Murray Bushrangers

Murray Bushrangers
Names
Full nameMurray Bushrangers Football Club
Nickname(s)Bushrangers
2023 season
After finals13th
Home-and-away season13th of 18
Leading goalkickerDarcy Wilson (17)
Best and fairestDarcy Wilson
Club details
Founded1993; 31 years ago (1993)
Colours  Navy Blue   Indigo   Yellow
CompetitionTalent League
CoachMark Brown
PremiershipsTalent League (2) 1998, 2008
Ground(s)Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta (capacity: 12,000)
Other information
Official websiteMBFC website

The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the Talent League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta. The team is coached by Mark Brown in 2024. Guernsey colours are Black, Purple and Yellow, with black socks and black (home) or white (away) shorts.

The Bushrangers have produced some of the elite Australian Football League players through the AFL Draft including Daniel Cross, Brett Deledio, Steele Sidebottom, Steve Johnson, Jarrad Waite, Kayne Pettifer, Justin Koschitzke, Hamish McIntosh, Barry Hall, Fraser Gehrig, Ben Mathews, Steven King, Robert Campbell, Alipate Carlile, David Mundy, Shannon Byrnes & Laitham Vandermeer in recent years.

Club history[edit]

The TAC Cup was established in 1992 following the disbandment of the VFL Under 19's competition, due to the ceasing of the Victorian state geographical zoning regions and was initially ran by the Victorian State Football League.

The Murray Bushrangers are based at Wangaratta, near the Victoria-NSW border and have been involved in the competition since 1993 when the competition added another four country teams, which brought the number of teams to twelve regions.

The Murray Bushrangers supports local talent squads at Under 15 and Under 16 levels and co-ordinates the talented player pathways program for young aspiring AFL players throughout the North East and Goulburn Valley regions.

While the Murray Bushrangers forms an initial career path to the AFL for some, for many others it provides an outstanding experience of elite under 18 football, giving players a solid foundation for a successful playing and or coaching pathway at regional level.

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 Football Club. The club's home games were split between Coburg City Oval in Melbourne, and Lavington Oval in Albury-Wodonga.[1]

The side was made up with players from the Kangaroos, topped up with players from the Ovens and Murray Football League, and offering a second chance to players from the statewide under-18s Murray Bushrangers team 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.[2]

Murray lost in the 2007 TAC Cup Grand Final to the Calder Cannons by 50 points and Ben McEvoy was selected in the TAC Team of the Year. 2008 saw the Bushrangers dominate the entire competition season finishing 1st at season end and defeating the Dandenong Stingrays by 81 points in the 2008 grand final and midfielder-forward Steele Sidebottom had a game-high 32 possessions and kicked 10.3 claiming best on ground honours.[3][4]

Grand Finals[edit]

Steele Sidebottom: Collingwood FC
Under 18's Boys
Year Premiers Score Runner Up Score Venue Best on Ground
1998 Murray Bushrangers 17.18 - 120 Geelong Falcons 12.12 - 84 Melbourne Cricket Ground Michael Stevens
2003 Calder Cannons 16.14 - 110 Murray Bushrangers 2.6 - 18 Melbourne Cricket Ground Brock McLean
2007 Calder Cannons 14.20 - 104 Murray Bushrangers 7.12 - 54 Melbourne Cricket Ground Ashley Arrowsmith
2008 Murray Bushrangers 21.16 - 142 Dandenong Stingrays 9.7 - 61 Docklands Stadium/Etihad Stadium Steele Sidebottom
2016 Sandringham Dragons 12.13 - 85 Murray Bushrangers 9.14 - 68[5] Docklands Stadium/Etihad Stadium Andrew McGrath[6]
Under 18's Girls

2017 - Murray Bushrangers finished 2nd on the ladder.[7]

Statistical Record[edit]

Steve Johnson: Geelong FC
Yearly Ladder Placings (1993 - 2023)
Year 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Position 8th 6th 6th 10th 2nd 1st 1st* 1st* 1st* 2nd 2nd 9th 8th 9th 2nd 1st* 10th 8th 11th 5th 8th 8th 3rd 2nd 5th 5th 9th[9] N/A 13th 9th 13th
  • 1st*: Minor premiers
  • 1st: Bold - Major premiers

AFL Draftees[edit]

The following former Murray Bushranger footballers were drafted to an AFL club.

Team of the Year players[edit]

Jack Crisp: Collingwood FC

The following players were selected in the TAC Cup U/18 team of the year side.

All Australian Team Selection[edit]

The following former Murray Bushrangers FC players were selected in various All Australian sides below.

Barry Hall: Sydney Swans FC
Jack Ziebell: North Melbourne FC
AFL - All Australian Side
Under 18 - All Australian Side


Under 17 - All Australian Side
Underage Australian National Championships: Best Player Awards

AFL Rising Star Nominations[edit]

The following former Murray Bushrangers players were nominated as an AFL Rising Star.

Leading Goalkicker[edit]

The following MB players were the club's leading goal kickers.

  • - * Also won the TAC Cup goalkicking

Club Honourboard[edit]

Clayton Oliver: Melbourne FC

Talent League Girls[edit]

  • Premierships (0): Nil
  • Runners-up (1): 2017

Notes/References[edit]

  1. ^ /www.footballvic.com.au/vfl/vfl_clubs.htm
  2. ^ http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,5287609%255E20322,00.html
  3. ^ Edmund, Sam (28 November 2008). "Grand Final demolition sets draft stage for Steele Sidebottom". Herald Sun. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  4. ^ Siragusa, Leonard (26 September 2008). "Steele stars in TAC Cup grand final". Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  5. ^ "2016 - TAC Cup Grand Final Scores". Gameday. MBFC. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  6. ^ Simon McEvoy (25 September 2016). "2016 - Sandringham Dragons beat Murray Bushrangers by 17 points in seesawing TAC Cup grand final". Herals Sun newspaper. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  7. ^ "2017 - TAC Cup Girls Ladder". Gameday. MBFC. 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  8. ^ "2008 - MBFC Fixture & Results". Australian Football. AFL. 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  9. ^ "2019 - NAB League Ladder". Gameday. NAB League. 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  10. ^ "2024 - AFL Rising Star Nominees". Footywire: AFL Stats. 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  11. ^ "2013 - TAC Cup Goalkicking". Gameday. AFL. 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. ^ "2015 - TAC Cup Goalkicking". Gameday. AFL. 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  13. ^ "2016 - Competition Team Stats". Gameday. AFL. 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  14. ^ "2017 - TAC Cup - Competition Team Stats". Gameday. ADL. 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  15. ^ "2018 - Competition Team Stats". Gameday. AFL. 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  16. ^ "NAB League - Competition Stats". Gameday. AFL. 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  17. ^ "2023 - Coates Talent League". Play HQ. AFL. 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  • Lovett, Michael, ed. (21 April 2024). AFL Record Season Guide 2010. G. Slattery. pp. 906–907. ISBN 978-0-9806274-5-9.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Murray Bushrangers.
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