Up the Mighty Murray! – Episode 2: Rise up for the River Murray

 

 

 

Episode 2    Rise up for the River Murray

 

To Murray Bridge in the River Murray Football League

 

 

Map of the Murray River

 

 

                  To Murray Bridge

 

 

Moving beyond Lake Alexandrina near Wellington, we can observe the Murray regaining its river-like shape. In this episode we venture upriver towards Tailem Bend and Murray Bridge, towns with football clubs participating in the River Murray Football League.

 

 

 

 

Waving goodbye to the ferry operator as we pass the Wellington Ferry, just beyond the Murray’s entrance to Lake Alexandrina, signals the continuation of our five month marathon on the river. Our modern day Murray cruise will be in stark contrast to the hardship encountered by Captain Charles Sturt and his party of hungry and exhausted men as they rowed against the current on their voyage back up the Murray from Lake Alexandrina in 1830. 

 

There are 12 ferries on the River Murray in South Australia and a further two are situated on the river eastwards of the SA border (one at Speewa near Swan Hill and the other above Lake Hume at Wymah). As registered ‘boats’, each South Australian ferry is named after a bird, with the Wellington Ferry called ‘Heron’.

 

The people of the Ngarrindjeri Nation call the river Murrundi. Indigenous people living along other sections of the Murray have their own cultural names for the great river, as we shall discover during the series. A public riverfront reserve, Murrundi Wetland Reserve, established by community groups along the River Bend HeritageTrail near Wellington, allows visitors an ideal place to experience native vegetation and river wildlife. 

 

The river floodplain swamps between Wellington and Tailem Bend were drained in the early 20th Century making a home and livelihood for newcomers from depression-era Adelaide, the ‘mud punchers’ as they were known. Today the Murraylands river flats are carefully irrigated to support dairying, fruit and vegetable growing, cereal cropping and mixed livestock farming. Heading upstream beyond Jervois and Tailem Bend, the course of the river takes a sharp bend to the north west before Murray Bridge is approached. 

 

Murray Bridge, the ‘capital of the Southern Murray’, had its origins in the 1860s as a river crossing point for stock transported overland from the eastern states. A bridge was constructed at the settlement in 1879 to facilitate both road and rail transport to and from Adelaide, and with it Murray Bridge got its present name. Milk processing is one of the main industries of the town with milk now transported by road tankers replacing the flat bottomed milk boats of earlier days.

 

Motorists crossing the Swanport Bridge near Murray Bridge today get a birds-eye-view of the expansive floodwaters still remaining on the floodplain in the lower Murray months after the 2022-23 flood peak passed.

 

 

Expansive water view from the Swanport Bridge, late March 2023

 

Mypolonga is located between Murray Bridge and Mannum on the western side of the lower Murray. The town’s name is derived from an Aboriginal expression meaning ‘cliff lookout place’ referencing the Murray’s limestone cliffs. Mypolonga (affectionately known as “Mypo”) is celebrating being named as the 2022 ‘South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year’. The slogan of the Mypolonga community, ‘small but mighty’, gives a hint as to how seriously its residents take their football and how they get behind their local club.

 

Settlements, farms and tourism businesses along the lower Murray were severely impacted by the 2022-23 floods, which prompted a recent state government response.Tourism operators along the river have had their businesses significantly threatened by the once-in-a-century flooding event, with many being closed since late 2022. The government has introduced a $4.6 million river tourism recovery plan that includes the ‘Rise up for our river’ marketing campaign and the River Revival Voucher program. The campaign showcases iconic river locations, highlights tourism operators along the river and calls on South Australians to throw their support, and their dollars, to impacted river communities. River Murray cruises in and out of Murray Bridge have recently recommenced, attracting tourists from far and wide to observe where the water got to in the recent flood and the inundated wetlands. 

