2010 Rio Tinto Aboriginal lands Challenge Cup

The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Lands Challenge Cup of 2010 proved to be the most thrilling contest to date between APY and Maralinga.

In a change of tradition, both teams wore new colours and jumper designs to align themselves closely with their AFL Fostership clubs, Adelaide and Port Adelaide Football Clubs.

The start of the game was very physical with players going in very hard for the ball on a cool Sunday morning at AAMI Stadium.

It was evident early that the game was going to be close as teams went goal for goal although APY were dominating possession.

If it was not for inaccurate kicking the men from the Far North-West Sports League of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands could’ve pulled away to a handy lead at both half and three quarter time.

Maralinga kept working hard and managed to stay within striking distance deep into the last quarter.

With 4 minutes left they trailed by 11 points and APY were still in control until Maralinga kicked a goal against APY’s momentum and domination of possession.

The final minutes were frantic as both teams carried the ball end to end with fast run and handball only to be kept out by the strong backlines.

With 90 seconds left in the game the football popped up in Maralinga’s goal square.

Malcolm Miller, in a best on ground performance, hacked the footy out of the air in a scissor kick motion for a goal to put his team in front by the smallest of margins.

A thrilling one point victory to the men from the west had excited the crowd who had rocked up to AAMI Stadium early to watch the match.

In minutes, both teams had experienced the highs and lows of winning and losing.

Maralinga continued to celebrate as the APY Lands were left to reflect on how close they were to making it 5 wins from 6 matches in the annual Rio Tinto Aboriginal Lands Challenge Cup.

The APY men will be working hard in the lead up to the 2011 match to bring the run of wins for Maralinga to an end.

Final Score

APY 8-13-61
Maralinga 9-8-62

Previous winners:

2005 APY Lands
2006 APY Lands
2007 APY Lands
2008 APY Lands
2009 Maralinga
2010 Maralinga

In 2011 the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Lands Challenge Cup will have a slightly different format with teams being made up of predominantly under 23 year old players who will spend a week in Adelaide.

The extended trip will be used to develop positive role models and leaders by developing valuable skills that can be used throughout the APY and MT Lands.

It is believed that the extension of the program will give the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Lands Challenge Cup even more significance.

Below; The 2010 APY Football Team.




Crows Tour of the APY Lands

On Monday 20th September, the Adelaide Crows Junior Development team joined forces with the SANFL and headed up for their annual visit to the APY Lands. This trip was going to be significantly longer than previous trips, but it was one that we would never forget!

Accompanied by two heroes of the game, current indigenous super-star Graham Johncock and former two-time premiership legend Darren Jarman, who made the journey up north to spend some time in the Aboriginal communities.

The adventure started with a short flight to Coober Pedy. After spending an hour visiting the local Primary School (where we met Jared Petrenko’s brother) and the sports ground in Coober Pedy, the group made their way to Marla Traveller’s rest, which took about two hours.

We stayed the night here, but first we had to make our way to the nearest indigenous community which was another 45 minute drive further on, Indulkana. Alec Henry, a SANFL employee, lives here. He was more than happy to take us for a guided tour of the entire community. A big part of our trip to the lands was to educate the students about the importance of keeping our ears and eyes clean, and this was the main focus when we visited each community.

Tuesday 21st September, we were up at what felt like sunrise, minds still buzzing from Chris Judd’s Brownlow win the night before. Breakfast was finished at Marla Traveller’s rest and we were on the road by 8.00am. A two-hour drive saw the group arrive at Mimili Aboriginal community. When we arrived, a lot of the children were still in bed! But it didn’t take long for the word to get around that the Adelaide Crows were in town, and before we knew it we had kids jumping all over us with excitement!

Another important chat was had with the kids about keeping our ears and eyes clean, and also about the benefits of eating healthy foods. After the serious stuff was out of the way, it was straight out onto the school oval for a kick and a catch (this is where Jars did his best work!)

Our next stop was scheduled for Fregon Community, but as we were on the way we were stopped by the local police and advised not to go into the community, as an incident had occurred there only minutes beforehand. We continued on past Fregon to where we would stay the night, Umuwa Visitor’s Centre. The group, which consisted of 14 members, had a BBQ dinner which was very much needed after a big day’s travelling.

The next morning, Wednesday 22nd September, we travelled to Ernabella Community. This was easily the biggest visit of the whole trip. Around 140 students attended the school, and they listened well to what we had to say. Graham got involved and talked to the kids about healthy eating, and the kids also had a chance to ask him some questions in return, about his footy/lifestyle. When it was time to go, the ‘goodbyes’ at this school seemed to go on for a life time. For some reason I don’t think they wanted us to leave!

Our last visit for the day was at Amata Community, about an hour and a half from Ernabella. This was where one of our hosts, Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackman, cooked the whole group a big meal and let us stay at his house to get some much needed rest after yet another big day.

The visit to Amata School, wasn’t quite as we expected. The kids had already started school holidays, so there weren’t a great deal of kids at school. But, just like previous communities, sooner rather than later we had kids coming from all directions to receive some free merchandise and the chance to have a kick with their hero Graham ‘Stiffy’ Johncock.
Thursday, 23rd September. As Willie Nelson once famously sang, the group was ‘back on the road again,’ and this time to a small community called Nyapari. Here, we were welcomed with a traditional aboriginal dance that was performed when people came to their community. Many excited kids and parents walked to the main oval, where we handed out loads of Crows merchandise, and enjoyed kicking a few footy’s around with the younger ones.

