It has just been revealed that Doidge actually shares another first in his time playing football and being an administrator of the Kyabram Football Club.
It has been revealed that, along with the late Greg Dow, he served as president, secretary and treasurer of the Kyabram Football Club.
Dow performed this feat in the modern era and it was thought he may have been the only person to have held this honour.
But Doidge was in fact the first to do it in the early part of last century.
He was an interesting and obviously busy man.
He was just as proficient at football as he was at cricket. He was Kyabram’s leading goalkicker for five out of the six seasons he played with the club from 1904 to 1910.
After retiring as a player he served the club as secretary for seven years, president for three years, treasurer for one year, vice president for four years and club delegate for 10 years.
Up to this disclosure it was thought Dow was the only person to have served the club in all three roles.
Outside the sporting scene in the Kyabram district, Doidge kept himself busy in a large number of community organisations and was also a councillor for the then-Rodney Shire.
Cipriani moves west
Tongala Football Club will have an even stronger connection with the West Coast Eagles in the AFL this year.
Boom Eagles player and former Tongala star Harley Reid will have a familiar face as housemate in Perth with former Tongala footballer Sam Cipriani making the move west.
Cipriani will try out with the West Coast Eagles’ team in the WAFL (Western Australia Football League) but will play with another suburban team and will make the step up if and when required.
Reid is preparing for his third season in the AFL and expectations are high he will make his presence felt even more destructively this season.
Big test for GVL
The GVL’s interleague rival this year, the Victorian Amateur Football Association, certainly has depth in its ranks.
It boasts six divisions for men’s and women’s football and actually fields two interleague sides.
The second of these teams will meet the GVL representative side in July and will be picked from the league’s men’s Premier B to Division 3 grade ranks.
The VAFA’s top team is booked to meet the South Australian Football League representative side at Norwood Oval in South Australia.
The VAFA is the largest metropolitan league in Victoria.
BLU wears the crown
Goulburn Murray Cricket club Bamawm Lockington United is proving to be the king of the T20 format in the Northern Rivers region.
The country team recently beat Kyabram Fire Brigade for the Goulburn Murray Cricket T20 crown and last week added the Kookaburra Cup to its trophy chest.
This regional competition featured teams from the Goulburn Murray, Cricket Shepparton, Bendigo, Emu Valley, Upper Loddon and Seymour associations.
The BLU skipper, former Zimbabwean international Regis Chakabva, starred in the win, slamming 13 fours in an innings of 84 from 54 balls as BLU covered its rival Bendigo team’s score 6/122 in 15.2 overs.
Thunda strikes again
Trots clubs may be a bit hesitant to offer complimentary drinks to connections of winners if they come in the numbers involved in trotter Thunda Struck.
Trained by Stanhope’s Lisa Pitt and driven by her husband, Mark, Thunda Struck struck at last Friday night’s Melton meeting, notching his sixth career win in 25 starts, with six seconds and six thirds also on his resume.
A five-year-old gelding by Muscle Mass, Thunda Struck was bred by Pauline Thomson, wife of former prominent trainer Russell, who are parents of Kyabram trainer Brent Thomson.
In his latest win, Mark Pitt led on Thunda Struck early and then took a sit on Mr Blindside before making a winning move in a busy finish via the sprint lane.
Thunda Struck, who produced an impressive PB mile rate of 1.58.8 for the 2240m trip, has plenty of supporters with 17 owners, mostly all from Kyabram and district.
They are A. B. Hindson, C. R. Patten, T. C. McNeill, N. J. Casey, C. J. Wheeler, J. J. Quirk, W. Shellie, J. S. Mills, A. D. Kelly, M. W. Croxford, S. M. McDonald, W. T. Demasi, B. R. Nexhip, J. M. Chambers, S. S. Mills, S. R. Thomson, R. J. Thomson.
Not all household trotting names but possibly many new recruits to the harness racing industry.
