Awesome Anzac Day victory

By Michael Weaver

INSIDE the change rooms for the ADF All-Stars Australian Football team at the Sydney Cricket Ground hangs a big poster put up by Australian Test cricket captain Stephen Waugh, which reads: “The big occasion is – the opportunity you have been

An ADF player leaps above the pack to tap out the ball to his team mates. The ADF All-Stars annihilated their Emergency Services oppponents with a final score of 22-16 (148) to 3-2 (20).

Two players contest the ball in an uneven contest dominated by the ADF. Photos by Michael Weaver, Service newspapers

waiting for; the time to do something special”.

Twenty-five players from the ADF side certainly rose to the big occasion at the Sydney Cricket Ground as they decimated a combined Emergency Services team on Anzac Day.

This inaugural clash will become an annual fixture on the AFL calendar, acting as a curtain-raiser to a match between the Sydney Swans and Melbourne Demons on Anzac Day.

The ADF side, featuring 14 Army players (named below), blitzed its less experienced opponent, made up of players from the Australian Federal Police and Emergency Services.

The 128-point win marked a significant step forward for the ADF All-Stars side, which has been limited in fixtures following the national inter-service championships.

For many, it was their first taste of footy in the big league and the chance to impress on the hallowed SCG turf.

The Emergency Services team may have kicked the first goal, but the team soon went to ‘red alert’ as ADF players took the opportunity they had been waiting for, kicking 22-16 (148) to
3-2 (20).

Goals rained in from all directions as the ADF dominated virtually all areas of the ground, with a nine-goal final quarter proving to be icing on the cake.

Emergency Services battled to the end, but was outgunned by a fit and determined ADF outfit, under the tutelage of coach PO Jamie McGinley.

The game also provided plenty of experience for seven umpires, all from the ADF and accredited with the AFL, who controlled the curtain-raiser. Three Army members of the contingent officiating were WO2 Craig Rogers, Sgt Ray Berry and WO2 Eric Rogers.

The 14 Army players representing the ADF were: Spr Brad Pullen, Capt Steven Thorpe, Pte Ryan Ingram, Capt Kelly Donovan, Pte Danny Giles, Sgt Terry Whitwam, Capt Anthony Birch, LCpl Danny Cruse, Pte Shane Bramley, LCpl Damien Lord, Cpl Dan Ferguson, Lt Stephen Medlin, Cpl Wayne Morley and Cpl Anthony Hope.

Best ADF players on ground were Spr Brad Pullen, Midn Dane Williams, Pte Shane Bramley, Cpl Dan Ferguson and LCpl Damien Lord.