 

Three months after the flood peak some farms in the Mypolonga area remain inundated due to a breach in the levee, which has not yet been repaired. Despite efforts by the SA government to pump water off the flooded dairylands, until the levee is repaired the impact of the worst flood since 1956 will continue.

 

A day at the footy in The River Murray Football League

 

 

 

The River Murray Football League (RMFL) is largely centered on towns located along the Murray between Tailem Bend and Mannum (see map above). The riverside clubs in the RMFL are: Jervois ‘Bluds’, Tailem Bend ‘Eagles’, Imperial ‘Blues’, Rambler ‘Roosters’, Mypolonga ‘Tigers’ and Mannum ‘Roos’. In 2023 the league takes on a fresh look with the inclusion of three newcomers: two from the Murray-Mallee region and one from the Coorong district. Together, the three new clubs are expected to revitalise the River Murray League.

 

The cessation of the Mallee League in 2022 resulted in two new football entities, the Southern Mallee ‘Suns’ and The Mallee Districts ‘Storm’, finding a home in the RMFL. The Southern Mallee Suns rose from a merger between Pinaroo and Lameroo, while the Mallee Districts Storm are the product of a merger between Karoonda and Peake. 

 

The River Murray League also welcomes the merger between the former RMFL club Meningie, from the shores of Lake Albert, and the Border Downs-Tintinara club from Coonalpyn. The new entity will be known as the Coorong Cats. 

 

The exodus of clubs to neighbouring leagues finally forced the closure of the Mallee League. The demise of the league can be attributed to the decline in junior and senior player numbers, financial burdens and a lack of sufficient volunteers. For many years football clubs across the Murraylands have been battling to stay afloat in the midst of demographic change, a story familiar to country football leagues everywhere. 

 

Karoonda is a rural service town situated on the highway between Murray Bridge and Loxton in the heart of the Murray-Mallee region. On my recent visit to Karoonda the town’s annual Farm Fair and Show was in full swing on the Memorial Oval with exhibits of farm machinery, produce stalls, entertainment and competitions country-style. There was no room to kick a Sherrin on the footy ground that day. Just up the road, art work on Karoonda’s silos proudly reinforces the rich agricultural and pastoral history of the district. 

 

 

 

The RMFL was founded in 1931 with foundation clubs Imperials, Ramblers and Mypolonga.  The Murray Bridge based Imperial Football Club have won the greatest number of RMFL premierships, taking out their 22nd flag in 2022. The Blues defeated Jervois in what was their ninth grand final attempt against the ‘Bluds’ dating back to 1967. 

 

Jervois has recently been hit with sanctions for breaches of player payment regulations in 2022. The club has been fined $26 500 by the SANFL and will incur player points penalties over the next two seasons. In addition, the ‘Bluds’ will be stripped of four premiership points in both 2023 and 2024. We will discover penalties imposed on two other ‘Murray River’ football clubs for infringements of salary cap regulations as we reach the Riverland League, and later the Ovens and Murray League.

 

 

The Mail Medal

 

In 1933 Adelaide’s Sunday Mail newspaper struck a medal to recognise the best and fairest footballer in each of South Australia’s country leagues. Two Lameroo farming brothers, Brenton and Rodney Maynard won the Mail Medal for the Mallee League (SA) a combined ten times.

 

Rodney ‘Rocket’ Maynard will be remembered by many readers as one of the inaugural squad members of the Adelaide Crows, for whom he played 81 games. Maynard, reflecting on the recent dissolution of his home league, fears for the mental health repercussions if community sport does not continue in rural areas.

 

Current AFL players from the RMFL

 

Chad Wingard (Hawthorn) and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (Essendon) both commenced their football with the Imperial club at Murray Bridge. Wingard, at age 16, played in the Imperials 2009 premiership team kicking five goals.

