This great video from about 1960 is courtesy of Matt from the Twin Town Times. It includes Harden v Temora and Harden v Young. How many players can you identify?
Tag Archives: Temora
Memories of Temora in the 1930s
Andy Paterson, originally from Batlow, was a teacher at Bundawarrah School, five miles from Temora, from 1934-1939. Below are some reminiscences he penned in a letter to Les Gillard in 1986 upon Temora Rugby League Club preparing for a reunion. The letter is edited. Continue reading
A Brief History of the Maher Cup Clubs in Graphs
Graphically representing the number of matches played by each club helps illustrate the highs and lows of their footballing journeys over the 52 years of the Maher Cup history, and provides the basis of a brief club history. Failure to capture the Cup meant twiddling thumbs and fretting on the outcome of the next draw.
Cootamundra (224 matches). Playing 62 games more than any other team, Coota started with a bang in 1922 winning in its first game under Phil Regan – the first paid-player coach in the bush. They didn’t let up. Regan’s 1920s blue and whites, featuring players such as Eric Weissel, Jack Kingston, Bill Lesberg and Gordon Hinton utterly dominated their opponents. With a little help they even took on England. During the Depression years, after Regan departed, it all fell apart for a while. 1935 saw the purchase of five paid players, an embarrassing loss to Tumut, and the imports instantly sacked. Coota rose to the top again in 1939 with a team composed mainly of local ex-De La Salle boys. After the war Herb Narvo (1947) and Johnny Graves (1954) led teams of extraordinary quality. Reverting to mainly local players the town continued to be consistently competitive into the 1960s. Continue reading
Temora v West Wyalong ad infinitum 1933
Games That Changed The Game No.4
People often tell me that things were simpler in the old days. Less red tape. We just got on with it lad. Hmmm but not aways. In Maher Cup Country, when footballing matters mattered things could get quite bogged down. People could be a little pernickety.
In deep Depression days, in 1932, Temora paid for a new captain coach – twenty-five year old Harry Thompson. He was a useful half-back from Brisbane, a Queensland representative. He became the other half to Eric Weissel, who now at 29, and at the very top of his game, was the chief draw-card in Group 9. Continue reading
Eric Weissel’s Early Years
It must have been special to see this gifted athlete and footballing genius play in the days before the city folk and the nation noticed him. Some say those were his best years – witnessed by lucky punters on local paddocks – mostly at Cootamundra.
Cootamundra Cadets team of 1921 which included Eric Weissel; from left to right from back row: Sid Drinnan, T.Maher, C.Kelly, Tom Ryan, L.Deal, Glenn Evans (referee), T.McGuigan, Eric Weissel (aged 18), L.Ryan, J.Sissian, S.Whealy (secretary & treasurer), F.Smith (captain), J.Maffersoni (president), R.Cohen, Perce Mills, S.O’Neill, K.Cohen (mascot), Sid Chambers, M.Rooney. Source: S.G. Chambers, Cootamundra.
Population Change in Maher Cup Country
In 1954 the Boorowa News provided the following estimates of town and district populations of the twelve “Group Nine towns”.
Cowra: town 7,000; district 15,000
Tumut: 3,500 and 13,000 (including Adelong and Batlow)
Young: 4,500 and 12,000
Cootamundra: 6,000 and 10,000 Continue reading
A 1941 Maher Cup Reunion in North Africa
The following article is from the Narandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser Tuesday 1 July 1941, available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130455370?
Italian Prisoner Saw Captor Play Football at Griffith
Mutual Surprise in Battlefield Meeting – Roped in by ‘Musso’ While Holidaying Continue reading
100 Years of Temora Rugby League 2014
Temora Rugby League is celebrating its centenary in 2014. Jim Woods in this embedded YouTube video was a key member of some very strong Temora teams in the 1930s. Temora defended the cup for ten consecutive matches in 1935-36. Temora Rugby League
The DVD to celebrate the centenary was launched in August. It is very professionally presented, very interesting, and costs $50. The money goes to junior football. If you are interested in the Maher Cup it has plenty of information about the early days.
You can buy a copy from Fly In To Dan’s in Hoskins Street, Temora. They’re also available somewhere in Wagga.