By Greg Baum
At a forward pocket boundary throw-in, the unmistakable figure of Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti darts into the heart of the pack, scoops up the ball, twists away from two tackles, baulks, breaks another tackle, side-steps, hoists a high kick towards the goals and watches as the wind wafts it through. Teammates and opponents alike gape.
In the backdrop, utes and SUVs nose up to the fence. One hoarding reads: “Taylor’s Farm Supplies”. Behind them lie bare grape vines. On this windy day, the occasional swirl of red dust blows by, as unstoppable as “Tippa” himself.
This was the still-new Mildura Sporting Precinct Oval two weekends ago. The occasion was the second semi-final of the Sunraysia league. McDonald-Tipungwuti’s Imperials beat reigning premiers Irymple, and will be back there on Saturday to play Wentworth in the grand final.
It will be the culmination of two reemergences. Imperials are by far the most successful club in Sunraysia league history, alma mater of AFL players Josh Hunt (Geelong), Matthew Croft (Footscray), Dale Weightman (Richmond) and Matthew Knights (Richmond) among others (and not forgetting St Kilda AFLW captain Hannah Priest). Knights’ nephew plays there.
But Imperials did not win a game last season. President and former premiership player Dale Stafford said the foundations of the club were too strong for this to be an existential threat, but between seasons they formulated a three-year revival plan, repatriated some players and recruited others.
Tippa played four games for the Tiwi Bombers in the northern season, but his mother lives in Mildura, he has another connection in a local philanthropist who was a player sponsor at Essendon and Stafford says he was always planning to move back to the Mallee anyway for the lifestyle.
Former Essendon livewire Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti in action for Imperials in the Sunraysia league.Credit: Paula Mastrippolito/Sunraysia Daily
Soon enough, he was signed up and fitted out in Imps guernsey No.1. It’s fair to say that he well and truly fills it, but it’s also clear that all the feints and flourishes that made him such a fan favourite in his Essendon years are still intact, and so is the excitement he generates whenever he goes near the ball.
Ask his second semi-final opponent, Irymple’s Billy Phelan, who wore him like a second skin all game, but sagged off just for two moments and paid the price twice. At least he has something to tell his grandchildren.
Stafford said Tippa had worked hard on his fitness and diet. It was observable that he did not come off the ground for the game. Stafford said he had played solid midfield minutes during the season and was likely to be in the guts again during the grand final.
Tippa’s kicked 31 goals in 14 games. But Stafford said it wasn’t just about the goals. He said he’d given away three times as many goals as he’d kicked. “He’s so unselfish, he’s probably too unselfish,” Stafford said. Minutes after his wonder goal, Tippa hit up Jayden Fox for another, making it a career-high 56 for him for the year. It was the back-breaking straw.
On show also in the semi-final were the balance, the spins, the turn of speed, the inescapable tackles – he might not win a 100-metre race, but he’s still predator dangerous over 10 – in short, his instinct for the game. Irymple’s Josh Moritz might be able to show his grandchildren the bruises still from when Tippa brought him down in the final quarter.
Evidently, McDonald-Tipungwuti has settled into Mildura life. Through Stafford, who runs his own media agency, he found employment as an ambassador with the Mildura Base Public Hospital Foundation. “He’s been doing some real positive stuff, making some real change to our community in that youth/Indigenous area,” Stafford said.
“The feedback is that he has never been happier, and we couldn’t be any happier with him as a player and a person around our club. He’s been wonderful with kids and with anyone who wants a bit of his time.”
Sunraysia league executive officer Jason Torney said junior enrolments had stalled in recent years, but were up since Tippa arrived. He said he’d watched in wonder as people streamed from one end of the ground to the other to be behind Tippa’s goals.
McDonald-Tipungwuti was chaired off by Dyson Heppell and Mason Redman after the last of his 133 Essendon games.Credit: Getty Images
He remembered taking his family to Mildura’s Australia Day picnic on the banks of the Murray in January and coming across McDonald-Tipungwuti playing cricket with the kids. “There he was, running between wickets, with his long hair flying,” he said.
Imperials asked the league for a one-off opening game, a Sunraysia version of the AFL’s opening round, got it, and won it, beating Robinvale-Euston. Tippa kicked three goals.
They’ve lost only one match since, as it happens, to Wentworth, their grand final opponent. They’ve got a bit of pedigree of their own in co-coach Ben McGlynn, who played for Hawthorn and Sydney, and gun forward Jarrod Brander, formerly of West Coast and Greater Western Sydney. For the finale, the league is expecting maybe 8000. It’s not a gigantic crowd, but it is sometimes a Giants crowd!
It’s Tippa’s goals and tackles that have caught Mildura’s eye, but intangibles have counted for just as much. “There’s been a couple of those moments where he looks to drop the ball and then makes two of them look really silly,” said Stafford. “He’s a delight to watch. Even at training, you watch the ball come off his boot and the sound it makes is completely different to what you expect.
“You listen to the crowd at the second semi: whenever he got the ball, everyone – including all the opposition supporters – there’s just this hush that comes over the ground.”
They don’t stand too heavily on formalities in the bush. In their call of the semi, the River1427 commentators identify McDonald-Tipungwuti as “Walla”, an old nickname. To one of them can safely be left the last word after the former Bomber’s wonder goal. “You can get the meat platter out ready, Chris Moore, for that one,” he said. “Goal of the day.”
Chris Moore, if you haven’t guessed, is a local butcher.
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