Clarrie Barker leads Nomads to their 9th Flag.
Coach Clarence Barker—who started in 2006 as an Auskicker—has led the Nomads to their 9th premiership title after a thrilling match at Tamworth’s No.1 Oval on September 10. It was a long road for the Nomads, coming from 4th position, and playing all their games away from home, but the determination of the group meant that they were able to win a series of tight games to be the champions for 2022. Clarrie kicked three, Tom Moscou 2 and David “Modra” Richards, Cotter Litchfield (another former Auskicker), Sheridan Cooper (Holbrook’s finest shearer), Drew Walsh, Michael Tedmanson and Ethan Karpany kicked one apiece. Best for the Nomads were Noah Connick, Harry Dobson, Clarrie Barker, Modra, Daniel Boyd and Sam Jackson. Final Scores were Nomads 11.10.76 to the Swans 10.10.70.
If you would to relive the game, the streamed service can be found on the web at
Note the fine commentary from William Paine (Yeppie’s younger brother who sports a golden voice and razor sharp wit) – hereafter the Oracle and Brendan George from Tamworth (who is equally loquacious).
So it was an overcast day at Tamworth and the Nomads had selection issues with Eric D’Gluyas being the unlucky one to miss out. The wind was blowing intermittently from the west. Sheridan the Shearer made the big trip overnight from Holbrook to be at the game and arrived still in his tux and looking like he might need a sleep. Michael Tedmanson was playing out of the square with Noah at centre half forward and Tom Hunt in the ruck.
The Nomads’ campaign started disastrously with Nomads’ talisman Charlie Paine injured after being slung into the fence on the Cable Avenuee side in the first five minutes. He was in pain and it turned out he had busted ribs and a dislocated shoulder and unsurprisingly, Yeppie played no further part in the game. He was taken to Emergence by family members. His brother Will continued the commentary in what must have been strange circumstance for him.
The backline were strong with Sam Jackson, Harry Dobson and Sheridan taking intercept marks. The Nomads were also winning it out of the middle, with Clarrie and Big Tom dominant. The Swans were able to run it out of our forward half a little too easily and all of their forward entries came via this conduit. Clarrie kicked two goals from set shots just outside the 40 metre arc. The Nomads had other opportunities but failed to capitalise on them. And they had the breeze which matters on such a small oval. It was tight scrappy football. The scores at the first change were 2.2.14 each.
The second quarter saw the Nomads drop their pressure. Michael Tedmanson kicked a good goal on the run and Cotter Litchfield steered a set shot through after a precision pass from Modra. But the Swans managed 4 for the quarter. For those watching the video, the key moment is at 48.22 when Clarrie forgot which way was West and which way was East. As the Oracle dryly noted, “It is hard enough to defend against the opposition, but when you are defending against your own team it doesn’t help”. Indeed. Probably nigh on impossible. Be that as it may, at half time the Swans had an 11 point lead, the scores being Nomads 4.6.30 to the Swans 6.5.41.
I won’t mention the fact that the third quarter is often the premiership quarter (paralipsis for those who are interested in such matters), and the Nomads didn’t win in this quarter but they certainly laid the foundation, kicking 5 for the quarter to the Swans three. The first goal was from a quick pass from Clarrie to Tom Moscou who kicked truly. The second was Clarrie again from a set shot. Then Modra kicked a scrambling opportunistic goal, Drew Walsh kicked one between the legs of the opposition in the goal square and finally Moscou kicked an equally opportunistic 6 pointer. Tom Hunt was everywhere….as the Oracle noted “you love a ruckman who can do the work on the groundball”. The backs were brilliant in this quarter and Modra lifted to create lots of opportunities. Perhaps going forward the Nomads kicked a little too much to the dead pocket but on the whole it was a good effort. The scores going in to the final change were Nomads 9.8.62 to the Swans 9.5.59.
The last quarter was a real arm wrestle. Clarrie seemed to hurt his shoulder but as the Oracle wisely commented “a one-armed Clarrie is better than a 2 armed average Joe”. Sheridan and Noah swapped places and both contributed significantly in this quarter. Noah allowed very little to get past the 40 metre Arc (a very OId Testament state of affairs) and Sheridan kicked the Nomads first goal for the quarter. Soon afterwards Ethan Karpany kicked what was to be the winning goal. The rest of the quarter saw the Nomads hanging on for dear life. The young Walcha crew—Nick Buckland and Daniel Boyd—were brilliant. Tom Hunt sat a kick behind and directed matters. Harry Dobson controlled the back line and Sam Jackson also did well keeping the Swans at bay. The Swans kicked one more goal and a couple of points in the final half but when the siren went – Clarrie had the ball in his hands – and the Nomads had won by 6 points.
And celebrations went on for quite a while into the next week – with Coops the last man standing.
It was a strange year. The Noamds had not started the season well but always had potential. The new boys Hunter Greene and Sam Jackson added some class to the team, locals Taj Quaife and Drew Walsh taking the game on for the first time and doing well and the midyear influx of Sherdidan Cooper, Michael Tedmanson and Michael South shifted what was a good Nomads team to an excellent one. Winning three games in a row was a big ask but the team believed from the first final.
This was the Nomads 9th premiership since entering the competition in 1999.
It must be said that none of this could happen without the work behind the scenes. Thanks to:
• Brendan Meehan (VP extraordinaire) for all of his work both on game-day and during the week fixing things and being eminently practical;
• Kayla Hall for her tireless work as treasurer and chief supporter;
• Allison Starr and Gus Barker, our faithful and highly skilled goal-umpire;
• Lindsay Brown who is not only a brilliant backman (and would be forward) but also took on the role of secretary and did so cheerfully and with great skill;
• Oh…. I forgot to mention that Lindsay – with Fraser Menzies – coached the women’s team and did a great job;
•Tom Hunt for his ebullient attitude to life while taking on whatever needed to be done
•and finally Supercoach, Clarence Dot Barker Dot Com who was an inspirational on-field leader and tactically-sophisticated coach.
Well done and thanks to all of you.
