Dave Newman snr coached Tongala to its first Goulburn Valley League flag in 1949.
The Newman dynasty in the Goulburn Valley League has lasted over 80 years.
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In a story I wrote last week in this column, I mentioned Tongala players who had either played VFL/AFL before or after their time at Tongala.
Club stalwart Peter Dawson, son of legendary Tongala player Bob Dawson who played four games with St Kilda and won the Morrison Medal playing for Tongala in 1950, was quick to point out that Dave Newman Snr had missed my list.
Newman played 49 games with Collingwood and four games with Melbourne between 1943-48.
He kicked 32 goals for Collingwood, playing mainly off a wing and forward.
Dave joined Tongala in 1948 as its coach straight from the VFL and was in charge when the Blues beat Kyabram 10.17 to 6.13 in the 1949 GVL premiership showdown, Tongala’s first flag in the GVL.
He coached Tongala until the end of 1956 when he switched to Kyabram as coach for the 1957 season in the lead-up to Tony Bull’s five-year reign as playing coach of the Bombers from 1958 to 1962.
He retired after his stint with Kyabram.
In his days at Tongala he won four best-and-fairest club awards.
A classy player and kick, many believe he introduced the play-on style of football at Tongala and how football is generally played today.
His legacy in the GVL has been carried on by his son Dave Jnr and grandsons David and Paul.
Dave Jnr played over 100 games with the Blues and a handful of games with Kyabram and won a best-and-fairest award with the Blues.
David coached Tongala between 2013-15 and was joined by his brother Paul for the 2015 Murray League season.
Both David and Paul played their junior football and a lot of their senior football with Kyabram and Paul, a GVL legend, kicked over 100 goals in his one season at Tongala in 2015 before moving back to Kyabram where he coached the Bombers to three premierships and a runners-up finish.
In the process he set a new Victorian record, 62 consecutive wins at senior level for the Bombers from 2016 to 2019.
David also played at Lancaster before his moves to Kyabram and Tongala.
As a family, the Newman influence has been part of the GVL scene over a period of 80 years.
Newman played 49 games for Collingwood between 1944 and 1947.
Memories of Barrat
My best memories of a good mate of mine Ray Barrat, who passed away last week, will be the immaculate cricket scorecards he produced and a stint as the Kyabram District Cricket Association’s official scorer.
A Fire Brigade Cricket Club stalwart all his life, Ray – or Baz as he was known to most – was the official scorer for his club and the former KDCA at Melbourne Country Cricket Weeks for over three decades.
His scoresheets were meticulously done, were a pure work of art and rarely had a mistake.
Ray loved his sport, particularly football and cricket.
He played senior football for Kyabram and was in its 1963 and 1971 reserves teams, which won flags.
Ray also played one season with Lancaster at the finish of his career and is a life member of the Kyabram Football Club for his services to the club.
He spent many years in the Kyabram press box updating scores and also helped with the lining of the recreation reserve for Kyabram’s home games over many years.
Ray also was a boundary umpire for the club for a period after his playing days.
He enjoyed many years playing cricket with Fire Brigade Cricket Club as a handy all-rounder at B-grade level.
Apart from his cricket scoring, another lasting memory I’ll have of Ray was a Melbourne Country Week game Kyabram played on the Collingwood ground in the 1990s.
He held a fierce hate of Collingwood’s football side and refused to walk onto the ground to make his way to where his fellow scorer was.
There was a cement edging encircling the oval so he backed onto it, grasping his scorebook, and edged himself backwards a few hundred metres so he could get into the stand to do the scoring without touching a blade of grass on the oval.
It was a sight to behold but that was Baz.
It was either black or white, with no in between.
In recent years Ray has enjoyed following the fortunes of nephew James Barrat who was picked up by St Kilda at number 32 in the 2024 AFL draft.
A lot of people are going to miss you mate. Rest in peace.
Ray’s funeral will be a graveside service next Monday at the Kyabram cemetery at 11am.
Top Dog stays on
Tatura Football Club has reappointed Andrew Ciaveralla for a further term as senior coach.
The former Kyabram junior has had a tough year as a first season coach of the club, who haven’t won a game.
But Tatura has been pleased with what he has achieved in testing circumstances and believes he deserves the chance to continue to lift the Bulldogs from their current plight.
‘Kicker’ was best 11
The recent death of former Echuca footballer Noel (Kicker) Wallace revived a debate from 10 years ago on which player in the club’s 140-year history was the best player to have worn the number 11 jumper.
Kicker was the standout and got the nod.
He had to beat players like Ash Byrne, who coached Echuca to the GVL flag in 2002 after playing in its premiership side in 2001 and defender Ben Reid.
Wallace played for Echuca from 1959 to 1974.
Beyond his playing days, "Kicker" maintained a connection to the Echuca club for over 50 years, operating the beloved match-day hot dog stand at Victoria Park.
He passed away in June at the age of 92.
Kicker had 14 Echuca coaches and 12 publicans sacked in his time with the club and there would have been very few, if any Echuca footballers or coaches, who didn’t get some of his “advice” over the years.
Cat to hang up hat
Mooroopna Football Club is chasing a new coach after John Lamont informed the club he would not be applying for the job next year.
Lamont has been the Cats’ non playing coach for the past seven seasons and while the club has not experienced the ultimate success, I rate him one of the GVL’s top coaches given the sides he has developed into regular finalists.
He has coached over 100 games and has a ‘‘gut feeling’’ its time to move on.
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