah-Nyah West United, may come into the fold one day soon. And what would the club be called? Perhaps they could adopt a local travelling parrot as their mascot and be known as the ‘Regents’ or the ‘Murray Smokers’! 

 

The Koondrook-Barham Football Club was founded in 1996 as a result of the merger of two teams from the now defunct Northern District Football League (NDFL) and the former Northern and Echuca Football League. The Koondrook Tigers and the Barham Magpies, both old and successful teams and long time rivals, merged to form the Koondrook-Barham ‘River Raiders’. But it was not the first time the two Murray River towns had joined forces in football. Back in 1907 a club called  “United Barham-Koondrook” played for the Collier Trophy in the Cohuna Association against teams including Lake Charm, Tragowel, Imperials, Rovers and Macorna. In 1914 Barham went alone as ‘Border’ (in the Cohuna-Gunbower Association), adopting the name they kept until 1990. Koondrook joined the Cohuna-Gunbower Association in 1919.

 

The modern version of the club started in the Northern and Echuca Football League (N&EFL) however at the end of that season the VCFL decided to wind up the N&EFL. Koondrook-Barham chose to enter the Mid Murray Football League which was renamed the Central Murray Football League in 1997. The club has not won a premiership since the merger although they made the grand final in 2015. In 2022 the River Raiders finished second last with just two wins and a draw for the year.

 

A favourite son of the Koondrook Football club is Roy Simmonds who played 192 games for Hawthorn between 1950 and 1961. The highly regarded player and clubman, ‘Simmo’, was named as an interchange player in Hawthorn’s Team of the Century.

 

The last time they met: round 16 2022 – Koondrook-Barham 10.7 (67) defeated Tooleybuc-Manangatang 9.6 (60).

 

The match

 

It is a day for cross border football clubs, Tooleybuc-Manangatang and Koondrook-Barham, to feature in the spotlight. The Saints and the River Raiders have experienced similar fortunes so far in 2023, with both struggling to register wins. The clash of the merger clubs should be a close one.

 

Weather: Partly cloudy, windy 16 C

 

The Saints started the match having all of the scoring opportunities but found difficulty in kicking straight. In the wind affected contest, the home side were never threatened by the River Raiders and ran out winners by 42 points. 

 

Footy action at Manangatang

(source: Swan Hill Guardian 27 June 2023)

 

Scores

 

Tooleybuc-Manangatang 4.13 6.15 9.18 10.23 (83)

 

Koondrook-Barham 0.1 2.5 4.5 6.5 (41)

 

Goalkickers – Tooleybuc-Manangatang: Domaille 2, Auckland 2, Goldfinch 2, Grant, Mazzarella, Williams, McDonald

Koondrook-Barham: Christensen 2, Boyd 2, McVeigh, Cirillo

 

Best players – Tooleybuc-Manangatang: Blake Grant, Jack Mazzarella, Connor Mcdonald, Ethan Goldfinch, Johnathan Marsden, Tim Auckland

Koondrook-Barham: Jack Shannon, Reagan Hamilton, Scott Wood, Mitchell Christensen, Ash Molin, Eli Boyd

 

Around the Central Murray League grounds

 

Balranald 15.12 (102) defeated Nyah-Nyah West United 10.5 (65) at the Nyah Recreation Ground

 

Lake Boga 20.16 (136) defeated Swan Hill 12.4 (76) at the Swan Hill Recreation Reserve

 

Cohuna 10.16 (76) defeated Tyntynder 6.9 (45) at the Cohuna Recreation Reserve

 

Woorinen 15.9 (99) defeated Mallee Eagles 5.6 (36) at the Lalbert Recreation Reserve

 

Kerang – the bye

 

Meanwhile … in leagues covered so far:

 

In the Sunraysia League the winners were Robinvale Euston, Ouyen United and Mildura. The Imperials v South Mildura match resulted in a draw.

 

In the Millewa League the points went to Nangiloc, Gol Gol and Bambill.

 

In the Riverland League the winners were Barmera-Monash, Loxton North and Renmark. 

 

In the Murray Valley League the points went to Murrayville, Wunkar and Browns-Well.

 

In the River Murray League the winners were Imperial, Southern Mallee, Jervois and Tailem Bend.

 

In the Great Southern League the victors were Yankalilla, Encounter Bay, McLaren Districts, Myponga-Sellicks and Willunga.

 

Next episode: Sojourn at Swan Hill as we pause to reflect on the journey so far while enjoying a round or two of golf.

 

 

 

Read all episodes of ‘Up The Mighty Murray’ and Peter Clark’s previous series Here.

 

 

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