Murray Kangaroos Football Club


The Murray Kangaroos Football Club, officially nicknamed the Kangaroos, was an Australian rules football club which competed in the Victorian Football League between 2000 and 2002. The football club was a joint venture between the North Melbourne Football Club and the Ovens and Murray Football League and served as North Melbourne's reserve side.
The Ovens and Murray region was formerly zoned towards North Melbourne, and the club enjoys good support in the area.

History

Following season 1999 [AFL season|1999], the AFL reserves competition was terminated leaving AFL clubs without a place to field their reserves players. The Kangaroos, together with the Ovens and Murray Football League launched their own stand-alone VFL club in the Victorian Football League called the Murray Kangaroos. The club's home games were split between Coburg City Oval in Melbourne, and Lavington Oval in Albury-Wodonga.
The side was made up with players from the Kangaroos, topped up with players from the Ovens and Murray League, and offering a second chance to players from the statewide under-18s Murray Bushrangers team who had missed out on the draft.
At the end of 2002, the Kangaroos disbanded the club citing pressure from the AFL, and cost-cutting measures. North Melbourne instead decided to align with the Port Melbourne Football Club in a short-term deal.

Seasons

YearLeagueCoachCaptainBest and fairestLeading goalkickerGoals
2000VFL14th6130Ross SmithStuart CochraneKent Kingsley34
2001VFL4th1370Paul HamiltonMark HiltonLeigh Harding53
2002VFL7th1091Paul HamiltonAdam LangeRodney Tregenza54