Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker with Lindsay Doust

Win tickets to outdoor expo

Guess the weight of this ancient beauty and you could be on your way to the Gold Coast Caravan, Camping, 4WD, Fishing & Boating Show next week. See the article for details.

Today's photograph is very old and very rare. It is a picture of an enormous Murray Cod from 1907 that was captured after having been hit by a paddle-steamer at Echuca on the Murray River.

In connection with this photograph, we have eight free passes to give away to the 'Gold Coast Caravan, Camping, 4WD, Fishing & Boating Show', being held at the Parklands Showground from Friday-Sunday, March 19-21.

These one-day passes are valued at $12 each and it is a great opportunity to see one of the finest exhibitions in Australia of outdoor activity. To win one of these passes, all you need to do is correctly guess the weight of this fish, or be one of the eight closest correct entries.

There are two ways that you can enter. Either leave your guess, along with your name and phone number, at Suffolks Sports Store, 79 Keen Street, Lismore, by close of business Monday, or, call The Echo office next Tuesday on 6622 2888 between 10am and 10.20am and register your estimated weight of this magnificent specimen.

The winners will be the nearest eight to the correct weight, or, if the incredible eventuates and we get more than eight correct entries, it will be the first eight registered. Get your entry in early and you have a better chance of winning.

The judges decision will be final with no correspondence entered into.

The fishing scene has been quite good at Evans Head and Ballina due to the fresh water flushing the fish out of the river system. There have been some nice catches of bream, whiting, blackfish and flathead and in the discoloured water, live yabbies are the best bait.

The best spots around Ballina at the present time appear to be either of the break-walls.

A little reminder to all those who enjoy going out to catch yabbies - you must be carrying your fishing licence.

Country Cup re-scheduled - Rugby League

A Marist Brothers tackler kindly assists one of his Mudgee opponents cool-off during play in the 2003 Country Cup semi-final.

Marist Brothers will be launching into a new era at 5pm this Saturday at Crozier Field when they take the field in the NSW Country Cup against South Tweed. Playing in the 3pm match of the double-header will be Lower Clarence and Sawtell.

The games were rescheduled from last weekend after Friday's heavy rain left Crozier Field in an unplayable condition.

This will be Marist Brothers first major outing after the departure of master-coach Michael Woods to take up coaching duties with Brisbane Broncos feeder club North's in the Brisbane Rugby League competition. Under Woods Brothers became the dominant team in the competition throughout the nineties up until Grand Final day last year when they yet-again took out the title. On the same day the Brothers reserves, under new senior coach Owen King, won their final to make it a double for the Brethren.

Last year Brothers created history by advancing to the semi-finals of the state-wide Country Cup. No other Group One club had ever advanced so far in the competition.

Rabbitohs to precede Lions

In the latest update on the re-birth of the South Lismore Rabbitohs the club has announced that they will be playing all of their home games as curtain-raisers to the Lismore City Lions team in the Group One 2nd Division competition in 2004. This will see them playing on Crozier Field for day games and at Oakes Oval for feature Friday night games.

Due to the lack of a rugby league ground on the south side of the river the team currently trains on Jolley Field opposite Lismore Square on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The club, still looking for a few extra players, will make its return to competition at the Ballina Sevens on March 28.

Coach Wayne Cuthbertson told The Echo this week that there are still a few places available for boys turning 14 this year (or younger) to join up in the reformation year of one of Australian rugby leagues oldest clubs. Their 2004 squad should be very competitive with five of their number - Bevan Cuthbertson, Robert Kelly, Corey Nichols, Blake Norfield and Ashley Naclerio - already selected for representative trials that will be held shortly after the sevens tournament.

Golden Gloves belt up for grabs

Arthur Maloney (right) holds the heavy-bag for promising junior Jake Roberts. Jake's progress indicates that he is one of the boxers under Maloney's watchful eye that has the will and focus to listen, combined with the intensity to get the job done.

The annual Maloney's Glove Club tournament at the Lismore Workers Club this Saturday night will feature a welterweight clash for the Northern Rivers Golden Gloves Belt. Deece McDonald of Lennox Head will be going head-to-head with Manning River champion Max Raglus.