After the Nyapari visit, we made a long trek to the most north-western point of the Lands, Pipalyatjara. The mid-sized community is situated only about 15 minutes away from the W.A border, and even closer, only about 10 minutes away from the N.T Border. As you could imagine, we saw plenty of wild camels on the roads out this way.

One of the big highlights for Graham was seeing a flock of grazing Wild Bush Turkey’s on our way out of Pipalyatjara. The kids from Pip welcomed us with smiles from ear-to-ear, and even the wild Dingo didn’t seemed too fussed with our presence. We had about 25-30 kids learn the tricks of the trade on kicking goals with Graham and Jars. Not even the apparent ‘strong winds’ could stop Jars from nailing them from anywhere the kids asked! We spoke to a few locals on the way out of town, they said it was the calmest weather that Pip had seen in the last 12 months, nice one Jars!

Our biggest drive was still ahead of us. From Pipalyatjara, we had to make our way back along the N.T border, for about three hours. To add to this, the road’s we used were nothing more than two tyre tracks, with tree stumps, cracks that would make a fifth day WACA wicket look like carpet and small waterholes the size of the Adelaide aquatic centre popping their heads up every few-hundred metres. One of ‘Jacko’s shortcuts’ apparently!

Three hours later and after a lot of ‘hanging onto our hats’ we arrived at our final destination, Uluru! A big sigh of relief echoed throughout our vehicles, as we finally hit the bitumen, and saw ‘The Olga’s’ not far ahead. Another 20 kilometres further on, and what we had been waiting for all week to come into view, finally did, Ayres Rock.

One last visit to a small community not far from the Rock, Mutitjulu, to give out the last of our Crows gear, and get some unbelievable snap-shots of Ayres Rock at sunset, and then we were done. The community provided a BBQ for those who were hungry, but I think most of our group was more excited to just sit back and take in the stunning views of this huge rock that was only a few hundred metres away.

Friday 24th September. Our group flew from Uluru back up to Alice Springs and then we all boarded the two and a half hour flight back to Adelaide. It was an amazing trip which was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

I’ve got a feeling this won’t be the last time the Adelaide Crows visit the APY Lands!

Article courtesy of the Adelaide Football Club.


Far North West Sports League Grand Finals

Softball – Pukatja versus Mimili
It was a very skilful and entertaining game that went into an extra innings because the match was even at the end of the fourth. Both teams were highly motivated with players and coaches working very hard to win. The fielding was excellent with many players involved in exciting ‘plays’ that allowed the very large crowd to show their appreciation by applauding the fine skills being demonstrated. Batting was a highlight with many runs being scored. Final score – Pukatja 18 runs defeated Mimili 15 runs by 3 runs. Batting heroes were:

PUKATJA 18 defeated MIMILI 15

Runs:
PUKATJA
Selissa Stanley – 3
Initji Windlass – 3
Anyupa Stanley – 2
Jacinta Marks – 2
Prudence Angy – 2
Kumana Taylor – 2
Sherleen Tjangala – 2
Carol Williams – 1
Lala Rupert – 1.

MIMILI
Julie-Anne Campbell – 3
Eve Shilling – 3
Sabrina Campbell – 2
Marissa Nyuntungku – 2
Hilda Campbell – 2
Maria Campbell – 1
Nara Shilling – Rosemary – 1
Jill Campbell – 1.

Sherleen Tjangala from Pukatja won the award as the best player on the ground but close behind was Julie-Anne Campbell the catcher and run scorer for Mimili.

Football – Mimili versus Fregon
This game was played in the front of a very large and colourful crowd. Fortunes fluctuated as each team had ample opportunities to score. Motivation was high as players crashed in to get the football and then with accurate handball and controlled kicking gave each team’s forwards ample opportunities.

At half time a disciplined and well managed Mimili were ahead by 9 points (5 goals 2 points to 3 goals 5 points). Many spectators thought Mimili might start to dominate the 2nd half but a ‘fired up’ Fregon came onto the oval keen to erode the lead and win the game.

Once again the young onballers of Fregon showed the way gathering many possessions and kicking some wonderful goals to put their team back into contention of winning the game.

With less than one minute to go Fregon was attacking but the siren went with the experienced and skilful Mimili side the winners by 3 points. A gallant Fregon had lost but demonstrated that they will continue to improve as their young brigade mature. It was a wonderful spectacle as both sides demonstrated how Australian Rules football should be played.

MIMILI 9 – 5 – 59 defeated FREGON 8 – 8 – 56

Amos Frank (Fregon) won the award as the best player on the ground but close behind was Louka Parry of Mimili who worked very hard to curb the influence of the Fregon onballers and then help his team to win the game.

Goalkickers:
MIMILI – Paul Campbell, Mark Doolan & Bradley Churchill 2, Joseph Doolan, Terry Pompei & Zibeon Fielding 1.
FREGON – Alwyn Andy 3, Amos Frank & Shane Brown 2 and Herman Nelson 1.


Far North West Sports League - Presentation night

Click here for award winners


FNWSL Magazine

Click here for the 2010 Edition
Click here for the 2009 Edition
Click here for the 2008 Edition


Click here to view previous articles