The football club is undergoing a lot of changes in preparation for hosting this year’s Grand Finals.
New seats have been installed which came from the Adelaide Oval redevelopment.
A new toilet and shower block is under construction by the local Lions Club. This will also be welcomed by the many campers who regularly use the
The new seats are installed in front of the clubrooms
oval and grounds.
The Mallala Magpies continued their form slump at the Mallala Oval last Saturday where they were convincingly beaten by the up&coming Two Wells side. With a losing margin of 63 pts. Mallala were never really competitive – out-rucked by big Simon Feast & out-marked as the Roosters, with good running, continually broke clear of the Pies.
Injuries to key players have unsettled Mallala in recent weeks & as some players return & get back into match practice, it is hoped that the confidence will return for the business end of the season.
Joel Montgomerie continues to delight the spectators with his elusiveness & Jason Earl played a strong game in his 2nd. game back from injury.
Reserves – Mallala was not disgraced against the top Two Wells side, going down by 21 pts. The Pies defence was excellent as they held the Roosters to only 6 goals but were unable to go forward enough to get a winning score.
Senior Colts – A taller & stronger Two Wells side made easy work of their 51 pt. victory. Mallala struggled to play in front for most of the game with Josh Watson & Allen Sparks their better players.
Junior Colts – In an identical situation to the Senior Colts match Mallala Juniors were outplayed by a bigger & stronger Two Wells side & the margin of 40 pts. was indicative of the difference between the two teams.
Gymnorhina Tibicen.
Injuries continue to afflict the Mallala Football Club.
In their home match against United on Saturday they were missing several key players but still managed a convincing 43 pt. win & maintain top spot on the ladder. Joel Montgomery continues to dominate matches to be their best, while ace goal-kicker Scott Hahn got 5, & would have had 6 but for a “brain fade” in the last moments. It is a credit to the depth of players & to the skill & passion of the younger promoted players, – an indication of the overall strength of the Club.
Mallala Reserves went down meekly to United, with only 3 goals for the match to lose by 40 pts. Although the team was unsettled by injuries to senior players, it was an insipid effort by the Pies, & hopefully they will regain their spark after the break.
With player shortages on both sides, Mallala Seniors easily won a scrappy match by 30 pts. with Brad Wilson & Adam Coe their better contributors.
Mallala Juniors also had an easy victory & with the O’Leary brothers continuing their good form, cruised to a 50 pt. win.
Next week’s bye will be welcome with hopefully some key players returning for the crucial match at home against Balaklava the following week.
Gymnorhina Tibicen.
An injury-ridden Mallala A grade had a great win over Virginia Rams at the Mallala oval on Saturday. With their half-back & full-back lines missing from the previous week through various injuries, it was hoped that they would be at least competitive.
But they had other ideas – their star players starred & the young players brought into the match lifted with the courage & passion that was on display. After coach Steven Lubcke’s stirring three-quarter address, there was no way the Pies were going to lose this one & at the final siren were 15pts. up in their best win for the year, retaining top spot in the process.
The down side was the unfortunate injury to star player Liam Whitwell in the last quarter – off to hospital with a broken fibula & we wish him a speedy recovery.
Reserves
A slow start & inaccurate kicking for goal cost Mallala Reserves any chance of victory. Down by 38 pts. at the last break, the team lifted, but 3 goals 6 points in the final quarter didn’t help their cause & they went down by 21 points.
Senior Colts
In a close encounter, Virginia had just enough good players to prevail by 10 points. The Pies started slowly, but levelled at the long break but couldn’t quite get the honours in an entertaining match.
Junior Colts
In a one-sided match Mallala Juniors easily defeated an under-manned Virginia side.Only 13 points up at half-time the Pies got their run -on play going in the second half to hold the Ram boys goal-less & win by 48 points.
The highlight of the match was Lachie Oleary’s award presentation in the evening – in the absence of coach Nick Mathew, he was asked to do the awards & showed speaking confidence & a quick sense of humour.
Gymnorhina Tibicen.
The Mallala Football Club resumed senior training on Monday 23 & Wednesday 25 January with good numbers in attendance.
Training has been very intense with new Coach Steve Lubcke working the lads a bit harder than they have been use to over the last few pre-seasons.
Training will continue Monday, Wednesday & Friday in the coming weeks, then revert to Tuesday, Thursday from March 27.
A twilight trial against North Clare will be held at the Mallala Oval on Friday 23 March, commencing at 6.30pm with six (6) 20 minute quarters. Catering & bar facilities will be available.
A second trial will be against Loxton on Saturday 31 March, also at Mallala Oval. This is likely to be two (2) full matches with the Reserves commencing around 1.00pm. Full facilities will be available.
