WALCHA Council general manager John Gregory O'Hara was a very happy chappy when the racehorse he is a part-owner of, Missile Mantra, saluted the judge at Melbourne last Saturday. In a bit of trouble halfway down the Caulfield straight, Missile Mantra flashed home for the Triple Crown Syndicate with jockey Beau Mertens wearing the colours of Jack's favourite footy team, the Dragons.
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STATE golf champion Peter Norbury was excited after he and his current fellow NSW golf title-holder Wayne Brennan won the NSW 4BBB qualifier here at Walcha last Sunday - excited enough to ring me with the good news. Pete informed me he and Wayne had streeted their opponents by the length of the field before I asked him, "isn't that the length of the straight?".
THE other thing Peter wasn't aware of was that John Mann had already dropped the golf results sheet off to me and what Peter was telling me wasn't quite correct. The "Dynamic Duo" were victorious alright, but had only beaten runners-up Allan Green and Kyle Goodwin by just a quarter of a short, and third place-getters Anthony Smith and Deon Lawrence by three-quarters of a stroke. That is hardly the length of the straight - or the field as you put it, Peter.
BEST of luck to the Walcha Vets golf team when they compete in the final round of the New England Pennants competition at Glen Innes next Tuesday. Armidale lead on 1020, followed by Walcha 1008, Guyra 1007, Uralla 968 and Glen 893.
ROOS coach Steve McAlister hasn't got much hair, but what he has left, a few of his players are attempting to make him pull out - and it has nothing to do with the way they are playing. Last weekend, no less than three players contacted Steve and indicated they couldn't play on Saturday due to various reasons.
CAPTAIN Steve Eveleigh sent his coach an image of a badly bruised swollen ankle he had found somewhere on the internet but told Steve he had slipped over and busted his ankle which would rule him out of the match against Warialda.
...by far and away the biggest disappointment I have experienced on a sporting field or court.
COACH Steve smelt a bit of a rat when he reckoned the ankle didn't look like Dizzy's and the gee-up was soon sorted out. While travelling with Steve to "wombat territory" last Saturday, he had just finished telling me the story when he received a phone call from centre Riley Gibson as we reached Bundarra.
MOMENTS later, Steve was shaking his head and using some language that can't be printed here after Riley had informed him he was snowed under with work and wouldn't be able to make it before wishing the team all the best. As we travelled through Bundarra, Steve was told not to worry as it was a gee-up and that Riley would see him at the ground.
IF that wasn't enough, fill-in fullback Dean Kelly was next cab off the rank and although I'm not sure what reason "Snowy" came up with, the coach was on tenterhooks and probably felt like throttling someone. At least coach Steve was happy when he managed to round up 17 players and they performed well on the day.
RAMS co-coach Barry Hoy certainly remembered a time in the past when he was involved with a team that were beaten with less than 30 seconds remaining as his side was at Moree last Saturday. Some people may not be aware that "Baz" also pulled on the green and gold guernsey when he played for the Roos in 1983, 1991 and 1999.
SITTING on the bench in 1983 when the Roos were defeated by Narwan 16-12 in the Group 19 grand final with 23 seconds left on the clock, Barry didn't get onto the field but no doubt felt the same pain as the rest of us. We led from start to finish only to be beaten on the bell, literally. We couldn't even kick off before Brian "Bun" Sweeney rang the full-time bell. This was by far and away the biggest disappointment I have experienced on a sporting field or court.
WHAT would the odds be of Walcha Rugby League gatekeepers Dal Evans and Bill Bullock, Mick Steep and Tony Martin winning the first try-scorers doubles last home game or any home game for that matter. That's what happened when Dal and Billy won theirs down the B.C. end while "Steepy" and "Marto" snared theirs over near the "old ambulance station" entrance.
ON the subject of odds, check this example out. My oldest sister Tracey and myself are both in the Bowling Club Footy Tipping and Council "Luck of the Draw" competitions. The B.C. competition is straightforward, while in the council competition, you receive a different drawn team each week and whatever points they score, you score.
AFTER round 8, we were both on 92 points in second place at the B.C., while up at the council we were both on 128 points which is hard to believe really. Last weekend, Harley Fontanella and Jack O'Hara would have been fairly happy after they drew the Storm and collected 64 points each.
BIG Wigs of the Week: Bowling Club - Jenny Bowden; Newie - Graham Kelly (both picked the card); W.V.S. - Jason Scott, Pete King, Dion Bird; Apsley - Jake LeStrande, Mick White (all 14 points), and Dave Abraham 14 points from the week before.