Opinion

Draws have officials scurrying for record books

PORT Fairy's draw against North Warrnambool Eagles had club officials in both camps scurrying for the record books. For the Eagles it was their second draw in three games this season and third in five matches after they tied with Camperdown in round 17 last year. At Port Fairy, all the talk was whether the Seagulls had ever drawn before. Some long-time supporters, like former captain Shaun Murrihy, believed the Seagulls had never had a draw since the Hampden league was formed in 1930. Here at Talkin' Footy, we don't believe in throwing stones but we can reveal that Port Fairy had a draw in 1953, according to that season's final ladder published in the league's history Evergreen Hampden. Amazingly that season, five games were drawn. We can also reveal that a Belfast team drew with a Hamilton team on June 20, 1868 in a 15-player a side contest that started at 2pm and finished at 5.30pm "when rain stopped play". Evergreen Hampden reported: "As neither side had scored, the match was declared a draw." During the 1890s, a Port Fairy side scored 2.22 to its opponent's 2.2 but because behinds had just been introduced, they weren't counted and games were determined by the number of goals. Again, it was declared a draw.

Terang Mortlake continues to buck the trend of high-profile celebrity for its number one ticketholder, instead preferring to highlight the club's hard-working volunteers through the annual position. The Bloods have chosen Elsie Harris as an apt recipient this season, replacing another tireless worker in Frank Giblin. Elsie, 76, represents the club's dual history as a Terang supporter before following Mortlake when her sons Bernie and Leon played with the Cats. The talented siblings went on to VFL careers before Bernie returned to the region and lined up with Terang, including a stint as playing coach and a premiership in 1995 under Mark O'Keeffe. It enabled Elsie to resume her close ties with the Bloods and she embraced the 2001 merger, showing her support in a practical way as a kitchen volunteer for home games and Thursday nights. According to club insiders Elsie is a valued member of Terang Mortlake's volunteer team and has an intimate knowledge of the extended football-netball family which surrounds it. She is also understood to be on the verge of a move to Warrnambool but plans to continue her association with the Bloods.

NORTH Warrnambool Eagles captain Liam Ryan plays his 100th senior game tomorrow night against Cobden. The 2008 Maskell Medallist is a four-time best and fairest winner (2006-09) and is carving out a career that will be spoken about for decades to come at Bushfield.

3WAY FM's airwaves are used to fast-talking but station bosses have demonstrated they are also quick on their feet, trucking in a portable generator to ensure its broadcast of Sunday's Koroit versus Terang Mortlake clash is not interrupted. Powercor is carrying out essential works on power lines at Panmure, near the station's transmitter on Mount Warrnambool, between 9am and 3pm on Sunday, which meant potentially 3WAY would be off air for six hours. With the generator in place, the only interruption or blank spot in coverage will be when the power to the transmitter kicks in.

WESTERN Border Football League is hoping Heywood's new-found success will filter through to next month interleague's clash against Sunraysia at Horsham. Lions' star imports, former AFL players, triple Brisbane premiership player Mal Michael, Courtney Johns (Essendon) and Brad Smith (Collingwood) have been named in the league's 53-man interleague training squad, alongside team mates Nick Johnstone and Thomas Gordon. Coach Jon Copping, South Gambier's leader and a former Glenelg player in the SANFL, has made it clear what he expects from his players. "We only want players who are fair dinkum and genuinely want to represent the Western Border this year," he said after naming a training squad of 53 players. League chief executive officer David Heard said the administration was desperate for the competition to improve its poor interleague record of eight wins from 21 matches. "Our recent Interleague performances have been very disappointing, so we are determined to reverse that trend," Heard said. "It's an embarrassment to be ranked 13 in the current WorkSafe VCFL Interleague standings, that is not an accurate reflection of the true standard of Western Border football." To underline how seriouRs the league is, the first training session is Sunday at South Gambier's Blue Lake Park.

The squad is: Jamie Cammarano, Dylan Ryan, Callum Currie (Casterton), Chris Povey, Carl Slape, Chris Anderson, Ross Carpenter, Dwayne Philips, Jesse Fry (East Gambier), Mark Bradley, Jamie Dowsley, Jeremy Holmes, Dylan Gunning (Hamilton), Courtney Johns, Nick Johnstone, Mal Michael, Brad Smith, Thomas Gordon (Heywood), Brent Forsyth, Richard Jaroszczuk (Hamilton Imperials), Steve Duldig, Glen Gascoyne, Cameron Haggett, Chris Murray, Brad Tilley, Dylan Ridley (Millicent), Justin McConnell, Scott Flett, Adam Kurzmann, Liam Downs-Woolley, Cameron Campbell (North Gambier), Nathan Bennett, Heath Brown, Marcus England, Daniel Falcone, Jarrod Holt, James Imbi, Cameron Mather, Dylan Fry (Portland), Josh Wilson, Ben McGregor, Brett O'Niel, Simon Berkefeld, Ashley Bryan, Chris Williams, James Paprotny (South Gambier), Luke Davey, Bradley Wilson, Steven Wenman, Jarrod Ryan, Matt Scanlon, Ollie O'Donovan, Dylan Walsh (West Gambier).

ONE man's loss is another man's gain. In the case of J.A Esam medallist Klint Wagstaff his knee injury is a loss for Timboon Demons but a gain for the Warrnambool and District Football Netball League. Wagstaff, who is facing eight weeks or longer on the sidelines, is the new coach of the league's under 16 representative team for the South West Regional Junior Football Carnival at Hamilton on May 31. Wagstaff, who coached Timboon Demons' under 17s to consecutive flags, has taken over from Daryl Paroissien, who guided the representative team into last year's grand final. He was unavailable to coach this year. The league's junior liasion officer Carey Hackett said Wagstaff was a great inclusion. "He comes highly credentialled and he is highly regarded by the kids," he said. Darren Cross is in charge of the league's under 14 side for the fourth year. Hackett said for the first time players representing the league would not play with their club sides on the Saturday before the Sunday in Hamilton. The league and its clubs had opted to keep players fresh for the carnival after several under 16s played senior footy last year before playing the following day for the league.

Terang Mortlake supporter Peter "Myles" Delaney was torn between two sporting loves last Saturday. He sought a rare leave pass from the HFNL round three home game against Cobden to attend a race meeting in Adelaide. Delaney, who together with wife Liz has a part share in the Mark Kavanagh-trained galloper Believe 'N Achieve, watched the horse record her fifth win from eight starts. It made the long drive worthwhile, although he worked the mobile phone overtime seeking results of all the netball and football games played in his absence. Believe 'N Achieve may now be moving to Kavanagh's Melbourne stables, which will halve the travelling time for future on-track support. Another part-owner in Believe 'N Achieve's D3 Syndicate is Terang Mortlake president Jack Mahony.