TASMANIA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL CLUB INC.

2006 ANNUAL REPORT

Tasmania University Football Club

Premierships

Office Bearers 2006

Life Members

TUFC President’s Report 2006

A great foundation was set from 2005 and our list was in good shape with key players adament of staying with the club in 2006.  The Executive Committee had countless discussions on the possible direction the club should take and key position players we should be targeting.  We interviewed 3 coaches including our very own Gav Shaw and Steffen Waight, both were equally impressive at the interview and were nearly identical on what was required at the club and the direction we had to take for 2006 season.

We appointed Steff as coach and Gav as his assistant.  Steff was happy to take the top job but only if another external playing coach didn’t approach before the pre-season began in January.  Low and behold a short man named Ziggy with a love for gay music presented himself.  He was also impressive but offered kickbacks in the form of three tickets to the Shannon Noll concert in Hobart, which could not be overlooked and he was ultimately appointed Coach.  Steff was appointed bench coach, giving great experience, wisdom and knowledge of Old Scholars footy to the pine; Gav remained the assistant with one other playing assistant coach to be named. 

Beside his extremely accurate long kicking style Ziggy brought something the other coaches struggled to accomplish, a guy by the name of Mick Gowans, a six foot five Full forward/Ruckman who was appointed as our second assistant senior coach.  Several other key players soon followed, Deano, Hessy, Morgs, Boothy, and Dave, a special mention must also be made to our gun recruiter Welchy, who is responsible for the many clearance requests at the club. 

The Reserves had their own self appointed coach Thrasher, a life member of the club with over 650 games to his credit and an Olympic gold medallist champion in the fine art of sculling.  Pistol (Fanta Pants-Chutney Crutch) soon followed and self-appointed himself as Thrashers assistant. But the job became too much and he stepped down mid season and Spinksy was appointed who brought his Smithton under 19 experience to the group.

Although the club didn’t win a flag in either grade I believe that 2006 has been one of the best seasons for almost a decade.  The seniors pulled together throughout the finals campaign and we were just not strong enough on the day with some key players either injured or playing with an injury.  The Reserves unfortunately had popped the champagne before the finals and entered September too casual and paid the price going down in straight sets but a valuable lesson was learnt and the same mistakes won’t happen again in 2007.

University holidays still burden the club mid season and this will have to be addressed by the Senior staff and playing group next year if they really want to be labelled serious contenders.

I would like to thank all of the players, coaching staff and support staff for their efforts and I look forward to seeing you all next year.

Off the Field the club has experienced a stellar year with some huge functions taking place.  My two favourite functions were the 300 club and the 70^th Anniversary Dinner which seen a lot of old and new faces visit the club with a lot of tall stories being shared and a rekindled interest in the club.   With a solid foundation set for good functions, next year is poised to be even bigger.  The club next year would be wise to down size its major functions to 4 for the year to maximise attendance.  This year we had around 7 major events and this was just too many for a lot of the busy university players.

As usual the supporters club contributed significantly with great attendance at home and away games and the occasional social function plus the Friday evening Syntax raffles, which were conducted every week.  A special thanks to Bill Trethewie, John Kenny, Sos and all of the supporters club for their support this year and I look forward to seeing them all again next year.

On behalf of the club, I would like to personally thank Phil Guest for all of his work on the TUFC website which has raised the profile of the club this year and provides a vital link for interstate and overseas supporters.  I would see this website becoming a vital tool for the 2007 season and the Committee having a closer relationship with Phil in providing material for insertion on the website and this will be addressed early next year.

The canteen again has had a good year and without a doubt University have the best Savs in the competition. The smooth running every week would not be possible without the efforts of Anne and Mick Bailey.

Mick and Anne also had their hands full with the 70^th anniversary book, Blood, Sweat and Cheers, which was launched at our Gala function on the 07 October 2006.  I personally know that thousands of hours went into this book and to volunteer to do this was fantastic.  I personally enjoyed the some of the stories especially Bills famous trifecta and learnt a lot about the club’s history and I know that our current players now know a little more about the history and some of the characters of the club.

I believe that a club is only as good as its Committee and I would like to thank all of the Committee members for volunteering amid their busy schedules for a cause greater than themselves.  I would like to make a special mention to our current and soon to be exiting Secretary, Malcolm Reeve, who guided the Exec Committee through the paperwork minefield of Old Scholars football.

