WAUGH WORDS INSPIRE VICTORY
ADF overcomes emergency

ADF team members CPL Michael Wescombe (top) and LAC Nathan Holland get to the punch ahead of their opponent from the Combined Emergency Services team during the inaugural Services Challenge at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Anzac Day. More photos next edition. Photo by Michael Weaver

ADF All-Stars: 4.5(20) 7.10(52) 13.14(92) 22.16(148) Emergency Services: 1.1(7) 2.2(14) 3.2(20) 3.2(20) ADF goals: LCpl Damien Lord 5, Cpl Dan Ferguson 5, SPR Brad Pullen 3, LAC Michael Wescombe 3 ADF best: Spr Brad Pullen (c), MIDN Dane Williams (vc), Pte Shane Bramley, Cpl Dan Ferguson, LCpl Damien Lord, plus team. Trophy presented by CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston

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 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 blitzed a combined Emergency Services team on Anzac Day.

The 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 Air Force players Corporal Lance Purdon, Corporal Michael Wescombe, Leading Aircraftman Michael Dunlea and Leading Aircraftman Nathan Holland, overwhelmed 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 might 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 28.12 (148) to 3.2 (20).

Goals rained in from all directions as the ADF dominated virtually all areas of the ground, culminating in a nine-goal final quarter. Emergency Services battled to the end, but were outgunned by a fit and determined ADF outfit under the tutelage of coach Petty Officer 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. The four Air Force umpires officiating were Leading Aircraftman Anthony Butler, Sergeant Greg Watt, Sergeant Jack Daniel and Corporal Michael Reid.

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