AFL Townsville

Australian Football League Townsville

General information
Founded	1955
AFL Townsville Season 2014:
Premiers	Hermit Park
Minor Premiers	Thuringowa
Wooden Spoon	Townsville City Lions
Leading goal kicker	Paul Sanson (Thuringowa)
League Records
Highest Score	West Townsville 69.26.440 (v Hermit Park 1.1.7) - 1992
Most goals in a game	27 - Steve Mazey - West Townsville vs Northern Beaches - 1999

AFL Townsville is an amateur competition formed as the Townsville Australian Football League in 1955, the first AFL competition to be formed in Queensland outside of the South East. It is based in the city of Townsville. For a short period in the 1980s, the competition was played during the summer months. The representative team is known as the Eagles and they wear similar guernseys to the Zillmere Eagles' old white and blue guernseys.

History

The League was launched with three teams, RAAF, Hermit Park and South Townsville in 1954, after a series of exhibition matches were played at RAAF Oval and Gill Park and an exhibition game at the Townsville Showgrounds. All clubs were founded with juniors.

The Garbutt club was formed in 1956. In 1961, Currajong replaced the RAAF who withdrew due to a struggle for numbers. Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War led to the Army entering the scene in 1968 when 6 RAR and a revived RAAF side expanded the league to 6 teams.

The Wulguru club was established in 1968, entered senior sides and this made the league up to 7 sides. As Australia's involvement in Vietnam wound down the Army withdrew. The competition was to remain with 6 sides from 1976 – 1982 until in 1983 a side from Burdekin increased the numbers once again to 7. Burdekin was made up from converted Rugby players and the team had almost no support apart from the management of the Delta Hotel. The demise of Wulguru followed in early 1984 when the league made a decision which would have significant consequences. Four seasons of summer football followed and while the “Darwin” seasons attracted some top players junior development was stifled.

Currajong in 1990 swallowed up a penniless Townsville Swans, who had switched from South Townsville in June 1982 to become the Curra Swans. The nomination of the Hawks club in 1989 caused a stir due to the number of current players recruited from Hermit Park, Currajong and South Townsville using suspect overtures , although be that as it may the club were premiers by a point in their first season.

The league lost three teams in 1989 and the following year only Hermit Park, West Townsville, Curra Swans, and the University Hawks remained.

In 1999, the Northern Beaches Lions entered the TAFL in an attempt to expand the shattered league. Unfortunately, they endured season after season of enormous defeats. In one match that year, Steve Mazey of West Townsville kicked 27 goals against them. The Northern Beaches Lions were renamed to the Twin City Lions in 2002 and continued to struggle until the end of 2008 when they went into recess. The Lions regrouped and returned with much more solid foundations in 2012 under the banner of "Townsville City Lions". Despite losing every match that year, often at record margins, the determined Lions upgraded their Garbutt facility and won their first Senior match in June 2013 by a goal against University.

Despite the lack of growth in the Seniors, AFL Townsville enjoyed a massive surge in the Junior ranks in more recent years, numbers had increased, and now hundreds of children and teenagers turn out to give their all for their respective clubs.

In 2010, the Thuringowa Bulldogs (former West Townsville) won their first Senior premiership since 2001 in their 40th year and went on to go back to back in 2011.

Premiers^[1]

1955 Hermit Park 1956 RAAF 1957 South Townsville 1958 Garbutt 1959 South Townsville 1960 South Townsville 1961 Garbutt 1962 Garbutt 1963 South Townsville 1964 Garbutt 1965 Garbutt 1966 Garbutt 1967 Hermit Park 1968 South Townsville 1969 2RAR 1970 Hermit Park 1971 West Townsville 1972 Lavarack 1973 Currajong 1974 South Townsville

