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KICK
AWAY: An Army player gets the kick away despite the
efforts of a Navy defender in the NSW interservice Australian
Rules Carnival. Army defeated Navy to take the State title
by 57 points.
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Photos:
ABPH Paul Berry
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By
CPO Rory Munn
In a season of ups and downs, the curtain has closed on another
successful year for the Cerberus Football Club.
Playing in the Southern Football League, the club entered two
teams in the competition under the coaching direction of LEUT
Murray McAuliffe, with the reserves coached by CPO Rohan Jennings.
On field, the seniors finished the home and away season in fourth
spot, with an 11-7 win–loss ratio.
Both Cerberus and South Yarra were vying for the coveted
fourth spot in the finals and were equal on points going into
the last round. In a move that could not have been orchestrated
better by the league, the two teams met in the last round with
the winner assured of a final four finish.
Before a large and vocal crowd at the Cerberus ground,
the televised match of the day lived up to the high expectations
of all concerned and a very high quality game was played out.
Fortunately the Cerberus boys ran out the eventual winners
and won the right to contest the finals for the second year
in a row.
Cerberus met North Kew in the knockout first semi final.
Cerberus could not recapture the good form of the previous
week and were well beaten by a better team on the day. Notwithstanding
the disappointment, it was a credible season for the Cerberus
team and a finals berth reflects well on Murray and the team.
The reserves also ended the season well, with a fifth spot finish.
With three games to play, the reserves were still in the hunt
for the finals, however, posting action of players was having
an effect and there was not enough manpower on field to finish
off the year.
The Warren Bairstow Trophy for the seniors best and fairest
was jointly won by POCIS Wayne (BP) McColl and ABBM Nathan Darvill
with the Michael Murray Trophy for the reserves best and fairest
being won by SMN Scott Zanera. LS Danny Maric and LS Shaun Hamilton
were the respective runners up in the best and fairest voting.
The Cerberus football club registered about 125 players
for the season, 107 of which actually represented the club on
field. The club further established links with the community
by playing two mid week games with the Hastings Warriors, a
team made of underprivileged men who would not normally get
the opportunity to play football.
During the pre-season, Cerberus contested the Kapooka
12s, again finishing runners up for the second year in a row.
Seven of the club’s players represented Systems Command
in the annual Systems Command versusFleet and five players were
selected in the Combined Services All Australian Team.
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