TOCUMWAL-FINLEY RIVALRY
In AFL football there have been rivalries over they years and often they change, depending on who happens to be the greatest threat to your own club at
that particular time and the rivalry is more intense the closer the geographic proximity--there is nothing better than beating the neighbours!! You are close to them so bragging is easy!!
In the VFL cum AFL, the Fitzroy-Collingwood rivalry was the big one for over 30 years in the early 1900s (until 1939, Fitzroy with Collingwood were the most successful clubs in the VFL) , then Melbourne-Collingwood,in the 1950s and 60s, then Carlton-Collingwood (still endures), Richmond-Collingwood in the 1970s and in the 1980s Essendon-Hawthorn and recently Hawthorn-Geelong.
Obviously the rivalry in the 2 club cities is intense due to proximity and bragging rights to the winner!!
But some rivalries just endure regardless of position on the ladder.
For Tocumwal it is big brother Finley. Over the years Tocumwal have had other rivalries due to being the Bloods main challenger at the time--Berrigan and Cobram in the 1960s, Barooga for awhile in the 1990s, but nothing, NOTHING, comes close to the Toc-Finley rivalry. Cobram figure in the rivalry stakes (Cobram Chatter even mentioned playing Tocumwal as the traditional rivals in 1968) but it is Finley that Toc want to beat!!
The rivalry started in 1895-- 121 years ago--when Tocumwal (not sure they were the Bloods then) won the 1895 premiership.
Tocumwal defeated Finley in the last match of 1895 to be crowned Southern Riverina Association Premiers by finishing on top of the ladder as was the custom then.
The rivalry came to a peak in the late 1920s when Finley defeated the Bloods in the 1926 and 1927 Murray Border League deciders before the Bloods reversed this with a long awaited Premiership victory in 1928.
In the mid- 1930s Tocumwal was a dominant club and finished top two three years in a row for a disappointing haul of only one flag in 1935 and Finley tended to struggle so the rivalry was more with premiership rivals Berrigan and Cobram.
The rivalry was re-kindled in the early 1950s when the Cats defeated Tocumwal in the 1954 Grand Final. The rivalry had been ratcheted up a notch or two when in mid-1952 the Bloods 1951 coach Bert deAbel took the licence of the Tuppal Hotel in Finley and enticed Tocumwal's star centre half forward in Allan Jeans to join him with a good offer to play as well as work in the hotel. Tocumwal refused to clear Jeans and he stood out of football for the rest of the season, creating even more bad blood between the clubs!!
While the rivalry persisted in the 1960s the Bloods focus turned more to their close rivals for Premierships in Berrigan and Cobram once again.
In 1972 controversy again erupted when Don Whitten accepted the coaching position with the arch enemy and this left some bitterness among some Tocumwal people.
The Bloods had the Cats measure for the mid 1970s and the recruitmentnof Finley ruckman David Henderson as coach further inflamed the enmity between the clubs.
The worm turned in the late 1970s as Finley headed for a golden era and Tocumwal struggled. For 11 years Tocumwal would lift and fight hard but were winless against Finley until the drought was broken in the 1988 season.
Finley dual best and fairest winner and premiership player Mark O'Hora joined the Bloods which also caused further angst between the clubs.
The Bloods were on the rise in 1988 and defeated the flag favourites at Finley by 7 goals to seal a top three place and 5 weeks later the two teams were to meet in the Second Semi Final. Finley flexed its muscle and belted the Bloods both on the scoreboard and physically. A battered Bloods were no match for Jerilderie in the Preliminary Final and Finley easily won over the Demons to win the Premiership.
Afterwards Finley Chairman of Selectors Jack Hawkins said all the Cats planning after the late season defeat by Tocumwal was directed at defeating the Bloods as they thought only one team was a danger to them!!
Revenge was best served cold and all the more sweet as Tocumwal dominated the 1991 Grand Final in cold and wet conditions to deliver a much deserved flag.
The Cats have not won another premiership since their 1988 flag.
In the 2003 seson Tocumwal defeated Finley by 28 goals and defeated the Cats in every grade, probably for the first time ever, and Finley were in desperate straits as a club and on the verge of folding. Finley asked Tocumwal for a merger which the Bloods heirarchy rejected, fearing an eventual takeover.
The fortunes of both clubs later changed but it was just another chapter in the rivalry of over 100 years.
The rivalry was confirmed when Finley were flogging a struggling Tocumwal in 2011 with the Bloods goalless and a controversial free kick was paid to Tocumwal late in the third quarter with Finley 20 goals up. A Tocumwal supporter asked a baying Finley crowd to show a bit of mercy and was met with a reply from a Finley supporter that we "hate Tocumwal's guts and the more Finley belted them the better and don't expect any mercy"
This was music to the Tocumwal supporter's ears as it was thought the Tocumwal-Finley rivalry was more about Tocumwal but it was obvious that Finley also see it as their major rivalry!
Unfortunately this has ended with Tocumwal joining the Picola League. How long the close rivals remain in different leagues is yet to be determined!
Folklore
In the latter years, a trophy was struck, to be competed for by the 2 seniors sides. The Kelly Grain Cup, in honor of the Kelly family's contribution to both clubs, was additional motivation to juice up the rivalry. So popular was this Cup, that there was even a suggestion that a similar trophy be competed for in the 2nds. This suggestion was to have trophy called the Shiney Baldwin Cup, with the loser getting Shiney for the rest of the season!!
