Sport is an important part of regional life and over the years we’ve turned out our fair share of champions.
Take a look back at some of the sporting giants from yesteryear and some of the youngsters starting to make their mark.
12. Young Griffith cyclist excels at Tour de Riverina, eyes world championship
by Oliver Jacques
Mia Stockwell hasn’t been riding for long but has earned plenty of silverware. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The baby of Griffith Cycle Club has become its latest superstar after taking out the female division of the Tour de Riverina, a multi-event series that takes place over several months and towns.
Mia Stockwell, 21, is enjoying a dream season – having also won the male-dominated Griffith club series, the Bertoldo’s Cup.
Her achievements are even more remarkable considering she is comfortably the youngest member of her club and has only ridden for the past four years, having taken up the sport in year 12.
11. Rugby Australia should thank the Lord that Laurie Fisher’s still up for the challenge
by Tim Gavel
Laurie Fisher in the ABC broadcasting box at GIO Stadium (alongside Tim Gavel). Photo: Tim Gavel.
Laurie Fisher was unceremoniously sacked from the Wallabies coaching team a year before the World Cup. With just as much fanfare (ie, none), he has been brought back into the fold. He wouldn’t have it any other way, writes Tim Gavel.
10. Local cricket league looks towards expansion across Southern NSW
by Michael Murphy
Adam Swanston, pictured centre, at a recent South West Slopes Cricket League presentation. Photo: A Swanston.
Country cricket has been struggling to maintain player numbers at the senior level for several years now, but one local league is aiming to buck the trend and expand its competition.
The South West Slopes Cricket League (SWSCL) was formed 10 years ago when the towns of Cootamundra, Young and Temora decided they would be stronger as a united competition rather than struggle to maintain their traditional formats.
Last season the SWSCL included teams from the towns of Temora, Young, Cootamundra, Grenfell, Harden and Boorowa.
9. 10-year-old Bungendore boy eyeing more prizes after taking home bronze against world’s best
by Claire Sams
Ten-year-old Robbie Sanderson already has a bunch of medals to his name for martial arts – and he’s just getting started. Photo: Alison Smith.
Picture this: a kid starts tackling sheep on a farm, and then goes on to compete in Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships.
That’s the origin story of 10-year-old Robbie Sanderson, who lives with his parents and two younger siblings on a Bungendore farm.
“My dad started doing jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts when he was younger,” Robbie said.
8. South Coast golfer making the sport ‘open and accessible to everyone’ takes home best in state award
by Claire Sams
Rodney Booth says “golf chose me”. Photo: Catalina Club.
A South Coast golfer has taken home a top gong after being nominated as a finalist for three consecutive years.
Catalina Club’s director of golf Rodney Booth was named PGA NSW/ACT Club Professional of the Year in the NSW Golf Industry Awards this year.
It is the latest step in a journey that started by chance when he was young.
7. Kristy Giteau looks to another challenge as the newly appointed co-president of Rugby Australia
by Tim Gavel
Kristy Giteau and Soakai, with their three children in December 2020. Photo: Supplied.
Fixing rugby in Australia is the equivalent of ascending Mount Everest. Tim Gavel says Rugby Australia’s new co-president Kristy Giteau is more than up to the challenge.
Having responded to the needs and agony of a four-year cancer struggle with daughter Ka’ili’, helping rebuild confidence in rugby in Australia appears to be very achievable.
6. Kiwi-inspired Roosters ran on the back of chook raffles
by John Thistleton
Goulburn United’s 1962 premiership winning team, with captain-coach Cyril Eastlake third from the left in the front row. Photo: Goulburn Mulwaree Library.
Solicitor Don Elder stepped up as president of Goulburn United Football Club in 1968 during Group 8’s peak years of rugby league.
He recounts some of the pivotal moments in that golden era, and the beginning of the end of Group 8.
5. Murringo’s Harriet Wallace set to represent Australia at rowing world championships
by Edwina Mason
Harriet Wallace (fourth from left) has been rowing with the University of Texas for the past three years. Photo: Texas Longhorns.
The tiny village of Murringo in the Hilltops region was rejoicing a sporting achievement that’s seen one of their own represent Australia in rowing in Canada.
Annabel and Tony Wallace know only too well the physical and mental fortitude daughter Harriet needed to muster as she faced selection ahead of the Under 23 World Rowing Championships.
4. Meet Trevor Menzies, the hardest halfback from Tiger country
by John Thistleton
Whether it was a Test match in Sydney or a local derby at League Park in Goulburn, rugby league produced all the drama of a theatre production, according to Trevor Menzies, who had a starring role in the middle of the paddock. Photo: John Thistleton.
Football games are won and lost well before the opening whistle according to Trevor Menzies. It’s the team that builds uncompromising fitness together that prevails.
3. 100 years old and still swinging: There’s no place Bert would rather be than on the golf greens
by Jarryd Rowley
Age, just like his handicap, is just a number for Bert (middle) who celebrated his 100th birthday in 2024. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Once you hit a certain age, you’re excused for not getting out of the house as often and choosing to sit back and relax.
But for 100-year-old Bert Adams, he can’t think of anything worse than being parted from his beloved greens at the Wagga City Golf Course.
Bert and friends make their way out bright and early twice a week for a nine-hole game of golf and despite admitting that his game isn’t as good as it once was, he insists his love for the game is still as strong as it was when he began 90 years ago.
2. Emma McKeon reflects on her swimming career from a North Gong nipper to Australia’s top Olympian
by Jen White
Olympian Emma McKeon on the steps of the North Wollongong promenade that has been named in her honour. Photo: Zoe Cartwright.
Australia’s most decorated Olympian, Wollongong’s Emma McKeon, has officially retired from competitive swimming.
McKeon, 30, revealed earlier this year that the Paris Games would be her last Olympics.
She finished those Games with a sixth and final Olympic gold medal as a member of Australia’s 4x100m freestyle team, surpassing Ian Thorpe’s previous benchmark for the most golds won by an Australian.
1. Yass junior rugby club tries for a world-first with potentially life-saving jerseys
by Sally Hopman
A young Rams player, wearing the new jersey for the first time, takes off with the ball against Batemans Bay. Photo: Kim Gourlay.
A small junior rugby club in Yass is leading the world when it comes to promoting sportsmanship – and, hopefully, saving lives.
When the Junior Rams took to the Yass field for their game against the Batemans Bay Boars, they were wearing new jerseys featuring a yellow strip across the front. The line tracked across the sternum of their standard black and white jerseys, showing exactly the legal tackle height for players and referees. This translates as any contact above the bottom of the sternum is considered to be a high tackle.
For president of the Yass Junior Rams, Fred Clark, who is the brains behind the move, it was a good day to see the players wearing the new jersey, but it was also a matter of common sense that they were.
Loading ...