2007 Committee volunteers beware, if you are not going to get involved don’t volunteer, this year again was no different to past years where too much was left to only a few.  I will be planning on having specific set jobs for Committee members next year and I would expect these to be carried out for the year not just for a couple of weeks or not at all.

I would also expect the players of the club to start getting involved and stop being lazy spectators, especially university students, this is your club, not just the Committee’s, so even if you are not on the Committee for next year get involved.  Next year it is planned that each player will be called upon to perform a task.

Finally it would not be possible to field a team every week if it wasn’t for our sponsors a very special thanks must go out to Jackson Motor Company, Metz Bar and Café, Dr Syntax, Village Dry Cleaning, Cascade, Vermeys Quality Meats, and Tas Meat Wholesalers.

Next year we have already had a commitment from Jackson Motor Company and Village Dry cleaning and will be sourcing old and new sponsors for next year.

President’s recommendations:

I have listed a couple of recommendations for the club that I have noticed this year and believe that with these recommendations the club can continue to move forward and have a successful season next year.

• Designated Committee roles for next year, IE:  Sponsors Rep, TUU/Association Rep, Raffles, Public Relations, Players Rep, Social Co-ordinator, Website, Subs etc
• Reduced Functions to only 4 for the year with better promotion, (not including pre-season and end of season functions)
• New cash register, which details all transactions to keep better track of funds
• Appointment of a Bar Manager for the year, responsible for all bar activities and account keeping, introduce set bar hours on a Thursday night and Saturday home games
• More emphasis on player participation on roles around the club
• Better promotion of membership packages for players and non-players
• Increase sponsors by 20 percent - approach businesses now!!
• Reduce workload for Exec Committee
• Re-introduce raffles, margin cards and other fundraising ideas on Thursday nights and home games
• Increased involvement with the supporters club
• Cooked meals on a Thursday night after training
• Update the player’s code of conduct and attempt to introduce club values like Commitment, Discipline, Teamwork and Loyalty.  (Players and coaching staff to decide)
• Possible affiliation with Sandy Bay Master rules for use of function room and attending functions etc.
• Coaches’ area to be roped off on games days and only player and support staff allowed inside.  (Too many chiefs not enough Indians)

As a President this year I have found the role to be challenging and rewarding, the club is very different to any other club I have been associated with the average age of most players only around 21, my last club in Canberra was 30.  The culture and attitude is quite unique with large volumes of turn over every year with students coming and going with university exams and holidays playing a big part in team balance and structure.

With all of this knowledge I hope to lead the Exec Committee into what I hope will be a very successful year off the field.  I like to set high standards for what I do and I expect the same from everyone around me. This year I have seen a change in attitude around the club with more respect given to each other and the club in general which is great start and I feel that there is more work to be done and with the help on the Exec Committee, coaching staff and the players anything is possible.  I look forward to next year with excitement and anticipation, so rest up and I will see you all at pre-season.

Justin Smith

University President

Thankyou again for your support throughout 2006!

2006 Senior Coach’s Report

After joining the University Football Club at start of December we were leaving our run a little late to recruit players.  However we picked up a few high quality players like of Mick Gowans and Morgan McGuire from Channel, Chris Hess, Dave Allingham (Arlington), Chris Booth from Kingston and Dean Wilcock from the country.  Also we were lucky enough to pick up quality players that started studying at University for the first year like Josh Smith and Sam Bouwman (Clarence).  Recruiting these players along we the quality players that were already at the club the year looked to be a promising one.

I think as a first year Coach it took me a fair while to work out what players I had and where to position them, and hence our game plans were not really developed until later in the season. We tried numerous plans to see what worked with our playing group, which was a bit of trial and error. However next year we will be able to work on our effective game plans at an earlier stage as the playing group should not change too much.  We can utilise the services of John Barwick to put some polish on these game plans along with doing some work with the younger players. John Barwick should give myself a chance to train more regularly and contribute more as a player.

With Preseason training you never usually get many turning up until after Christmas so this year we will try and get as many senior players there as we can and use December as a medium for getting the playing group back together. I would like to get the guys into the weights during this time as I felt we got knocked off the ball a bit too easy last year.  Full on running will probably start after the Christmas Break as most guys loose all the work we have done previous to the break.

We beat last years’ Grand Finalists, DOSA, in round one, and showed that we were going to be more than competitive in 2006. Our first round continued to be promising, but the loss to Hutchins showed we still had plenty of room for improvement.

