23 Mar 05

Back on the Saints bandwagon

For the first time in several years I’m looking forward to the start
of the football season. My feelings about the demise of Fitzroy have
been expressed elsewhere, and I’ve stated previously that I’m only
lukewarm as a Lions supporter.

I still believe Fitzroy should have been allowed to merge with North
Melbourne. If it wasn’t for the shortsighted selfishness of Richmond
and a couple of other clubs …

Anyway, that’s history and the new season is almost upon us.

My excitement has nothing to do with the Lions and their aspirations for 2005, but more with the Myrtleford Saints.

As a former board member I was excited to see the club reach the
Ovens and Murray League grand final three years ago. Like many of the
other directors, coaching staff and external recruits I was jaded by
the effort of getting there and couldn’t peak again for 2003. I
resigned from the board and only watched about three games in the last
two seasons. Myrtleford only won a handful of games in those two years.

This year, under playing coach Travis Hodgson and inspirational captain Brad Murray, the Saints show plenty of promise.

Perhaps I’m a fairweather supporter, but I expect my footy team to
be competitive. I easily could have switched allegiance to Bright in
the minor league, given my residence at Porepunkah, but I enjoy the
standard of footy in Ovens and Murray.

I’ve had the privilege of watching Guy Rigoni and Brett Kirk show
their skills before advancing to higher levels. Many players from the
Myrtleford team in 2001-02 had played at state league level in Western
Australia. The standard appears to be reaching towards that level again
in 2005.

I’m hopeful the Saints can this year make the finals, and who knows? Perhaps they can progress further?

These articles might be of interest:

• Footy fever?
• Myrtleford Saints on the charge
• Myrtleford Saints 2007

Tags: Australia, Bright, Fitzroy, History, lions, Melbourne, porepunkah, PR, war, weather

Reader's comments

1. Aaron Hurle | 12 Nov 2007 1:52 pm

   Hi Michael,

   2007 was not a good year for the Saints, but considering the mass exodus over last summer it was no wonder.

   Good news has it that recruiting for 2008 has began well with 10 new players arriving at the club.

   Ben Beams as coach should also be able to bring a few more experienced players to help the kids coming through.

   I have an allegiance to Bright from my playing days and Porepunkah from my holidaying days but also enjoy the O&M and take a keen interest in how the Saints are travelling.

2. Michael | 12 Nov 2007 9:58 pm

   That sounds encouraging Aaron. Shame the club doesn’t seem to have a web site, like I used to run for them. I miss the news.

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