Sports News

Hook, Line and Sinker

Fish are keen in the cold

Many of the keen anglers welcomed the stiff westerly winds of last weekend. It put a real chill in the air and that is generally the first sign of good winter fish. Bream, blackfish and tailor seem to respond well after the first cold spell of each year. The signs are good - blackfish are showing up in Ballina and there are good reports of quality tailor from many of the beaches and headlands.

A record amount will be spent on a range of projects to boost recreational fishing across NSW. All of these programs are funded directly from the sale of recreational fishing licences in NSW. This is fantastic news for the more than one million people in NSW who wet a line at least once a year. Funds from the recreational fishing licence are placed into two Recreational Fishing Trusts, overseen by expert angler committees - one for saltwater and one for freshwater. This means that the fishing community decides how every cent of the licence funds is spent. Projects to be funded this year include:

• More than $535,000 for fish re-stocking, including $200,000 for the highly successful dollar-for-dollar native fish-stocking program;
• $446,000 for the fish aggregating devices (FAD) program over the next three years, with the aim of increasing the number of devices from 15 to 20;
• $554,000 from the Saltwater trust for a new research program that will help maximise the survival chances of fish caught and released;
• Almost $90,000 on a rock fishing safety awareness campaign, which includes brochures in a number of different languages, advertising, and a DVD on rock fishing safety; and
• Nearly $700,000 for fish habitat restoration projects, including $200,000 for coastal fish habitats and another $200,000 for inland water restorations.

Call of the Loon with Laurie Axtens

The funky gibbon syndrome

It has been said that the sportspeople we watch on the tellie on the weekend are role models for our children. Fortunately, considering the shenanigans that our elite sports men and women indulge in, we are lucky that this isn't the case. In fact it is the local coaches who are our children's role models. It's the Clint Mallett's, the Nick Johnson's, the Jason Caught's and hundreds of other local volunteers who spend their afternoons and weekends sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with our kids who are our society's true role models.

Only people who play sport locally would have any chance of recognising those names but these are the people who make a real difference, not the big TV stars. Despite this fact we still pour money into elite melodrama sport whilst slowly squeezing money out of high participation junior sport. Is it ironic or are we genetically predisposed to behave this way? Recent behavioural tests seem to indicate that it's par for the primate course to glorify people of higher status even to our own detriment.

Apparently, tests done on primates in the last year indicate that the glorification of attractive and successful apes can even take precedence over core desires such as hunger. For example, underfed chimps were given the choice between looking at video images of other chimps of a higher status or getting a meal. They almost invariably chose to look upon their better-looking relatives instead of eating.

I call it funky gibbon syndrome.

However, we can evolve past this state; we don't have to sit slack jawed in front of Survivor. There is no rule that says we must line up 10-deep to get a signature from an actor out of McLeod's Daughters. We can see our own internal luminosity if we so choose.

Still, for all my tomfoolery, it is an important issue. A lot of our volunteer managed sporting clubs are struggling to pay their insurance and their registration to regional and national associations. Big sport needs to put back into the local community and I don't mean flying visits to press the flesh and sign autographs for kiddies.

The clubs need fee relief NOW.

Casino bowls 'em over

The winners of this year's Northern Rivers District No 1 grade pennant were Casino RSM's (l-r) Noelene Hawkes, Gae Winterton, Betty Hyde, Mary Gooley, Barbara McAuliffe, Elsie Hunter and Joan Mason. They received their prize at the South Lismore Bowling Club in front of crowd of over 220 bowlers.

No ordinary Joe

Joe Keane graciously accepts the Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving Club's Senior Club Person of the Year Award from Ballina mayor Phillip Silver at Ballina RSL on Saturday night.

19-year-old Joe has been a member of the club since 2000, when he joined the board and ski squad. Over the past five years he's been a proactive member of the club, holding the positions of junior captain, publicity officer, first aid officer and nipper age manager. Earlier this year Joe attended Surf Life Saving Australia's national leadership development camp.