The second round showed a need for greater consistency, again the loss to Hutchins after being up by 10 goals at half time was incredibly frustrating and hurt a lot. Although it also demonstrated the value of having blokes like Deano, Burgo, Mick, Matty G, Welchy, Will O, Suits, Greggy, Gav and pretty much everyone showing glimpses of what they could do.

We lapsed in the run home to the Finals, and were heavily beaten by our First Semi Final rival OHA in the last game. Maybe this played into our hands, as the following week we came out with greater desire and willingness to work for each other and do the percentage things. The result was a solid win, made even sweeter by the vocal efforts from the supporters in the dark pocket at Richmond that night. This gave us a shot at DOSA in the Prelim, and in a close, skilsful encounter, our quality in tall blokes and self-belief payed off, scoring a close win and berth in the Grand Final

The rest is history, and despite the GF loss, I was still proud of the team and so should all supporters be. There is obviously a very good foundation to build on from the 2006 season, during which we played some exciting footy.

Some great performances throughout the season, and well done to the leadership group (especially Cam Burgess and Greggy Farmilo in the Captain/Vice Captains roles), the coaching group, and all the players who put their hand up week in, week out. In particular, well done to Mick and Burgo on making the OSFA Team of the Year. I honestly believe we should have had many more representatives in that side based on the great performances throughout the year of blokes like Suits, Deano, Welchy, Greggy, Chucky….the list goes on.

One of the main problems this year was mid-Semester Breaks or post-Exam Breaks for University students.  Some of the attendance we had at training and those available to play during these times were ridiculous. Maybe we can ask to have a bye during these times if possible and see if the guys can plan trips around these breaks.  In general we need to leave the ball in our court by having enough players turning up in these times so we are able to make an example of the ones that are not.

After this year we will lose a few players like our Assistant Coach Gavin Shaw, Chris Booth, and maybe Josh Smith and Nicko Aird.  There are a couple of guys still deciding so our number one priority is to secure players like Mick Gowans, Cameron Burgess, Travis Little and David Welch.  We are also looking at bringing John Barwick to the club which may in turn bring a few of his U/17 guns, which we have already made contact with and received positive feedback.

In summary I believe if we can retain the majority of our playing group and pick a couple more players we will be hard to beat. All the players know each other and the ones that don’t should slot in nicely.  At the end of the day a well-drilled side that stuck to their game plan only beat us in 2006. If we can get our game plans in place at an early stage it should result in a flag.

Regards,

Craig Haremza

2006 Reserves Coach’s Report

As per usual TUFC protocol preseason saw many new faces at the club, mixed with many of the old loyal faces and a new senior coaching panel. Preseason was extremely well organised and there was a clear sense that the club could continue to improve on 2005 solid platform.

I guess the role as twos coach is always a tough one this time of year, trying to identify the new talent (then hide that away from senior coaches), looking for the improvement in existing players, basically finding out what you have to work with for the year.

Two practice games saw the 2005 OSFA reserve premiers up against the 2005 SFL Regional premiers - Lindisfarne at New Town High. Speaking with Menza (coach of the farne and previous TUFC Senior coach) he was happy with the team on the park with many premiership players involve. Uni on the other hand had 3 premiership players involved, despite this we enjoyed the spoils of victory by 40 odd points, a great effort with many of the new draftees playing together for the first time. The second warm up hit out was v Triabunna up at the Bunna. ( I must say the bus trip home, proceeding drop off at the Metzs then Paul house warming were a highlight of the year)

In a shorten game due to heat and Triabunna's lack of scoring ability, the uni lads got up by 93 points in three qtrs. The match saw Leeroy's debut and a little six pack along side his name. The bus trip back was a belter, best ever, even saw those with faith in thrashers punting ability handsomely rewarded, even deano willcock wanted to roll it over.

More training, more new faces with the likes of Marty, Rob O, Toby, Wade, Leeroy,Stewie Lock, Ben Coates,AJ, Lukey, Muzza, Locky Allison, Spooner, Murts, EJ, Webby, Marcus etc on the track, the usual well oiled commitment clubman like Captain Rollys, Haulty,  snoop doggy dog, Hawk, coops, Tommy, Strip,Willy O, Salad,Simba, Joshy, Morty, Troy, Malchow etc on board and the return of some past legends Ed "The clever butcher" Scott, Mark Stewart, Dan Blacklow, Paul Coates and Ed Harrison ensured the reigning premier would prove more than competitive.

