Sport

28 February, 2025

Laanecoorie Dunolly Cricket Club will celebrate its history at 50th anniversary this Saturday

In the 50 years since the inception of the Laanecoorie Dunolly Cricket Club, countless matches have created lifelong memories.

By Jonathan Peck

Upon reflection, many will quickly point out the 22 premierships in senior cricket across A grade, A reserve and B grade, the iconic club legends who donned those cherished colours over the years or even classic centuries and bowling performances.

However, through all the highs and lows, one theme stands out for many members who have developed a profound connection to the club.

Companionship.

The Laanecoorie Cricket Club and Dunolly Cricket Club officially combined on August 30, 1974, at the Dunolly Recreation Reserve clubrooms.

One of the club’s first champions was Greg Reeves, who began his career at Laane in 1975 aged 17 and collected two MDCA champion player awards and five club champions.

While the club was still finding its feet, Reeves said the building blocks were apparent.

“The club itself was still finding its way because of the amalgamation, I don’t know if people were sure if it was going to work, they all embraced the amalgamation but I think it was going to take some time getting used to it,” he said.

“We had a lot of good people around the club like Bernie Polinelli, ‘Peanut’ Watts and Ken Howard and they gave us guidance and full credit to them they put us in the cauldron and told us to get in there and do it.”

Determined to thrive in the cauldron, Reeves decided to become the club’s president from 1988/89 to the 1990/91 season.

Reeves remembered how one decision during the start of his presidency showcased the community’s commitment to see the club thrive.

“As president, I put to the board that we perhaps drop the name Laanecoorie because I felt there was no longer any ties for lack of a better term to Laanecoorie,” he said.

“The annual general meeting came up and there were about 150 people at that meeting and I thought ‘what have I done’.

“It didn’t change obviously, but the passion people showed that night was the catalyst to get us off our bums and start being successful.”

Reeves said that passion never waned, as the club continued to bond.

“I met so many good people, either opposition, teammates, or supporters over that journey, and I wanted that to keep being part of my life and for that to happen you have to put back in,” he said.

“When I took over as president, we were broke, we owed money and we had just put the turf in thanks to Mick Pearce and that cost us a lot of money.

“The number of former cricketers and supporters who put in, people even gave us money for $200 or $500 and we said we will pay you back.

“In the two years that I was president, we went from being in the red to buying a tractor, a mover, a new roller and paying off our debts and that was from selling raffle tickets at the pub on a Friday and Saturday night which everyone volunteered for.”

In the countdown to the anniversary celebrations, Laane has nominated 20 players, including Reeves, for a Team of the Half Century which will be announced on Saturday.

Reeves said the nomination is a crowning achievement in his career, especially considering his first impressions of the town.

“It’s the greatest honour I think I have ever had in cricket, it means the world to me and I’m honoured because it’s about what I achieved on the ground,” he said.

“It makes me think I must have been a reasonable cricketer to achieve that.

“When I moved from Dunolly I didn’t want to be there, my parents had bought the Royal Hotel and I thought ‘what a hole, it’s dead’.

“I started coming back to see mum and dad, met some people, fell in love with the place and had a huge passion for the town and the sporting clubs.”

While Reeves’ stellar career was ongoing, fellow Team of the Half Century nominee Patrick Edmunds started training with Laane’s under-16s.

“It was a massive part of our life, your life was split into two back then, cricket in summer and football in winter was basically your whole life as a kid,” Edmunds said.

“We were all lucky that we had Ralph Williams as our coach, he was an unbelievably good junior coach in those early years in terms of the technical side of cricket.

“As a junior, you were always in awe of the senior players. Once you became a senior player, they took you under their wing and developed you not only as a player but as a man.

“A lot of my fondest memories throughout my life are playing sport for Dunolly and Laanecoorie Dunolly Cricket Club.”

Edmunds’ fondness for the club never waned, travelling back down from university in Melbourne with Jamie Polinelli for multiple summers.

His fondness paid off on the field when Laane won its first A-grade premiership since the amalgamation in 1995/96, with Edmunds captaining the side to its second premiership in 1997/98.

“Maryborough dominated for a few years there so to win those two premierships was great but really for me when I look back, it’s more about the mateship and the friends,” Edmunds said.

“We were really tight on and off the field, a lot of us had all grown up together, I think out of the 12 in the squad seven of them were junior players who came through the system.

“The mateship is something I remember and value and also it’s the people who were behind the scenes.

“Kaye Polinelli turned up and scored every week forever, Ralph Williams obviously with his coaching and all the other work he did, Bruce Dellavedova was a great club man and countless others who supported us every week.

“I’ve moved away, I’m 50 now and I still see Dunolly as my home and it’s a club that I loved playing for.”

While the club was certainly successful across all grades during Edmunds’ time in the late 1990s, it pales in comparison to Laane’s current A grade dominance which includes five consecutive two-day premierships, five one day titles and three T20 premierships since 2019/20.

A key component of Laane’s recent success is Zach Graham, who joined alongside Matt Smith for the first of five two-day premierships in 2019/20.

“It’s been fun and exciting [at Laane] and I’ve been enjoying seeing new faces come from who we recruit,” Graham said.

“We get a couple of international players which is always good to learn from them as well as see some of the juniors come up like Joe Lovel and Thang Nguyen.

“We have spoken about not getting complacent with ourselves and hopefully we can win it again this year and cap off another terrific season.”

Similarly to Edmunds, Graham continues to travel from Ballarat alongside Smith and Daniel Romeo to be involved in the club.

Graham said the down-to-earth nature of club stalwarts makes the club so enjoyable to be around.

“The people around the club do a power of work like Ralph Williams that no one really sees,” he said.

“The club appreciates what he does in the backend to keep the club going, also Kaye Polinelli the scorer who has been doing it for a long time now, she’s one of those characters that lives and breathes the club.

“You appreciate what they are doing and it makes you want to stay there, everyone is there for a good time and enjoy each other’s company.”

The Laanecoorie Dunolly Cricket Club is hosting its 50th anniversary celebrations at the Maryborough Highland Society on Saturday, March 1 from 6.30 pm.

Channel 10 reporter Sam Mills is MC with Cricket Icon Merv Hughes appearing as a guest speaker.

The club will also announce its Team of the Half Century, officially launch the Raise the Bat book detailing the club’s history and host silent auctions on the night.

“I just want anyone and everyone who’s ever been involved in the club to be there, there’s people I probably haven’t seen in 35 to 40 years and I’m looking forward to seeing them,” Reeves said.

“I hope and I pray that in another 50 years’ time, the club can celebrate another 50 years of cricket and being alive.”

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