 

Match of the round – Anzac Round

 

Imperial v Mypolonga

 

At Johnstone Park Murray Bridge

Saturday 22nd April 2023

 

 

                     

Blues               v                 Tigers

 

Murray Bridge boasts two football clubs in the RMFL, the Imperials and the Ramblers, and it is not surprising that they have become arch rivals. Sharing a home ground until 1966 only intensified that rivalry. Reigning premiers Imperial have been the most consistently successful club winning flags in every decade of the league’s existence. 

 

The Mypolonga Football Club commenced in 1928 and have won eight RMFL premierships with their most recent flag coming in 2019. In 2022 the Tigers were wooden spooners with three wins and 13 losses. Mypolonga is a very proud family-oriented club boasting great facilities thanks to strong community support.

 

Imperials and Mypolonga have only played one another twice in River Murray Football League grand finals, with the honours shared. Mypolonga took out the flag in 1994 with a 24 point win over the Blues. That victory made it four flags in six seasons for the Tigers. Imperials were victorious in 1998 with a five point win making up for disappointing grand final losses in the previous two years.

 

The last time they met: Round 13 2022 – Imperial 20.15 (135) d. Mypolonga 2.6 (18)

 

Imperial started off 2023 as they finished last season. The Blues enjoyed a resounding victory over rival Murray Bridge club Rambler. Meanwhile, in round 1 Mypolonga were overrun after half time by last year’s runners-up Jervois. The Blues go into the match looking too strong and experienced for the Tigers.

 

Weather: 25 C, fine and sunny

 

The match

 

Imperial sprinted out of the blocks in the first quarter and were never headed by Mypolonga. The Blues cruised to a 54 point victory over the Tigers who were outclassed this week in contrast to their competitive performance in round 1 against Jervois.

 

Scores

 

Imperial  4.4 (28) 6.7 (43) 11.9 (75) 15.12 (102)

 

Mypolonga 0.2 (2) 2.7 (19) 5.8 (38) 6.12 (48)

 

Goals –

Imperial: Penfold 4, Boras 3, Mole 3, Diment 2, Dalitz , Clarke , Morrell 

Mypolonga: Hombsch 2, Walton , Mills , Elliott , Stegmeyer 

 

Best –

Imperial: C. Diment, M. Lienert, J. Penfold, B. Gogel, L. De Michele, L. Harrowfield

Mypolonga: N. Hombsch, P. Davies, M. Bowley, B. Morris, R. Gotch, H. Payne

 

Around the RMFL grounds

 

Coorong Cats 11.13 (79) defeated Mannum 11.10 (76) at Mannum

Southern Mallee 13.20 (98) defeated Tailem Bend 9.6 (60) at Pinnaroo

Jervois 16.20 (116) defeated Mallee Districts 10.6 (66) at Peake

Rambler – bye

 

The Southern Mallee Suns have made an impressive start in the River Murray League with two wins from two games and face an acid test in round 3 against last year’s runners-up Jervois.

 

Meanwhile…

In the Great Southern League round 2 featured a series of local derbies.

The winners were: Victor Harbor over Encounter Bay, McLaren Districts against Willunga, Myponga-Sellicks over Yankalilla, Mount Compass against Goolwa-Port Elliot, and in the annual Anzac Day match between Strathalbyn and Langhorne Creek, Strathalbyn took the points.

 

 

 

Anyone for golf?

 

Murray Bridge Golf Course

(source: https://murraybridgegolfclub.com.au/)

 

Situated in the heart of the town, the Murray Bridge Golf Course is regarded as being among the best country golf courses in South Australia. During winter the 5400m long course is at its very best, attracting golfers from far and wide to the lower Murraylands for a round. If gently undulating, tree-lined golf courses appeal, then 18 holes at the par 68 Murray Bridge course in late April would be a great way to start a golf trip up the Murray. And it’s only a ‘good drive’ away from the Imperials footy ground at Johnstone Park. 

 

Have any Almanac readers played golf at Murray Bridge?

 

Next episode: Upriver to Mannum in the River Murray Football League

 

 

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

 

 

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