Messenger Premier League

Last updated

Messenger Premier League
Current season, competition or edition:
TableTennis current event.svg2010
Sport Table tennis
Founded1951
MottoWhere Amazing Happens
No. of teams16
CountryAustralia
Most recent
champion(s)
Hawks

The Messenger Premier League (MPL) is a professional table tennis competition in Australia.

Contents

The league comprises 16 teams which play against each other in 22 rounds between late March and late August. This is followed by a four-week finals series in September which culminates in two teams playing off for the Premiership in the MPL Grand Final. [1]

Minor round matches consist of one set, first to 21 points. In the finals and MPL Grand Final, matches consist of three sets, first to 21 points. All matches are played at Messenger Park.

MPL Grand Final week, traditionally the last week in September, kicks-off with the presentation of the Walls Medal for the best and fairest player on the Monday night. MPL Grand Final Day traditionally starts with the Farmers Grand Final Breakfast. The MPL Grand Final is then played at noon on the last Friday in September.

History

The MPL was established in 1951 by four founding clubs – the Hawks, Speed, Hornets and Pelicans. [2] From humble beginnings, the league grew to eight clubs by the 1960s and 12 by 1970. The 1970s and 1980s were dominated by two clubs, the Frost and the Jazz. The fierce rivalry culminated in the 1986 MPL Grand Final, commonly referred to as The Bloodbath of '86. [3] The league hit financial difficulties in the late 1980s, with several clubs declaring bankruptcy. But after extensive financial restructuring, the league started to recover and expand during the 1990s. The 2000s (decade) has become a golden era for the MPL, with 16 clubs and crowds regularly topping 30,000 and public interest and media coverage at record levels. [4]

2008

At the end of the 2008 minor round, the Hawks topped the ladder after going through the entire season undefeated. The Speed, Field Mice and Swans rounded out the top four. The Falcons narrowly missed a top-four spot in fifth, followed by the Power, Demons and Hornets. The Pelicans finished last to claim the wooden spoon. The Hornets and Demons were eliminated in the first week of the finals. In the semi-finals, the Field Mice defeated the Power and the Falcons upset the highly fancied Swans. In the Preliminary Finals, the Speed beat the Falcons in a classic contest 25–23, 17–21, 21–18. The Hawks easily accounted for the Field Mice in straight sets in the other Preliminary Final. This set up a Grand Final showdown between the Hawks and the Speed on 26 September. The Hawks defeated the Speed, two sets to one, in front of 160,000 people to complete the first undefeated season in MPL History.

2009

The Hawks lost their first match in more than a season to bitter rivals the Falcons and also lost a minor round match to the Demons. This triggered rumours the Hawks had over indulged during the off-season. The Bunnies emerged as a new power club and finished the minor round in the top four. The Speed pulled out of the competition due to injury. The Pelicans again failed to win a match despite optimism from the fans it would win its round 13 match against the Knight Riders. The League welcomed several new clubs including the Sergeants, Tapirs and Knight Riders. C-Gas United (Formerly the Clowns) went on a dream run during the finals, including an upset semi-final win over the Field Mice in the semi-finals. C-GAS fell to the Hawks in the preliminary final. The Hawks therefore progressed to the grand final. On the other side of the draw the Bunnies steamrolled through to the decider after comfortable wins over the Sawns and Demons. The Demons later accused the Bunnies of having an unfair advantage due to superior training facilities. This set up a Hawks-Bunnies grand final. The Bunnies, using their power game, won the first set but the Hawks fought back to win a tight second set, and also a tight deciding set, to claim back-to-back flags. It was the first time a club had gone back-to-back since the Frost in 1987–88. More than 200,000 fans attended the 2009 grand final.

