HIGH STANDARD
Wallan’s triumph in the GDCA women’s A-grade grand final was a highlight occasion for the female game. Magpies’ skipper Megan Farrell produced a stellar performance but there were fine contributions from players on both sides. The Wallan-Gisborne clash for the title was played out in front of a large crowd on a sun-drenched afternoon at the picturesque Greenhill Reserve. There has been a great increase in women’s club and school teams across Australia in the past decade and the game in Wallan showcased all that is good about the women’s game and how much fun it can be. There is no doubt the standards at the elite level in Australia are now very high.
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VARIA
Good to note Pyalong police officer Daniel Sowden still scoring runs for the club in the SDCA. His unbeaten 90 steered Pyalong into the B-grade grand final. Daniel was a good leader of ACK First XI a couple of decades ago and it looks as if he hasn’t lost his form.
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Year 10 student Zach Wynd top scored for Assumption in the AGSV semi-final recently. He looks a pretty handy player and should be prominent over his final two college years. Zach’s dad Paul attended ACK and his uncle, Scott Wynd, the Bulldogs Brownlow Medallist, played a key role in Assumption football for eight years. If it’s true that First XI coach Luke Hamilton is bowing out after several summers at the helm, he deserves praise for keeping the dark and light blues competitive and guiding them to the finals several times.
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Former student Luke Shannon is back at ACK with a key role in the boarding home. Luke represented the First XVIII and XI and was the latest in a line of the Shannon family to attend Assumption. His dad, several uncles, and also his grandfather were fine highly regarded students at ACK. Shannon is a revered name in the Riverina.
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RULES EVER CHANGING
Australian Rules grew popular from the time it was founded on a basic sheet of rules (like the Ten Commandments) and for many decades three great pillars of the game were long kicking, high marking and the often one-on-one classic duels which were a feature. The game today is vastly different to the one enjoyed by previous generations. Sure, it is faster and attractive to the “moderns”. Many fans of all ages have said to me that today’s AFL is far too riddled with confusing rules and unless the score-ines are close it can too often be “quite boring”. Finals provide an often much higher standard of play.
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The accompanying picture shows Collingwood’s champion full-forward Dick Lee taking a “speccy” way back in 1917. I wonder how the champion goal kickers of the past would fare today when there is hardly a direct route to goal. Names such as Lee, Coventry, Coleman drew extra thousands to the games. As a prominent scribe wrote recently, players from the past If they returned from Valhalla they would recognise rugby, cricket, soccer, tennis and many sports but they would struggle to recognise their beloved Australian game.
