Well the 35* Willowfest Reunion team has been announced, see the attached team for the 35 players who have been inducted into the Willowfest Hall of Fame.
If you talk to the players and personalities that have contributed to Willowfest over the last 35 year, there are two elements that keep people coming back to Mildura.
The cricket battles on the field, but more importantly, the friendships made off the field.
Players reminisced about the past 35 years on Thursday night 27th December on the PS Mundoo down the Murray River as part of Willowfest’s 35-year reunion.
Greg Ryan, who travelled from Melbourne for 20 years to Willowfest, said he had fond memories of his days in Mildura.
“I came up for 20 years and I remember
the hot days, a lot of beer, a lot of friendships and some really good cricket,” Ryan said.
“It’s a real honour for me to come back and catch up with all the people.
“I’ve always held this place in high regard, I played a year of footy here and did all that and made a lot of lifelong friends out of it.
“It was five good days of cricket when we played.”
Donna Moore said she
was chuffed to be named in Willowfest’s 35-year reunion team, which recognises the characters that have helped build the carnival over the years.
Moore has participated in Willowfest over the last nine years with the Brighton Beasts.
Moore says the carnival is a way for her to catch up with friends each year.
“We are all passionate about cricket and this is a great event,” Moore said.
“We’ve won it a few times but it is all about the development of cricket and getting girls into cricket.
“I’ll keep coming back for as a long as I can play cricket.”
The captain of Willowfest’s 35-year reunion team, Geoff Johns, said he was humbled to lead the representative team.
“I was involved when it was Mildura Country Week back in the late 1960s,” Johns said.
“I played on and off for many years but I’ve only played one or two games in the last 15 years.
“I played a lot of cricket against the blokes in the team and I played with some of them, so there are a lot of good cricketers in the team.”
Kangarilla stalwart Jeff Thorpe has been travelling with his family from South Australia to Mildura for 13 years.
Thorpe said he enjoyed playing on Mildura’s first-class facilities, as well as the social connections his family has made.
“It gives us the opportunity to play of turf, the weather is great and the people are good,” Thorpe said.
“We wouldn’t have met a lot of people if we didn’t come up here.
“It’s the social side as much as anything.
“We’ve got to make it to 15 years so we’ve got at least another two more years.”
