THE numbers don’t lie.
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That’s the simple message coming from New South Wales Touch Football Association general manager Dean Russell.
In 2018, 457 referees and 358 teams were involved across 1312 games at the NSW Junior State Cup.
Port Macquarie’s teams had a mixed bag of success, with the under-16 girls eliminated in the quarter-finals.
More than 20,000 people converged on Port Macquarie as the current setup for the event was farewelled in style.
Anyone who found themselves stuck in the Hastings River Drive carpark on Friday morning won’t miss it when they return in 12 months time when the numbers will be smaller.
We set all sorts of records and it justified our decision that the event is simply just too big now.
- NSWTA general manager Dean Russell
“We set all sorts of records and it justified our decision that the event is simply just too big now,” Russell said.
“We know the traffic went deeper on the Friday morning into town than it ever has before, but it was a great way for us to finish the current construct.”
Some affiliates said goodbye to Port Macquarie with the southern part of the state set to head to Wagga for the southern conference event in 2019.
Those in the north will return to the Mid North Coast in 12 months’ time when spectator figures are expected to be more manageable.
Figures indicate up to 260 teams and 13,000 spectators will be back.
“I had a chat with a couple of our Sydney affiliates who will go into the southern conference who said they wanted to come back to Port Macquarie, but they know they simply can’t,” Russell said.
“They’re also looking forward to the new event at Wagga.”
On the field, Manly claimed their eighth consecutive club championship ahead of Wagga Wagga who performed better than they had in previous years.
Conditions were testing on the field on day one in particular and Russell said organisers kept an eye on the thermometer.
“Friday was a concern for us because when it reached 32.5 degrees we sent notices out to all the affiliates,” he said.
“If it got to 34 degrees we were going to go straight to two 12 minute halves with a two-minute halftime break.”
On the final day of competition, all matches were determined in regulation time.
“It’s the first time we have never had a drop off in 26 years of the event,” Russell said.
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