• <Bar Talk 16>
• Season 2009 Review
• <16th May 2007>

Season 2009 in review

Just when we thought we couldn’t have a season as poor as 2008 along comes season 2009. We are nothing but consistent consistent. It has been two years since we have won a game. Even with attracting star recruits Little Dickie, Colin and Mike Pape we still couldn’t improve our performance sufficiently to win a game. Dickie came to the club with great wraps from Jamie Meyers. Unfortunately a broken nose early in the season meant that he was out of action for most of the remainder of the season. Mike proved to be a very handy fly half when he was available to play. Child minding duties interrupted his season. Colin who is in the autumn of his life took up a rugby ball for the first time this year. His enthusiasm for the game and camaraderie was infectious. Once he got the hang of where to position himself and when he became a handy player. The team was struck an enormous blow when Dennis broke 99 ribs and only played in two early games. To make matters worse Jamie Meyers cut short his season to take on breast feeding duties for his daughter. Chris Peugot suffered a major break in his hand and with Pommie Paul even finding it difficult to present himself for a few cameo roles, all in all it meant that we were severely limited with our choice of backs. Francois started the season brilliantly with a man of the match performance early in the season but was unable to keep up the high standard he set himself. The forwards on the other hand never put in a poor performance and were the strength of the team. Once the ball got to the backs even the forwards began shaking their collective heads. Kevin Walsh couldn’t play this year due to bar tending duties. Running a pub in Frankston took up all his available spare time. He did however manage to tour to Cambodia for the annual Angkor Old Boys competition as did Pommie Paul, Dennis, A. Another and Greg Joubert.

Regardless of our below average record on the field this season we managed to field a team for every match. Carl and Brownie were the selection and management team and did a sterling job under very difficult circumstances. Jim Halls, Dennis, Burdett and Chris at times attended the master’s committee to represent the interests of our team but it was Jim who carried the major burden. Ziggy was our representative on the club board and kept the club honest. Burdett was again instrumental in securing sponsorship for the team for next year when everyone else was telling him it couldn’t be done.

The 50th year celebrations for the Unquenchables were driven by Bryan Burdett and were an outstanding success. The remnants of the Cripples Crows visited the club to relive past Dimboola glories. It was a remarkable achievement that the club was able to field two over 60s teams to play a match. Many of the players were Unquenchables. The same goes for the over 50’s match which had a majority of>Unquenchables playing. Over 100 players, friends and family attended the day. The Unquenchables annual dinner was another outstanding success again due in large part to the efforts of Burdett. Many past Unquenchables who haven’t been seen for years attended the night before slipping back into obscurity. Winner of the Jockstrap was Nathan Banks, winner of the Mick Headberry Trophy was Peter Collins, winner of the Doug McDermott Award was Chris Andrews and The Prick of the Year went to Stuart Ramsden, Although we have had better field performances in the past, the Unquenchables remain as strong as >ever.
We were all shocked at the passing of Unquenchable Greg Joubert just a few weeks after he had been elected president of our club. Greg was only 39 years old. There was a strong club presence at the funeral service including many Unquenchables. We have lost a popular Unquenchable who was prepared to give his time to lead the club into the next decade.

See you at the bar, next year.

• <Bar Talk 16>
• Season 2009 Review
• <16th May 2007>