Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker with Lindsay Doust

Sins of the father, responsibility of the son

Andrew Stephenson with a 87cm flat head caught on the Richmond River.

Welcome to our fishing news for 2005 and good fishing to you all. There are two phrases I like to remind all anglers of: 'limit your catch, don't take home your limit' and 'conserve fish stocks, release some'.

Remember, as our population grows, more and more people are fishing but we have the same stocks of fish. Indeed, we have far less than 30 years ago when under half the present number of people fished.

To me, fishing is about catching a good feed at times, but not necessarily taking home cricket scores. We've all "been there and done that" I'm sure: 99 snapper in a day, 1600 tailor in a week, 97 yellowbelly. Thankfully, fisheries have brought in bag limits and even maximum size limits, to protect stocks and more importantly, breeding populations.

Locally, fishing has been good. Good numbers of whiting, particularly on blood worms and yabbies in the river. Some nice flathead, indeed very large fish around Ballina and at Pimlico some very nice school jew. They have also shown a liking for yabbies. The larger flathead around Ballina have been feasting on live herring.

As the river clears up from Lismore to Coraki, bass have returned on lures and particularly spinner baits.

Recently I managed to catch three nice yellowbelly out New England way. Two weighed at 12lb and one at 18lb. A customer last Monday also caught one at 18lb.  All these fish would be terrible to eat, as they are one of the fattiest of all fish and so were released as prime breeding stock.

We need your photos for 2005.  Keep them coming to Suffolks Sports Store or The Echo.

Call of the Loon with Laurie Axtens

Good captains know it's a team

Sport like school is a microcosm of our society. The socialisation we gain playing sport offers an excellent understanding of our political and economic life.

We come to understand the nature and necessity of hierarchy through sport; for a team to be successful it needs one undisputed captain, for a team to be highly successful that captain needs to rule in a consultative way. Though the captain is still responsible for the final decision they need to open to the opinions of their team.

The first and most obvious reason is that no one person has all the answers. But more importantly by listening and consulting with his or her fellow team members the captain is showing respect for those players. It is this respect that lifts the self-esteem of the player and the morale of the team.

High morale is probably the most salient feature of the successful squad, workforce or political party. It is self-confidence that allows players and workers to reach out and attain their full potential, to dare to go, to think and create.

Leading from the front is important but it is not essential that the captain be a worldbeater. Former English test captain, Mike Brierley had a run average in the 20s in test cricket and yet he is one of the most successful cricket captains in the modern era. The most important aspect of leading from the front, is not singular performance, it is the commitment of the captain to the team and to the game.

A captain must never give up or disparage the game; to think it below their dignity is to ring the death knell of morale.

The single most important mental characteristic a skipper can have is respectfulness, the second is to be indomitable, to believe at even the worst moment that they can turn the game on its ear. Respect curbs the excesses of this competitive nature, so that in defeat a good captain can still be gracious even if they're boiling with indignation.

This graciousness comes from respecting the opposition and respecting the opposition honours the game itself. This is why we do not speak ill of our business competitors as it demeans our profession.

In all, a great leader has a fire in the belly and I'm not talking pancreatitis.

And while I don't agree with many of the policies of Australia's present skipper, John Howard, his consensual methods have proved successful in getting him re-elected four times - even when it seemed like defeat loomed. Hawke had a similar philosophy and it might also explain his success. A good captain knows how to get the best from his team.

Student turns heads

Lismore City Council intern, Kiera Ninness and former Under 12 cricket carnival organiser, Gail Foran - administrators-in-arms.

SCU human movement student, Kiera Ninness, took over the administration of this year's Lismore District Under 12 cricket carnival after Gail Foran retired from the position after 10 years dedicated service.

Kiera took on the challenge of co-ordinating the 14-team championship which gave both Gail a well deserved break and earned her points toward her Bachelor of Arts degree. The points system is a recent development at SCU that offers students a option to do work in the community instead of just studying.

"Kiera has done a marvellous job", said Paul Attewell from Goonellabah RSL Cricket Club. "She did all of the preliminary work to organise the carnival."

The administration of the carnival involved corresponding with 14 different teams from the Illawarra in the South and the Sunshine Coast in North. Kiera liased with the council regards field availability and the Workers Club in terms of sponsorship. Part of the work required the writing and editing of a program of events that contained a list of all individual team members from the differing regions.

Kiera was quick to thank all of the people who did the on-the-ground work during the carnival.

"Raewyn and Paul Attewell did a great job with the catering and Neil Hellyar did most of the on the ground co-ordination." Kiera said. "It was a great success all round."

Driven to distraction

After winning last week's Summerland pairs in Ballina, Jeff 'the maestro' Dolan, fell just short of the double, going down 31-18 in the singles final to Paradise Point bowler, Shane 'the globetrotter' Globits at Ballina Bowls Club in blustery conditions on Sunday.

Globits drew well from the outset, using the breeze to increase the curve of his deliveries. The Gold Coast bowler of the year led 5-1 after three ends and it became obvious that 'the maestro' would need to either draw a lot better or ride his luck with some well-placed drives.

Nolan's penchant for driving saw him smash a jack across two other games and into the far corner of the green at one stage during the series so he drove his way out of trouble where necessary. Globits' precision made it was necessary more often than not.

Dolan's crash through or crash tactics worked for first 22 ends as he stayed within two shots of his rival, often pinching a shot on the Gold Coast bowler by smacking the jack into the backboard or by subtly progressing the jack from the Globits- dominated head.

