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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-09-26 Daily Xml
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Great Southern Football League

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (15:26): Footy season has come to an end for pretty much everyone except the AFL—and I wish the Brisbane Lions all the very best for Saturday as they take on the Sydney Swans.

One of the greatest football matches I have ever seen was the A grade Great Southern Football League on Saturday, where Myponga hosted the grand final between Myponga, the Mudlarks, and Victor Harbor, led by Jesse McKinnon and Bryce Gibbs. Jesse is a great footballer, winner of the male medal this year.

The Mudlarks had not won an A grade premiership for 40 years and, with just a couple of minutes on the clock in the final quarter, they were down by five points. Jake Spinks managed to take a great mark about 30 metres out; he went back, he steadied, and he put it through. I was part of the green and gold army, and it was just pandemonium as the final siren went to give the Mudlarks a one point victory to break that drought.

To celebrate we are going to light up parliament in green and gold on 10 October—and I am looking at the Serjeant-at-Arms, who is a little worried. It just happens that the Socceroos are also playing that night and they also happen to be green and gold, so the parliament will be lit up in green and gold—and I am going to say to honour the mighty Mudlarks.

These champions on the field are only matched by the legends off the field who put so much into making sure that this club has built up into being a successful club. They also won the senior coltsgrand final on Saturday as well.

Given the chance in the rotation of hosting grand finals, Myponga left nothing to chance. They had meetings months out, and I was at one of their meetings about four weeks ago. The amount of organisation and preparation that went into it was incredible, because they know that you only get this chance every 10 years to actually make a whole lot of money for your club.

There was a proposal from David Hutchinson, one of the most enthusiastic Mudlarks supporters, for me to jump out of a plane strapped to someone else with a parachute on with the premiership cup. I rang a mate who organises airshows and he said, 'The whole thing about airshows is you minimise the risk. There is nothing about you and 110 kilos being strapped to someone jumping down onto an oval with 5,000 people around it.' He said, 'Don't do it.' At least I had a good excuse not to do it.

The cricket club, the bowls club, the community club—everyone came together to help make it a real success. Any member who represents regional South Australia will know that the fabric of these country towns is the sporting teams. They are the people who bring everyone together, and it is as much about mental health as it is about physical health. There are a few people who I really want to single out—the president, Geoff Hutchinson, who was there as a player when they won their last flag back in 1984; Baz Clarke, who played more than 550 A-grade games and who is a record holder in community football in South Australia; and Kym Alldritt as well—for the leadership they have shown.

Baz Clarke and Geoff Hutchinson are owners of Fleurieu Milk—indeed, the biggest employer in the Yankalilla council area, so very important to the local economy—and they are also number one supporters of the club. To playing coach Darren Shillabeer, congratulations, along with Richo, your assistant coach, who has been there for about five years now. Darren brought up his 100th goal for the season in the first quarter, but they still had a lot of work to do to get in front of Victor, who were their much more fancied rivals. Victor finished first and Myponga finished fourth at the end of the minor around.

I want to thank everyone—the players, the coaches, the trainers, the timekeepers, the sponsors, but most importantly the fans of Myponga, who decorated the entire town in green and gold in the week leading up to it and then just really got out there in numbers. When I left there at about 10 o'clock on Saturday night, they were going strong. I went down with 40 pizzas the next morning, because we know that if people have had a few drinks throughout the night they are probably going to need something in their stomachs. They were still partying hard after that 40-year drought, and they were still quenching their thirst at about lunchtime on the Sunday. Well done to the mighty Mudlarks!

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