Murray Kangaroos Football Club
Encyclopedia
Murray Kangaroos Football Club, officially nicknamed The Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football
club which competed in the Victorian Football League
between 2000 and 2002. The football club was a joint venture
between the North Melbourne Football Club
and the Ovens and Murray Football League and served as North Melbourne's reserve side.
The Ovens and Murray region was formerly zoned towards North Melbourne, and the club enjoys good support in the area.
in Melbourne, and Lavington Oval
in Albury-Wodonga
.
The side was made up with players from the Kangaroos, and topped up with players from the Ovens and Murray League offering a second chance to footballers who had missed out on the draft.
At the end of 2002, The Kangaroos disbanded the club citing pressure from the AFL, and cost cutting measures (the club cost around $100,000 a year to field). North Melbourne instead decided to align with the Port Melbourne Football Club
in a short term deal.
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
club which competed in the Victorian Football League
Victorian Football League
The Victorian Football League which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association , taking its new name as from the 1996 season, is the premier Australian rules football league in Victoria The Victorian Football League (VFL) which evolved from the former Victorian Football Association...
between 2000 and 2002. The football club was a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
between the North Melbourne Football Club
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
and the Ovens and Murray Football League and served as North Melbourne's reserve side.
The Ovens and Murray region was formerly zoned towards North Melbourne, and the club enjoys good support in the area.
History
Following season 1999, the AFL Reserves Grade was terminated leaving AFL clubs without a place to field their reserves players. The Kangaroos, together with the Ovens and Murray Football League launched their own stand-alone VFL club in the Victorian Football League called the Murray Kangaroos. The club's home games were split between Coburg City OvalCoburg City Oval
Coburg City Oval is an Australian rules football/cricket stadium located in Coburg, Australia. It is home to the Coburg Tigers Football Club and the Coburg Cricket Club and served as the home ground for the North Melbourne Football Club in the 1965 VFL season only.The oval is fenced off to the...
in Melbourne, and Lavington Oval
Lavington Sports Ground
Lavington Sports Ground is an Australian rules football stadium located in Hamilton Valley, a suburb on the north-west fringe of Albury, New South Wales, Australia. The capacity of the venue is estimated at around 20,000...
in Albury-Wodonga
Albury-Wodonga
Albury-Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New South Wales while Wodonga on the south bank is in...
.
The side was made up with players from the Kangaroos, and topped up with players from the Ovens and Murray League offering a second chance to footballers who had missed out on the draft.
At the end of 2002, The Kangaroos disbanded the club citing pressure from the AFL, and cost cutting measures (the club cost around $100,000 a year to field). North Melbourne instead decided to align with the Port Melbourne Football Club
Port Melbourne Football Club
The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne and is currently playing in the Victorian Football League ....
in a short term deal.
Coach
- 2000 – Ross SmithRoss W. SmithRoss Smith is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne during the 1980s and 90s on the half back line. He is currently an assistant coach at Richmond.-External links:...
- 2001 – Paul HamiltonPaul Hamilton (Australian footballer)Paul Hamilton is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL/AFL during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
- 2002 – Paul HamiltonPaul Hamilton (Australian footballer)Paul Hamilton is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the VFL/AFL during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
Leading Goalkicker
- 2000 – Kent KingsleyKent KingsleyKent Kingsley is a former Australian rules footballer for the North Melbourne Football Club, the Geelong Football Club and the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League ....
34 goals - 2001 – Leigh HardingLeigh HardingLeigh Harding is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.Originally from Teesdale, Victoria,a small town near Bannockburn, Victoria Harding then played under-18 football with the Geelong Falcons before he moved to play with Geelong in the VFL.Selected in the 2000 rookie...
53 goals - 2002 – Rodney Tregenza 54 goals