Both bowlers are big, jolly gamesman and they did their best to amuse the sizeable crowd with their karate-like calls as their bowls entered the head.

In the end Dolan crashed as he tired towards the end.

Globits, who began his bowls career at South Grafton, has been competing in the Summerland series for all 13 years of his professional bowling career.

"I don't miss the Summerland," said Shane, "I really enjoy playing this one."

Especially when he walked away with a cool $2400 for his efforts.

Sandgropers the team to beat

Local baseball hall of honour player and Australian Baseball Federation Representative, Rick Healy, welcomes the eight teams of the AA National Under 16 Championship to Lismore on Baxter Field last week. (middle) Queensland third baseman, Ricky Rhodes, shows soft hands as he fields this ground ball and readies to throw to first against Victoria in the open match of the Championship. Victoria won 11-2 in the replay of last years final. (bottom) Queenslands Aaron Luchterhand flies high at first base in an attempt to field a wild throw.

The Western Australian Under 16 squad has set the pace early in this year's AA National Baseball Championships at Albert Park over the weekend by winning all three of their initial encounters.

Queensland is looming in the wings, overcoming their initial loss to Victoria with solid wins over South Australia and Victorian Provincial. NSW have also surged back into contention, after an early loss, to be even with Queensland, Territory and Victoria on 4 points.

Western Australia's Dean Brendon (.857) and Victoria's John Blaskett (.800) are enjoying an exceptional tournament with the bat. Queensland and Far North Coast representative James Linger is sitting high on the list with .625, including some crucial hits in Sunday's game, helping Queensland to break a 3-3 deadlock with Victoria Provincial.

This Friday, January 14, the finals quarterfinals begin on Baxter Field at 11am and carry through till late at night under the lights. The semis are on Saturdays and the final on Sunday.

For details and up to date match schedules, visit the Far North Coast website at www.fnc.baseball.com.au.

When too much cricket is barely enough

Is it any wonder that the Australian cricket team are world champions, when you consider how much representative cricket is played at a regional and a junior level? During the last few weeks the Lismore senior team travelled down to Dubbo to contest the Country Cup; our Under 13s battled it out with teams from across two states in Ballina; two Far North Coast teams took part in the Under 12 carnival in Lismore and our Under 16s are presently in Shoalhaven playing teams from across NSW. In addition, the Far North Coast is also hosting the National Country Cricket Championships. When is too much cricket, too much cricket? Never! World Champions forever!

It's impossible to do justice to all the representative squads and all the local players in the space available, so a few notable mentions will have to suffice.

First cab of the rank must be Eastern District middle order batsman, Joel Parrey, who was a last minute call-up for the Lismore team in Dubbo. Joel is presently in Shoalhaven taking part in the Under 16 Bradman Cup and also recently took part in the Combined Catholic College championship with great success. The young wicket keeper's footwork and confidence at the crease are exceptional. Joel is a player who could go all the way if he wants to.

Joining him in the Bradman Cup squad are James Everingham and Stuart Rose, who have only just returned from Argentina where they were touring with the Emu Chicks team. Stuart had a particularly successful time with the bat on tour.

Of course it would be impossible to write an overview of up and coming players without mentioning 'Our Tom'. Not since Adam Gilchrist has the progress a local player been watched so avidly as Tom Cooper. Last weekend the 17-year-old scored a classy 69 for NSW Country against Western Australia in Ballina, confirming the wisdom of his surprise selection. Had he not been sick for the first match against Victoria surely the close result could have fallen in favour of NSW.

The NSW squad are hoping that Queensland will beat Victoria and then lose to them in the final match so that that they can spring a surprise competition win and with Cooper in the batting line up - it's all possible.

The third team

Kevin Pye, the umpire's umpire, keeps tabs on his fellow Country NSW penguins.

Throughout the Country Cricket National Championship, Kevin Pye has sat, penning poetry and polite critiques of his fellow umpires from the comfort of the Gordon Pavilion at Oakes Oval. Pye is both the umpire advisor for the NSW Country Umpirer's Representative Panel and the unofficial the poet laureate of NSW Country Cricket.

Kevin, a foundation member of the highly regarded umpires panel, has also been development officer for the last four years, and has introduced a system of appraisals that has given his fellow panel members the feedback needed to lift the standard of their work to international levels.

"We consider ourselves the third team," Kevin said. "For players to progress to the highest levels their play must be of an exemplary standard, we think umpires should lift their game as well."

His three-way system includes an umpire's self-appraisal, an advisor's appraisal and a report from the team captains after each day of play.

"It's a thorough assessment and panel members need to remain open-minded and be willing to be moulded," Kevin said.

The umpires also consider themselves a third team because of the team-work involved in umpiring. During each over they communicate with a set of signals that indicate the number of balls bowled, whether the ball has hit the bat or pad or merely passed through untouched.

This year is the first time that the 12-member panel has been given the sole responsibility of adjudicating the entire championships and by all accounts they are doing a excellent job. In the past local umpires have made up the slack.

John McMahon, the championships organising committee chairman, said, "of all the carnivals I've been to and I've been everywhere except Western Australia, the quality of the NSW Country umpiring is far above anything else."

Whether Kevin's poetry is as insightful as his umpiring analysis I leave up it up to you to judge, just drop in at Oakes Oval and ask for a copy of the Lismore Leader.