The season commences on April 14 with an away match at Long Plains. Can’t wait!
Mallala Football Club commenced senior training with a couple of light runs prior to Christmas.
The first was on Wednesday 14 December 2011 but was poorly attended with around 18 to 20 players taking the field. New senior coach Steve Lubke would have been disappointed with the roll up. Although numbers were down the standard of ball skills was excellent. There was even a car load of spies from Balaklava on the sideline. Training was followed by a refreshing salad sandwich.
The second was held on Wednesday 21 December 2011 in quite pleasant & with around 35 plus players hitting the track, including a few new faces. It was a great night. The skill level was still quite good, with Coach Lubke introducing several new ball drills that emphasise the new game plan he will be bringing to the Club.
Training was followed by a very tasty Scotch Filet & salad meal.
Senior pre-season training is due to recommence on the Monday of the last week in January & continue Monday & Wednesday until closer to the start of the season.
Hot on the back of leading the Mallala Football Club Junior Colts to an undefeated Premiership & being named APFL Junior Coach of the year, Michael (Sam) Dunstan was awarded the Woodville West Torrens Country Zone Coach of the year at the recent SANFL annual coaches’ dinner.
Sam was taken back by the award & is looking forward to the challenge of moving up to coach the Senior Colts in 2012.
The Club congratulates Sam on his award & wishes him well for season 2012.
The 2011 Mallala Football Club Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 3 November at 8.00pm.
35 members & players were in attendance, this was the best rollup seen for many years.
Jim Franks stepped down as President after three (3) years in the job. The Club would sincerely like to thank Jim for a sterling job.
The new executive & committee are as follows:
President Neil Tiller
Senior Vice-President David Algar
Junior Vice-President Paul Blacket
Secretary Stuart Roberts
Assistant Secretary Brian Tiller
Treasurer Barry Sowerby
Bar Manager John Angus
Ladies Committee Chairperson Julie Griffiths
Management Committee Liam Whitwell
Junior Co-ordinator Nicholas Mathew
Tim Cawrse
Craig Argent
Dave McLean
Jason Wildbore
Sam Irish
With a new committee in place & coaches already appointed, we are looking forward to a successful 2012, on & off the field.
The Mallala Football Club have appointed coaches for the 2012 season.
Steve Lubcke has replaced long serving A Grade coach Keith Earl after seven seasons at the helm.
Steve hales from Tanunda Football Club (also the Magpies), with three successive premierships 2008 – 2010. Steve took a year off club football in 2010 to assist in coaching the Eastern Zone side & the SA Country team.
Steve’s history of coaching started as Reserves Coach at Barossa Districts following on to the A Grade job for three seasons. He then assisted Ian Stafford (passed Mallala A Grade Coach) at Nuriootpa before taking on the senior job at Tanunda.
Chris Hummel has been appointed as Reserves Coach for 2012. Chris has a junior coaching history at Mallala, first coaching at Junior Colt level for several years & then moving up to senior Colts in 2010 & 2011.
Junior Colts Coach Michael (Sam) Dunstan has stepped up to Senior Colts after a successful Premiership year in 2011.
Nicholas Mathew will lead the Junior Colts with a wealth of caching experience both at junior & senior levels.
Don’t forget the Mallala Football Club AGM will be held on Thursday 3 November 2010 at 8pm & bar will be open from 7.30pm.
All welcome!
The Mallala Football Club season concluded on Friday 16 September 2011 with a senior windup & presentation evening combined with the Netball Club.
The event was well attended by players & a few supporters.
The presentations commenced at 8pm with Netball followed by Football, concluding with a lovely supper provided by Tom’s Catering Service.
Football Trophy winners for 2011 were:
A Grade
Best & Fairest Joel Montgomerie
Runner up Best & Fairest Liam Whitwell
Best Team Man Jason Earl
Coaches Award David Pontt
Reserves
Best & Fairest Reece Kerr
Runner up Best & Fairest Jamie Speck
Best Team Men Jesse Crewdson
Ben Edwards
Most Improved Jase Morgan
Coaches Award Ronald Dawe
Senior Colts
Best & Fairest Ben Martin
Runner up Best & Fairest Jake Birchmore
Best Team Man Trent Graham
Coaches Award Troy Algar
Most Improved Robert Withall
Best Utility Player Dylan Winning
Junior Colts
Best & Fairest Josh Watson
Runner up Best & Fairest Jarrad Dunstan
Most Improved Tom Jones
Coaches Award Lachlan O’Leary
Best First Year Player Mark Jenkin
Best Player of the Final Series Jamie Good
APFL Leading Goal Kicker Brad Wilson
Mallala's Local Sport 