BIG V LUNCH
Pics from Deakin Reserve
The Big V’s Premier C-Div 4 and U19 teams went down bravely, but the senior team pulled off a magic win. Pics from Saturday’s games, with more to follow.
BIG V vs VCFL
Tomorrow, the cream of the Ammos battles with the VCFL at Shepparton. Congratulations to all the boys on their selection.
Luke “Juice” Wintle is the skipper of the Senior team, with Matt Torney vice-captain.
David Boundy will lead the Premier C-Div 4 team, with Abe Williams and Cam Lee as vice-captains.
Dan Garside will toss the coin for the U19s, with Peter Gleadhill his understudy.
See respective team pages for full team lists.
The Umpire’s View
AUSTRALIAN AMATEUR FOOTBALL U23 CHAMPIONSHIPS – 2011.
by VAFA Umpire Russell Davidson, who was named Umpire of the Carnival
Umpiring Aussie Rules football has given me many kicks up the backside over a long period of time and on the flip side has presented me with some wonderful memories. So it came as a surprise that I had mixed feelings when asked to consider going to Adelaide for the AAFC Carnival…the first such event in 17 years. Days away from the family, important work events and a long weekend of relaxation were factors churning in my head. Luckily a wonderful wife, a supportive boss and a chance to officiate in a unique environment made the decision easy. Instead of a kick up the backside, I was about to have a lick of the ice cream. And how tasty it was to become.
Once the decision to go had been made I couldn’t wait. My expectations were high – how many games would I umpire, where was the ground, who were the other umpires and who was in the Vics team?
It was terrific seeing the boys at the airport and having a chat about the upcoming carnival. Coach Mick Dwyer had no idea what to expect, openly wondering if the Vics would be good enough. Captain Jack Hellier, who I had umpired plenty of times but barely spoken a word to, and I had a great chat and an opportunity to learn more about each other. These are just some of the priceless opportunities available at these games. So team jacket in hand we were off to Adelaide and into the unknown.
Arriving at the hotel, Umpires Coach Benny Goodman and I learned that potentially we were to room with the other 2 umpires – ok but not when there is only a double bed and two singles. The ice cream was starting to taste like a bland cone. Luckily Benny put his travelling brain into gear and we were soon into our own individual rooms. Great stuff Benny!!
We met the other umpires – Daniel Hitchcock (Dan) from Western Australia and Rod Anderson (Ando) from Tasmania. Later that afternoon we were introduced to Michael Williamson (Willo) from South Australia by Jack Button, Umpiring Manager from South Australia. Jack was to prove one of the most outstanding people I have ever met – a wonderful guy who just could not do enough for all of us. We are incredibly indebted to Jack – his job was even more amazing considering he has 4 children, works part time in the SAAFL and has another child on the way.
I’d had a chat to a local on the plane and he’d described the Thebarton Oval as “a bit of a dive……nothing special really.” So it was with great surprise on arriving at the ground that indeed it was a ripper – big, wide, beautifully surfaced and well appointed grandstands and facilities. It was no Ethiad Stadium but it was fine and was to be a second home for the next four days.
Rules were discussed and (generally) we were all in agreement that we were playing AFL rules with a few modifications for the red/yellow card system and shorter matches in the preliminary rounds. We were ready and four field umpires from all over the country couldn’t wait. Isn’t it great that our sport can band people together like this.
Let the games begin! After the opening ceremony, the Vics came out blazing against the South Australians. In a shorter format, a bit like 20/20 cricket (2 x 15 minute halves plus time on), Victoria posted 5 goals in the first seven minutes and were never troubled. As I was watching this game from the sidelines due to the archaic system that does not allow umpires to officiate their home state, I was able to sit back and watch from a distance those guys that I had seen close up over the past few years. I was amazed. Jack Hellier seemed one of the most gifted players I had ever seen. I’d never before noticed how good Jack was. Jake Gotch seemed to have an eternity of time and Jonno Nash was sublime across the centre. I’ll pay more attention to these guys in the future!