2010

The League's attempt to start an S-League (division two) proved a failure. Dwindling attendances and cost blow-outs forced the abandonment of this competition mid-season. The MPL season had to be shortened due to a pay dispute but still proved to be exciting. Clubs only played 13 rounds. The Celtics entered the League and became a force, going all the way to the grand final after beating the Bunnies in a spiteful prelim final. On the other side of the draw, the Hawks again progressed to the grand final. A record 250,000 fans attended the grand final but it proved a fizzer. After consecutive three-set thrillers in 2008 and 09, the 2010 grand final was one-sided, with the Hawks winning in straight sets and never being seriously challenged. The win meant the Hawks became the first club to win three straight grand finals since WWII.

2011

At the end of the 2010 season four clubs – the Tapirs, Bunnies, Hawks and Sergeants – broke away from the rest of the League and formed the Davis Cup League (DCL) after their demands for a better pay deal were resumed. The Hawks have since committed to returning to the MPL in 2011 after having their request for the tennancy rights at the soon-to-be-redeveloped Adelaide Oval approved by the League. The Tapirs, Sergeants and Bunnies are yet to commit to either League.

Premiers

2008 – Hawks

2009 – Hawks

2010 – Hawks

2011 – Lock out season

Clubs

Present clubs

Other Defunct clubs

Possible future clubs

See also

Related Research Articles

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been a founding member of the competition since 1897. The club was originally established in 1874 as the South Melbourne Football Club, and played amongst other clubs based in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1982 the club relocated to Sydney, New South Wales, changing its name in the process and becoming the first club in the competition to be based outside the state of Victoria.

The 2004 Australian Football League season was the 108th season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 15th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989.

Perth Football Club

The Perth Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club based in Lathlain, Western Australia, currently playing in the West Australian Football League (WAFL).

Paul Roos is a former Australian rules footballer and senior coach in the Australian Football League (AFL). Roos represented Fitzroy and Sydney during the 1980s and 1990s. Roos was the senior coach of the Sydney Swans and Melbourne Football Club from 2002 to 2010 and 2014 to 2016 respectively.

Brett Kirk Australian rules footballer

Brett Kirk is a former Australian rules football player of the Sydney Swans and was the AFL's International Ambassador. Kirk is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Sydney Swans Football Club.

Luke Hodge Australian rules footballer, born 1984

Luke Hodge is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, captaining the club from 2011 to 2016. In 2018, Hodge moved to the Brisbane Lions, before retiring in 2019. Hodge started his career playing on the half-back flank but as his career progressed he has been known to push up into the midfield. He is a four-time premiership player, three-time premiership captain and a two-time Norm Smith Medallist. Hodge is widely regarded as one of the most respected players, in particular as a captain, to have ever participated in the sport.

NAB League Boys under-18 Australian rules football competition

The NAB League Boys is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne with each team representing twelve Victorian regions, while a thirteenth team from Tasmania was reintroduced in 2019. The competition is sponsored by National Australia Bank (NAB), having previously been sponsored by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) since its inception.

The London Swans is an Australian rules football club based in London, England..

Lance Franklin Australian rules footballer

Lance Franklin, also known as Buddy Franklin, is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2005 to 2013. Regarded as the greatest forward of his generation and among the greatest players of all time, Franklin has kicked 963 goals, the most of any current player and the seventh-most in VFL/AFL history, and has been his clubs' leading goalkicker on eleven occasions. He has been selected in the All-Australian team on eight occasions, including as captain in the 2018 team, and has won four Coleman Medals throughout his career, with his biggest haul coming in 2008 with Hawthorn, when he kicked 113 goals for the year.

The 1988 VFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Melbourne Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 24 September 1988. It was the 92nd annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1988 VFL season. The match, attended by 93,754 spectators, was won by Hawthorn by a margin of 96 points, marking that club's seventh premiership victory.

