Talkin' about my Generation 6- Wally Wunnugmurra

In 1970 and 1971 I spent a year in Darwin. In that time I worked in the PMG department, played Cricket and Australian Rules football(AFL) and also spent the first 6 months of my marriage in Darwin.
I have many fond memories of this time as I have posted on similar articles on this blog.
One of my team mates in the Parap Wanderers Football Club was Wally Wunnugmurra. I never really knew how to spell his name back then so I hope i have it right now.
I was amazed by the standard of the players in Darwin and Wally was right up there with the best of them.
He was highly regarded in Darwin and his community.
I recently came across some letters I had written to my Grandparents while living in Darwin.
In one of the letters I gave Wally a mention.

"just a quick note to say howdy. As you can see we had a win on Saturday.Everyone went well and Wally Wunnugmurra took probably the best high mark ever taken"  16/2/71

The win would have been either against Waratahs or Nightcliffe.
They were the only two wins we had for the season.

Also there was a newspaper clipping which I have reproduced here.
Over the last few years I have seen his name pop up in Northern Territory affairs and from what I can gather he has fulfilled a lot of the expectations many had for him back then.

I was in awe of the abilities of players like Wally and Darwin and it's people left a lasting impression on me.

Parap Wanderers Football Team Photo 1970/71

I have come across this photo today that may be of interest to past Wanderers players in The Northern Territory Football League(NTFL).
See my earlier post on my playing days in this team.

http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/talkin-about-my-generation-part-3-sport_26.html

Standing left to right:Geoff Burke,Paul Firth,Wally Wallambuna(Wunnugmurr),Geoff Sheridan,Jonathan Yolandu,Doug Kelly,Dick Morphett,Mick Adams,Gary Metham,Peter Baran(Captain) Ray Nulla,Geoff Thompson,Frank Wood.

Sitting left to right:Ronald Dirdi,Alan McCormack,John Lawson(coach),Maurie Ryan,unidentified,Frank Nyec,John Loiuzou.

Many thanks to Mick Adams for getting ion touch and giving me 2 of the 3 names I couldn't remember.

The five teams in the competition that season, 1970/71 were St Marys,Darwin,Nightcliffe, Waratahs and the Wanderers.

Ps. Caught up with Mick today, 7/12/13. Great to catch up and talk about the good old days.

Ps. I noticed some years ago a book produced on the history of the NTFL in it's list of Wanderers Captains etc. had a blank entry for 1970/71 season.
T o clarify the situation John Lawson was our coach (he was head of Kormilda College at the time),Peter Baran was our captain, and I won the best and fairest although I was very surprised by that.
Below is a picture of me holding the perpetual best and fairest shield that winners were able to have for a year.
The pic was taken not long before my wife Lesley and I left for Adelaide.

Talkin' about my Generation-part 3 Sport part 2

In my previous post on sport I hinted I would post some football budgets and newspaper clippings from my sporting generation.
While many of these have my name mentioned(my grandmother saved all these for me) they give you a little bit of appreciation of SANFL football in the 60's and also South Australian District cricket in the same era and Northern Territory Football league in the 1970/71 football season in Darwin.
The year I played in Darwin a former Port Adelaide and Sturt player,Peter Yeo, played in the finals in Darwin which was a bit controversial at the time.
Some years ago now he suffered a crippling injury in his home.
I have attached a link about Peter which also links to a radio interview he did on the ABC Radio conversations with Richard Fiedler.
So some of these articles are posted for my niece Carly's benefit and a bit of  a grandfatherly boast that I once could play a little bit.
So forgive me for my self indulgence.

This was in the centre spread of Adelaide's Lunchtime edition of the News. I was under a "hospital ball" and Kelly Stringer ran about 20 yards and placed his knee firmly in my back. I was given a free kick.The game was on Adelaide Oval the famous cricket ground and soon to be an AFL venue again.

State of origin matches between South Australia and Victoria were always a big talking point

The year after this Sturt started their huge run of about 6 premierships in a row.

This day I came off the reserves bench and played most of the game.

There are some great footballers in these seconds reams who went on to make their mark and some already had and were windind down their careers

Robert Day was a West Adelaide Champion only a couple of years older than myself.He also played in a premiership team with Hawthorn

Ken Eustice had been a West Adelaide Champion who transferred to Central Districts as a Captain Coach.I had his number 13 in my brief leaugue appearnces with West Adelaide.h

!965 News Feature on how the teams were shaping up for that season

This and the below article was from a pre season trial game in 1966.I had a very good game but a few months later I had left the club to play amateur league.I bumped into Don Roach a few weeks after I had left and he encouraged me to come back but I did not take his advice as I had dropped my confidence to play League Football and was enjoying Amateur League with my mates in the Postal Institute football Club. We won a premiership that year.

The first and last time I made this weekly list of A Grade best bowlers

For J Thompson read G Thompson. I also ran out Bob Simunsen in this game.

In this my first game in A Grade I hit Colin Harrison for 4 from the first ball I faced.I batted with Kevin Griffiths for some time and was getting over confident as I thought Harrison was not such a  great bowler. I was out LBW to Harrison from a wrongun.I remember Barry Jarman saying didn't you pick that one? I said "does he bowl a wrongun?"

Darwin football now.The ost enjoyable season of sport I ever played

Our team the Wanderers were the first mainland league team to play a game on Bathurst Island. I was acting captain.There was hardly any grass on the oval.Instead of tossing a coin for ends we tossed a stone from the playing surface that had spit on one side. We were thrashed by mainly young teenagers, mostly playing without boots.What an experience!

Bob Elix and Tony Shaw were former South Australian champion footballers

see the link below about  Peter Yeo.

http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/stories/s2006412.htm?nsw