Also on the bill will be the super-heavyweight clash between Kim McGregor (100kg) and Moree's Trevor Ball (over 95kg). Fighting on the undercard will be Maloney's Glove Club members James, Jake and Steve Roberts, Ben Pepper, Todd Usher and Ricky Lethorn.

The PCYC's Rashib Habib has been matched up to fight Grafton's Rory Chapman while Shaun Wells will be travelling from Kyogle to test his mettle against Lindon Wilson. Usher is a leading martial artist who should bring an aura of discipline to the square-ring.

Maloney's Glove Club, run for many years by Arthur Maloney out of the converted garage at the rear of his house in Goonellabah, is now forced to train at the Showgrounds under the car display roofing. Insurance company officials decided that the path down the side of Arthur's house constituted a workplace danger, apparently because there was a garden!

So instead Arthur and all of the youngsters have to traipse out to the other side of Lismore to ply their trade after dark three times a week.

Arthur has been providing low-cost training for young boxers from low-income backgrounds for as long as many in the game would care to remember. This annual tournament helps to offset the costs involved with training his team.

This time around it will also be helping to pay for the accumulated costs of having to re-locate. Boxing will commence from 7pm with admission at $10 for adults and $5 for students and pensioners. A Playstation 2 will be given away on the night (compliments of Harvey Norman) as a lucky-door prize.

SAFL Draw '04

Ellis' accuracy earns top finish

Michelle Ellis, fourth in the 2004 Australian Open, tees-off at Lismore's 17th hole during an exhibition match played there in January.

Michelle Ellis of Casino showed her class in the final round of the waterlogged 2004 Australia Ladies Open at the Concord course last weekend in Sydney.

After disruptions to play on Saturday and Sunday Michelle was one of a number of players, including winner England's Laura Davies, who had to complete their final round on Monday morning.

Playing her best tee-to-green golf of the tournament Ellis was able to return a solid two-over-par 74 to give her a share of fourth place at five-over-par with Germany's Martina Eberl.

Davies won her first Australian Open title with a five-under total of 283, the only player to break par for the tournament due to the brutal scoring conditions. Australian Rachel Teske finished second on one-over with Trish Johnson of England a further two strokes adrift.

Ellis had rounds of 73, 74, 72 and 74 and could have finished higher but for final round bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes after a double bogey on the fifth. Her final round also included birdies on the second and tenth holes.

Ellis will now fly to the United States for the start of the 2004 USLPGA tour where she has accumulated $US647,583 in prize-money over the past three seasons.

Last season on the US tour Michelle finished 55th on the Order of Merit after a season that included two top-ten finishes.

Also looking to make a mark on the wider canvas will be Lismore's Rhein Gibson who will be lining up at the Australian Amateur Championship in Adelaide from March 18-24. The tournament will commence with play at both Royal Adelaide and Glenelg. Gibson has been drawn to play at the beautiful sand-belt Glenelg course.

Up the river - with a paddle

Pictured with Tim Limbert (left), the coordinator of the Paddle for Life, is sponsor Bev Soul from Star Office Choice, Judy Stokes ("Apparently I'm paddling this year") and Chris Cox from Sista's Café Magellan Street. Chris's café has sponsored its own canoe and some of her staff are planning to take it in turns to paddle the 100km from Lismore to Ballina. Chris will also be selling raffle tickets from the café to help raise money for the event.

The 2004 Paddle For Life from Lismore to Ballina, to help raise funds for the Buttery and for Summerland Early Intervention, will run from Saturday, April 24, through to Monday, April 26.

Tim Limbert, organiser of the event, said ''Paddle for Life was staged last year as an inaugural event and was so successful from the point of view of participant and support group enjoyment that event organisers decided to stage the Paddle annually." The Paddle's aim is to raise a substantial amount of money for two local charities - the Buttery Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Program and the Summerland Early Intervention Program.

Paddlers will leave Lismore from the Ballina Street boat-ramp at 8am on Saturday, April 24, and finish at Riverview Park Ballina on Monday, April 26.

"The event is organised by people like myself who love the sport of paddling and are keen to marry up an enjoyable event like this with fundraising for two important north coast organisations", said Limbert. "We are now asking paddlers who have shown keen interest to return forms and confirm their intention to paddle in this year's event."

Organisers have worked hard to ensure a safe and fun event with well-coordinated logistical support and catering. To maximise the safety and enjoyment of the event they have set a cap of 50 canoes to be a part of the event at any one time. Cost of entry is $25 per single person canoe and $50 for a two-person canoe plus $12 insurance for each person.

