Murray Kangaroos Football Club

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.

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 Oval in Melbourne, and Lavington Oval in Albury-Wodonga.^[1]

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.^[2]

Jumper

Honour roll

Coach

• 2000 – Ross Smith
• 2001 – Paul Hamilton
• 2002 – Paul Hamilton

Best and Fairest

• 2000 – Stuart Cochrane
• 2001 – M Hilton
• 2002 – Adam Lange

Leading Goalkicker

• 2000 – Kent Kingsley 34 goals
• 2001 – Leigh Harding 53 goals
• 2002 – Rodney Tregenza 54 goals^[3]

References

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. ^ www.footballvic.com.au/vfl/vfl_clubs.htm