AFL Mackay explained

AFL Mackay
Formerly:	Mackay Australian Football League
Sport:	Australian rules football
Founded:	1970
Divisions:	(3) Senior Men, Senior Women, Reserve Men
Teams:	6
Country:	Australia
Champion:	Allied Pickfords Cup: North Mackay Saints 2023
Champ Season:	MJ Miller Medal: Steven Pugh, Jacob Wilson, North Mackay Saints, 2023
Most Champs:	Allied Pickfords Cup: North Mackay Saints (12) MJ Miller Medal: John Price (3: 2006, 2007, 2008), Desmond Hayes (3: 2010, 2015, 2016)
Website:	Official AFL Mackay Website
Sponsor:	Allied Pickford's

AFL Mackay is an amateur Australian rules football competition formed as the Mackay Australian Football League in 1970. It is headquartered in the city of Mackay with further clubs in Airlie Beach and Bakers Creek. The representative team is known as the Crows. The Premier division is now sponsored by Allied Pickfords Australia (renaming it to Allied Pickfords Cup)

History

The first Australian rules football matches in Mackay were held in 1885, however most clubs in the region later adopted rugby rules.^[1] It would be almost a century before regular competition would again be played in the region.

The Mackay Australian Football League began in 1970 with founding clubs being the East Mackay Demons, West Mackay Magpies (later Walkerston), and North Mackay Colts.

1971 Bakers Creek join.
1975 Moranbah joined and stayed until 1982 when they returned to the central highland due to work commitments.
1977 Mackay City joined the competition.
1980 Dysart joined.
1982 Middlemount joined. Dysart and Middlemount along with Moranbah returned the central highlands as shift work was being the killer for the teams.
1983 There came a break away from the North Mackay team and they called themselves Trend United.
1985 Airlie Beach came into the competition. They changed their name to Whitsunday in 1990.
1987 East Mackay and Trend United amalgamated to become known as Eastern Swans.
1989 Moranbah came back but the same problems arose, shift work and in 1993 again returned to the central highlands.
1990 Mackay City changed their name to Northern Beaches and then back to Mackay City in 1998.
2011 Andergrove Kangaroos joined the competition, changed their name to the Northern Beaches Magpies in 2012, and then to the Mackay Magpies in 2015.

MJ Miller Medal

The MJ Miller Medal is awarded to the best & fairest player as voted by the umpires in the senior men's competition. The award is named after Mick Miller; formerly of the Walkerston Magpies, who was a driving force behind the introduction of AFL to the Mackay Region.

Previous Winners:

1970 Dave Synnott (North Mackay)
1971
1972
1973
1974 Frank Zeolla (North Mackay)
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997 Peter Morris (North Mackay Saints)
1998 Robert Wells (Northern Beaches Lions)
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004 Tyrone Kovacs (Whitsunday Sea Eagles)
2005 Ben Hazell (Eastern Swans)
2006 John Price (North Mackay Saints)
2007 John Price (North Mackay Saints)
2008 John Price (North Mackay Saints)
2009 Paul Branchflower (Whitsunday)
2010 Desmond Hayes (Mackay City Hawks)
2011 Heath Thiele (Andergrove Kangaroos)
2012 Mark Savikauskas (Eastern Swans)
2013 Blake Miles (North Mackay Saints)
2014 Nathan Peters (North Mackay Saints)
2015 Desmond Hayes (Mackay City Hawks)
2016 Desmond Hayes (Mackay City Hawks)
2017 James Gallagher (North Mackay Saints)
2018 Cameron Hill (North Mackay Saints)
2019 Darcy Mealy (Eastern Swans)
2020 Braeden Ebert (Mackay Magpies)
2021 Alec Townsend (North Mackay Saints)
2022 David Manning (Eastern Swans)
2023 Steven Pugh (North Mackay Saints)
2023 Jacob Wilson (North Mackay Saints)

