Southport have made it two from two in their inaugural year of the revamped VFL competition by defeating Aspley at Fankhauser Reserve on the Gold Coast. The home side’s inaccuracy at goal looked likely to prove costly midway through the final term when the Hornets got to within five points. However the Sharks steadied and went onto win 14.25.109 to 15.5.95.

Former Western Bulldog and Carlton player Billy Gowers was again lively at full forward booting five goals for the winners while ex-Brisbane Lions player, Matthew Hammelmann, booted a game-high six for Aspley.

In 1978 the hit movie Grease starring John Travolta and Australia’s own Olivia Newton-John was a box office blockbuster along with Superman starring Christopher Reeve. On the radio we were listening to  ‘You’re the one that I want’ also from the movie Grease along with Wing’s ‘Mull of Kintyre’ and Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, all spending time at number one on the Australia charts throughout the year.

In the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA), North Launceston had also finished number one. The Robins finished two games clear on top of the ladder from Scottsdale with City-South (third) and Launceston (fourth) making up the top four.

North full-forward, Leigh Barnes, won the goal kicking with 62 from Launceston’s Ian Donnachy on 56. Scottsdale hard-man, Ricky Rattray, won the Hec Smith Medal count with 42 votes from North Launceston’s Rod Loone (29) and Launceston back pocket Wim Vaessen (27).

Aspley have made an impressive start to their life in the newly restructured VFL competition with a 53-point win over Port Melbourne in round one at Graham road Reserve in Brisbane. The Hornets began brilliantly ambushing the Borough with a ten goal to two opening term, five of those in the first eleven minutes.

Spearhead Matthew Hammelman a star up forward with a game-high four goals and former AFL Kangaroo and Lion, Ryan Bastinac (35 possessions), were standouts for the winners. A good crowd was on hand in the warm conditions to witness the home side's debut match in the revamped competition which has seen five former NEAFL clubs join existing VFL clubs to form the second best competition behind the AFL.

I remember hiding beneath the boards trying out my pick-up lines on 14- and 15-year-old school girls while top level riders rumbled and peddled like maniacs overhead at the great St. Leonards track in Launceston. It was 1979, the event was the Six-Day race and it was a feast for the senses. Windy, bitterly cold, and a pungent aroma that had drifted from the nearby abattoir added to the sounds of skinny rubber on timber. The meaty pong might have butchered the lure of a hot dog from the takeaway stands, but the event and competition were all so compelling we wouldn’t have it any other way.    

A major part of it was the field. And what a field. Great names of Australian cycling made their way to Launceston for the Six-Day. There was Venn, Oliver, Whetters, Grenda, the Hammond brothers Len and Terry, Phil Sawyer and locals Neville Allison and Craig Price, the latter a fiery, hard-charging youngster.  

But it was another pairing who would steal the show and record a thrilling win on St. Leonards’ old boards that year: Victorian Dave Sanders and Victorian born Murray Hall had been competing in the time honoured Tasmanian Christmas Carnival series in the lead up to the ‘Six’ and had been in good form.