Round one saw the side crippled with key players unavailable due to the Easter long weekend. It was a grand final replay, and word was DOSA wanted some revenge after getting their hands on a copy of Simba and snoop doggy dogs GF DVD. Before we knew what hit us we were seven goals down in the first 10 Mins, yeap welcome to coaching thrasher! but to the lads credit we, albeit to late focused, and had a real crack at one stage getting back to within 18 points in the last quarter. The rest of the round saw a 60 point touch up of the saints, a stand out being Troys 12 pack, if it wasn't for some disgraceful umpiring he could have had 16 plus as well as Trav Littles debut with a five pack changing on the ball and FP. Trav even slotted a few home with half his hand hanging off, despite the efforts of a street wise twos coach by not giving Trav a mention, this sadly was to be Travs one and only twos appearance. Also a match highlight was Mark Stewarts games of HBF, his fantastic game was over shadowed by his Garry Lyon type exit with cramp. Then a much changed side made the road trip to Richmond and came away empty handed. Friends elected to go to little lunch (recess) and not return leaving us sitting 1-2 after 4 weeks and the coach well and truly scratching his ball bag. Two weeks off proved to be the turning point in the year, well the best one anyway. A proactive twos coach spotted a young Irishman in our intra club practice match, and well the rest is history with specky mcgee finishing the year in a ones grand final team. This match also saw the end of the career for Azza, struck down in a sickening head clash, which left the young fella not knowing what the square root of 4590.75 was (or not knowing what day of the week it was). It also proved the worth of Boston, he talked so much quality shit in the emergency ward at RHH even the doctors were completely in ore. He had me convinced I couldn't remember my own name, let alone azza.

Coming off a 2 week break may have been a problem but it let me assess the break points and areas for development, and a complete self assessment. It let hawk have two Friday nights in a row were he didn't have to leave his new found princess of one night early, it let tubes amp at Dover for two straight weeks, Toby was able to chain himself to a tree in the tarkine for awhile, Malchow continued developing his love shack, Coops continued to stroke the one eyed eel, and it ensured the syntaxs turnover for Saturday arvos increased with the patronage of mozza and chucky after the spit roast was complete.

The round finished off with another troy 12 pack and a pumping of OHA, and a hard fought 12 point win over the beans, leaving us in the pack at 3-2. The wins against the beans left us with one of the years lowest points,  what appeared to be a minor hand injury to goal kicking ace troy stewart finished his season far to early. It also affected his ability to deal to a crowded black jack table. Seriously this was a major dent to the years objectives.

Round two was undoubtably our best, rotation of players meant we had 60 players already through the twos despite this we went undefeated for the round. We had a 10 goal home win over Richmond, 100 plus points over OHA, an 8 point in the rain win over the saints, a fantastic snap from Wade Smith late in the game was the highlight, along with the return of the Blacklow Boys but the two standout results were a 90 plus point pumping of DOSA at Cadburys, With stewie, specky magee and wills backline display nothing short of outstanding we run dosa off there legs. Match highlights was Ed Scotts run down tackle on wizza, Leeroys first qtr, spooners 70 metre goal, plugger taking to brooksy like a dog on heat, dosas 6 send offs, But the biggest was the fact that starting  DOSA forward pocket Crackers managed to slip home mow the lawns, wash the dog and cook a seafood lunch all during the game, Fantastic result. The other match was a 76 point pumping of Hutchins, who at this stage hadn't lost to anyone else other than us, the match saw webby dominate.

Round three also saw the lads continue undefeated, another big win over DOSA, OHA and St Virgil's and two tough wins over Hutchins and Richmond were all fantastic outcomes. The final round also continued in the same way without the boys suffering defeat. Another big win over the saints, Richmond and DOSA lead us to the final game against OHA. The match was a 200 point mauling of he ships and the game was stopped early due to large amounts of time on from all our goals. It was extremely disappointing that this was the last time we could sing the club song after a victory.

I don't want to dwell on the finals campaign to much but needless to say we missed a golden opportunity and looking back probably peaked to early. Although we came away empty handed for the year I believe there were many positives and I still honestly believe we were the best team in the comp. Looking at the number of players who went through the twos to play ones was fantastic, Trav, Will Owens, Specky, Lachy A, Mal, Stewie, Murts etc played some regular excellent senior footy. For a number of reasons, availability, form and return from injury, Whit, Dave A, G-train, Mozza, Beers among others were able use the twos as a platform to get back into the ones.

