Mortlock Shield

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:42): I rise today to speak on the recent Mortlock Shield football carnival, which is held every year in Port Lincoln on the long weekend in June. It was first held in 1936, but it has not been held every year since, as certainly there was a break during the war years. However, since the war it has been an annual event.

Football leagues and associations from all over Eyre Peninsula have gathered, sending their finest to battle it out on Centenary Oval over a two-day carnival on the Saturday and the Monday of the long weekend. The teams included Great Flinders, Far West, Mid West, Eastern Eyre, Lincoln City and Lincoln Districts (which came out of the Port Lincoln Football League). This year, we were joined by the EP Warrior Sharks—a team made up of Eyre Peninsula expatriate footballers who play football elsewhere and who are prepared to come home for the weekend to play in a competition at a very good level. The Far North, which is an association that hails from Roxby Downs, joined us this year for the first time and made the long trip down. Hopefully, they thoroughly enjoyed their trip.

Congratulations to the Mortlock Shield Chair, Richard Horgan, and his committee, on all the work that goes into preparing for, hosting and pulling off this wonderful competition. There was much sponsorship, but the major sponsor this year came from Bendigo Bank. As a community bank, they have branches in Cummins, Tumby Bay and Port Lincoln, and they have put a lot of money—some millions of dollars—back into small local communities as a result of people banking with them.

Radio 5CC (5 Coast and Country), the local AM commercial radio, provided commentary. I must give Beebs and Reegs a mention; they provided commentary on both Saturday afternoon and Monday afternoon. Darren Allard was pulling the strings, and Dave Barrowcliff (otherwise known as 'Windscreen Dave') was the boundary rider at the Mortlock Shield Life Members' Dinner, which was held on the Saturday night. Our guest speaker was Wayne Phillips, and my congratulations go to Scott Feltus from Mid West, Brock Jantke from Port Lincoln, and Andrew Buckham, also from Mid West, who were awarded their life memberships to the Mortlock Shield.

There was a 1987 Eyre Peninsula football team reunion at that dinner. Not all got along, but many did, and many are still living on Eyre Peninsula. Congratulations to Lincoln City for winning the shield. They managed to win the 1 o'clock game on the Monday and, because the Far West and Great Flinders game was so tight at 3 o'clock on the Monday, and because it is all done on percentage, at the end of the two days there were two teams who had won two games, so it came down to percentages as to who took away the shield. Lincoln City won the shield this year. They have not done so for a while, so congratulations to them, coach David Stoeckel and captain Shaun Maxfield.

The list goes on. Michael Blewitt was awarded Umpire of the Carnival; the leading goalkick for the carnival went to Joel Fitzgerald from Eastern Eyre; Best Under 21 was Jake Warmington from Far West; runner-up to the Best and Fairest Award was Levi Konitzka from Great Flinders; and Best and Fairest went to Xavier Watson, who is truly a wonderful footballer. He plays with Great Flinders—

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

Mr TRELOAR: Indeed, a Princes old scholar, as the member for Chaffey points out, playing his football now with the United Yeelanna Football Club out of Karkoo. Eyre Peninsula is now within the zone of the Norwood Football Club from the SA National Football League, and they have really made their presence felt and are doing a wonderful job, particularly fostering juniors, with many Eyre Peninsula boys now playing Under 18s at the Norwood club.

In closing, I would like to thank the Mortlock Shield for the opportunity to become their patron. It is an incredible honour and I was thrilled to be able to take on that position and be part of the events during the weekend. Of particular interest, and worth mentioning, is the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the life and commitment to football of the late Don McSweeny. I have actually spoken about Don, his life and his contribution, in this parliament in the past, so I will not go over it all again. Suffice to say that he spent a lifetime both as a player and an administrator in Eyre Peninsula. Sadly, his wife, Eileen, passed away recently, but his daughters Raelene and Debbie and their families were present at the unveiling. Vale, Don McSweeny.