2004 ASAFA Carnival
2004 saw the beginning of a new era with the introduction of a fully fledged female carnival. ASAFA approached RANAFA only a few weeks prior to the commencement of the carnival and, through the good work of JT, Janelle Jamieson and Natalie Harbert, RANAFA were able to field a female side albeit a makeshift one.
The males were hopeful of going one better than their 2003 result where they defeated RAAF but were beaten soundly by Army. Howerver it was not to be with both the males and females losing both of their games. Army became the inaugural ASAFA Female champions and the males win became their 17th straight. Scores were:
16 April 2004 - Manuka Oval
Females: Navy lost to RAAF 7.11 (53) to 4.2 (26)
Males: Navy lost to RAAF 12.11 (83) to 5.5 (35)
18 April 2004 - ADFA
Females: Navy lost to Army 13.17 (95) to 0.2 (2)
18 April 2004 - Manuka Oval
Males: Navy lost to Army 6.12 (48) to 5.5 (35)
The write up in the May 6 2004 edition of Navy News read as follows:
A combination of poor team discipline, lack of experience and sheer bad luck combined to put Navy out of the Interservice Australian Football competition played at Canberra’s Manuka Oval last month.
Although neither the men’s or women’s team won a game at the carnival, both teams gained plenty of respect with their performances on the paddock.
The men’s team came close to ending Army’s 17-year domination of the event, while the women’s team battled valiantly with a limited number of players available.
According to Team Manager CPO John Thiele there was little between the Navy and Air Force men and both opposition teams agreed they were a fit and determined team to beat.
“Some of our smaller players played well but it wasn’t until the second half that the team started playing to the plan,” CPO Thiele said.
“The guys weren’t manning up or getting body against body. That showed on the scoreboard as we actually out-scored them in the second half.
However, we had given them a six-and-a-half goal start and we couldn’t drag that back.”
It was a fit and focused Navy team that hit the paddock on Sunday to face off against Army.
Whatever coach Jamie McGinley had to say after the previous outing obviously worked, as Navy dominated the game for the first-half. “We had them all over the paddock, particularly our ruckman LS Craig Cruickshank,” CPO Thiele said.
“We played to the plan, played more of a negative game and flooded the back line. “We only had four players forward and stopped Army’s running play.
We had winners like LSPT Robert Tarjani all over the paddock and really got into their psyche.” Army came back swinging in the second-half and picked up two quick goals.
Despite their best efforts Navy was unable to peg them back and went on to lose by 13 points. “It was a really good game of football,” he said.
For the women, the final outcome was a case of experience outgunning youth and enthusiasm.
It was an historic occasion as it was the first time the services had fielded women’s teams in the carnival Unlike Army and Air Force, who fielded full 25 to 30 player squads, Navy had problems getting the numbers and in the end could muster just 19.
As a result team experience ranged from very high to fairly low “The game against Air Force was a close game,” CPO Thiele said.
“Although the girl’s team is in the developmental stage they got out there and in the end only went down by about three goals. That was unfortunate but they are learning from that.”
Following the Air Force game several of the Navy team who came from Canberra fronted up on Saturday to play in their ADFA preseason comps before facing off to Army on the Sunday.
“While they could have kicked a few more goals they were up against the favourite side. The Army females are a very good unit.
They are very tough, very experienced and very disciplined; most of them have been playing together since 1998.”
The Navy side played a very strong game and showed plenty of ticker but in the end Army experience put the goals on the board. “They’re strong but not unbeatable.
With a couple more years development we can get them.” Assistant Coach MIDN Natalie Harbert agrees. “We struggled to get the numbers and some of our better ADF players couldn’t be spared,” she said.
“We came away with quite a strong team and we trained really well together.” At the end of the day the lack of players available, hard game program and lack of experience were the main factors against the Navy women.
However, they are not despondent.
“It was a full week and our future is looking pretty bright,” said MIDN Harbert. “Once we get the word out among the girls we’ll get a bigger base.
The more we can get on our books the more we can get down to training, which will give us much better chances in the future competitions.”
Congratulations to Aaron Convery, Philip Norton, Robert Tarjani and Jamie Robinson for their selection in the ASAFA All-Stars squad against the combined NSW Emergency Services:
