Up the Mighty Murray! – Episode 7: A Mega Day of  football and netball in the Millewa Football Netball League

 

 

Episode 7         A Mega Day of  football and netball

 

 

To Mildura via Cullulleraine in the Millewa Football Netball League

 

   

Map of the Murray River

 

    To Mildura via Cullulleraine

 

Leaving South Australia, we journey towards Mildura along an isolated section of the river, distant from the Sturt Highway and without any settlements other than large pastoral stations.

 

Lake Victoria

(source: Google Earth)

 

Along the way we leave the river to view a naturally occurring shallow lake located near the South Australian-NSW border. Lake Victoria is ideally situated to play an important role in water management along the entire Murray system. Being downstream of the Murray-Darling confluence allows the regulators to use the lake as an off-river storage to support South Australia’s water supply and environmental flows in the lower Murray. The lake is filled from the Murray via Frenchman’s Creek in times of high water flows. Water is delivered back into the system, through the Rufus River at Lock 7, to manage the regulated release of minimum agreed flows to South Australia under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Additionally, Lake Victoria performs a key role in the management of salinity levels in the lower Murray, acting as a diversion and dilution reservoir when salt levels in the river are high. When full the 12 200 ha lake holds 677 GL of water, some of which can be released to support environmental flows in South Australia.

 

On the shore of Lake Victoria a memorial has been built in remembrance of the ‘Rufus River Massacre’. In 1841 clashes between overlanders and the local Maraura Aboriginal people near the lake prompted official responses from the South Australian Governor who dispatched parties of police and volunteers from Adelaide to recover stolen livestock, and later, to circumvent further confrontation. The origins of the clashes lay in broken promises made by the overlanders for the supply of food and clothing in exchange for sex with the Aboriginal women and the retaliatory livestock stealing by the Aborigines. Official reports at the time numbered the Aboriginal deaths at 30, but the true figure may well have been in the hundreds.

 

Cullulleraine, an oasis along the Sturt Highway

 

On the way towards the Sunraysia region we take another detour to visit an oasis in the midst of the semi-arid Victorian Mallee. The haven of green is the small settlement of Cullulleraine, located on the Sturt Highway between Renmark and Mildura. The lifeblood of the agricultural and horticultural community surrounding the tiny settlement of 80 people is provided by water from the Murray River.

 

Lake Cullulleraine 

(source: Google Earth)

 

Lake Cullulleraine was an ephemeral lake, naturally filling in wet times and drying out in droughts. Since the 1920s the lake has been artificially filled with water diverted from the Murray, 8 km to the north, to support a post World War I farming scheme, the Millewa Settlement Area. The water is supplied from just above Lock 9 on the river and is pumped to the lake in an earthen channel, the Lake Cullulleraine Supply Channel. The scheme was designed to provide stock and domestic water to farms around the lake and out into the Mallee, but 95% of the water was lost to evaporation and seepage before it reached the farmers. Adding to the scheme’s problems, sand drifts clogged the channels, which were later abandoned. While the supply channel from the Murray to the lake remains, the open channels that fed the farms from the lake have been replaced with pipelines since 1975.

 

Wheat cropping and sheep grazing properties now stand beside vast almond groves, vineyards and melon farms in the area. In episode 11, while in the Tooleybuc district, we will examine the environmental footprint of almond growing in the lower Murray Darling Basin.

 

The future appears bright for Lake Cullulleraine with a planned $8 million solar light show, the “Trail of Lights” project. The light art show, designed by Mildura light artist Bruce Munro, will be powered by 12500 solar lights and is set to be switched on at the lake in September 2023.

 

Travellers on the Sturt Highway heading west to South Australia or east to NSW and Victoria are rewarded with a rest stop or an overnight stay beside the 250 ha lake. Many types of water activities, fishing, camping, walking and simply relaxing beside the tranquil waters are reason enough to visit Lake Cullulleraine. 

 

 

The Johansen Memorial Recreation Reserve, located on the southern edge of the lake, is home to a mixture of sporting club tenants – a cricket club, two football-netball clubs, a yacht club, sea scouts, and a tennis club. All benefit from the water provided by the lake. In 2022 the venue hosted the annual Millewa Mega Day.

 

Football grounds at Cullulleraine: the home of Werrimull and Meringur

 

 

Weirs and locks on the Murray

 

The weirs and locks along the course of the Murray provide a mechanism to store water, regulate river flow downstream and to improve the navigability of the river. Their construction was an engineering product of the River Murray Agreement Act, 1915. There are 14 weirs along the Murray, the first at Blanchetown (SA) and the last at Yarrawonga. All weirs, except for the Yarrawonga Weir, have a navigation lock. The weirs and locks were constructed between 1915 and 1939 by itinerant workers, many of whom moved on to the next worksite as the locks were progressively built. Some moved on to work on the Goolwa barrages when construction of the locks on the Murray was complete. During construction the lockworks sites became riverside camps for the workers and their families who relied on their vegetable gardens, fishing and hunting supplemented by supplies from the paddle steamers. Lock 9 became a strong and enterprising community providing social functions, sporting events and entertainment for its residents.

 

Some of the ‘lockworks’ communities supported football teams that participated in local competitions. Apart from the Lock 9 team from the Kulnine area that participated in the Millewa League during the 1920s, there were teams from other lock construction sites, including Lock 5 in the Upper Murray Association (SA) and Lock 2 in the Mid Murray Association (SA). 

 

At the same time there was a football club further downstream in the Ovens and Murray Association formed by construction workers on the Hume Dam. The Hume Weir Football Club (later known as Weir United) was a force in the league between 1924 and 1929.

 

Gol Gol is situated 65km east of Lake Cullulleraine, on the banks of the Murray opposite Midura.The small settlement shares a name with the former sheep run, Gol Gol station, which once covered 200 000 ha of land in the Willandra Lakes area (including Lake Mungo). Explorer Thomas Mitchell named the site after an Aboriginal term, ‘Gol Gol’, meaning “meeting place”. A township was proclaimed at Gol Gol in 1866 and settled as an important coach stop and river port along the Murray for the surrounding grazing and horticultural area. Today, Gol Gol serves as a residential suburb of Mildura.

 

Mega Day 

Saturday 27th May 2023

All matches at the Mildura Sporting Precinct

 

 

An afternoon of football and netball on a special day for the Millewa League – ‘Millewa Mega Day’ – is the feature of round 6. All six clubs in the MFL and MNL (Meringur, Werrimull, Bambill, Gol Gol, Nangiloc and Cardross) meet annually at one venue for a gala day of men’s and women’s footy (in the Sunraysia Women’s FL) and netball, and this year it is all roads lead to the new Mildura Sporting Precinct. Melbourne has the ‘G’ and now Mildura has its ‘P’.

 

The newly built multi-sports facility is located on the corner of Deakin Ave and Sixteenth Street in Mildura. Stage one of the precinct opened in 2021 and includes an AFL standard sports oval with a turf cricket wicket and 500-lux lighting, a two-storey indoor stadium with six sports courts, spectator seating, change rooms and function rooms, as well as a standalone pavilion and sealed car parking. Stage two is set to be completed in 2023 and includes a second oval, sports hub administration, squash courts, outdoor beach volleyball courts and car park expansion. It is anticipated that the new facility will become a mecca attracting high-profile sporting and cultural events to north west Victoria, including pre-season AFL matches.

 

Mildura Sporting Precinct

(source: Mildura Sporting Precinct on Facebook)

 

The Millewa Football Association was founded in the mid 1920s with teams from Lake Cullulleraine, Werrimull, Lock 9 and a team called the “Kangaroos”. Lake took out the inaugural premiership with a two point victory over Werrimull. Werrimull then won five consecutive premierships. Meringur trumped that with six on the trot between 1956 and 1961, a record later matched by Bambill (1965-71). The league spans much the same area as the Sunraysia League and is composed of clubs from small agricultural and horticultural settlements.

 

Meringur (the ‘Kangaroos’) are co-tenants with Werrimull at Lake Cullulleraine. The club has been a member of the Millewa League since 1926 and has won nine premierships, all in the 1950s and first half of the ‘60s. Hungry for September success, it is 59 seasons since they last won a flag. Meringur merged with South Merbein in 1987 but reverted to a stand alone club in 1995. In 2012 the club endured a hiatus for one season in the hope of rebuilding numbers and volunteers for a sustainable comeback, which it made in 2013. In 2023 the Roos will be looking for an improvement after going winless in 2022 and scoring only one point against eventual premiers Bambill in their last game of the season.

 

Gol Gol joined the Millewa League in 1980 and have won 11 premierships, with their last in 2010. Initially the club was known as Alcheringa, becoming the Gol Gol Hawks in 1999. They are the only NSW club in the league. In 2022 Gol Gol won 10 home and away matches, but lost to Cardross in the Preliminary Final by a solitary point.

 

Cardross (the ‘Lions’) joined the Millewa League in 1962 after 14 seasons in the Sunraysia League. The Lions had immediate success in the Millewa competition, narrowly taking out the premiership in 1962 and 1963. A third flag followed in 1972, but in the last 50 years they have not claimed the title again. In 2022 Cardross reached the grand final, but went down to Bambill by 63 points.

 

Werrimull (the ‘Magpies’) have had an unbroken affiliation with the Millewa League since its inception. The Magpies have won 19 premierships, with their most recent in 2013. In 2022 the Magpies won just three of their 15 home and away matches.

 

Bambill (the ‘Saints’) joined the Millewa League in 1927 and have been the most successful club with 28 premierships. In 2022 the Saints went through the season undefeated. The reigning premiers have their home base in Mildura.

