The Kapooka 12s was instigated in the early 2000s with Navy sides doing very well. Albatross have won the event twice and Cerberus once with ADFA being the other dominate team. These sides have also taken out many of the placings on offer which has been pretty special defeating the Army sides in their own competition.
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up |
Third Place
|
Fourth Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | RAAF | CERBERUS | ||
| 2009 | RAAF | |||
| 2008 | ADFA | CERBERUS | ||
| 2007 | CERBERUS | ARTC | STIRLING | |
| 2006 | ADFA | RANAFA | CERBERUS | 6RAR |
| 2005 | ALBATROSS | CERBERUS | ||
| 2004 | ADFA | CERBERUS | ||
| 2003 | ALBATROSS | ARTC | ADFA | CERBERUS |
| 2002 | ADFA | CERBERUS | ||
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
FOR the second consecutive year, a Navy team has walked away with the Kapooka 12s Australian football title, with HMAS Albatross soaring above the opposition to claim the 2003 prize at a canter.
In a result that augurs well for Navy’s chances in the 2003 ADF championship this month, Albatross never looked like losing its grip on this year’s trophy — even when grand final opponent ARTC (Army Recruit Training Centre-Kapooka) was handed an enormous lifeline in the decider.
Leading by 25-points at half-time in the grand final, Albatross had its score wiped back to zero after it was found guilty of fielding an extra player in the opening stanza.
With ARTC suddenly in the lead and a parochial crowd behind the home side, Albatross had a battle on its hands.
But it was a battle it won easily, kicking four goals to two behinds in the half to run out 22-point victors.
The final score was Albatross 4.1 (25) to ARTC 0.3 (3).
Sixteen sides from across all three services competed in the 2003 Kapooka 12s — an annual carnival where teams of 12 players fight it out in a modified Australian rules format.
Preliminary games, elimination finals and semi-finals were played over two 10-minute halves, which were extended to 15 minutes for the final.
The Riverina Football League provided the umpires for the tournament and DEFCREDIT kicked in with valuable sponsorship.
Hot, sunny conditions tested players’ stamina, with many succumbing to cramps and muscle strains in the latter stages of the tournament.
The preliminary rounds, played in the relative cool of the morning, proved an accurate form guide, with Albatross and ARTC finishing first and second on the ladder respectively with three wins apiece.
One other Navy outfit, defending champion HMAS Cerberus, also made the finals, finishing fourth, but was knocked out in the semis by ADFA 1.
Albatross firmed as the favourite for the title when it easily disposed of ARTC 6.3 (39) to 1.1 (7) in the third semi-final.
The side carried that form into the grand final, silencing the big crowd and inflicting more misery on ARTC with a convincing but well deserved win.
2003 Kapooka Champions - Albatross.
Dustin Roberts had an outstanding 2004 Kapooka 12s tournament kicking 23 goals from the five games that Cerberus played in. The Cerberus side contained many RANAFA nationals player including Dutto, B1 and B2, Luke Skipper, Chad McLaren and Luke Bermingham. Despite this wealth of talent, Cerberus were defeated by the ADFA Rams by 7 points.
2004 Kapooka Grand Final
Cerberus were represented by 2 male and one female side in 2004 with Albatross and Harman also fielding sides. Many of these players went on to represent RANAFA at national level.
Albatross again found the form that won them the 2003 12s carnival with another dominant display of running football. Despite fielding a side with several seasoned players, they proved once again they were the strongest, most skilled and most consistent Navy football side. Cerberus were also in the finals mix, this time finishing third.
ADFA are always there about once the preliminary rounds have been played. This was the case in 2006 with the ADFA Rams taking out the award for the best side, this time against an emerging RANAFA side. The National carnival was held the week following Kapooka 12s which proved to be a good lead up event allowing the selectors to have a close look at players fitness and skills. Cerberus again came a credible third.
Cerberus finally won the K12s after several years of going close. Lead by RANAFA player Aaron Felmingham, a young and fit side were able to withstand ARTC and silence the vocal locals with a running game. A couple of outstanding perfomances by Leon Noel, Mitch Cers and Ryan Schweitzer.
2007 Kapooka Champions - Cerberus
2 RANAFA females sides were also represented in 2007. Whilst we only just managed to field both sides with some top-up players from ADFA, this initiative certainly proved to be the catalyst to prepare the girls for the ASAFA carnival shortly afterwards. The RANAFA White and Blue fought it out against ADFA with the White team being victorious in the end.
ADFA again showed what superior fitness could bring to the 12s format despite a very good pre-season being conducted by eventual runner-up Cerberus. Once again many fringe Navy footballers had the perfect chance to show their wares in front of the RANAFA nationals selectors and coaches with several new players putting their hands up. This was obvious in the semi-final between Albatross and Cerberus as the following pictures show:
2008 Kapooka Semi-Final Cerberus v Albatross
Again Navy were prominent in this event with CERBERUS fielding 2 teams, Albatross 1 and a combined fleet side came down from Sydney. A combined female side was also fielded in what is becoming an annual tradition amongst the RANAFA senior players.
The male teams performed well in what was considered a high quality tournament. Eventually the RAAF represetation sqaud prevailed against the younger CERBERUS team, winning by a close margin. The Albatross side lost both round robin games and found themselves in in the plate final which they won in contraversial circumstances when ARTC were disqualified for playing non-defence players.
The girls played some good football however were outdone by the stronger Army side in the grand final going down by 13 points. Full details of the event can be found in the April 1st edition of Navy News
Images from the 2010 Kapooka grand final. Pictured are SMN Benjamin Spring chasing down an opponent, PTE Josh Atkins contesting the ruck and SMN Matthew Cameron about to lay a tackle on his RAAF opponent.
