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| History |
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| BC | AD | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | Cibubur | Whither to Hither? | Club Song |
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| 1999 |
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Once again an intra club game was organised on Australia day at ISCI with the usual 10 per side formation. Once again the usual excuses were trotted out as to why some could not attend and the same promises to get fit, come to training, be on the committee, stay off the grog, buy new boots, etcetera, et al, during the drinks after the game. Nevertheless a good time was had by all and we stumbled forward to the prospect of a new AFL season.
Rumours that ATVI may not broadcast AFL matches in 1999 were met with disbelief, nae, horror !, and the Big Rooster and others were quick to garner support from all and sundry to bombard the AFL and ATVI with faxes, emails, cards, letters, cartons of VB, sob stories ('my aged grandmother lives in Jakarta and Doctors have said that if she doesn't watch at least …..', ' I am a senior executive with a major Australian corporation and the stress, the stress, if I can't watch footy …'). In the event, the footy is on the telly, and footy around Asian has the drawcard it needs to continue to survive and attract interest, thanks to everyone's efforts and the executives at the AFL and ATVI.
The Bintangs had peaked in the second half of 1997 and with the players, fitness and confidence were looking forward to a return match with the Wombats however this did not eventuate (rumours they had heard of the Bintangs prowess still circulate). When the Wombats did finally come back to Jakarta on 10 April 1999, a number of the stalwarts of the club had left and with much reduced expatriate numbers because of the Indonesian crisis, the Bintangs initially seemed to be undermanned. However with our first Indonesian players, Cahyana and Andi, PNG Ambassador Tas, and a number of first gamers, the player availability suddenly went up and after a few training runs confidence started to soar. On the day the Bintangs were patchy and a poor third quarter saw the Wombats take the lead. Starting 7 points down, the Bintangs came home on a wave to win 9 10 64 to 9 7 61.
The euphoria of beating Singapore, the benchmark we had set for ourselves, was short lived however. Having not been beaten for two years and with a new coach and even newer designer guernseys in form fitting lycra, the Bintangs headed for Bali reasonably confident of retaining the Java-Bali Australian Football Cup in July 1999. A supercharged and very fit Bali Ghekko's took the game right away from the Bintangs, running out easy winners 23 15 151 to 7 12 54.
Her Majesty sent another armada in August 1999 and a game was quickly organised the week before the planned Singapore tour. Ostensibly a good excuse for a run, initial feelings were that three Oz ships should be able to put out a reasonable team. Actually the sides were pretty even with the Bintangs restoring pride with a victory, 10 9 69 to HMS Brisbane 9 9 63, after a second half fade that allowed the Ol' Salts to close the gap.
August 1999 saw the first real overseas tour (Bali is still part of Indonesia isn't it?), to Singapore after they had visited us three times. The Bintangs held the Cup but on home turf the Wombats ran out easy winners in a game that was fairly even apart from the kicking for goal 12 6 78 to 5 12 42.
So, from claiming to be ASEAN Champions to holding only the Modern Cup (competition with Malaysia), the mighty Bintangs have fallen from our self constructed pedestal. |
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