Photos by Belinda Holt.

 

The Coota Blues celebrated 60 years of Aussie Rules Football on Saturday with 120 people attending a celebratory dinner that night.

Pat Kerin making sure the score was kept up to date. Kerin, well-known for his love of cricket, also loves his Aussie Rules and is a great ambassador for sport in Coota.

   The club continued their undefeated season by defeating Murrumbateman 16.19.115 to 5.3.33 before a great crowd of spectators and old boys.

   Past players came from Sydney and Melbourne with club  favourite Stephen Chant coming down from McKay after moving there this year.

The 2019 Coota Blues.

    Slideshows of old photos from yesteryear were shown to the audience with speakers from the first premiership in 1973 telling tales of days gone by.

   Every premiership was mentioned and discussed by those attending, well into the night.

A special speech was made regarding the impact women have had over the years at the Coota Blues. From Netball to the Ladies Auxiliary Committee, to the current ladies football side, the Coota Blues women were celebrated for their commitment and assistance over the last 60 years.

    Todd Basham said, “It was a great night and a great opportunity to thank all of the families and the wives, girlfriends and mothers who help the club succeed. This years season is going well, we have had 7 games from 15 and haven’t been beaten yet. The closest game was an 11 point win.”

   The club is hoping to win another premiership this year after last taking out the crown in 2014.

   The Blues, like any club suffer from availability of players and need to make sure they can field a consistent squad. If they do, they will likely go very close to securing that premiership.

    The Blues claimed premierships in 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1989 and 1992. Reserve grade flags in 1985, 1988, 1994 and 1997.

After being very short on playing numbers during its last three years of playing in the Farrer League, Coota moved to AFL Canberra in 2004.

The Blues played finals in their first three seasons, however, the club’s future was in doubt when they withdrew from the competition in 2007. The club rebounded and played in the preliminary final in 2011.

The jewel in the crown was in 2014 when the Blues defeated Yass in the grand final.