Australian Football

Woorinen

Formed in 1919, Woorinen Football Club commenced its long history of winning premierships in the 1920s. When football resumed after world war two the club commenced in the Mid Murray Football League, and it was not long before it made its presence felt. In both 1946 and 1947 the side made it through to the grand final, but lost to Nyah and Tyntynder respectively. In 1949 it was a case of third time lucky as Woorinen overcame Tyntynder in a tense, low scoring grand final by just 3 points, 8.13 (61) to 8.10 (58). The 1952 season brought another grand final appearance, but Lalbert edged home by a single straight kick.

There then followed a prolonged sequence of ‘outs’ which was not broken until 1971. Woorinen’s 14.11 (95) to 12.16 (88) grand final defeat of Nyah West that year was a prelude to a decade of unprecedented achievement for the Tigers who would claim further senior flags in 1974 at the expense of Swan Hill, 1977 versus Tyntynder, and 1979 against Swan Hill once more. In addition, the grand finals of 1973, 1976 and 1978 were all narrowly lost, suggesting that with a little more luck there might have been even more premierships.

The Tigers began the 1980s well with two straight grand final appearances, both featuring Tyntynder as the opposition. The Bulldogs won the first match by 26 points with Woorinen achieving revenge the following season to the tune of 13 points, 14.13 (97) to 11.18 (84).

Following the 1981 triumph the Tigers’ fortunes went into decline, and they did not again challenge seriously for the premiership until the next decade. The 1992 season saw Woorinen back in the grand final fray, but the team kicked badly in going down to Lalbert by 11 points.

The Tigers ‘class of ‘93’ was one of the finest in the club’s history as they proved by amassing an all time record MMFL grand final score of 25.10 (160) to Swan Hill’s 19.13 (127).

Since commencing in the Central Murray Football League in 1997 the Tigers have only managed to qualify for the senior grade grand final twice, in 2002, when Swan Hill was overcome by a couple of goals, and precisely ten years later when a loss was sustained at the hands of Kerang.

The Tigers have been consistently strong of late, reaching the finals for the last seven seasons in succession. In 2017 they qualified for the grand final but lost to Kerang by 38 points. A year later they made amends by accounting for Mallee Eagles on grand final day with scores of 15.7 (97) to 11.10 (76).