1975 Currajong 1976 Currajong 1977 Currajong 1978 Currajong 1979 Currajong 1980 West Townsville 1981 Wulguru 1982 Garbutt 1983 Currajong 1984 Currajong 1984/85 Hermit Park 1985/86 Currajong 1986/87 Hermit Park 1987/88 West Townsville 1988 Townsville 1989 University Hawks 1990 West Townsville 1991 West Townsville 1992 West Townsville 1993 University Hawks

1994 University Hawks 1995 University Hawks 1996 Curra Swans 1997 Curra Swans 1998 Curra Swans 1999 West Townsville 2000 West Townsville 2001 West Townsville 2002 Hermit Park 2003 University Hawks 2004 University Hawks 2005 University Hawks 2006 Hermit Park 2007 University Hawks 2008 Hermit Park 2009 University Hawks 2010 Thuringowa 2011 Thuringowa 2012 Hermit Park 2013 Thuringowa 2014 Thuringowa 2015 Hermit Park 2016 Thuringowa

Clubs

Current

W.J.Williams Medal(League Best & Fairest)

1955 W.Bene-Best - RAAF 1956 Lionel Hall - Garbutt 1957 J. Kennedy, R.Dillon - South Townsville, Garbutt 1958 Max Craig - South Townsville 1959 Steve Lampton - Garbutt 1960 James MacDonald - Garbutt 1961 Ricco Butler - Garbutt 1962 Eric Johns - Hermit Park 1963 Claude Morris - Currajong 1964 Ricco Butler - Garbutt 1965 Terry Gouki - South Townsville 1966 Chris Reynolds - Hermit Park 1967 Ricco Butler - Garbutt 1968 Jack Van Damme - Currajong 1969 Dave Christie - 2RAR 1970 Peter Cox - Currajong 1971 Bob Anderson - Hermit Park 1972 Ray McGrath - South Townsville 1973 Florio Da're - West Townsville 1974 Florio Da're - West Townsville 1975 John Bangle - West Townsville 1976 Keith Sedgman - West Townsville 1977 Graham Wilson - West Townsville 1978 Dave Nogar - Garbutt 1979 Paul Smith - Wulguru Saints 1980 Mark Fedley - South Townsville 1981 Paul Smith - Wulguru Saints 1982 Steve Lovell - Hermit Park 1983 Brett Franklin - Hermit Park 1984 Ken Johnson - Currajong 1984/5 Brian Hope - Townsville Swans

1985/6 Larry Howson - West Townsville 1986/7 Robert Scott - Townsville Swans 1987/8 Larry Howson - West Townsville 1988 Alan Chirgwin - Townsville Swans 1989 Hugh Bresser - James Cook University 1990 Garry Cook - West Townsville 1991 Andrew Cadzow - Heatley Hawks 1992 Brett Howson - West Townsville 1993 Steve talbot - Hermit Park 1994 Peter Appleford - West Townsville 1995 Peter Pyle - Curra Swans 1996 Peter Appleford - West Townsville 1997 M. Jolly - Hermit Park 1998 Nigel Aikin - Hermit Park 1999 Peter Appleford - West Townsville 2000 Peter Appleford - West Townsville 2001 Corey Hewitt - Curra Swans 2002 Corey Hewitt - Curra Swans 2003 Stephen Montano - University Hawks 2004 Glenn Robertson - Thuringowa 2005 Steve Montano,Ben Broadbent - University Hawks 2006 Andrew Grubba - Hermit Park 2007 Steve Montano - University Hawks 2008 Michael Krake - Hermit Park 2009 Brent Doyle - Curra Swans 2010 Cameron Leman - Thuringowa 2011 Adam McDonald - Curra Swans 2012 Clint Austerberry - Thuringowa 2013 Cody Richardson - Thuringowa 2014 Jason Di Betta - Hermit Park 2015 Nathan Peters - Hermit Park

