The day started with a sports law conference in the morning held at the Vibe Hotel in Southport. This was an informative and interesting event, ably chaired by His Honour Mr Wayne Cochrane of the Land Court of Queensland. The speakers were all from the New South Bar.
The first speaker was Graham Turnbull SC. Graham kept the audience captivated and entertained by his presentation on the topic “When physical contact on the field becomes a crime.” The presentation included video clips and photographs of some notorious incidents in football around the world.
The next speaker was John Marshall SC. John spoke about “Anti-doping in sport.” John’s presentation gave an overview of the way in which the systems in various sports deal with drugs. John also provided a valuable insight into some of the leading cases, including cases in which he has acted for one of the parties.
Dr Elizabeth Peden and Danial Tynan lent some flavour to the academic analysis of “Issues of construction in sports contracts. They reviewed the legal issues confronting a professional sportsperson who wants to walk out on a club and ignore the contract.
Then we had a valuable and thoughprovoking word from the sponsor of the event, Peter Steele from Medico Legal Insurance Group. Peter, who spent many years at Suncorp Insurance, outlined the excellent product which has been taken up by the Queensland Bar. It is a group insurance policy in which members of that Bar are covered for $250,000 for death or disability simply by being members of the Queensland Bar.
The final session was a panel discussion chaired by John Maconachie QC. The panellists were John Marshall SC, Lachlan Gyles SC, John Harris and Simon Burchett. The chairman and the panellists provided a helpful guide to “Appearing before Sports Tribunals”. The reflections of the speakers included some examples of effective advocacy, having regard to the composition and priorities of the various tribunals.
The conference was well worthwhile. Throughout the morning there was input from practitioners who had been involved in some of the leading cases. The delegates gained insights which cannot be gleaned from case reports and law books.
Our thanks go to Anthony LoSurdo for his tireless work in organising the conference.
In the afternoon we played the matches at Robina City Soccer Club. The three games provided some willing competition. While no crimes were committed, bruises were given and received, and the referees were kept busy.
The weather was fine, if a little windy. The pitch was good.
There were three matches of 30 minute halves.
In the first match New South Wales defeated Queensland 3:2. After a well drilled Queensland applied considerable pressure and took the lead, New South Wales, captained by John Harris, clawed back into the game and overcame the hosts. The scorers for New South Wales were Daniel Tynan, Stephen Free and Vahan Bedrossian. The scorer of both goals for Queensland was Hamish Farr.
Nick Tiffen, a Sydney clerk, was referee. He selected Daniel Tynan as best and fairest for New South Wales and Lee Clark as the best and fairest for Queensland.
The next match was New South Wales v Victoria. The following members of the Victorian bar took the field:
Con Lichnakis, Douglas James, Hamish Austin, Jim Fitzpatrick, Lionel Wirth, Michael Biviano, Mike Kats (captain) and Peter Agardy.
Jim Fitzpatrick’s friend and former team mate, Tharaka Narayna from Brisbane, joined our team for the day. In addition, New South Wales lent us some star recruits, some as substitutes. These were John Harris, who was fearless in goal for both of our games, Gillian Mahony, David Stanton, Colin Magee, Simon Phillips, John Marshall and Geoff Lindsay. Nick Tiffen discarded his whistle and played for us for a short time in our match against Queensland.
We held New South Wales to 0:0 for the first half. But we were overrun in the second half, with Sydney winning 4:0. The goalscorers were Vahan Bedrossian (2), Colin Magee and Simon Phillips.
The match was refereed by Anthony Lo Surdo. He selected Vahan Bedrossian as the best and fairest for New South Wales and Lionel Wirth as best and fairest for Victoria.
The third match was Queensland v Victoria, refereed by Simon Burchett.
Queensland prevailed 3:1, ably captained by Johnny Selfridge. The goalscorers for Queensland were Joe Morris, Hamish Farr and Michael Hodge. Con Lichnakis scored for Victoria with a clever chip over the Queensland keeper, Justice Colin Forrest of the Family Court.
The best and fairest for Queensland was Johnny Selfridge. For Victoria the referee selected Jim Fitzpatrick.
In each of our games Mike Kats played a captain’s match, never giving up for a moment. Jim Fitzpatrick and Con Lichnakis, tireless in midfield, absorbed considerable pressure, as did our striker Hamish Austin. Michael Biviano, Lionel Wirth and Douglas James were robust in defence. Peter Agardy had an easier time on the wing.
We look forward to the re-matches in Melbourne next year when we will have a full team available.
Our thanks go to the referees and to Johnny Selfridge and Paul Flavel for organising the venue for the matches.
Justice Forrest presented the trophies. These were the Suncorp Challenge Cup, which New South Wales retained (again) at the expense of Victoria. New South Wales also took the overall winner’s trophy. Each player received a medallion commemorating the day.
Many of the players and supporters finished with a dinner in the evening at the Vibe Hotel.
This was the fourth annual event between New South Wales and Victoria and the second in which Queensland participated. It is hoped and expected that this great event will continue for many years to come.
Peter Agardy
Victorian Bar Association
