The Larrikin Spirit Is Alive At The Community Cup

In purist footy terms it’s all about that one day in September, but when you throw music and community spirit into the mix and you’re talking about Melbourne there’s one Saturday in June that’s rapidly becoming equally vital. The Reclink Community Cup is now in its 21st year gracing the Melbourne sport and music calendars, featuring as always a gladiatorial exhibition between the Rockdogs (a team comprised of various rock’n’roll identities) and their community radio-based opposition, the Megahertz. 

These days held at Elsternwick Park, the game is a fiercely-contested (to a point) struggle between two (sometimes) experienced and (occasionally) match-hardened opponents, where rules are often bent in a quest for parity rather than victory. Most importantly, however, the Reclink Community Cup (as the name suggests) raises much-needed funds for the Reclink Australia organisation, a not-for-profit body that aims to help the underprivileged and people experiencing disadvantage by providing sport and arts programs.

"That larrikin is well-and-truly alive in spirit if the Reclink Community Cup in Melbourne is any indication." 

“After twenty-one years it’s become an embedded, iconic event,” Reclink Australia CEO John Ballis explains. “It probably says something about the Australian spirit — it says something about community — and in my mind at least it reminds me of the recent comments made by [Bob] Hawke about the larrikin image of Australians and how that appears to be lacking: to me that larrikin is well-and-truly alive in spirit if the Reclink Community Cup in Melbourne is any indication.

“It’s our major fundraiser at the moment, so it’s vital to Reclink. We’re able to raise over $100K per annum, and that enables us to deliver sports and recreation programs and opportunities across Australia. That is providing either ‘no cost’ sports and participation programs, or ‘low cost’ — in either case we’re trying to make sure that it’s within the reach of the most disadvantaged Australians in our community. For all of those reasons having the community radio sector and artists and musicians supporting a great event like the Reclink Community Cup is an important part of us raising awareness and raising much-needed funds. 

“I think in addition to that, having radio stations — in this instance RRR and PBS, two great independent radio stations in Melbourne — getting behind the Cup and supporting it and putting together the Megahertz team is a very important way of spreading the message to people who probably mightn’t in their day-to-day life experience significant advantage. Of course it’s very hard for any not-for-profit organisation to get exposure in the local community, but this is one way that we’re able to do it and in the process have a lot of fun with musos and radio personalities and other people getting on the field and playing a great brand of football — what we call the Community Cup version of footy.”

The day itself is a family-friendly amalgam of football and music — the line-up of acts playing this year include Adalita, Graveyard Train, Pearls and The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra — but as Ballis suggests it’s not really about the dynamic brand of football that will be witnessed by punters on the day.

“Getting back to how it all began, I think the fact that we have both males and females taking part on the ground has meant that both the Rockdogs and Megahertz have been able to develop their own rules for engagement on the field, making sure that everyone — particularly the male players — understand the importance of having safety on the field as well as having a good time, and therefore avoiding any tackles or contact with our female players,” he smiles. “It all adds to the spirit of the Reclink Community Cup, which is probably a mixture of that larrikin spirit and the enormous amount of respect shown by all the players in the teams in respect of how to play. 

"If you look at all the musos and bands, the last thing they’d want to do is go on the ground and hammer people."

“For instance if one team is winning on the day, then even the umpires have a duty to make sure that their umpiring respects that team that maybe isn’t doing quite as well — we won’t say that they go out of their way, but they certainly do their utmost to ensure that it’s a colourful event, it really captures the spirit of the audience of RRR and PBS, and I think more widely if you look at all the musos and bands, the last thing they’d want to do is go on the ground and hammer people — it’s not in their nature. Their nature is more geared to engaging with the public and the general community, and this is a great day of doing it albeit without bringing their instruments onto the field.”

All of this talk of respect and empathy is well and good, but it ain’t very ‘footy’. Surely the opposing captains will have a bit more spice to add to the equation? Both teams have certainly been working hard in the lead-up to the big day, bringing some much-needed effort to the table.

“We’ve been pretty good — we’ve been in training since about March,” explains Megahertz captain and PBS breakfast announcer Cat McGauran. “Some dedicated ones were even doing stuff on their own in February to get ready — the hardcore ones — but every Sunday rain, hail or shine we’ve been giving it everything at our sessions. There’s a pretty dedicated core group of twenty-odd people, and if you ask anyone on the team they’d say that the day itself is great but a huge part of the fun is actually the training sessions. We’re really lucky to have a really dedicated coach and assistant coach who turn up every week to train us — they actually have experience in football, and they’re so patient with all these people who don’t know what they’re doing. I shouldn’t say all of us [have no idea], but a lot of us have never played before. The whole environment is so encouraging and positive, and it really just embodies what the whole day is about.”

“We’ve been flat out hitting the track, getting dirty and getting muddy. Plus trying not to jar our fingers, because we need them to play the guitars,” tells the opposing captain from the Rockdogs, Nick Cooper. “My personal strategy for this year is to not get injured, because every year I have some amazing injury — whether it’s a hamstring or a groin or an ankle — so this year’s strategy is a clean bill of health, all early nights and Japanese baths and saunas and spas. “

But what about the much-hyped rivalry between the two institutions?

"This year’s strategy is a clean bill of health, all early nights and Japanese baths and saunas and spas."

“This will be my fifth game [for the Rockdogs] and we’ve had two draws and two wins, so this year I think it’s appropriate that we keep that track record shiny and golden,” Cooper offers. “They think that they’re due for a win, but every year we send them a card after the game telling them how many days since their last win, signed, ‘love the Rockdogs’.”

“I think the rivalry is talked up a little bit, just a tad,” Cat laughs. “Look, it’s fun, and pumping up the rivalry is good for the spectacle, but in reality we have so much respect for all of the players on the Rockdogs team because they’re all such great people, just like all the people on our team are as well. The rivalry is really just part of the spectacle and adds to the theatre.

“It’s so important that organisations like Reclink exist, and having a day like this which is so prominent on the Melbourne music calendar is so important because it reminds people that everyone is only one or two bad decisions away from being in a really bad position, somewhere they never imagined they’d be, and they might need the services of an organisation like Reclink to help them out of that time in their lives. I think it’s really nice to remember that those organisations are there and that they need our support.”

Even Ballis — who in theory has the most at stake in terms of the day being a success — stays firmly on the fence when asked which of the two teams he’ll be barracking for on the day.

“I love the passion and drive of Megahertz, and it’s pretty hard to go by the awesome strength and the level of diligence of the Rockdogs — here are two great teams, who in a way are representing the DNA of where they come from; the radio personalities have their radio stations, and of course all the musos,” he suggests diplomatically. “Over the years the personalities making up these teams have changed, but one thing’s for certain — it’s going to be a great game, be it rain, hail or shine. These are two teams who love to come together annually to play on the field, playing their version of Aussie Rules football, whilst striving to make it an enjoyable event for all the people who come to watch and play. It’s no ordinary AFL match where the glory goes to the winner; this is about the journey — the journey is the most important and enriching part of it.”