The footy team with a name that will shock you

Rugby league in the 1930s was a different beast to the current era

A Week At A Time has long had a problem with how we name our professional football teams in Australia.

Since the 1980s, when expansion was all the rage in the major Australian rules and rugby league competitions, we showed a remarkable lack of unoriginality.

In that decade we added the Raiders, Steelers, Broncos, Knights, Bears and Eagles. All but one a rip-off of a famous American football team.

Things got a little more original in the ’90s when the Crows, Storm, Brumbies, Power (hmmm) and Dockers came along, but we were still strongly tethered to our American cousins via the Cowboys and Warriors (an NBA team) and, in the 2000s, the Giants and Suns confirmed it again.

But what would you call your team in, say, 1934?

One hundred years ago last Friday, the St George District Rugby League Club ran on to Sydney Sports Ground for their inaugural game of first grade, going down to Glebe 4-3.

The milestone saw us delving into the distant past of the famous club and their feeder competitions.

The Arncliffe Scots and the Arncliffe Terriers surely played some ding-dong derbies. There were the Carlton Shamrocks and Hurstville United. And don’t forget Allawah Swastika.

On July 20, 1934 Swastika’s B grade beat Hurstville 45-0. We can’t confirm whether most points were scored down the far right wing but we do know fascism was a growing brand in Australia during the early 1930s.

Francis de Groot, the man who stole NSW Premier Jack Lang’s thunder by cutting the ribbon to open the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, was a member of far right group the New Guard (not sure of his rugby league affiliations). By 1934 a failed Austrian painter was making some pretty big moves in Germany but your average rugby league player in Sydney’s southern suburbs might not been fully enlightened on some of his methods.

The swastika was originally a Hindu symbol for good luck before it was appropriated by the Nazi party. Maybe the club was hoping for a little luck, just as the Carlton Shamrocks were? Maybe there is a darker backstory to be told.

Allawah Swastika have long since disappeared but if you know any more about the club and its history, let us know.

Terrorist or horse lover

Horse ownership can be a tricky thing. Who do you get to train your future Cox Plate winner? Which race to target and which jockey do you want on-board?

Coming up with a name should be the fun part but one equine fan with a side interest in Ancient Egypt found herself flagged as a potential terrorist after she named her hobby horse Isis.

Susan Govindasamy, a 57-year-old from Bolton in England, was forced to explain to Interpol that she had no links to terrorism after learning that a £500 payment to a horse trainer on PayPal was temporarily frozen because of the transaction name.

“I’m a bit scatty, there are tons of things I’ve done and my husband has said ‘I can’t believe you’ve done that’,” Susan told The Sun. “I named the transfer ‘funds for Isis’ and sent the money off, at the time it went right over my head.

“I only realised there was an issue three days later when my friend said the money hadn’t come through.”

Susan, who has previously owned horses called Pharaoh and Nefertiti, says Interpol was tipped off by PayPal after it was suspected she was funding terrorism.

She even had to provide her pet’s passport to prove Isis was her real name and sign a declaration confirming she had no links to the terrorist group.

Pies are dead certs

Looking for a sure thing in footy this weekend?

Look no further than the team sitting 17th on the AFL ladder, which is Collingwood heading into Round 7.

The Magpies are under plenty of pressure heading into today’s game against Gold Coast at the MCG, but a statistical quirk in 2021 shows the underdog position is enjoying a great run.

In Round 2, the 17th-placed Suns smashed the Kangaroos. A week later Essendon won their first game of the year, hammering St Kilda.

The Giants followed suit in Round 4 against Collingwood. The Hawks ruined the streak when they were pummelled by Melbourne in Round 5.

But the Alastair Clarkson-coached Hawks may have started a new run by overcoming a 32-point deficit to edge the Crows in Launceston last weekend.

Despite the Magpies’ woes, the TAB has them listed as $1.50 favourites against the Suns at $2.55 to become the fifth winner from six starts for lucky ladder position 17.

Stat of the Week 1

The long-suffering Penrith Emus broke a seven-year, 2472-day drought to finally score a win in Sydney’s Shute Shield rugby competition. The Emus, coached by former Parramatta Eels rugby league star John Muggleton, defeated Parra’s Two Blues 11-7 last weekend. Penrith’s previous win came on July 19, 2014. Since then they have lost 71 games, drawn one, been kicked out of the competition in 2018 and reinstated last season. What a ride.

Stat of the Week 2

If you’re a Brisbane Lions fan, you’ve officially spent 14,981 minutes and eight seconds watching your team come second on the scoreboard over the past 10 seasons.

The good people at Useless AFL Stats have calculated how long each AFL team has trailed in every game they have played since Round 6, 2012. The Lions are bottom of the ladder, with fans spending more than 10 entire days looking at a negative scoreline.

The fans whose team has led for the longest in that time? The Swans, who have only been behind for 9064 minutes and six seconds – a little over six days. Richmond are next best on 9260 minutes and four seconds followed by West Coast, Hawthorn, Geelong, North Melbourne, Adelaide and Collingwood.

Fans of Gold Coast (17th), Carlton (16th) and St Kilda (15th) are just above the Lions on the ladder of time spent watching your team losing.

BC’s Tip of the Week

Fresh and back to 1200m with a roomy straight to wind up, Subpoenaed (R7 No 3) can thunder late courtesy of an inspired Damian Lane ride to win the Group 1 TAB Classic at Morphettville on Saturday, says Brendan Cormick. Failure could lead to papers being served next weekend minus BC’s tip.

mcloughlins@
theaustralian.com.au
Twitter: @simmomac