Two weeks ago, Picola League clubs Jerilderie and Blighty had visits from Carlton great Anthony Koutoufides and last Saturday week the Riolis, Ben and Willie, pulled on the Deni Rams jumper.
Last Saturday Kayne Pettifer and Matthew Richardson were at the Merrigum-Longwood Kyabram League game with Kayne pulling on the boots and kicking three goals.
And as successful as those visits were, Tongala may lay claim to attracting the biggest crowd to a game in this area for some time this Saturday.
Former Hawthorn magic man Cyril Rioli is pulling on the boots for the home side against reigning Murray League premier Cobram.
Now 36 years old, Rioli might not be able to repeat the breathtaking style of play he entertained AFL fans with in his prime, but I bet the Cobram player who gets the job of tagging or playing on him will be a tad nervous about the assignment.
All I can say to whoever this player is, treat it as a huge honour.
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Kayne Pettifer’s homecoming to Merrigum last Saturday was a huge hit.
Accompanied by Richmond legend Matt Richardson and former North Melbourne star Peter Chisnall the day ‘‘went off beautifully’’ according to one of the reunion organisers and club legend Greg Pell.
‘‘It was a great day for the club,’’ said Pell.
Reunions of the 1986 and 1987 senior premiership sides and the 1986 reserves team, which also won the flag, swelled the crowd.
On-field battling Merrigum put in one of their best efforts for the season, only overwhelmed by Longwood in the last quarter.
Pettifer, despite being 44 years of age, showed he can still get a kick or two with three goals in a one-off appearance for the club where his football journey started when he was a 14-year-old and led to 113 games with Richmond.
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The recent death of Kyabram’s Bryan Prendergast has left holes in two district premiership football sides from the past.
The man they called Brizza, who succumbed to cancer, played in Girgarre’s John Murphy coached premiership side in 1976 and was also a member of Kyabram’s reserves 1979 flag winning side which was captained by Peter White and coached by Barry (Whopper) Williams.
Peter White recalled the 1979 flag winning side was a very young Kyabram side and Brizza was one of the most experienced players in the team.
He can recall Brizza kicking a goal in the last quarter with a drop kick which sealed the win.
‘‘Drop kicks at that time were on the way out and rarely used, and I think it was the last time I can remember any player kicking one in a game with a drop kick,’’ Peter recalled.
Rochester raised Brizza also played senior games with GVL clubs Rochester and Kyabram.
He played mostly in defence, and his prodigious kicks often found out the backlines of opposing sides.
I have some great memories of Brizza as he was a member of the Pooncarie Fishing Group which has spent yearly trips to the Darling River town over the last 30 years.
Brizza was a real handyman and landed all the chores that were a bit technical.
In fact I called him the Minister for Everything.
Rest in peace, mate.
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Yes, guilty.
In my story last week on Kayne Pettifer making an appearance with KDL Club Merrigum I mentioned he was only one of three Kyabram players to kick 100 goals or more in a GVL season.
I stated the other two were Ian Greening and Richard (Dick) Clay.
‘’What about Stuhly came the cries.’’
Yes, good question.
And the answer is probably D.O.B (date of birth), my date of birth.
I keep saying getting old is grossly over-rated and not for wimps.
Back to Chris Stuhldreier.
When playing for Kyabram Chris finished on top of the GVL goalkicking list in 1991-92-93-94 seasons with a total of 534 goals with his 1993 haul of a 170 goals still a league record.
After his Kyabram days, he kicked 409 goals for Ovens and Muray Legue club Lavington over four seasons.
With his 126 goals in his first season with Lavington in 1996 he still shares the Ovens and Murray League’s goalkicking record with ex Richmond player Geoff Strang.
Chris is both a member of the GVL and Kyabram Football Club’s Hall of Fame.
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Kyabram Football Club has lost one of its longest and most faithful supporters.
Charlie Meade, 86, passed away last week after religiously following the Bombers from the mid 1940s.
His 70 plus years supporting the club came about by his brother Jack playing for the Bombers and being a member of its 1948 Bob Hornbuckle coached team which won the GVL flag.
Tragically, Jack died of complications from appendix surgery over the following summer.
Despite living and working in the Benalla district all his life with the railways, Charlie adopted Kyabram as his footy side to follow and was a regular at Kyabram games for the next 40 years.
He wasn’t well enough in recent times to attend Kyabram games, but always kept in touch with Ky footy people for updates on how the Bombers were faring.
He was known for his generosity in donating cash and trophies for Kyabram footballers and netballers.
In a story, I was writing when Kyabram’s record 62 successive wins feat came to an end at the hands of Shepparton in the 2018 GVL grand final, I pressed him for the best Kyabram players he had seen in his time.
He named Dick Clay, Rod Bray, Peter Giddos, Chris Stuhldreier, Dennis Ryan and Freeman Lewry.
Charlie’s funeral will be held this Monday, June 29.
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