2003 Senior Boys Football

Our only team to ever win both the State Title and the Herald Sun Country Shield in the one year, this may be our greatest Football team ever.

They took the Shield by 50 points against Warnambool’s Brauer College (who were led by future Hawthorn 4-time Premiership player, All Australian and B&F winner Jordan Lewis, who would be drafted at Pick 7 just 12 months later) at Port Melbourne in July, to become our 4th Shield Champions in history (alongside 1999, 1987, 1985).

They had won through to that Shield Final after dominating the carnival at Barooga, beating Galen by 55 points (55-0) and Shepparton’s Notre Dame College by 2 goals, and drawing with Shepparton’s Wanganui Park (3.3.21 – 3.3.21). The Shield dream could have gone up in smoke in that Wanganui game, with us having to come back from 2 goals down in the 2nd half (Michael Newton was the match winner with 2 of our 3 goals).

Later, they won the VSSSA State Final by 3 points at Whitten Oval, against Box Hill High School, who had won 3 of the last 6 Titles (and would win in the following year in 2004), and who were rumoured to have 12-13 TAC Cup-listed (now Coates League) players (compared to our 2).

Earlier in the campaign, the boys won the Eastern Zone round-robin by beating Corryong SC (61-1), Broadford SC (62-3) and Numurkah SC by 9 points (4.7.31 – 3.4.22).

Legendary final quarter performances in that State Final by Year 12 Co-Captain John Conroy and Year 10 Matt Graham, are etched in our folklore.

Conroy, who had already won 2 Senior Best & Fairests at Milawa (in Year 10 and 11) and was about to win his 3rd straight, is said to have taken somewhere between 10 and 20 marks in that last quarter, playing in the Centre, as we clawed back from a 15-point deficit at 3-Q time.

The explosive Graham, who was playing U18 Murray Bushrangers despite only a Year 10, and who had played for Vic Country U16s at the National Championships, kicked 2 of his 3 goals in the last 7 minutes of the match.

His first put us up by 3 points, our first lead of the day. Anthony Tucci fed him a handball on the wing, and he sailed through a bomb from the centre square, with a howling wind behind it.

His second, after Box Hill had hit back to regain a 3 point lead, will go down in history forever. Alongside the Chris Thewlis matchwinner in the 2005 Year 7 Final at Optus Oval, it must be one of the two greatest moments in our school football history. His bomb 5 minutes earlier, is probably Number 3.

From a stoppage in the right pocket with 2 minutes on the clock, Luke Cunningham grabbed it out of the ruck and handballed to Graham, who snapped it on his right boot, with the wind carrying it through to give us the lead back by 3 points. 

After 90 seconds of icing the clock, the siren rang and we were State Champions.

Year 11 Michael “Juice” Newton was the only future AFL player. He would be drafted by Melbourne at Pick 43 in November a year later, debut for Melbourne (and take AFL Mark Of The Year) 3 years after that. He would later kick 57 goals in a SANFL Premiership for Norwood, lead Norwood’s goalkicking twice, then return home to play in 2 Premierships at Wangaratta Magpies (including an 8 goal BOG Grand Final in 2017).

Newton that year in 2003 was playing Seniors for Whorouly, where he was reported to be jumping on people’s heads as a 15 year old. The same year he played Under 16 Vic Country.

Aside from Juice, the team was stacked with talent.

There were 3 boys that played in a junior Victorian Country team. Newton and Matt Graham were both in the Under 16 team of that year (2003), while Michael Davidson would make the 2004 U18 team the following year. Riley Minns had made the 2001 U16 squad 2 years prior.

Newton, Davidson and Graham would both be key Under 18 Murray Bushrangers the following year, with Davidson the Captain, Graham Vice Captain, and Newton drafted.

Graham, who in 2003 was a regular U18 Bushranger as a Year 10 (extremely rare), sadly did his ACL halfway though the 2004 season, and then missed his “draft year” of 2005. Teammates recall him being an explosive, fast, long-kicking player with the freakish ability to kick snap and check-side goals from outside the 50m arc. Vic Country U16, then Vice Captain of the Bushrangers as a bottom-ager. Much like Scott Thompson in 1997, many say it’s a fair call to claim Graham could have been on track to be drafted, if not for the knee injury.

Minns had also played a game for the Bushrangers the year before in 2002, and Raymond Usher was in a Bushrangers squad too.

Incredibly though, the team won their 1st Title of the year, the Herald Country Shield, without all of Newton, Davidson and Graham. Newton and Graham were in Adelaide playing in the U16 National Carnival for Vic Country, and Davidson was injured with a broken collarbone (listed on the Official Team Sheet as “Assistant Coach”).

They then won the VSSSA State Final, without requiring Davidson, Minns or Usher.

Newton and Graham did play the VSSA Final, and were key cogs. Year 10 Graham (only eligible due to having missed the Intermediate carnival due to Vic Country commitments) was the Top Goalkicker with 3. Newton was so good that he was played Full Forward when we had the wind, and key back when against it, to keep him in the play at all times.

A cunning piece of coaching by Coach Paul O’Brien, who at the time was playing for Corowa in the O&M, had played 3 seasons for the Murray Bushrangers and who was dominant for Galen in school football. Assistant John Evans, coaching his 4th State Title, may have been behind the move too.

It must have been a deeply talented team to win the Herald without those 3, and the VSSSA Final without the following year’s Bushrangers Captain and two other Bushrangers listed talls.