THE town of Waubra, 35 kilometres north-west of Ballarat, is a quiet place. It has a small primary school, an atmospheric old pub named The Springs Hotel (the town was originally called The Springs), a couple of churches and a smattering of houses.
But Waubra, home to only 500 people, boasts one of the best football-netball clubs in western Victoria. Proof of that came last weekend at Ballarat's Eureka Stadium when the Kangaroos not only won the senior football premiership in the Central Highlands League, but also took home the reserves and under-18 flags as well.
In what was the most successful day in the club's long history, Waubra proved too good for Learmonth in the thirds grand final, while the seconds comfortably beat Springbank. Finally, the senior team scored a 25-point win over Daylesford.
Waubra's netballers narrowly missed out on adding to the haul of silverware, but both the A-grade and C-grade teams lost in extra time. Nevertheless, the tiny town was jumping by last Saturday evening.
''It was probably the best night we've ever had,'' recalls Waubra president Justin Mullane. ''There would've been 400 to 500 people at the clubrooms. One of our under-18 guys does a bit of work as a DJ, so he had the crowd going.''
Formed in 1913, the Waubra football club enjoyed its golden era between 1946 and 1960 when it won eight senior Lexton League premierships in 14 seasons. In those days, the Kangaroos fielded teams made up mostly of farmers' sons.
In the half-century since then, demographic change has had a big impact on the club. Like so many other rural areas, the farms around Waubra have become larger and more mechanised, which has led to a decline in the local population.
So how has the club managed to stay at the top?
A key factor is that many Waubra people maintain their passion for the Kangaroos even after moving away for employment or education. Mullane and his brothers, Shaun and Tim, are a classic example. The three all live in Melbourne, yet each continues to play an important role at the club. Shaun is the senior captain, and both he and Tim were part of Waubra's win over Daylesford eight days ago.
That Mullane can be president while living in Melbourne (he works for IT giant Hewlett Packard) demonstrates that the Waubra folk are not scared of being innovative. The Kangaroos this year continued to move with the times when they appointed their first paid football manager.
The support of the club's major sponsor, Acciona, which operates a 128-turbine wind farm to the north of the town, is another reason why Waubra has managed to punch above its weight on the football field and the netball court.
''They always seem to be in the news for the wrong reasons, but they've been very good to the footy club,'' Mullane says. ''How much they've helped us financially is a bit of a myth. Everyone goes, 'They're buying you premierships' and that sort of stuff, but that's totally not true.
''They're basically a good community supporter. They have a day each year where they bring a bus load of their staff up from Melbourne. They have a few beers and have a great day.''
The Roos' ability to lure players of all ages from Ballarat has also been crucial. Plenty of clubs are just as close to the city of 100,000 people, yet few have been able to match Waubra's recruiting prowess.
''We've set up pretty good relationships with some of the schools in Ballarat,'' Mullane says. ''We had 42 ex-St Pat's College students on our list of 55 players who ran around in the seniors and reserves this year. In the juniors we get quite a few boarders from St Pat's and Ballarat and Clarendon College. They train in Ballarat and we bring them out on a bus each weekend.''
Two such boarders from southern New South Wales, Brenton Flemming from Finley and Mick Harrington from Hay, played in Waubra's under-18 premiership team last weekend (it was the club's second successive thirds flag).
''Mick's parents have come down to watch a fair few games, which is a great effort,'' Mullane says. ''I think the kids really enjoy the culture of the club and how we treat everyone.''
Non-playing senior coach Shane Skontra has been a driving force behind Waubra's recruiting campaigns. Now in his second stint with the Kangaroos, Skontra led the club to a premiership in 2006, then spent a couple of seasons working as an assistant coach with the North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup team. ''Shane is like a father figure to a lot of our guys,'' Mullane says. ''He's caring, but he also teaches them the right traits on and off the field.''
Waubra's senior team went into this season as one of the flag favourites after netting a host of impressive recruits during the summer. The star arrivals included Aaron Gleeson from Grovedale in the Geelong League and Robbie Gregg, who had previously played with North Ballarat in the VFL and Lake Wendouree in the Ballarat FL.
Still, Waubra didn't have things all its own way. Gregg sustained a serious knee injury in a match against Newlyn in July and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Several weeks later, the Kangaroos had a shock loss to Bungaree, which was one of only two defeats the team had during its home-and-away campaign.
After finishing second on the ladder, the Roos edged out Buninyong in week one of the finals (the Central Highlands League now has a top eight) and progressed straight to a preliminary final against Hepburn, which they won by five goals. A number of Waubra's imports were among its best players in the grand final win over Daylesford, with Gleeson winning the medal for best on ground. However, there were plenty of players with strong local connections in the thick of the action as well.
Shaun and Tim Mullane booted a crucial goal each, while another important contributor was Phil McDonald, whose brothers Alex, Anthony and James played in the juniors for the Kangaroos before making it all the way to the AFL.
The Roos were hoping to lure James McDonald back home for a few games, but his decision to take on a playing and coaching role with Greater Western Sydney has put an end to that dream.
Nevertheless, with a supportive sponsor and plenty of quality footballers and netballers on board, Waubra's future certainly looks bright. ''The thing we're most proud of is that we've got 18 clubs in the Central Highlands League now and we were in six of the 10 grand finals that were played last weekend,'' Mullane says. ''That's pretty remarkable I think.''
By Adam McNicol
Article first appeared the Sunday Age September 18, 2011
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