They are also encouraging each canoeist to individually fundraise to help make the Paddle a real success from a fundraising point of view. There will be a prize for the most amount of money raised by any one person and the most amount of money raised by a team in the event. Individuals can start fundraising by selling raffle tickets supplied by event organisers or getting friends and family to sponsor their paddle. They are also asking businesses to sponsor a paddler at $50 per one-person canoe or $100 for a two-person canoe.

Businesses and individuals who would like to participate in the 2004 Paddle for Life, as either a ticket seller, sponsor or paddler should phone Tim Limbert on 6622 1174 or 0427 286 774.

McMillan Shield, Anzac Cup

This weekend will see the first round of the Callan McMillan Shield and Anzac Cup competitions, the annual women's and men's pre-season tournaments.

In a strong indicator of the growing strength of the game in the women's ranks there are 10 teams entered in the A Division of the Callan McMillan Shield with a further 14 teams nominated for the B Division.

In the men's Anzac Cup the Premier Division section has all ten 2004 Premier teams lining up with an additional 10 teams nominated for the Open A. The Open B section and Grade 16 have eight and six entries apiece.

The match of the round is likely to be the Friday night fixture at Stars between last years Premiers Italo Stars and many people's pre-season favourites for 2004, Richmond Rovers.

The highlight match in the McMillan Cup this week looks to be the meeting between Byron and Ballina at Mullumbimby on Saturday at 3pm.

Workers take title, awards - and the cash

The 2004 Port Macquarie Six-A-Side champions, Lismore Workers Soccer Club. Back row (l-r) Kevin Keevers (Coach), Daune Hoare, Adrian Johnson, Damian Keevers, Anthony Alvos and Lewis Evans.

Front (l-r) Ashley Barrett, Rhys Evans, James Hirst, Tom Guttormsen and Luke Macpherson.

In an outstanding start to their season the Lismore Workers Soccer Club Premier Division team has won the annual Port Macquarie Six-a-Side tournament.

Workers have sent teams to the two-day competition for the past few years but they have never had the success that they achieved last weekend.

They had to do it the hard way, beating the 2003 title-holders Kempsey 1-nil in the semi-final and the host club, Port United, also 1-nil in the final to win the $2,000 first prize.

Not only did they go through the tournament undefeated, they also provided the tournament Golden Boot winner in Damien Keevers and the Player of the Tournament, Duane Hoare.

Damian Keevers' prolific effort of scoring eight goals in Workers' seven games helped Workers rack up an outstanding 26 goals, with only one goal conceded.

Finals places all come down to the final days play

The first day of the final round of the LJ Hooker League was washed out on Saturday, putting pressure on the teams on the edges of the final four.

It should be unlikely that an outright will be achieved in the one remaining day of the home and away season, although both Brunswick Valley and Lennox Head have shown that they can collapse very effectively if the conditions are not right. They will both be looking for a week of solid sunshine and drying winds to give them a chance of finishing the season off on a high. They face Souths and Casino respectively.

Souths can seal a place in the four with a victory over Brunswick at Thompson Oval in Brunswick Heads. Even with the home field advantage Brunswick should find the task against a highly motivated Souths far too difficult.

Alstonville and Tintenbar East Ballina, placed 5th and 6th respectively and separated by just one competition point, will face each other at Kingsford Smith Oval. Depending on the result of the match between Easts (2nd, 52 pts) and Norths Goonellabah RSL (3rd, 41pts) at Oakes Oval, either Alstonville (36 pts) or Tintenbar (35 pts) could sneak their way into the finals.

Hooker League Ladder

Casino 58, Easts 52, Norths Goonellabah RSL 41, Souths 38, Alstonville 36, Tintenbar East Ballina 35, Marist Brothers 31, Ballina 21, Lennox Head 16, Brunswick Valley 8.

Round Nine

Tintenbar East Ballina v Alstonville (Kingsford Smith Oval); Souths v Brunswick Valley (Thompson Oval); Norths Goonellabah RSL v Easts (Oakes Oval); Marist Brothers v Ballina (Fripp Oval); Lennox Head v Casino (Queen Elizabeth Park).

