Australian Football

Waaia

Waaia Football Club can be said to have originated in 1894, when a match was engaged in against a team representing the nearby town of Katunga. Over the next couple of decades, the club competed in a number of different leagues and associations, but details of its performances are hard to trace. It seems likely that Waaia won at least one premiership during the early part of its history, for ‘The Nathalia Herald’, in reporting on the club’s breakthrough Picola and District Football Association flag in 1953, used the headline “Waaia wins first premiership since 1902”.

During the 1920s and on into the early part of the ‘30s, Waaia’s peripatetic existence appears to have continued. Then, in 1935, the club commenced an involvement in the Picola and District competition that continues to this day. Its first PDFA fixture was at home to Yalca North on 15th June, with the visitors winning by 5 points, 5.12 (42) to 5.7 (37). Waaia was competitive in most of its matches during its debut season, winning 4 of them, including 1 by forfeit, and losing 8, to finish sixth (of seven).

Waaia first contested the finals in 1939, overcoming Picola by 35 points in the first semi final before losing the preliminary final against Barmah by 17 points. The next year, in a season abbreviated because of the war, Waaia reached the grand final, but went down to Moira.

As mentioned above, Waaia’s first PDFL premiership arrived in 1953. Opposed in the grand final by a Picola side that had not lost for ten weeks, the Bombers could scarcely believe their luck when Picola captain Jack Everest, after winning the toss, conceded first use of a formidable breeze. At quarter time Waaia led 6.9 (45) to 1.3 (9), and although the Blues tried hard to bridge the gap they were not helped by the fact that the strength of the wind declined appreciably over the remaining three quarters. In the end, the Bombers triumphed by exactly 4 goals, 10.15 (75) to 6.15 (51).

The 1953 premiership did not exactly usher in an era of consistent success for Waaia. For the remainder of the 1950s, and most of the 1960s, the side struggled, with third place in 1958 its best finish during this time. Finally, in 1974, the Bombers broke through for a long overdue flag, thrashing Blighty in the grand final by 47 points. There was cause for double celebration in Waaia that night as the seconds also went top.

In contrast to their dramatic fall from grace following the 1953 premiership win, the Bombers this time remained a force to be reckoned with for several seasons, although a losing grand final against Katunga was the closest they came to procuring another flag.

Between 1989 and 1995 Waaia enjoyed unprecedented success. The appointment of Mick Power as coach in 1989 was a major factor in transforming a team that had shown glimpses of promise the previous year, ultimately finishing fourth, into one of the most powerful combinations ever to grace the PDFL. The Bombers only tasted defeat once all year en route to an emphatic and highly impressive premiership, which was clinched by means of a 15.14 (104) to 10.12 (72) grand final win over Blighty.

It was rather more of a struggle in 1990, but the end result was the same - a Waaia premiership in which, unusually, the losers ended up scoring two more goals than the victors. Final scores were Waaia 16.18 (114) to Blighty 18.5 (113), with Mick Cleland kicking the winning goal after the siren having been freed and then awarded a 50 metre penalty when his Blighty opponent hurled the ball away in frustration.

The Bombers again went top in 1991 and 1992, surprisingly lost the 1993 grand final to Mathoura, and then recovered to claim two further flags in succession. Waaia’s 1994-5 premiership teams were both coached by Jon Varcoe, who thereby became the club’s second dual premiership coach, after Mick Power (1989-90).

Since the turn of the century, the Bombers have added further senior grade premierships in 2002 and 2005, giving them a total of ten. In 2009 the PDFL was split into North West and South East Divisions with Waaia competing in the latter. To date, there have been no further premierships, but the Bombers were runners-up in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Both of the next couple of seasons saw them finish in fourth place out of eight teams. Then, in 2018 the league reverted to a single division, thirteen team competition. Waaia performed strongly to top the ladder ahead of the finals with 18 wins and no losses. Their good form continued in their qualification final clash with Blighty from which they emerged 9 goals to the good. However, their luck ran out a fortnight later when they lost a nail biting preliminary final to eventual premiers Rennie by a single point. Their defeat left them to occupy third place on the ladder. Consolation of sorts was provided by the club's reserve grade combination who overcame Deniliquin Rovers by 3 points in their grand final.