It was my turn to pull he boots on. Today I would umpire 2 games – firstly Western Australia v Tasmania and secondly South Australia v Western Australia. Deep into the first game it seemed as though Tassie would win their first ever AAFC game, but it wasn’t to be. WA kicked one late to ice the contest. The shorter format was tough. I was stuffed. They say players are exhausted in a 20/20 cricket match and I was no different. I had gone pretty hard and I had to go again for the 2nd match of the day. Unbelievably, in the cold and rain I experienced a first in my 24 year umpiring career….a player count. WA, after almost every player asking for a count, bar the captain finally found their captain and the count was on. SA had 19 men on the ground and were ultimately penalised in the form of having their score wiped – well all four behinds that they had to that stage!
The second day brought an almost premature end to the interest in the carnival preliminary rounds when the results went similarly to the day before. The Vics winning both of their games and Tassie beating SA. My day was more relaxed with only one game and I was generally pleased with my efforts. The Vics were through to the final to play WA and Tassie were to face SA again in the consolation. Again due to the independent umpire system, Dan and I were forced into the SA/Tassie encounter whilst Willo and Ando took the grand final honours. I’m not sure who the best 2 umpires of the carnival were but wouldn’t the 2 best teams prefer the 2 best umpires rather than independence. Food for thought!
Earlier in the week we had received an invitation from the SAAFL Umpires Association to attend a dinner. This was a terrific gesture from this organisation and it was great to meet other running members from SA who had attended the dinner simply because we were in town. This serves as the perfect prototype for us when interstate umpires visit Victoria.
A day off and of course we had to spend it at the footy! We headed to Glenelg to catch a bit of the women’s championship grand final between WA and Victoria. We were amazed at the great skill levels of the girls and the atmosphere at the match. Never before had i seen so many females playing kick to kick at half time! We then headed to AAMI Stadium for the Crows/Eagles game and were extremely fortunate to be able to spend 30 minutes with the officiating AFL umpires before the game. A tremendous experience – it was great to watch how the boys prepared and how they went about articulating their game plans with their coach prior to the game. I could sense Benny taking mental notes!
The final day – what had I learnt so far?
– The games were mighty quick
– The Vics were dominant
– Voting on a 5,4,3,2,1 is near impossible in shortened games.
– There couldn’t be another count….could there?
As it turned out the South Australians turned the tables on the Tasmanians who were gallant in defeat. The consolation final and grand final were to be four quarter matches (20 plus time) and the timekeepers made us pay – 30 plus quarters meant that there was nothing left on the ground and all 4 umpires would be calling for new bodies on our return. The Vics demolished WA but not before another player count – the same captain calling the count! Has this ever happened in the history of the game? This time he was unsuccessful and paid for his sins.
Attention turned to the presentation dinner and a chance to let our hair down. The All Australian team was to be announced as well as an All Australian umpire, which Benny had confirmed earlier in the week. I hadn’t given much thought to this during the week but must admit that when my name was announced as Umpire of the Carnival and All Australian, I was ecstatic! I had never dreamt of this moment…how could you but here I was after 24 years being presented with an All Australian jumper. The moment was magnificent and I felt exceptionally proud to be photographed with the rest of the team, but more importantly the 7 players and 1 coach from Victoria who had also earned this honour. A number of thoughts went through my mind;
– How proud my family would have been of me. A lot of hard work and pain has gone into this career. Nothing could beat this.
– How great it was to be involved as an umpire and experience this moment. We don’t often get these opportunities yet we work our butts off and are dedicated professionals who perform our roles with honesty and integrity.
– How great it was to be involved in the VAFA and experience this. There would be very few competitions in the country that afford anyone this honour. I feel privileged to be involved with an organisation such as this.
The ice cream was tasting like a Magnum!
There are a number of people who deserve to be thanked for the wonderful experiences I have alluded to above;
• Benny Goodman and Tony Hales for the honour of the appointment.
• The Board of the VAFA for their acceptance of my appointment and their (as always) welcoming approach all week.
• My fellow umpires – Dan, Ando and Willo. We shared many laughs across the week and I’m sure we’ll catch up again in the near future.