Not looking for excuses  but injuries to Troy, Webby, Cuffy, Deano etc and unavailability of other key players undoubtably cost us.

Congratulations to Coops our B&F winner, fantastic year mate, extremely well deserved, coops is a great player, clubman and bloke.

Marty who was runner up in his debut year with the club, great year on the ball each week, in and under, hard at it, very well deserved mate, well done and thanks for your efforts.

Hawk who was most consistent, silky skilled player who gives his all each week, well done mate great effort.

Mozza who came back to the twos for finals lead by example, and clearly won the best in finals, well done mate you showed the toughness and commitment we lacked as a team.

Troy, who won leading goal kicker again, despite a very short year. Great clubman, great bloke and great player, whos non availability no doubt cost us a crack at the GF at least.

I need to thank Smouch, Deano, Mal, salad and the Committee for their efforts during the year, Panto for his time keeping, Andrew for scoreboard, Boston and Glassy with their training/medical expertise, everybody who ran water throughout the year.

Need to thank Ziggy, Mick, Scud and Stef for the relationship we had throughout the year, well done with all your achievements.

Big thanks to Rollsy, mate you are a great captain, who leads by example and helped me through many tough calls Thursday night and provided many ideas though matches and post match debriefs. Coops very well deserved B&F mate, fantastic year and I can't speak highly enough of you and your playing ability. Tubes as the other vice had an interrupted year due to uni review commitments, but mate you're always around the club, providing great enthusiasm and give and will continue to give the club heaps. Spinksy gave me plenty of support as assistant coach, spinks has a great footy mind and really had excellent input at training and a great record when he took control, thanks for your efforts mate, much appreciated.

Brooksy was runner all year and also put forward some great suggestions with his insight and experience. Thanks heaps for your efforts week in and out mate, really appreciated. My bro Brett who ran water throughout the finals, thanks mate.

The core group of "senior "players/leaders, Hawk, Marty, Mal, Troy, Stewie and others provided huge amounts of support to me and I thank all for your support on and off the field, your advice and your mateship.

Thanks to every player who played or trained with the twos this year, best of luck in the years going forward.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank Smouch, Troy and Committee for efforts with the 70th anniversary dinner, a great night, thanks very much.

Mick and Anne for their sensational efforts with the book and all the work involved.

Thanks also to Sos, all the supporters group, Billy, Stinky for your great and never ending work, all the boys who come back and have a drink Thursday nights and get along to matches Saturday your support is fantastic.

Everybody who donated to my black jack kitty each Thursday night. If I forgot to thank anybody I apologise.

And finally to all the club sponsors Dr Syntax, Metz, Cascade, JMC, Golf Park, Village Dry Cleaners and CBA thank you very much, to the twos sponsors, Nick Blacklow at Johnny Walker, Ben Davidson at The Tote, Darren and Roger from the Shoreline Hotel Bottle Shop thank you very much, all players and supporters please frequent and support these great sponsors whenever you can.

During each year I always think I don't have time for this, why am I spending so much time here etc, it comes back to easy points, that this is a great club going places that has so many great blokes involved and playing. Stick around for another year its a great place for a beer with your mates and even a better place to play or support footy with your mates. Lets be activated for success next year.

Tight Lines

Thrasher

TUFC Club Milestones – 2006

150 Games

Paul Brooks

100 Games

Shaun Suitor

Mal Reeve

50 Games

Greg Farmilo

Gavin Shaw

Charles Jones

Nicko Aird

Adrian Byers

Josh McDermott

Troy Stewart

Congtratulations boys !

How Many They Played

How Many They Played (cont.)

How Many They Kicked

How Many They Kicked (cont.)

OSFA 2006 Team of the Year

Thankyou to 2006 TUFC Sponsors…

Jackson Motor Company – Troy Stewart

The Metz Bar & Café – Cameron Clark/Stefan Giameos

Village Dry Cleaners – Steffen Waight

Doctor Syntax Hotel – Richard Palfreyman

Cascade Brewery

…and to supporting businesses

Tasmanian Meat Wholesalers – Greg Jones

Vermey’s Quality Meats – Marcus Vermey

You helped make 2006 a success, and we look forward to your support again in 2007