Premiers

1970 East Mackay
1971 Bakers Creek
1972 Bakers Creek
1973 East Mackay
1974 North Mackay
1975 Walkerston
1976 North Mackay
1977 Moranbah
1978 Moranbah
1979 Bakers Creek
1980 East Mackay
1981 Bakers Creek
1982 Mackay City
1983 North Mackay
1984 Trend United
1985 Mackay City
1986 Mackay City

1987 North Mackay
1988 Eastern Swans^[2]
1989 Bakers Creek
1990 Bakers Creek
1991 Bakers Creek
1992 Bakers Creek
1993 Whitsunday
1994 Whitsunday
1995 Whitsunday
1996 Whitsunday
1997 Northern Beaches
1998 Eastern Swans
1999 Bakers Creek
2000 Mackay City
2001 North Mackay
2002 North Mackay
2003 North Mackay

2004 Whitsunday
2005 Whitsunday
2006 Whitsunday
2007 North Mackay
2008 North Mackay
2009 Eastern Swans
2010 Whitsunday
2011 Mackay City
2012 Mackay City
2013 Mackay City
2014 Moranbah
2015 Eastern Swans
2016 Mackay City Hawks
2017 Whitsunday
2018 Whitsunday
2019 North Mackay
2020 North Mackay
2021 North Mackay
2022 North Mackay
2023 North Mackay

^[3]

Clubs

	Home Ground(s)	Joined	Premierships
Bakers Creek	Tigers	Etwell Park. Pattinsons Lane, Bakers Creek	1971–	9 (1971, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1999)
Eastern (Known as East Mackay Demons 1970–1986)^[4] (Merged with Trend United in 1987)	Swans	Rogers Oval. Petrie Street, South Mackay	1970–	7 (1970, 1973, 1980, 1988, 1998, 2009, 2015)
Mackay (Known as Andergrove Kangaroos 2011) (Known as Northern Beaches Magpies also)	Magpies	Magpies Sports Park. Glenella Road, Glenella	2012–	0
Mackay City (Known as Northern Beaches Hawks 1990–1997)	Hawks	Harrup Park. Juliet Street, South Mackay	1977–1978, 1980–	8 (1985, 1986, 1997, 2000, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016)
North Mackay (Known as North Mackay Colts 1970–1973)	Saints	Zeolla Park. Cutler Drive, Beaconsfield	1970–	14 (1974, 1976, 1983. 1987, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Whitsunday (Known as Airlie Beach Bloods 1985–1989)	Sea Eagles	Whitsundays Sports Park. Shute Harbour Road, Jubilee Pocket	1985–	10 (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2017, 2018)

Former

Club	Nickname	Years in competition	Flags	Premierships Years	Notes
Alligator Creek	Bombers				Juniors only
Pioneer Valley	Power				Juniors only
Sarina	Demons				Juniors only
Trend United		1983–1986	1	1984	Merged with Eastern in 1987
Walkerston		1971–1986	1	1975

Senior Mens Leading Goal Kickers

Year	Player	Club	Total goals
1970	David Synnott	North Mackay	31
1971	Mervyn Stevens	Bakers Creek	66
1972	Mervyn Stevens	Bakers Creek	54
1973	Mervyn Stevens	Bakers Creek	105
1974	Len Holland	North Mackay	65
1975	Mervyn Stevens	Bakers Creek	65
1976	Chris Mouat	Moranbah	57
1977	Chris Mouat	Moranbah	113
1978	Ronald Perkins	Moranbah	59
1979	Ness Berding	Moranbah	102
1980	Mervyn Stevens	Bakers Creek	91
1981	Kevin Kimber	Bakers Creek	79
1982	Mervyn Stevens	Mackay City	151
1983	Gary Chapman	Mackay City	76
1984	Peter Smith	Bakers Creek	59
1985	Allen Newman	Trend United	99
1986	Peter Smith	Bakers Creek	105
1987	Brian Park	Bakers Creek	49
1988	Peter Harris	Eastern Swans	100
1989	Anthony Baker	Bakers Creek	216
1990	Anthony Baker	Bakers Creek	136
1991	Peter Harris	North Mackay	228
1992	Geoffrey Reid	Eastern Swans	89
1993	Todd Watson	Whitsunday	103
1994	Damian Quirk	Whitsunday	64
1995	Paul Tascus	Whitsunday	81
1996	Ben Kingsley	Whitsunday	50
1997	Ty Miller	North Mackay	53
1998	Matt Cumming	Whitsunday	47
1999	Daniel Archer	Eastern Swans	100
2000	Barry Goodwin	Mackay City	57
2001	Greg Burdett	North Mackay	40
2002	Lenard Egan	North Mackay	54
2003	David Johnstone	Mackay City	80
2004	David Johnstone	Mackay City	63
2005	Sean Reilly	Mackay City	60
2006	Lenard Egan	North Mackay	80
2007	David Johnstone	Mackay City	80
2008	Craig Dowdell	North Mackay	108
2009	Grant Evans	Mackay City	74
2010	Joshua Murray	Bakers Creek	56
2011	Paul Cole	North Mackay	104
2012	Troy Weller	Whitsundays	76
2013	Michael Fisher	Moranbah Bulldogs	76
2014	Mathew Stephens	Mackay Hawks	97
2015	Brodie Saltmarsh	Mackay City Hawks	65
2016	Sean Reilly	Mackay City Hawks
2017	Brendan Riddle	North Mackay Saints	71
2018	Sean Reilly	Mackay City Hawks
2019	Samuel Dunbar	North Mackay Saints	70
2020	Benjamin Barba	Eastern Swans	26
2021	Benjamin Barba	Eastern Swans	63

2008 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts	Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
North Mackay	18	0	2	0	2938	879	334.24%	72	1st Semi	Eastern Swans	13	9	87	Mackay City	12	14	86
Whitsundays	15	0	5	0	2752	1303	211.20%	60	2nd Semi	North Mackay	16	16	112	Whitsundays	8	10	58
Mackay City	12	0	8	0	2050	1680	122.02%	48	Preliminary	Eastern Swans	18	6	114	Whitsundays	14	20	104
Eastern Swans	9	0	11	0	2109	2342	90.05%	36	Grand	North Mackay	25	17	167	Eastern Swans	8	11	59
Moranbah	4	0	16	0	1108	2468	44.89%	16
Bakers Creek	2	0	18	0	942	3227	29.19%	8

2009 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts	Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Whitsundays	18	0	0	0	2356	975	241.64%	72	1st Semi	Eastern Swans	21	6	132	Bakers Creek	5	7	37
Mackay City	11	0	7	0	2082	1234	168.72%	44	2nd Semi	Whitsundays	15	5	95	Mackay City	12	5	77
Eastern Swans	11	0	7	0	1558	1499	103.94%	44	Preliminary	Eastern Swans	17	10	112	Mackay City	11	12	78
Bakers Creek	7	0	11	0	1331	1800	73.94%	28	Grand	Eastern Swans	11	6	72	Whitsundays	9	9	63
North Mackay	6	0	12	0	1443	1686	85.59%	24
Moranbah	1	0	17	0	788	2364	33.33%	4

2010 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts		Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Whitsundays	15	0	3	0	1713	850	201.53%	60		1st Semi	North Mackay	7	10	52	Bakers Creek	6	6	42
Mackay City	14	0	4	0	1875	784	239.16%	56		2nd Semi	Mackay City	11	9	75	Whitsundays	8	13	61
North Mackay	10	0	8	0	1494	1127	132.56%	40		Preliminary	Whitsundays	17	18	120	North Mackay	6	4	40
Bakers Creek	8	0	10	0	1337	1187	112.64%	32		Grand	Whitsundays	16	12	108	Mackay City	7	6	48
Eastern Swans	6	0	12	0	1151	1547	74.40%	24
	Moranbah	1	0	17	0	511	2586	19.80%	4

