Rod ‘Rocket’ Gillett, Chairman UNEANFC Old Boys & Girls
The appearance of two of the original players from the 1962 University of New England footy club inspired the Nomads at the recent reunion to celebrate the 50th year of Australian football in the area.

Bob Cason and Ted Nixon turned up to the reunion in their original uni footy jumpers to the delight of the Nomads and Old Boys alike. Both Bob and Ted were able to neatly fit into their old woollen jumpers – they didn’t seem to take them off all week-end!

Bob and Ted front and centre with the 2012 team

The Nomads victory over the Inverell Saints to secure the minor premiership in this year’s Tamworth AFL competition was the highlight of the week-end’s activities. It was a match worth crawling over broken glass through the rat-infested sewers of New York to see. The Nomads and Saints have developed a strong rivalry and will meet again in this year’s grand final to be played at Inverell next Saturday.

The rousing rendition of the Nomads victory song in the rooms after the match bore testimony to the significance of the victory to the Nomads and to their valued support of the Old Boys and Girls.

Bob and Ted jointly presented the Cason-Nixon medal for the best team player struck for the match to coach Tom Granleese. Tom’s display at full-back was more disciplined than the overseer of a sultan’s harem and he hardly allowed an emission of wind to pass. He is so mean he wouldn’t allow a dog a drink from a mirage.

Chairman Rocket introduces Bob & Ted to present the medal named in their honour in the rooms after the game

Other outstanding players included key forward Ash Cruickshank stood out like a daffodil in a pile of manure with three goals, skipper “Rowdy” who won more hardballs than a brass monkey in a Siberian swimming pool and stuck closer than body odour to his opponent, mid-fielder Weston Whitby who charged through the packs like a rampaging rhino with hemorrhoids and handled the ball surer than a horse gelder, and “Mods” who combined the pace of a thousand gazelles and the elusiveness of a soapy eel to slip away and kick two cracking goals while Zac Economou in defence showed more desperation than Frank O’Connor at 2 am in a bar full of love hungry maidens.

The Old Boys and Girls were absolutely delighted with the way the Nomads embraced their heritage and whole-heartedly included them in all the activities including the Thursday training session bbq/drinks, the presentation of guernseys in the grandstand prior to the game, the singing of the club song in the rooms after the game, and the annual Ball at the Wicklow that night. Thanks for the warm welcome!

Acknowledgments:

• Nomads club officials particularly Amy Cosby, Pagey, Starry, Fluffy Malone and the crew
• Coach Tom Granleese for his passion and commitment to actively involve the Old Boys & Girls
• Nomads webmaster Ron Crump who while not present on the day (he lives in the UK) for all his work with designing the logos, invitations and uploading of content for the celebrations
• Chancellor Richard Torbay and Vice Chancellor Jim Barber for their attendance at the match and their on-going support for the game at UNE
• Wanderers bag-man Teddy Edwards for his exquisite fundraising techniques that secured the commemorative set of jumpers for the Nomads this season and also landed the prize auction item, a signed Sydney Swans guernsey, for Jen Derricott
• And all the Old Boys & Girls for their attendance, support, passion and comradeship

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 at 7:26 pm and is filed under 50 years of footy at UNE. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.