Australian Football

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KEY FACTS

Official name
Deloraine Football Club

Known as
Deloraine

Formed
1894

Colours
Royal blue and white

Emblem
Kangaroos

Affiliation (Current)
Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) 2004–2024

Affiliations (Historical)
Central Combine (COMB) 1929; North West Football Union (NWFU) 1930–1931; Northern Tasmanian Football Association (Original) (NTFA) 1984–1986; North West Football League (NWFL) 1987–2003

Senior Premierships
Meander Football Association - 1902-3-4-5-6-7-8-9, 1912 (9 total); Various junior competitions - 1925-6, 1928, 1932-3, 1937, 1941, 1944, 1949, 1952, 1958-9, 1961-2, 1968, 1973, 1975-6, 1978-9 (20 total); NTFA - 2020 (1 total)

Most Games
365 by George Young

Deloraine

The Kangaroos have spent two brief separate spells in what might be considered the top level of Tasmanian club football, but so far all of their premierships have been achieved in lower grade competitions.

Between 1902 and 1909 the side won an incredible eight consecutive flags in the Meander Football Association (MFA). During the 1920s, after the MFA had become known as the Deloraine Football Association (DFA), Deloraine again achieved regular pre-eminence, prompting the club’s admission in 1930 to the NWFU. Unfortunately, this hard earned elevation coincided with the worst economic depression of the twentieth century, and after a couple of unsuccessful seasons the club’s financial position was so parlous that its very existence was threatened. 

In the end, its survival was secured by a return to the much lower key milieu of the DFA where, in 1932, it promptly rediscovered the winning formula with a 31 point grand final defeat of Westbury. After securing a second consecutive flag in 1933, Deloraine went on to enjoy consistent success for the next half century, culminating in the club’s admission to the NTFA in 1984, and following the demise of that league at the end of the 1986 season, the NTFL in 1987.

Although the Kangaroos tended to struggle at NTFL level, they did qualify for the finals in both 1995 and 1996. However, a premiership, and indeed even a grand final appearance, continued to elude them, and at the end of the 2003 season, faced with escalating costs, the club felt constrained to pull the plug on its involvement in northern Tasmania’s elite competition. Since 2004 the ‘Roos have competed in Division One of the Northern Tasmanian Football Association where they once more find themselves rubbing shoulders with former sparring partners like Longford and Scottsdale. The closest they have come to winning a premiership was in 2014 when they qualified for the grand final only to lose by 52 points to South Launceston. The next five season saw them finish fourth in 2015, eighth in 2016, ninth and last in 2017, and eighth in both 2018 and 2019. A truncated 2020 season followed, with the Roos qualifying for the finals in second place with six wins and a draw from their eight roster matches. Thed finals series was contested by the top four teams on a straight knock-out basis and Deloraine clinched a long overdue premiership with wins over Scottsdale in a semi final and Rocherlea in the grand final.

Source

John Devaney - Full Points Publications


 

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.