That's football life

by PAUL DAFFEY

FORMER Sydney defender Andrew Dunkley sat in front of his television in his South Gippsland farmhouse on Saturday night, full of hope that dual celebrations lay ahead. But after going to bed feeling hollow when his old teammates fell to the Brisbane Lions, his dream fell doubly flat when Leongtha, the club he now coaches in Gippsland's main football competition, was toppled by Maffra in their grand final at Moe.

The loss was Dunkley's fifth in grand finals in country football. Now 35, he suffered his first loss on the last day of the season when he was a 16-year-old prodigy with Devon. He admitted that none of the losses in country grand finals compare to being a member of the Sydney team that lost the 1996 AFL grand final to North Melbourne, but they hurt all the same.

"Ah well, that's life," he said, before heading back to the Leongatha clubrooms for the customary wake.

In other grand finals in country Victoria at the weekend, Damian Monkhorst, Collingwood's 1990 premiership ruckman, kicked five goals to lead Woori Yallock to victory over Upwey-Tecoma in their grand final at Healesville. While in the grand final at Bendigo, Mick McGuane, a teammate of Monkhorst in Collingwood's most recent triumph, coached Gisborne to victory over Eaglehawk.

The Collingwood theme continued at the Swan Hill Showgrounds, where Lake Boga, which wears Collingwood's black and white stripes, defeated Swan Hill to win its first premiership since 1975.

Susie Pumpa has been a fan of Lake Boga since she was born on the day the club won the 1953 premiership. On Friday night, she drew inspiration from Joffa, the Collingwood cheer squad member who dons a gold jacket when Collingwood secures victory, by sitting up until after midnight sewing a stretch of gold Lurex, replete with gold sequins, into her own celebratory jacket.

"It was like sewing Glad Wrap," she said.

On Saturday, when Lake Boga drew to an insurmountable lead, Pumpa threw on her gold jacket and paraded around the boundary line as Lake Boga supporters chanted her name. To top off the day, her son Rikki kicked five goals.

Pumpa spent Saturday night at the Lake Boga clubrooms with her husband Trevor, a member of Boga's 1975 premiership team, before heading back to the club for further celebrations yesterday. "I'm a very quiet person, normally," she said.

australianrules.com.au

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