One of the highlights of the Rivcoll Bushpigs’ 1978 premiership reunion at the weekend was the presentation of special-edition jumpers to commemorate the occasion.

In the lead-up to the senior match, an Old Boar from the 1978 team presented a jumper to the current Bushpig who plays in his former position. The current player then wore the commemorative jumper in the match.

The jumper featured the club’s former pattern of red and white stripes, with a commemorative bushpig on the front. On the back, the jumper featured an idea borrowed from AFL clubs by featuring letters across the top of the number.

Of the AFL clubs who have letters over their numbers, the Brisbane Lions’ FFC commemorates the Fitzroy Football Club while Sydney’s SMFC honours South Melbourne. On Saturday, the area just on top of the Bushpigs’ numbers featured the letters CTFP, which stand for “carn the f…ing Bushpigs”.

The use of the Bushpigs’ favourite acronym began in the early 1980s when two players entrusted with marking the ground took the lead of the VFL by painting something large and emblematic on the grass on the wing. In the case of the VFL, it was the competition logo. Since the Bushpigs had no logo, stand-in groundsmen Peter “Ducky” Duck and Robert “Ashy” Ash decided on the letters CTFP.

Since then, the Bushpigs have always taken the effort before special occasions at Bushpig Park, their home ground at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, to adorn the oval with the letters CTFP. On Saturday, the acronym was painted on to the wing, but its presence did little to improve the fortunes of the senior team.

Bushpigs president Michael Irons said the Bushpigs showed improvement but fell down across half-forward during their 97-point loss to The Rock-Yerong Creek.

In Victoria, the Hampden league held its first round in which it abided by a Victorian Country Football League directive to keep in line with the AFL on the duration of quarters. It proved an unsettling experience.

Hampden people had resisted orders to reduce quarter from 25 minutes plus time-on to 20 minutes plus time-on until it was pointed out that the competition might be liable for damages if a player were injured late in a long quarter. On Saturday Hampden timekeepers duly tried to keep up with umpires who whistled time-on and time-off during breaks in play.

The clash at Mortlake between the top two teams, Terang-Mortlake and Koroit, started at 2pm. The half-time siren went at 2.50pm and the match was all over at 4.06pm. Supporters were left with almost three hours to fill in before a club function.

Discrepancies over the duration of quarters were never a problem just down the road, at Kolora, where timekeeper Tom Vickers had a policy had a making every quarter 27 ½ minutes. The only time he altered the duration was if a stretcher was brought out.

Vickers died last year after several decades as Kolora timekeeper. His legacy will be discussed this Saturday when Kolora-Noorat hosts a reunion. At this stage, there’s no word on whether the club’s jumpers will feature letters over their numbers.

By Paul Daffey

This article first appeared in The Age on May 7, 2008.

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