1972 Long Kicking Contest at Wayville

[spell_check]

I know there were more of these, but I looked up this particular one to give an idea as to who participated at the time. As many of you know, Noel Pettingill was the standout of this era. He came into this contest having won it the two previous years.

Held on 4th of September with two heats, the first at 8:30pm:

Ralph Sewer
Ray Buckley (Woodville)
Robert Lipp
Neville Caldwell (Glenelg)
Bruce Simmons
Greg White (Torrens)
Tony Hobby
Lindsay McGie (Port)
David Young
Kevin Griffifths (South)
Rodney Seekamp
Noel Pettingill (Norwood)

The longest kicker from each club went through, they were:
Sewer, Lipp, Milan Faletic (one of the two Torrens players must have pulled out, but it did not indicate which one), Hobby, Griffifths and Pettingill.

The 2nd heat on the same night began at 9.10pm:
Terry Papst
Glynn Hewitt (West)
Dean Ottens
John Green (Sturt)
Lyle Skinner
John Wyley (Central)
Neil Sachse
Robert Ford (North)
John Dunstan - Broughton District League
Colin Black - Mid South East
Trevor Kruger - Murraylands
David Palmer - Adelaide Plains
Peter Rice - Great Southern
Colin Maddern - Tatiara
Brian Davis - Mid North
Michael Fitzgerald - Southern
Greg Croser - Yorke Valley

By the looks of who went through out of the various Leagues, the longest two kickers did:
Papst, Ottens, Sachse, Davis, Palmer - I don't think it mentioned which Central player qualified.

The top three kickers all beat the record in this competition, which was held by Bob Shearman. Dean Ottens roosted it 78.34 metres, Pettingill close behind with 77.58 and Lipp with 74.4.

The final, held three days later, gave each player three kicks each. It was noted that the slippery conditions made it tougher than the heats. Pettingill made it three in a row with his best being 67.42 metres. Ottens came 2nd with 64.34 and Lipp third, with 61.4. They earnt $200, $40 and $20 respectively.

[GWW]

I remember as a kid seeing one of these comps in the Riverland in the late 70's, only player i can remember competing was Russell Ebert. As far as i can recall they were fairly common/popular 30 or so years ago.

[Adelaide Hawk]

There was a "Craven A" national long kicking competition which they used to show on World of Sport.

I don't know the entire history of the competition, but I recall Central District full back Terry Phillips winning it in 1967, Bob Shearman also won it, I think it was the following year, and then along came Noel Pettingill.

I don't know how many times he won it, but he was clearly the longest kick in Australian football at the time. One year he wasn't going so well, but won the longest kick of the competition with a wrong foot drop kick!!! He was a freak.

[GWW]

Which club was Pettingill from?

[Adelaide Hawk]

Which club was Pettingill from?

Pettingill played 137 games for Norwood from 1969 to 1976, and then a further 20 games for Sturt after that.

[nickname]

BTW that's Terry Papst from West, not Trevor.
I suspect the Greg Croser is the same guy who played full back for Glenelg and West. He was a beautiful left foot kick.

[spell_check]

BTW that's Terry Papst from West, not Trevor.
I suspect the Greg Croser is the same guy who played full back for Glenelg and West. He was a beautiful left foot kick.

Thanks for that. I'd say it's the same Croser.