Sam Frost

Samuel Frost is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, 1.94 metres tall and weighing 95 kilograms (209 lb), Frost has the ability to play as either a forward or defender, and is capable of also playing in the ruck. He entered top-level football early when he played as a bottom-aged player for the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup. His final year as a junior saw him play in both the winning grand final for Sandringham and the winning final for Vic Metro in the 2011 AFL Under 18 Championships. He was recruited by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with the first selection in the 2012 rookie draft and made his debut during the 2012 season. After three seasons with Greater Western Sydney and twenty-one matches in total, he was traded to the Melbourne Football Club during the 2014 trade period. On the 11th of October 2019 he was traded to Hawthorn.

The 1988 WAFL season was the 104th season of the West Australian Football League in its various incarnations.

Philadelphia Hawks

The Philadelphia Hawks are an Australian rules football club representing the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States Australian Football League.

The 1989 WAFL season was the 105th season of senior football in Perth. It saw Claremont continue its dominance of the competition with a third successive minor premiership under Gerard Neesham, despite having lost most of their top players of previous seasons to the VFL, and their 1988 conquerors Subiaco fall to third last with a mere six wins – their worst performance since the dark days of 1983 when the club had not played in the finals for nine years and had been wooden spooners four times in eight seasons. Coach Bunton had to promote many young players and knew 1989 was to be a year of rebuilding, though only a second Colts premiership under Eddie Pitter showed Subiaco did possess much resilience.

The 1991 WAFL season was the 107th season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League. With the West Coast Eagles still pushing attendances down and club finances into the red, the league made further experiments. Following on from the VFL and SANFL it introduced a ‘final five’ to replace the final four in use since 1905, but this did not produce the hoped-for financial benefits and was abandoned after four seasons. A more enduring result of this chance was a ‘double-header’ system of playing finals, whereby the two senior semi-finals were played at Subiaco Oval on the same day, with the first game starting just before noon and the second at the traditional time for playing finals. As a consequence of the double-headers, reserves finals were played at Fremantle Oval and colts at Bassendean.

The 2006 WAFL season was the 122nd season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League. Owing to low crowds making the city's traditional big-match venue, Subiaco Oval, uneconomic due to high overheads, the WAFL followed the AFL since 1991 by scheduling finals at the home ground of the club higher on the ladder.

The 2003 WAFL season was the 119th season of the various incarnations of the West Australian Football League. For this season the WAFL reverted briefly to playing its semi-finals as a “double-header”, a policy abandoned for good at the end of the 2005 season, and also reverted to a twenty-game home-and-away season with three byes which has continued to this day.

Aliir Aliir Australian rules footballer

Aliir Mayom Aliir is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He formerly played for the Sydney Swans.

Melissa Hickey

Melissa Hickey is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She served as Geelong captain in the club's first two AFL Women's seasons. She also played in the Victorian Women's Football League/VFL Women's for eleven seasons, representing the St Albans Spurs, Darebin and Geelong. In the VWFL/VFLW, Hickey won seven premierships, represented Victoria on three occasions and featured in the VFL Women's team of the year.

Karen Paxman

Karen Paxman is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). A defender, 1.70 metres (5.6 ft) tall, Paxman plays primarily on the half-back line with the ability to push into the midfield. She first played football at sixteen years of age and won a premiership and league best and fairest in her first year. She played in the premier division of the Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL) from the 2009 season and won three VWFL premierships with St Albans and the Darebin Falcons, in addition to a VFL Women's premiership with Darebin. Her accolades in football include three league best and fairest, state representation on four occasions, featuring in the VFL Women's team of the year and is a five-time All-Australian.

References

  1. Bennett, John (1998). For the Love of the Game: The History of the MPL. Australia: MPL Publications. p. 8.
  2. Smith, Charles (2001). Fifty Years of the MPL: 1951–2001. Australia: MPL Publications. p. 22.
  3. Smith, Charles (2001). Fifty Years of the MPL: 1951–2001. Australia: MPL Publications. p. 78.
  4. Bennett, John (2007). The Rise and Rise of the MPL. Australia: MPL Publications. p. 34.