Demons off to Downs
TOTAL 49 (5) terry.wilson@news.com.au Toowoomba. Southport first did it in 2000 and again in 2001 in QAFL matches against the Brisbane Lions reserves.
But it is the first fixture that still sticks in the minds of a lot of players and officials.
Kennedy, who was getting towards the end of his 188game AFL career, was in the same team as Brown, then a raw rookie destined to become a Lions legend.
What made the match, on a cruel, wintry Downs afternoon, more peculiar was the shape of the playing field.
The ground was a hastily put together design that comprised of two hockey fields with small arcs at the ends of the straight boundary lines.
On one side of the ground was a fenced paddock where cattle were grazing.
“That was the day I first thought about retiring,” Kennedy said of the unforgettable experience.
“It was a day when I felt a million miles away from AFL footy, just one of those moments.
“It was definitely an interesting set-up.”
Brown said: “It was cold, it was raining and we got beaten by the Sharks.”
Why a QAFL premiership match was played on a rectangular ground was because there was no other venue that was suitable for the Brisbane ground condition expert Craig Starcevic.
Jack Barry, now AFLQ coaching manager, was AFL Darling Downs development manager at the time.
“The game was played when the Olympic torch was going through the area,” Barry said.
“We showed the Lions different venues but they said no. Back then it was all about the playing surface.
“The Lions agreed to play at that venue because they preferred the surface at the hockey fields.
“Unfortunately it was the wettest, coldest, most miserable day ever.”
Brown was a star, kicking five goals on Southport Hall of Famer and Team of the Century member Mark Bradley.
“I can remember kicking the ball into the paddock and the umpires had to jump over the fence among the cows to retrieve it,” Brown said.
For the record, Southport won the match by 57 points when coached by Jason Cotter.
They went on to win the grand final with a team that included Nick Riewoldt.
In 2001 the Sharks played the Lions again but this time it was at Heritage Oval when they won by 15 points.