All Girl's Surf entries close Sandy English and Karlee Mackie (bottom) are two of the top-quality women's surfers looking to take out the open A division of this year's iconic Australian All Girl's Surf Showdown in Lennox Head and Ballina this June long weekend (June 11-13). Of the local contenders, Jenny Boggis and Sophie Sheldon are coming into the event with big wraps on them and should do well in their divisions. The closing date for entries in the prestigious event is this Friday, June 3. For more information phone Vicki on 6687 4992 or email allgirlssurfshowdown@bigpond.com.

Now is the winter of Bill's discontent

Andrew Hammond sends one down for the Lismore Boomerangs against Workers in their first round match of the Lismore Winter Cricket Competition on Rec 10. Workers snuck away with the win.

In other matches, Souths Station Hotel trashed Norths at Arthur Park and Goonellabah RSL spoiled Bill Kidd's return to competitive cricket by beating the South's Pirates at McKenzie Park.

This Saturday, June 4, Norths take on Boomerangs at McKenzie Park. In the replay of last year's final, Workers play Goonellabah RSL on Arthur Park and Souths Station Hotel play South's Pirates on Rec 10. All matches get underway at 12.30pm.

Lazarus comes to life

Rugby league legend Glen Lazarus digs deep to discover his Polish roots in the round ball game during his visit to Richmond River High School on Tuesday.

With last week's State of Origin game still fresh in our minds and the anticipation of the Origin II match running through our veins the State of Origin legends relay has walked into Lismore.

The National Rugby League is celebrating 25 years of State of Origin rugby league with a 37-day relay from Cairns to Sydney during the hotly contested Origin series. The relay is one of the largest community events ever undertaken in Australian sport, covering over 3597kms. On Tuesday the relay legends came through Lismore, with Glen Lazarus taking time out to play soccer with students from Richmond River High School.

The relay is helping to raise funds for the Make a Wish Foundation.

Trinity students on the ball

Trinity netballers (l to r) Amie-Lee Clarke, Lucy Andrews and Tamara Hamshaw were part of the team that recently travelled to Alice Springs to compete in the 11th Annual Marist Netball Carnival.

Trinity came away with a credible 8th placing, while St John's College Woodlawn placed second in the national event.

However, as a result of Trinity's impressive team effort, Lucy Andrews (year 10) was named in the Australian Marist Netball Team, Tamara Hamshaw (year 10) was recognised as a highly commended player and Aime-Lee Clarke (year 12) was named Trinity's Player's Player for the carnival. In addition Woodlawn student Kristy Durheim maintained her position in the Australian Marist team and was joined by vice-captain Lucy Burke. Congratulations girls.

For the good of the game

Vale George Green

It is with deep sadness that Soccer Far North Coast announced the passing of long time committee member, Mr George Green. He passed away last Saturday at age 76 following a long battle with cancer.

George Green was a member of the local soccer governing body for over eight years, during which time his persistence and enthusiasm for all things soccer was an inspiration to all those he worked with.

George waded into North Coast soccer administration in 1996 with an enthusiasm that startled his co-committee members. Inspired by the success of the Rale Rasic led Socceroos in 1974, George was keen to leave a lasting impression on the local soccer community and establish a future for the many talented players in the region.

His first hand knowledge of the leading coaching methods and a long held friendship with David Lee, the then NSW State director of coaching, gave George the belief that a "home" for soccer needed to be established here on the North Coast and programs needed to be developed which would place SFNC at the peak of player development.

He pursued that vision with vigor until he died.

His commitment to soccer throughout the region included the establishment of the North Coast Suns and the organising of the celebration of Soccer Far North Coast's 50th anniversary. The 50-year anniversary was a project of substantial magnitude that included a march through the Lismore CBD and the assembling of over 2500 soccer players and administrators at Oakes Oval.

At that time, with the help of many club administrators and amateur historians, George prepared and published a history of SFNC. The First 50 Years was a book that captured the makings of the world game North Coast style and covered many of the characters that have shaped 'football' both locally and at higher levels.