• Jack Button for his unbelievable hospitality all week.
• The SAAFL Umpires Association for providing us with refreshments and great support and for a wonderful Friday night dinner.
• All of our goal and boundary umpiring colleagues who umpired for nothing across the week.
• Our wonderful physio, Susan – we needed you!
• The SAAFL for putting on a truly memorable centenary tournament.
This week has reinforced my passion for the sport I have been involved in for 24 years. I am incredibly fortunate to be in this game and to have officiated at this carnival. Hopefully those reading this will gain an understanding for just how much our involvement in this great game means to us as umpires and how much we value our role in the game.
Bring on more of the ice cream!
SQUADS NAMED FOR 9 JULY
Selectors today released the three training squads – U19, Premier C-Div 4, and Senior – for the triple-header against the VCFL on Saturday 9 July in Shepparton. Please see respective team pages (see tabs above) for these squads.
AAFC Carnival Report
AAFC CARNIVAL REPORT
The U23 AAFC Championship held in Adelaide last weekend saw a return to the carnival format last employed in 1994 and there was high drama from beginning to end. Player counts, controversial umpiring decisions, eleventh hour list changes and many other off-field issues crowded the agenda. And to top it all, there was the Chile ash that tipped the exit plans of the two eastern seaboard teams into turmoil. But there was football too, and after the Opening Ceremony on Thursday morning, the action began. The preliminary round robin tournament featured games of two fifteen minute halves plus time-on.
GAME 1: Victoria drew South Australia first up and before the damp afternoon easterly bit, the Big V had smashed Croweater dreams of the Cup returning to the trophy cabinet at Thebarton. With Jonno Nash and Jack Hellier running rampant in the middle and Jake Gotch and Cam Jones in exceptional touch around the sticks, Victoria stunned the South Australian team, silencing the parochial crowd that had been dreaming of “Kick a Vic”. When the locals moved the ball forward, Al Austin and Scott Sherwen were impassable. Mark Collins was strong at the contest and his booming left foot always a weapon. The winning margin sent a shudder through the other camps. “Big, fast, skilful” were words bandied about by veteran carnival observers from across the border, while there was no shortage of travelling fans in blue and white scarves ready to add another all-important adjective: “amateur”.
|
HALF-TIME |
FULL-TIME |
|
| VICTORIA |
7.1 |
12.2 (74) |
| SOUTH AUSTRALIA |
1.2 |
1.3 (9) |
Goals: J Gotch 4, C Jones 4, S Dunell, H Croft, T McKinley
Best: J Nash, M Collins, J Hellier, C Jones, J Gotch, T McKinley
GAME 2: Western Australia, which had trained as a squad for ten weeks and played two practice matches, was a heavy favourite against the Tasmanian lineup, which had been selected from three different competitions. Things didn’t go to plan, as the Apple Islanders looked likely winners a few minutes from full-time. However, they failed to capitalise on two forward entries, and heartbreak followed as the Sandgropers received a questionable free kick in front of goal and snatched the win. WA 4.5 (29) d TAS 4.3 (27)
GAME 3: South Australia returned to the field to tackle the Westerners. After a first half that produced just one goal, it was anyone’s game, but early in the second, WA called a count as SA’s nineteenth player attempted to scurry from the field. While the protest yielded the Black Swans no scoreboard advantage, from then on there was no doubt they would win. For the Croweaters, the carnival was well and truly over. WA 3.5.23 d SA 0.2 (2)
GAME 4: First up Friday was Victoria’s clash with Tasmania, who made no apologies about its intent to exert more physical pressure on the Vics than had the South Aussies. The big Thebarton Oval seemed smaller all of a sudden as players threw themselves to the contest. The bustling Collins was hard at it again, Hiwad Shakaib strong in the ruck, Sam “Death to Flying Things” Dunell unbeatable in the forward line. Again, the skipper Jack Hellier threw his body in with abandon and the Tassie physical pressure was at times a little overdone, with two players sent off to the sin bin for their indiscretions. Still, the Taswegians had limited the damage.
|
HALF-TIME |
FULL-TIME |
|
| VICTORIA |
3.4 |
6,7 (43) |
| TASMANIA |
0 |
1.1 (7) |
Best: M Collins, T McKinley, S Sherwen, S Dunell, J Hellier, H Shakaib.
