Snakes keep the home fires burning on a good day for TigersPAUL DAFFEY
June 2, 2010RICHMOND Centrals footy club plays in Richmond guernseys in the amateurs' division 4, the lowest senior grade. Its ground is the Kevin Bartlett Reserve, unofficially ''Comb-over Park'', which is tucked into a bend of the Yarra River.
On Saturday, the speaker at the Centrals' past-players lunch was Gary March, the Richmond president and the club's No. 1 ticket-holder. Centrals committeeman Ron Nicholson, a former Beaumaris president, had the pull to persuade March to miss out on the Tigers' game against Port Adelaide to attend the Centrals' game against Manningham Cobras. "He married a Beauy girl," Nicholson said.
March spoke fondly of amateur footy memories. He was a player, coach and president at Old Haileybury. Every Sunday he's an official for his two sons' junior teams at South Melbourne Districts. March was sorry to miss Ben Griffiths' Tigers debut, but happy to honour his commitment to the only kindred club in Richmond.
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The Centrals' founder, George Paras, sat up the back with his grey, curly hair falling past his shoulders, telling of forming the club with a mate at the Cricketers' Arms Hotel in 1986. They called it the Richmond Central Football Club because Paras went to primary school at Richmond Central. They decided on the Snakes as a nickname because Tigers would have been predictable.
Warwick Bracken is the Centrals' president. In addressing the lunch the 33-year-old spoke with a hint of an American accent. Bracken spent some of his early years in Boulder, Colorado. He only learnt about footy when he moved from Brisbane to Melbourne at 27. He plays one game a year, a reserves game against Box Hill North, because the Box Hill North president plays his only game for the year on that day, too. They play for the Presidents' Cup.
One of Saturday's best was Reuben Schwedes, an 18-year-old born in Botswana. Schwedes' mother rang Bracken to see if her son could have a game. In the first half, Schwedes took several marks of judgment and force. His powerful hands were at odds with his innocent smile.
The star was Luke Jamieson, a business consultant who used to work for a company near the KB Reserve. Jamieson was a rugby league player when he arrived from Cooma in New South Wales a few years ago. Now he's the life and soul of the Centrals, exhorting his teammates at each change and writing the website match reports.
In the last quarter, Jamieson's background shone through when he tucked the ball under one arm and tried to push defenders away using his free arm. It was in keeping with a physical match, which featured countless examples of courage if fewer examples of skill. The most arresting feature was the number of times two players met at full force, shook their heads like old goats and trotted off to find another contest.
In the last quarter, there was much interest on the sidelines about Richmond's advancing lead. "They're out by 22 points," said a Centrals reserves player whose thumb tracked across an iPhone.
The Tigers were surging further ahead at Footy Park when the siren rang at the KB Reserve to signal a six-goal win to the Snakes. It was a good day for the yellow and black all round.
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