George was a passionate fundraiser and worked tirelessly to sell an extra raffle ticket here or match program there. This dedication was highlighted when in 2002 George donated his own funds along with local soccer supporter Marty Hicks to ensure the North Coast Suns could participate in the newly established Queensland Summer League. He also went on to raise funds every year since then to make sure both the Suns and the North Coast Flames received the support they deserved.

Be it selling raffle tickets or canvassing clubs by phone to support the latest SFNC initiative, George Green touched many people within the soccer community. His enthusiasm, support and work ethic will be greatly missed.

As George was inclined to say, he did it "for the good of the game".

Classic double header

Future rock star, Dean Hanson, unleashes from the edge of the box for Thistles Under 16s in their match with Workers Club on Thistles Park on Saturday. The searing strike found the back of the net for Thistles' third goal as the blokes in blue knocked off an undermanned Workers 3-2.

Men's premier league

Oakes Oval will be the venue for a classic double header this Saturday, when the powerful Rovers run on against the quixotic Byron Bay at 5pm, before Goonellabah try to bounce back from their first defeat to match it with a struggling Workers at 7pm.

In other matches, Italo Stars will host top of the competition Ballina at 3pm on the Barrow Lane field. Bangalow is at home to Maclean at 3pm and Thistles should account for Casino when the beef capital kids make the trip to East Lismore.

Women's premier league

Round 7 of the Southern Cross Credit Union Women' Premier League will be an important round for Byron as they take on league leaders Lismore Workers.

The competition's in form sides are Ballina and Italo Stars and they will feature in a Saturday night game. Lennox Head will again need all hands on deck as they travel to Rovers' home ground in East Lismore and Casino will be trying to catch Goonellabah off-colour as they try to shake off the Beef Week hangover.

Men's premier ladder

Ballina 16, Goonellabah 13, Richmond Rovers 13, Italo Stars 13, Lismore Workers 11, Byron Bay 7, Lismore Thistles 7, Maclean 6, Casino 1, Bangalow 0.

Women's premier ladder

Workers 13, Ballina 12, Italo Star 11, Rovers 10, Lennox Head 6, Goonellabah 5, Byron Bay 5, Casino 0.

Constellation Hotel (www.constellationhotels.com) Golden Boot Award Standings:

Men's premier division

12 - Peter O'Neil

6 - Ben Andrews

5 - Wayne Mortimer, Adam Gray

Women's premier division

11 - Renee McIntosh

9 - Lisa Kelly

7- Emma Turner

It's tough at the top

Alstonville's Thomas Lock and the Northern Star's Cassie Avery compete fiercely for possession in the Minkey under 7's hockey division at Hepburn Park on Saturday.

It's getting tight at the top of the regional premier hockey league as Waratahs slipped to a draw against third placed Mudgeeraba in Murwillumbah over the weekend.

The draw leaves the Waratahs with a slim one-point lead over Ballina as they take the bye this weekend. Mudgee, who have a game in hand, remain undefeated after the draw and this weekend travel to Murwillumbah to take on the Allstars at 3.50pm.

Allstars rebounded from their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Kingscliff a fortnight ago to register their first win 3-1 over Burleigh. Allstars will find Mudgee a very different kettle of fish to last placed Burleigh and will probably struggle to hold their own.

Burleigh also travel to Murwillumbah where they will match it with the Taipans. The Taipans' extraordinary winning streak came to an end over the weekend when they failed to take advantage of a host of chances, going down to Labrador 1-nil.

Labrador host Alstonville this weekend at 2.30pm. Alstonville, who are coming off a 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Capri, are really starting to feel the pinch in their first year back in the top flight.

Meanwhile, Capri take on Northern Star at Labrador's Hunt Park at 1pm. Star have been having a hot and cold year: on Saturday they lost to a reinvigorated Coraki 3-1. Capri should be too strong on their home turf.

Coraki had lost a couple on the trot until their match with Star and will be very keen to stay in the winners circle against United Vipers. This could prove to be the match of the round as Vipers are also hot to trot after dismissing Easts 4-1 over the weekend.

Easts have really fallen off the pace in recent games and their match against the Redbacks at Hepburn at 2.55pm is a real chance to get their campaign back on track.

