Year in Review: South NSW
Southern NSW is one of the state’s largest football-focused regions, with more than 70 junior and senior clubs and 23,000 participants overall.
With almost 5,000 registered Auskickers, joined by thousands more children participating in Auskick clinics, the region is a key contributor to NSW/ACT boasting a higher Auskick participation rate than any other state.
The first game of the 2013 season was a NAB Cup clash held on March 2 between the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS and the Brisbane Lions. Played in front of a near-capacity crowd of 7068 at Wagga Wagga’s refurbished Robertson Oval, the match was a thriller and set an exciting tone for the season, with a Sam Michael goal snatching victory for the Lions in the dying minutes.
Among Southern NSW’s AFL debutants was Narrandera’s Zac Williams, who played his first game for the GIANTS in Round 5 and was the Round 19 nominee for the 2013 NAB Rising Star Award after starring in his side’s victory over Melbourne.
Sam Rowe, a North Albury junior, marked his courageous recovery after being diagnosed with testicular cancer last year, debuting for Carlton in Round 2 this year.
West Broken Hill’s Mitch Clisby and Osborne’s Dean Terlich both debuted for the Melbourne Demons this year, whilst Taylor Duryea made Wahgunyah proud, winning a Premiership with Hawthorn’s VFL side, being an emergency for the AFL Grand Final, and winning their Best First-Year Player award to boot.
The next generation of AFL players are also well stocked with Southern NSW players, with four of the region’s juniors participating in the National Draft Combine ahead of the 2013 NAB AFL Draft.
Southern NSW’s emphasis on developing opportunities for female football players was on show as Wagga Wagga hosted the inaugural Riverina Girls AFL Auskick Centre this year.
More than 150 girls aged between five and 13 participated in a six-week-long, girls-only Auskick centre, a fantastic turnout in the view of the Southern NSW region’s Participation Manager Marc Geppert.
“The promotion from our two female development officers was fantastic, which was an obvious reason in the success,” Geppert said.
“It gave the Wagga region a taste of female youth footy, with the view of establishing a Youth Girls’ competition in 2014.”
Geppert highlighted the inaugural Southern NSW GIANTS Cup as another important step in developing the game’s participation in the Riverina region.
“Over 20 teams in the Under-14s, 16s, Opens Boys and Under-15s and Opens Girls took part,” Geppert said.
“All four Southern NSW sub regions were represented in all age groups, and the use of the three premier AFL facilities in Robertson Oval, McPherson Oval and Maher Oval was a highlight for the kids.”
Che Jenkins, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area’s Development Coordinator, said that the re-establishment of an Auskick program in Cobar was one of his year’s biggest successes.
“Auskick promotional clinics were run in the two primary schools of Cobar, and we ended up having more than 300 children participate,” Jenkins said.
“An AFL clinic was run at the Cobar Football Club, and that had 40 or so children turn out for it as well.”
“By helping to train Cobar Football Club personnel to coordinate the Auskick Program, we helped them secure more than 40 Auskick registrations.”
Jenkins also brought up the newly-created AFL Multicultural Program in Griffith as an example of the game’s ability to bring Southern NSW together. A six-week-long program, it allowed more than 20 children between the ages of five and 17 to learn the basics of AFL alongside visits to the tenpin bowling alley and the local cinema.
“Strong relationships were established with local government bodies, ensuring a positive future for the Multicultural Program in Griffith,” Jenkins said.
Fourteen nominations were received from clubs for the Merit Award across Southern NSW, with the nominees possessing a staggering combined total of 413 years’ service to Australian football.
