Wynyard

WYNYARD (Table Cape)

Affiliated: Various junior competitions 1880s-1923; Table Cape Football Association 1924-36; Burnie Football Association 1937-8; Darwin Football Association 1939-44; NWFU 1945-86; NTFL 1987-present

Home Ground: Wynyard Recreation Ground

Formed: Circa 1885

Colours: Navy Blue and white

Emblem: Cats

NWFU Premierships: 1952, 1967, 1975, 1979 (4 total)

Cheel Medallists: Nil

Wright Medallists: Jack Stewart 1930; E.O'Brien 1930 (tied for Medal)

NWFU Western Division Best and Fairest Award: Len Hayes 1945-6 (2 total)

Wander Medallists: Darrel Eaton 1953; Lloyd Robson 1961; Ricky Smith 1977 (3 total)

Ovaltine Medallists: Tony Flint 1987 (1 total)

Pivot Medallists: Nil

All Australians: Don Gale 1958 (1 total)

NWFU Top Goalkickers: R.Rocher (81) 1949 & (69) 1950; W.Baker (45) 1953 & (39) 1955; R.London (68) 1959 & (51) 1963; J.Coughlan (81) 1967 & (92) 1968; A.Hodgetts (69) 1974; K.Madden (83) 1977 (10 total)

NTFL Top Goalkickers: K.Taylor (141) 1987; G.Williams (80) 1995 & (60) 1999 (3 total)

Wynyard's Official 'All Star Team 1965 to 1995': Click here

Highest Score: 37.23 (245) vs. Burnie in 1946

Most Games: 243 by Terry Neal

Record Finals Attendance: 9,375 for the 1978 NWFU grand final at Devonport: Cooee 20.11 (131); Wynyard 13.30 (108)

GREAT GAMES LINKS:	The Goalpost Final

MINI-BIOGRAPHIES:	Darrel 'Dasher' Eaton Don Gale Graeme Lee Harold 'Joe' Littler Robert Neal Colin Robertson

Wynyard's 1958 All Australian back pocket player, Don Gale (left), pictured in interstate action for Tasmania against South Australia in 1960.

The town of Wynyard, which currently has a population of roughly four and a half thousand, nestles beneath the picturesque Table Cape at the mouth of the Inglis River in north west Tasmania. The club which now bears the town's name was originally in fact known as Table Cape, and is believed to have been formed around 1885. As of the 1925 season there were actually two separate clubs known as Wynyard after NWFU member club Yeoman decided to adopt the name. To make things even more confusing, Yeoman-Wynyard's reserves team competed in the Table Cape Football Association along with the original Wynyard. This state of affairs continued intermittently until 1945, when Wynyard was admitted to the NWFU and Yeoman-Wynyard, whether under duress or voluntarily is unclear, reverted to its original name.

Wynyard enjoyed a fair amount of lower grade success during the 1920s, winning five premierships from nine grand final appearances. After the war, the club was quick to find its feet in the NWFU. In 1948 it played off in its first NWFU grand final, losing narrowly to East Devonport, and as the 1950s dawned the club found itself blessed with arguably the finest list of players in its history. Among the champions to don the Wynyard colours during this era were 1953 Wander Medallist Darrell Eaton, productive full forward Ray Rocher, triple club champion 'Bill' Baker, Glen French, Barry Flint, and the indefatigable Len Hayes, who "many say.....was the most reliable footballer to pull on a pair of boots in the coastal competition" (see footnote 1). With such talent at their disposal it is small wonder that the Cats as they were by this time known were finally able to break through for a flag, beating Ulverstone 9.12 (66) to 7.14 (56) in the grand final of 1952. Possible further glory was denied the club when the state premiership was not contested. It would be another fourteen years before Wynyard were finally given the opportunity to play off for the state title and the controversy generated by that 1967 encounter with North Hobart resonates to this day (click here for a detailed contemporary review of the match).

Len Hayes, one of Wynyard's finest players of the immediate post-war era.

Wynyard's 1967 premiership was won by 6 goals at the expense of Cooee. The Cats of this period boasted some highly accomplished players, including full forward John Coughlan, who booted 75 majors in 1967 and 88 the following season to top the competition's goal kicking list both years, John Neal who won the 1968 Alstergen Trophy as the NWFU's best player in the annual intra-state series, dual club best and fairest winner David Cox, Kayden Edwards, Geoff Gaby and Kevin King. Somewhat surprisingly, however, the Cats failed to build on their 1967 success, and other than a losing grand final against Latrobe in 1970 it would be another eight seasons before they again seriously challenged for the premiership.

In 1975 Wynyard once again had a strong team in which Ricky Smith was the undoubted star. Wander Medallist in 1977, Smith also won the 1976 Alstergen Trophy, was a regular Tasmanian interstate representative, and was four times voted the club's champion player. Against Ulverstone in that year's grand final the Cats won with a fair degree of comfort, 15.10 (100) to 12.8 (80), but the state premiership again eluded them.

Wynyard's fourth and final NWFU premiership came in 1979 after a resounding 21.24 (150) to 15.7 (97) grand final defeat of Cooee. The previous year's flag decider had seen the Cats kick themselves out of contention in classic fashion, somehow contriving to lose by 25 points despite managing 43 scoring shots to Cooee's 31.

Since the Tasmanian football map was comprehensively re-drawn in 1987 Wynyard has competed in the NTFL, but so far without adding to its tally of senior premierships. The closest it has managed to get was in 1995 when it topped the ladder after the roster matches but lost the grand final by 30 points to Ulverstone. A second consecutive grand final in 1996 brought an even more emphatic defeat, again at the hands (or should that be claws?) of the Robins, this time by 62 points. Since then, the club has struggled, and by 2003 matters had become so dire that some felt that the club's very future was in jeopardy. With the senior team firmly entrenched at the bottom of the NTFL ladder, one of its senior players, Robert Hope, remarked "If we don't find ourselves a high profile coach and get some players here I can see the place falling over, which would be a tremendous shame. I think if it goes on for another year, we'll struggle to field a side'' (see footnote 2).

Some would suggest that calling it "a tremendous shame" is a gross understatement; the demise of a club of Wynyard's stature and importance would constitute a veritable tragedy, both for the sport of Australian football, and for the community of Wynyard.

Sadly, the club has continued to struggle in recent seasons, and in 2007 managed only 4 wins from 18 roster matches to finish just one place off the bottom of the ladder.

Where now?

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Footnotes

1. A Century of Tasmanian Football 1879-1979 by Ken Pinchin, page 159. Return to Main Text

2. Quoted in 'The Advocate', 23/7/03. Return to Main Text