2011 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts	Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Mackay City	16	0	0	0	1958	434	451.15%	64	1st Semi	Andergrove	10	7	67	Whitsundays	6	4	40
North Mackay	12	0	3	1	1800	706	254.96%	50	2nd Semi	Mackay City	6	6	42	North Mackay	5	9	39
Andergrove	9	0	7	0	1084	1169	92.73%	36	Preliminary	North Mackay	15	7	97	Andergrove	4	6	30
Whitsundays	8	0	7	1	793	1122	70.68%	34	Grand	Mackay City	9	13	67	North Mackay	3	9	27
Eastern Swans	7	0	9	0	867	1185	73.16%	28
Moranbah	3	0	13	0	468	1624	28.82%	12
Bakers Creek	0	0	16	0	304	1034	29.40%	0

2012 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts	Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Mackay City	11	3	2	1	1499	520	288.27%	58	1st Semi	Eastern Swans	17	7	109	North Mackay	8	5	53
Whitsundays	11	3	3	0	1513	659	229.59%	56	2nd Semi	Whitsundays	13	10	88	Mackay City	9	15	69
North Mackay	9	3	5	0	1187	873	135.97%	48	Preliminary	Mackay City	10	14	74	Eastern Swans	8	5	53
Eastern Swans	8	3	6	0	1162	853	136.23%	44	Grand	Mackay City	12	9	81	Whitsundays	9	6	60
Magpies Northern Beaches	6	3	7	1	1030	864	119.21%	38
Moranbah	3	3	11	0	700	1430	48.95%	24
Bakers Creek	0	3	14	0	392	2284	17.16%	12

2013 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	For	Against	%	Pts	Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Mackay City	14	3	2	2219	631	351.66%	68	1st Semi	Moranbah	14	15	99	North Mackay	15	4	94
Eastern Swans	13	3	3	1825	826	220.94%	64	2nd Semi	Mackay City	10	11	71	Eastern Swans	6	13	49
Moranbah	11	3	5	1887	940	200.74%	56	Preliminary	Eastern Swans	7	9	51	Moranbah	5	13	43
North Mackay	8	3	8	1457	970	150.21%	44	Grand	Mackay City	19	14	128	Eastern Swans	7	9	51
Whitsundays	7	3	9	1118	1446	77.32%	40
Magpies Northern Beaches	3	3	13	836	2165	38.60%	24
Bakers Creek	0	3	16	507	2871	17.70%	12

2014 Ladder

AFL Mackay	Wins	Byes	Losses	Draws	For	Against	%	Pts	Final	Team	G	B	Pts	Team	G	B	Pts
Mackay City	12	3	2	0	1748	644	271.43%	60	1st Semi	Eastern Swans	11	14	80	North Mackay	7	6	48
Moranbah	11	3	3	0	1620	794	204.03%	56	2nd Semi	Moranbah	17	6	108	Mackay City	8	13	61
North Mackay	11	3	3	0	1382	746	185.25%	56	Preliminary	Mackay City	12	9	81	Eastern Swans	10	8	68
Eastern Swans	8	3	6	0	1378	992	138.91%	44	Grand	Moranbah	12	8	80	Mackay City	9	11	65
Whitsundays	4	3	10	0	903	1371	65.86%	28
Bakers Creek	3	3	11	0	583	1721	33.88%	24
Magpies Northern Beaches	0	3	14	0	506	1852	27.32%	12

League

Official AFL Mackay Website

Notes and References

https://www.aflq.com.au/afl-in-queensland/ History of AFL in Queensland
News: Grand Final Report . Daily Mercury . Mackay, Queensland . 28 . 19 September 1988 . .
News: none. Daily Mercury . Mackay, Queensland .
News: Grand Final Report . Daily Mercury . Mackay, Queensland . 26 . 7 September 1987 . .