Al's Pals Junior Football Team

Mr ALAN ASHTON (East Hills) [5.48 p.m.]: Tonight I talk about one of the great football teams of all time. I am not talking about the beloved Tigers or the Bulldogs, or even the Swans, but a team called Al's Pals. Al's Pals play in the East Hills Junior Oztag competition. They play every week in the summer season. I have to declare an interest, because I am the sponsor of that team. As a privilege for my being the sponsor of the team, they wear "Al's Pals" on the back of their jumpers. I encourage all members to take up something like this. The team commenced in October 2005. It is a mixed team of girls and boys. In the first year two of the girls were the best players. They are under eight, most players were only seven years of age. Most of the team was made up of players in the East Hills rugby league's under eights, with a couple of older sisters thrown in. The East Hills Rugby League Club is the oldest junior club in the Canterbury-Bankstown district and they are still known today as the Bulldogs.

The team continued to play in the summer competition of 2006-07, up until yesterday when they played in the grand final. In 2007-08 the team changed dramatically when one of the players changed codes from rugby league to Australian rules, which is what is happening with many young footballers. Their mums and dads are a little less afraid with their children playing a game with a little less, for want of a better word, "aggression". Mums particularly feel that their sons are a little safer playing Australian rules. Nevertheless, rugby league is a great sport.

Some of the new players who were recruited changed their jumpers from the famous lime green to red and black. Players on the side included Daniel Mellars, Blake Kentwell, Aidan Murphy, Dion Compton, Kyle Ford, Aaron Gilbert, Connor Wilkinson, Jonty Moore—his father is now the coach for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs—and Jayden Chew. At the commencement of the 2008-09 season some of the players left for a number of different reasons and additional players were recruited from all sorts of venues and wherever young kids could be found to make up the team.

Yesterday the grand finalists who played included Daniel Mellars, an original player since 2005. Daniel, who is in year 5 at Panania Public School, has played for four years. Blake Kentwell, who is in year 5 at Panania Public School, is playing only for his second year. Aidan Murphy, from Panania Public School, is also a second-year player. I am the proud patron of the Panania Public School—my old alma mater—Parents and Citizens Association. I got through my education at that school and I managed to work my way into high school. Jake McDonald from Revesby South Public School is playing for his first year. Jake Capes, from Panania Public School, is playing for his first year, Michael Lemme, from St Therese Public School, is a first-year player, and there are three additional first-year players from Panania Public School—Riley Butler, Cooper Sly and Bill Ryan.

As most players have played for only one year and only a couple of players have played Oztag for two years, the team has done well. There is no formal training per se. As members might expect, many of the mothers and fathers turn up to watch the team play the game, but the players do not have managers, coaches and trainers as is the case with the more organised sports that are played at the weekend. The team, which made it to the grand final, did not expect to beat the famous Redbacks, which comprises a couple of former players from Al's Pals who obviously left to play with the Redbacks because of a better contract! Yesterday I think they lost 10 to 5—I could not attend the game as I was in Parliament—which I believe is very credible.

It was a great thrill for these players and their parents that they made the grand final. The game was played in good spirit. Next year some of those boys will qualify to play in the 10s, but most of them will still be qualified to play in the under-8s. As I said earlier, the team, which comprises boys from year 2 through to year 6, competed against extremely experienced players, and the team members were presented with their runner-up medals.

We deal with some serious matters in the Parliament, which is as it should be, but sometimes it is good to talk about a game such as Oztag, which provides young kids with a weekly activity that is not as formal as other sporting codes. Most of these kids, who play in a competitive atmosphere against schoolmates or friends in the community, create great bonds. If they prove to be good at the game they could play rugby league, soccer or Aussie rules later. One of the advantages of playing touch football—and believe it or not I used to play touch football—was that there was always an odd player who would receive a fair smack and who would say, "You never got me", and later he would score a try. There was always the odd player who denied being touched at all. The beauty of Oztag is that players have to rip off the tag, so it is a very fair game.