Goals: C. Jones 2, J Gotch, S Dunell, S Williams, H Croft.
GAME 5: South Australia took to the fray again, hoping to restore some pride against Tasmania, which had never won an U23 game. Denied so cruelly the day before, they left nothing to chance this time and the home team crashed to another defeat. There was little else other than reputation riding on the contest, as the results from the Carnival’s first four games meant that this game and the one that followed would be played again under the full format on Championship Sunday. TAS 6.3 (39) d SA 4.6 (30)
GAME 6: The final tilt on Friday was a game of cat and mouse, as both Victorian coach Mick Dwyer and his WA counterpart threw their teams around, hoping to keep a few aces up their sleeves for Sunday. It was a low scoring affair, as the late afternoon easterly blew again. Austin was again strong in defence, Nash, Hellier and Collins strong around the ball. The two objectives were to win and to get through relatively unscathed. The Vics accomplished both, and would have their full complement of twenty-four players ready on Sunday.
|
HALF-TIME |
FULL-TIME |
|
| VICTORIA |
2.1 |
3.4 (22) |
| WESTERN AUSTRALIA |
0.1 |
2.3 (15) |
Goals: A Delmonte, C Jones, J Hellier
Best: A Austin, J Nash, J Hellier, M Collins, H Shakaib, S Dunell.
The consolation plate on Sunday brought out the local crowd, expectant or at least hopeful of a turnaround in Croweater fortunes. The day’s break had decimated the SA team even more than the two days of competition, and they were forced to call for reinforcements from beyond their squad. This initiative had quite a number of AAFC officials scratching their heads. In any case, these call-up players had immediate impact and South Australia bolted away in the third quarter and never looked in trouble thereafter. SA 18.11 (119) d TAS 13.9 (87)
Only Victoria’s inaccuracy around the sticks prevented the crowd leaving at half-time. WA took a lead momentarily in the second term, but the Big V players thereafter peppered the goals. Sam Dunell again killed everything that that flew near him, skipper Jack Hellier saved his best for the big one, Tom McKinley and Tom O’Sullivan were livewires. The third term saw the Vics straighten up and they raced away from a Sandgroper that had hung tough but was in the end outclassed. The song was sung with gusto by a team that came together quickly and at times produced brilliant football.
| VICTORIA |
3.6 |
3.14 |
10.17 |
14.20 (104) |
| WESTERN AUSTRALIA |
2.1 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
5.4 (34) |
Goals: C Jones 5, T McKinley 3, A Delmonte 2, S Williams, S Dunell, D Scheetz, D Lucas
Best: J Hellier, S Dunell, M Dean, L Crozier, T McKinley, C Jones, S Sherwen, T O’Sullivan
South Australia, despite its on-field performance, was a magnificent host and full credit to SAAFL CEO Mark Shadiac and his staff for their hospitality, cooperation and organisation. The Carnival was held to celebrate SA’s centenary, but it now seems likely that the carnival format will be a feature in the years ahead.
VICTORIA – CHAMPIONS OF AUSTRALIA 2011
Jack Hellier (c) Dan Garside, Hiwad Shakaib (St Bede’s/Mentone Tigers); Jonno Nash (vc) Sam Dunell(Old Melburnians); Harry Croft (vc) (Collegians); Dean Scheetz, Tom O’Sullivan (Caulfield Grammarians) Mark Collins,Jake Gotch, Sam Williams (De La Salle); Trent Carlson (Marcellin); Dion Lucas (Oakleigh); Luke Crozier, Cam Jones (Old Carey); Adrian Delmonte (Old Ivanhoe); Thomas McKinley, Scott Sherwen (Old Scotch); Luke Pacconi (Old Trinity); Karl Wissell (St Kevin’s);Alastair Austin,Jeremy Mugavin, Charles Shaw (University Blues); Matthew Dean (Werribee Districts)
COACH: Mick Dwyer ASSISTANTS: Greg Siwes/Luke Beveridge/Jeremy Bourke TEAM MANAGER: John Raffle TRAINER: Rachael Cowdell RUNNER: Luke Wintle DOCTOR: George Janko PHYSIOS Neeraj Kochhar/Michael Basley DIRECTOR OF REP FOOTBALL: Michael Hazell TIMEKEEPER John Robinso
AWARDS:
Carnival Best and Fairest: Jack Hellier
Grand Final BOG: Jack Hellier
Spirit of the Big V: Jack Hellier
All-Australians: (Quota of 7) Jack Hellier (capt), Jonno Nash, Cam Jones, Harry Croft, Mark Collins, Sam Dunell, Hiwad Shakaib.
Umpire of the Carnival: Russell Davidson
Big V trounces WA, wins title
Victoria ran away after an inaccurate first half to defeat WA and win the AAFC Carnival. Full report tomorrow.
VIC 14.20 (104) d WA 5.4 (34)
Goals: VIC – C Jones 5, T McKinley 3, A Delmonte 2, S Williams, S Dunell, D Scheetz, D Lucas
Best: VIC – S Sherwen, T McKinley, D Scheetz, C Jones, H Skakaib, S Dunell
VICS CHASE TITLE
Victoria plays Western Australia at Thebarton today, hoping to repeat the dominance it showed in the preliminary rounds on Thursday and Friday.
Thus far, the Big V has proven the strongest outfit at the Carnival, but that counts for nothing when they bounce the ball today.
Another fast start will be imperative and the magic midfield of Hellier, Collins, Shaw, Nash and Mugavin should give the Big V great impetus. Coach Mick Dwyer is expected to take the leash off the running machine Williams, who can cut swathes through the lines to provide opportunities for the in-form forward line of Jones, Dunell, Gotch and Croft. The backline has been magnificent, with Austin, Sherwen and Crozier playing out of their skins.
All action on 96.5FM or http://www.innerfm.org.au from 11:45 Sunday, with replays FREE on http://www.dartfish.tv following the games.
GO VICS!
Vics Hold Out WA
The Big V won its third straight, defeating WA by seven points in the final preliminary game at the AAFC U23 Carnival in Adelaide.
In a pressure-cooked low scoring affair, the Vics led through the afternoon but did not sew it up until Jack Hellier booted a goal from short range late in the game.
Adrian Delmonte booted the first for the Vics and Cam Jones added one minutes later in the first half, becoming the only player to score a major in all three games.
Victoria and WA will play the grand final game of the Carnival on Sunday, an affair over 100 minutes that will prove testing for each team.
SA and Tasmania meet in the consolation contest.
VIC 2.1 3.4 (22)
WA 0.1 2.3 (15)
Goals: A Delmonte, C Jones, J Hellier
Best: A Austin, J Nash, J Hellier, M Collins, H Shakaib, S Dunell.
Big V Too Strong for Tassie
Tasmania showed grit, but was no match for the size and class of the Vics in Game 4 of the AAFC U23 Carnival at Thebarton Oval.
The Big V kicked into the wind in the first half and while Tasmania threatened early, Scott Sherwen was impassable and gave great rebound. Jack Hellier, brave as always, and Charles Shaw and Tom McKinley dominated the midfield. Sam Dunell, who began on the bench, grabbed the ball with abandon and had three shots on goal inside two minutes. Cam Jones was again an effective target.
Greasy conditions made smooth ball movement difficult, but the Vics made more of their opportunities to lead at the half and continued to perfom strongly in the second half to run out easy winners.
VIC (3.4) 6.7 43 d TAS (0.0) 1.1.7
Goals:
Best: Collins, McKinley, Sherwen, Dunell, Hellier, Shakaib.
Goals: C. Jones 2, J Gotch, S Dunell, S Williams, H Croft.
GAME 5: TAS 6.3 d SA 4.6
The Big V 