TA: What was the wash up from the Murray to Moyne bike ride last weekend? Did the Warrnambool Lattes win the ride from Mildura to Hamilton for a record 12th year?
AT: The Lattes won again but only just and it was through no help from Warrnambool legal eagle Brendan Pendergast.
TA: What did Pender do?
AT: Reliable sources say some of his Warrnambool Latte teammates were not happy with his efforts. The story goes Pendergast was not ready for his first leg of the ride and that enabled TAFE to get a four-kilometre lead early on.
TA: What do you mean not ready?
AT: Apparently he was taking a prolonged nature break and came running out of the toilet after his teammates screamed out to him. He was still pulling on lycra shorts when getting on his bike. His teammates reckon he gets pretty toey about the ride, a little bit nervous and he had a couple of extended toilet stops. It took the efforts of the Lattes’ A1 performers to get back into the contest.
TA: Something tells me Pender has had previous troubles.
AT: Right again. Last year he spent a lot of time in the bus after it rained and some of his teammates suggested he just didn’t want to get wet.
TA: Talking about bike rides. What about Gary Opperman from the bike shop in Kepler Street. He goes out riding around Wangoom most mornings but some of his bike mates can’t work out why he doesn’t carry a spare tube and pump in case he gets a puncture. It is a bit embarrassing for a bike expert to be stranded on the side of the road.
AT: I was a bit interested in some of the comments made by VCFL chief Glenn Scott at the Hampden league season launch this week. For some time the VCFL has been pushing central administration — why else would it offer funding support. But the leagues want nothing to do with it. I thought it was a bit tough to point out that in terms of turnover and profit the Hampden league ranked very low among major leagues. If the VCFL (that is the Victorian Country Football League) had allowed Hamilton to join the Hampden league perhaps Portland would have followed and the HFNL would be in a much stronger position.
TA: The biggest local footy news is that South Warrnambool’s Timothy Brown looks like being on the sidelines for the year with hamstring problems. The full extent of his injury should be revealed soon. I think you’ll find young Browny even made a trip up north to see medicos at big brother Jonathan’s club the Brisbane Lions. He might even have to have an operation to try and fix the problem which has been described as similar to the injury suffered by Essendon full-forward Matthew Lloyd.
AT: Speaking of the Brown family, we should acknowledge the passing of Roland “Corker” Brown, father of Emmanuel College’s Brian Brown and grandfather of Jonathan and Tim. Last Monday, Corker, who is a legend around Lavers Hill, had one of the biggest funerals seen in Colac. In other news, the Roosters have also signed up former premiership player Ben Mugavin.
TA: Talking about footballers, what about the fishing exploits of former Collingwood and Warrnambool star Terry Alexander.
AT: Where did Terry go fishing?
TA: Up near Wentworth with Len Mann, Brian Doyle and Geoff Griffiths. I hear Terry was in the boat with Geoff and not having a lot of success while Len and Brian were catching plenty. Terry was trying to throw his line right across the river. In the end he saw Len and Brian were catching plenty of fish by just dropping a line down the side of the boat — so Terry decided to do the same. Little did he realise he had dropped his line into the fishing creel which was tied to the boat. Terry got very excited when he realised he had hooked up and the boys let him scream and carry on for a while before telling him his line was stuck in the creel.
AT: The Twenty20 game against the Australian Cricketers’ Association last weekend was a big success. It would be a huge winner on a nice warm night over the holiday period. I did hear a whisper that an IPL-style six-team south-west competition is in the early stages of planning. I do have some doubts about whether it can get off the ground or compete with the Sungold Cup which offers $10,000 to clubs in the south-west. Perhaps the best of both worlds would be an elite player and/or celebrity being able to join clubs after the initial qualifying round which would help lift the profile of the tournament. Billy Slater and Ross McKean at Sungold have done a super job and any changes will be up to those boys.
TA: I also hear that sheepdog lovers from around Australia and New Zealand will converge on Port Fairy from October 5-10 this year for the Australian
Sheepdog Championships and the Trans-Tasmanian Test Series, Australia against New Zealand.
AT: In signing off, I just need to send our condolences to Lyle Adams’ family after his passing during the week. Lyle was a very passionate long-time committeeman of the Allansford Football Netball Club.
Until next week, hooroo.
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