Rugby League: Spacemen, Turkeys and The Donkey Derby

Since last blogging from the town of Lismore in NSW, complaing about the dearth of truly evocative club names in Australian country rugby league, Ive had word from an old mate, Jim Marr, asking what about the Parkes Spacemen and someone called the pumpkin-pickers.

Ill give you the Spacemen, who I had the pleasure of covering in a grand final many years ago, but the pumpkin-pickers have me beat.

I do vaguely recall that Canterbury were known as the Cherry Pickers in their early years. This also led to Wigan, in their cherry and white, being erroneously referred to by some Australians as the Cherry Pickers.
I still find it hard to go past the Stanthorpe Gremlins, who I discovered two years ago, or this trips Kyogle Turkeys. I was told that they were called the Bush Turkeys, after the locally prevalent wild variety; in fact, theyre just the Turkeys.

In any case, it should be the Brush Turkeys and there was no sign of them in Kyogle. In Coolangatta, on the other hand, theres hundreds of the damn things, so much so that youre warned against feeding them. Not that they wait to be fed. The size of peacocks, they jump up on your breakfast table and take what they fancy.

Anyway, after a slightly unnerving encounter with a kookaburra surely that should be a team- Im back home, giving some thought to what would constitute a really unforgettable European fixture.

How about Pau Donkeys against the Batley/Dewsbury irregular rep side, the Heavy Woollen Donkeys? You know what that would be, dont you? The Donkey Derby.

I thank you.

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