Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

KEY FACTS

Official name
Numurkah Football Club

Known as
Numurkah

Formed
1884

Colours
Navy blue and white

Emblem
Blues (formerly Bullants)

Associated clubs
Numurkah Seconds

Affiliation (Current)
Murray Football Netball League (MFNL) 1931–2024

Affiliation (Historical)
Goulburn Valley Football Assocation (GVFA) 1888–1930

Senior Premierships
Murray Football League - 1932-3, 1937-8, 1950-1, 1953, 1962, 1970, 1977, 1979, 1999-2000 (13 total)

Numurkah

In 1931, Numurkah was one of five founder members of the Murray Football League, and the club has continued as a member of the competition ever since. Its tally of thirteen senior grade premierships is matched only by Deniliquin.

The Blues set out their stall early, dominating the 1930s by winning four flags from five grand finals. They achieved a similar level of dominance in the decade following the second world war, adding premierships in 1950, 1951 and 1953, and finishing runners-up in 1947 and 1948. However, after capturing their third post-war flag they experienced something of a decline and did not again contest a grand final until 1962. Opposed by Deniliquin, the Blues won a low scoring tussle with deceptive ease, 8.4 (52) to the Rams’ 3.10 (28). Two years later Numurkah again reached the grand final only to lose to Strathmerton.

The 1970s proved to be another triumphant decade for the Blues who played off for the premiership against Berrigan in 1970, Deniliquin in 1977, and Berrigan in 1979, and won every time. By contrast, the 1980s saw the club struggling, and so, for the most part, did the 1990s. Finally, in 1999 Numurkah broke through for premiership number twelve, downing Deniliquin in the grand final by 46 points, 14.14 (98) to 7.10 (52). A year later the Blues again accounted for the Rams on grand final day, winning with almost identical conviction to 1999 by 47 points, 17.12 (114) to 10.7 (67).

Over the past decade or so Numurkah have been quite competitive without seeming to be a genuine premiership threat. They qualified for the finals for three successive years between 2008 and 2010 and again in  2013, 2016, 2017 (when they were runners-up to Nathalia) and 2018.

Source

John Devaney - Full Points Publications


 

Footnotes

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