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Footy Bloodlines
Monday, 3 August 2020
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As every old boy would know, Christ Church Grammar School excels in all areas, especially academically. And although it's not the be all and end all, the blue and gold actually does ok on the sporting field as well! Since 1978 Christ Church has won the cross country 15 times, rowing 14 times, the swimming 13 times, the tennis 12 times, the hockey 8 times and water polo 6 times. BUT…. as every old boy footballer would know, the Alcock Cup remains elusive - in fact, in most years post the 1970s, Christ Church are at or near the bottom. The question of why we can run, row and swim, but can’t kick, mark or tackle, is often heavily debated at old boy functions around the world. One theory is that bad footballers unfortunately breed bad footballers. So, you would think that this year’s First XVIII squad, with a remarkable 12 sons of old boys, would be another hopeless case, especially given the footballing pedigree of the some of the dads: Alex Bailey (’87) played as an outside midfielder in a team that racked up two marginal wins - against Trinity… Andreas von Altenstadt (’83) played soccer. And why??? “I love my soccer…” Dom Sheldrick (’84) and Al Brogan (’82), could swim a bit; Nigel Dickins (’88) played in the mighty thirds and his position was “where ever they told me to play…” Dave Williams (’88) played in the shadow of his immensely talented Vice Captain; and Kim Harmer (’89) never grasped the handball concept so fell into throwing the ball backwards... However, Will Bailey plays inside-mid and helped destroy Trinity by over 100 points, Rory von Altenstadt (despite constant pressure from his dad) picked up an oval ball, Gus Sheldrick and Conner Brogan can swim AND play footy, Hamish Dickins takes after his mum, Harry and James Williams aspire to the greatness of the ’88 VC and Oliver Harmer thinks rugby is a game best left to the Kiwis. In addition, as luck would have it, the current team are also blessed with several sons of the ’86 team that came ever so close to bringing Christ Church out of the footy wilderness, finishing second to Scotch. Yes, it helped to have future Eagle's legends Chris Lewis and Tony Evans in the midfield, but let's not forget the sublime rucking skills of Peter Dowling, the ferocious tackling pressure of Dave Treleaven, the imposing physical presence of Roger Dring at full back and the hard ball gets by Adrian Brant and Tom Kelly. Their sons Harry Dowling, Harry Treleaven, Jackson Dring, Oscar Brant and Finn Kelly have heard even grander tales of their father’s school footy exploits. So, what's the point of this blurb my fellow frustrated old boy Footballers. Well, something strange is happening at the Christ Church Grammar School playing fields...you can't get a car park at Battye Oval, the grass area is packed with spectators, the Coffee Van is selling out and the new electronic scoreboard has (more often than not) Christ Church in front at the final siren...that's right the First XVIII footy team is actually winning games of footy! After three consecutive wins, and a narrow loss to Aquinas, there is a feeling of hope that we can finally not only compete, but actually chalk up a few wins in our national game! According to one father from this year's team, Alex Bailey (‘87), Christ Church has always had some reasonable players, but lacked depth and a true footy culture. "In my day the closest thing we had to a footy meeting was talking footy with Father Frank during Religion Studies! The School has really invested in its footy program over the past three years bringing in Rob Wiley and a host of ex-AFL players (including Ryan Turnbull from ’88) to compliment the efforts of coach Sam Wallace. The boys have forward, back, midfield and ruck coaches, each match is filmed and analysed for them, and they even have a match day physio. The team trains twice per week and has a new look jumper to go with its on field success. Throw in a Training Top, Pre-match Top and Indigenous round jumper, as well as a Friday Pasta night...this is one well organised unit!" With this many sons of old boys and a Christ Church team that is looking pretty handy (they actually beat Hale for the first time in 15 years), many old boys are getting down to the games to show their support. Could this year (or maybe next) see the Alcock Cup finally sitting in the Christ Church gym? Are we finally developing a footy culture? Who knows - they will take it a week at a time but for the time being, we can dare to dream and possibly get down to a game to show our support. For the remaining 1st AFL draw click here Click here to view gallery. Jamie Cann (’88) Vice President OBA (Vice Captain CCGS ’88 First XVIII) |