Now it's Waugh on charity

Alstonville Apex Club is currently holding The Great Cricket Raffle to raise funds to help maintain their charitable work in the community.

The tickets are only $1 each with first prize being a limited edition (one of only 1,500) signed and framed print of Steve Waugh by Mark Sofilas. Sofilas is one of Australia's leading sports artists having previous successful limited edition runs of Peter Brock, Mick Doohan, John Eales and Stan Lazaridis, amongst others.

With Steve's retirement this item will become a prized collector's item and will only appreciate in value over the coming years. Second prize is a 34cm Sharp Colour TV courtesy of Cummings Retravision. 

Tickets for the raffle, drawn on March 27, will be on sale at Lismore Shopping Square this Saturday. Anyone wishing to purchase tickets, by the book or individually, can also contact the offices of Richard Lutze and Associates at Suite 4, The Gables, 90 Main St, Alstonville, or call 6628 5048.

Ball meets Lavelle in final (again)

Photo: John Ritchie

John Forshaw, President of the Evans Head Men's Bowling Club (left) and John Lewis, captain for the day of the visiting United Kingdom bowls group The Nomads, holding 'Pepsi' the Nomad's koala mascot. The Nomads played at the club on Thursday and proved very popular with the membership. The British team made an assurance that they would be back to visit Evans head again this time next year.

The NRDBA Triples has come down to a couple of in form teams to play off in the final at 9am on Sunday, March 14.

The teams skipped by Casino's David Ball and Evans Head's Mark Lavelle, as predicted in The Echo last week, have proved to be the strongest sides in the field.

Ball and fellow district fours victor Brian Nixon are joined by lead-off Mark McAlaster. Merv Lavelle and Rod Greentree will be hoping to turn the tables on Ball after having been members of the losing team in the final of the fours. Joining them during the triples championship is fellow Evans Head member Ted Butler.

Overnight rains and heavy winds caused a number of disruptions to round six of the pennant season with only Grades One, Four and Seven-A completing a full round of fixtures.

The remaining games will be played on dates to be arranged by the home club in consultation with their opponents. Particularly hard hit by the rain was Ballina, and not surprisingly their greens were closed for the whole day.

In Grade One Casino RSM continued their undefeated progress towards the title with a 4-2 victory over Alstonville. Their next two rounds will see Casino face Lennox Head and Ballina. Lennox are fresh from a victory over South Lismore while Ballina are coming off a run of three strong wins that have lifted them up to second in the standings.

Three of the teams that were unable to get on the green on Saturday (South Lismore-Grade 3, Kyogle-Grade 6 and Ballina-Grade 7A) have been able to retain their respective Grade leaderships despite not playing.

Casino RSM's Gary Burt and his team of Brendan Frame and Mal Brown have taken out the annual Electric Light Triples midweek evening competition at the Lismore Workers Heights Club. They won the $1050 first prize by winning all four rounds and accumulating a shot margin of 56 bowls. In second place were fellow Casino RSM members the in-form David Ball and Brian Nixon combining with Barry Brown of Ballina bowling lead (4, 48).

Nominations for the District 65 and Over Pairs championship close on March 20.

Pennant Round Six

Grade One

Ballina 6 d East Lismore 0; Casino 4 d Alstonville 2; Lennox Head 4.5 d South Lismore 1.5. Leading team: Casino RSM 27.5.

Grade Two

Evans Head 6 d Lismore City 0; Lismore Workers Hts 5 d Ballina RSL 1. Leading team: Evans Head 30.

Grade Three

Ballina 5 d Broadwater 1; Lennox Head 4 d Evans Head 2. South Lismore 23.5.

Grade Four

Alstonville I 6 d Lismore Workers Hts. 0; Woodburn 6 d Ballina RSL 0; East Lismore 4 d Alstonville II 2. Leading team: Alstonville I 29.5.

Grade Five

Lismore Workers Hts 6 d Casino 0. Leading team: Casino RSM 22.

Grade Six

Nimbin 5 d South Lismore 1; Ballina RSL 4 d Lismore City 2. Leading team: Kyogle 24.5.

Grade 7A

Evans Head 5 d Lismore RSL 1; Casino RSM 5 d South Lismore 1. Leading team: Casino RSM 28.

Grade 7B

East Lismore 4.5 d Casino 1.5. Leading team: Ballina 23.