In the only other match to be played this weekend Kingscliff, who are coming off the bye, will face the might of Ballina at Hepburn Park in Goonellabah at 5.45pm. Ballina skipped away to a 4-1 win over the Redbacks in Murwillumbah on Saturday but this game promises to be a real challenge.

If a Cockatoo loses on an oval and no-one is there to watch...

The public support that the NSW Country Cockatoos were expecting never materialised at Oakes Oval on Saturday, as a crowd of barely one thousand watched them get sliced to pieces in the first 20 minutes of their match against Perth Gold.

The match - the second last round of the Australian Rugby Shield - was out of the Cockatoos reach before they even drew breath. Perth Gold's speedsters Tim Davies and Justin Webster cut through the Cockatoo defences to put on two of the four first-half tries.

The Cockatoos spent most of the second half camped inside Gold's 20 yard line but they only managed two tries on the back of some heavy forwards pressure. Whenever Perth kept the ball in hand and managed to get it out into the three quarters they made ground and it wasn't long until they finished off the Cockatoos with two more tries in the second half.

It terms of bums on seats the show didn't draw as many as organisers would have hoped, especially after last month's rugby league game brought 8000 through the turnstiles.

Far North Coast Rugby

In the only match of the round, Southern Cross University and Lismore City put on an excellent end-to-end match as a curtain raiser to the Cockatoos vs Gold clash. In the end the SCU Gold Rats broke their three-year drought against the current premiers with a last minute intercept try, a la State of Origin. In a match that could have gone either way the Rats finally prevailed 32-25.

Newstead makes his mark

Former Alstonville first division pitcher, Mark Newstead, closed down the extremely powerful Mudgeeraba Redsox batting line-up on Saturday to give Marist Brothers a much needed 10-7 win.

This weekend Brothers take on bottom of the Interleague competition Robina.

Meanwhile the Redsox, traditional Gold Coast high fliers, will be looking to reassert themselves against Norths at Lismore's Thew Field.

Norths, who also made the trip up the coast, came away with a disappointing draw due to failing light on the Robina ground in the sixth innings, with the scores locked at 8-all.

Norths were pleased with the efforts of rookie pitcher Jason Britt, who threw well for the A's in his debut. A's Leon Elliott monstered three hits to keep this year's tally ticking over.

In the Lismore game cellar dwellers Runaway Bay Dolphins battled hard against the all conquering Workers machine, holding the local premiers to a mere two runs for eight innings, only for the Workers offensive line-up to smash in four runs in the last innings.

This weekend Workers get the bye and the Dolphins will be at home to the Redbirds. The Redbird's youthful exuberance will be somewhat diminished as they will be without young pitching hopeful Shane Davis. Davis broke his hand playing school rugby.

Stan Bendall - Golf

Well, the Northern Rivers Pennants got off to a fine start last Sunday on a beautiful sunny autumn day. The Division 1 competition saw Coolangatta/Tweed Heads I defeat Murwillumbah I in a tight tussle, while Byron Bay I defeated Coolangatta/Tweed Heads II (last year's winners) and Ballina I defeated Lismore I.

The Tweed boys recorded five wins out of six teams entered in various divisions. Ballina had 10 teams entered, recording five wins after the first round.

However, Lismore didn't perform very well, with only one team out of eight recording a victory and that was Lismore IV. The second round of the Northern Rivers Pennants is this Sunday, June 5, with a further rounds on Sunday, June 19, and the finals on June 26.

Northern Rivers Championships will be hosted on Sunday and Monday, June 12-13, over 36 holes stroke play at Maclean for seniors, colts and juniors.

Clubs news:

• Casino Golf Club Members were saddened recently with the passing of a very popular member, Alan King, after a short illness. He was admired for his comeback to golf after a serious car accident. Condolences to family and friends. He will be sadly missed.
• Lismore will host the inaugural Edgar Schafer Memorial Day this weekend, June 4-6. Egdar passed away last year and had sponsored the day for about eight years prior to his death.