 

Nangiloc (the ‘Demons’) joined the Millewa League in 1975 and have won eight premierships, the most recent in 2018. Their most successful era was in the mid 1990s when they amassed 50 wins in a row (1993-1996), including three flags in succession  (1993,’94,’95). In 2022 the Demons won nine matches but bowed out of the finals after a 115 point loss to Gol Gol.

 

A Mildura born footballer and great character who starred in the SANFL is Grenville Dietrich. After a brief trial with Richmond, Dietrich was recruited by North Adelaide in 1982. He played 103 games and kicked 445 goals for the Roosters before joining West Torrens where he made 24 appearances for 72 goals. The prodigious full forward played two State of Origin games for South Australia. In 1993 he joined Karween-Karrawinna in the Millewa League, topping the competition’s goal kicking each season between 1993 and 1996 with a total of 468 goals and recording over 100 goals every year. Many readers will be familiar with Grenville Dietrich’s on and off field exploits thanks to Malcolm Rulebook Ashwood’s 2018 Footy Almanac piece ‘The Man, The Myth, The Legend.’

 

The matches

 

Meringur v Gol Gol (6th v 3rd) 

Saturday 27th May 2023 10am 

Weather: Cool and cloudy max. 16 C

 

                 

Roos              v               Hawks

 

Gol Gol are strongly favoured to win the early game against a struggling Meringur who are without a win in 2023.

 

Scores

 

Gol Gol 21.16 (142) defeated Meringur 4.7 (31)

 

Cardross v Werrimull ( 1st v 5th)

Saturday 27th May 2023 12:15pm

 

         

Lions             v             Magpies

 

The midday match looks a one sided contest on paper, with last year’s runners-up Cardross favourites to maintain their unbeaten record this season. But, don’t write off Werrimull, coming off a huge win in round 5. The Magpies’ line-up included 2001 Brownlow Medallist Jason Akermanis playing a one-off match in the Millewa League. Akers’ four goals helped Werrimull to a 143 point victory over Meringur at Lake Cullulleraine.

 

Lions and Magpies do battle on Millewa Mega Day

(source: Cardross Football Netball Club on Facebook)

 

Scores

 

Cardross 23.20 (158) defeated Werrimull 2.4 (16)

 

Bambill v Nangiloc (2nd v 4th)

Saturday 27th May 2023 2:30pm

 

 

       

    Saints        v         Demons

 

Bambill are strong favourites to win the afternoon match against Nangiloc, but this match looks to be potentially the closest contest of Mega Day.

 

Scores

 

Bambill 12.10 (82) defeated Nangiloc 3.9 (27)

 

 

Sunraysia Women’s Football League

 

Werrimull 11.4 (70) defeated Cardross 3.3 (21)

 

Gol Gol 10.9 (60) defeated Meringur 4.5 (29)

 

Bambill – bye

 

On the netball courts – A Grade

 

Gol Gol 48 defeated Meringur 34

Nangiloc 42 defeated Bambill 35

Werrimull 64 defeated Cardross 35

 

Netball action between Cardross and Werrimull on Millewa Mega Day

(source: Cardross Football Netball Club on Facebook)

 

Meanwhile …

 

In the Riverland League Renmark 7.4 (46) defeated Waikerie 3.4 (22) at Renmark. Barmera-Monash 10.14 (74) had a comfortable away win over Berri 8.4 (52). Loxton North 15.8 (98) were too strong for Loxton 8.6 (54).

 

In round 4 of the Murray Valley League the winners were Browns Well, Murrayville and Sedan Cambrai.

 

Further downstream in the River Murray League Southern Mallee enjoyed a big win over fellow newcomers Mallee Districts.  Imperial got the points over Tailem Bend, Mypolonga defeated Mannum and the Coorong Cats had a solid away win over Rambler at Murray Bridge.

 

In round 7 of the Great Southern League the winners were Encounter Bay, Myponga-Sellicks, McLaren Districts, Willunga and Victor Harbor.

 

A step back in time …

 

Prior to joining the Millewa Football Association in 1925, the Lock 9 Football Club played occasional matches against teams from the Mildura and Renmark districts. In 1924, they hosted Renmark Rover B Grade as the Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record (1 August 1924) described:

 

Football at Lock 9

 

“Practically all the people from the Lock assembled at the oval to witness the game, which resulted in a win for the Rovers. Though slightly on the warm side, being Sunday, it was a good day for football, and after a fast, vigorous and very evenly contested game, the Rovers proved victorious by 5 points. The umpire kept the game clean and open and his decisions were deemed satisfactory by players and spectators alike. When the final bell rang the scores were:- Renmark Rover B, 7.9; Lock 9, 6.10. The Lockites took their defeat in a good sporting manner.”  

 

Next episode: at Mildura in the Sunraysia League

 

 

 

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

 

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