2009 Ladder

AFL Townsville	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
University Hawks	14	0	1	0	1469	815	180.25%	56		1st Semi	Hermit Park	15	21	111	Curra Swans	9	9	63
Thuringowa	7	0	7	1	1417	1126	125.84%	30		2nd Semi	University Hawks	11	14	80	Thuringowa	12	7	79
Hermit Park	6	0	9	0	1199	1336	89.75%	24		Preliminary	Thuringowa	21	16	142	Hermit Park	11	6	72
Curra Swans	2	0	12	1	928	1736	53.46%	10		Grand	University Hawks	17	12	114	Thuringowa	15	6	96

2010 Ladder

AFL Townsville	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Thuringowa	12	0	3	0	1645	942	174.63%	48		1st Semi	Hermit Park	22	13	145	Curra Swans	13	7	85
University Hawks	9	0	6	0	1377	1122	122.73%	36		2nd Semi	University Hawks	15	16	106	Thuringowa	10	10	70
Hermit Park	9	0	6	0	1395	1182	118.02%	36		Preliminary	Thuringowa	17	11	113	Hermit Park	10	8	68
Curra Swans	0	0	15	0	807	1978	40.80%	0		Grand	Thuringowa	7	11	53	University Hawks	6	12	48

2011 Ladder

AFL Townsville	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Thuringowa	13	0	2	0	1435	888	161.60%	52		1st Semi	Curra Swans	16	13	109	University Hawks	10	9	69
Hermit Park	10	0	5	0	1306	968	134.92%	40		2nd Semi	Thuringowa	11	7	73	Hermit Park	9	9	63
Curra Swans	6	0	9	0	1090	1193	91.37%	24		Preliminary	Hermit Park	14	13	97	Curra Swans	13	13	91
University Hawks	1	0	14	0	771	1553	49.65%	4		Grand	Thuringowa	13	14	92	Hermit Park	4	11	35

2012 Ladder

AFL Townsville	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Thuringowa	16	0	0	0	2154	932	231.12%	64		1st Semi	University Hawks	15	12	102	Curra Swans	7	4	46
Hermit Park	9	0	7	0	1999	1066	187.52%	36		2nd Semi	Thuringowa	17	6	108	Hermit Park	9	11	65
University Hawks	9	0	7	0	1648	1125	146.49%	36		Preliminary	Hermit Park	12	9	81	University Hawks	9	9	63
Curra Swans	6	0	10	0	1320	1382	95.51%	24		Grand	Hermit Park	12	10	82	Thuringowa	9	9	63
Townsville City Lions	0	0	16	0	421	3037	13.86%	0

2013 Ladder

AFL Townsville	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Thuringowa	13	0	2	1	2041	794	257.05%	54		1st Semi	Curra Swans	10	11	71	University Hawks	7	14	56
Hermit Park	13	0	2	1	1638	941	174.07%	54		2nd Semi	Thuringowa	15	14	104	Hermit Park	2	7	19
Curra Swans	6	0	10	0	1064	1585	67.13%	24		Preliminary	Hermit Park	9	11	65	Curra Swans	8	8	56
University Hawks	5	0	11	0	1069	1273	83.97%	20		Grand	Thuringowa	13	14	92	Hermit Park	12	5	77
Townsville City Lions	2	0	14	0	783	2002	39.11%	8

2014 Ladder

AFL Townsville	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Thuringowa	16	0	0	0	2205	654	337.16%	64		1st Semi	Hermit Park	11	10	76	University Hawks	5	3	33
Curra Swans	10	0	6	0	1656	1053	157.26%	40		2nd Semi	Thuringowa	18	9	117	Curra Swans	7	12	54
Hermit Park	10	0	6	0	1626	1086	149.72%	40		Preliminary	Hermit Park	10	15	75	Curra Swans	9	10	64
University Hawks	4	0	12	0	1024	1410	72.62%	16		Grand	Thuringowa	26	11	167	Hermit Park	9	3	57
Townsville City Lions	0	0	16	0	530	2838	18.68%	0

See also

• Australian Rules football in Queensland

References

1. "none". Townsville Bulletin. Townsville, Queensland.

External links

• AFL Townsville official website