1985 unknown heat: Diamond Valley Devils, Otway Rangers
Nareen
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Arguably the greatest ever IAK team was Nareen. Nareen, a tiny
town in western Victoria, produced a team that often scored in the
20's, and had an aggregate of 20 points at the end of its series
(three wins and one third placing). Nareen missed out on breaking the
all-time scoring record because Tom Heenan only came second in the
"IAK Tinny Race", thus letting his team down -- they finished with
only 24. They whip.
Captain: Steve Drummond
Vice-Captain: Tom Heenan
Other team members: Angela "PLO" Pierlot
Frankston
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Without a doubt the worst ever Victorian team was Frankston,
captained by tattooed truck-driver Frank Gleeson. Frankston finished
last in each competition, frequently scoring zero points. Frankston
was definitely the worst team to grace the screens of IAK.
Occasionally buoyed by Shane "the toolman" Wilson, the Frankston team
showed rare glimpses of potential.
Captain: Frank "ston" Gleeson
Vice-Captain: Mick Ryan (Part-time little-league coach & likes
squash. Supposedly runs 2km per day -- this would explain last
placing in "Space Race", after completing less than a third of the
course (in the 1 minute 15 seconds provided) and being puffed.
Borgas finished in 39 seconds.
Other team members: Shane Wilson (Hardware Salesman), Lesley Ruchmer, Kelly Gleeson
Vermont
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Our favourite Victorian IAK team was Vermont, captained by Civil
Engineer Peter Velcek. The team performed above average and always
showed great character. A tragic downfall of Vermont occurred in the
"Heckle and Jeckle" when captain Velcek was unable to get across the
monkey bars, consequently not getting his corn-on-the-cob, thus
finishing last and wasting his team's joker.
Captain: Peter Velcek
Vice-Captain: David Tout (Travels by train, apparently)
Other team members: Shirley "Sue" Seit, Di Dungey
Melbourne City
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Melbourne City rivalled Newcastle (NSW) as one of the most
competitive teams, who, in our view took the IAK competition a little
too seriously. The team was driven by these two big guy triathletes
with crew-cuts who played Aussie Rules in their spare time. Melbourne
City tragically lost the final season Grand Final by the smallest of
margins. Skipper Bolton was keen to show off his Aussie Rules style,
(unintentionally) drop-kicking his wine flask half-way across the
stadium in the event "Monks". Naughton's effort in winning the joker
event "Bumble Bees" in the Semi-Final was memorable.
Captain: Peter "tank" Bolton
Vice-Captain: Michael "the other tank"/"Shaggy" Naughton
Other team members: Pie Barberis, Sue Nagel, Simon Rooney, Jane Donge
Box Hill
Box Hill, captained by P.E. teacher bald guy Sam Daniels and V.C.
Don Carmichael performed well in many events. Sam Daniels worked the
winch well in "Bridge the gap" against Padthaway (SA). Box Hill was
also robbed of victory in "Rollin Hoops" due to a questionable
rolling "tactic" employed by the aforementioned team. Box Hill was
unlucky in that it had to compete against Nareen in the Victorian
division, which was unusually stiff competition. One often felt that
Billy J.Smith's attitude to Box Hill's White Horse was not 100%
serious.
Captain: Sam Daniels
Vice-Captain: Don "you feel a bit vulnerable" Carmichael (RAAF
Airframe Fitter -- Oh yeah that guy)
Other team members: Julie Hartley
Wodonga
Captained by the guy with the beard, Wodonga was a reasonbly good
team, and experienced some success. They usually finished second or
third. Many a rivalry with South Australian adversaries such as Port
Broughton and Mt Gambier were formed. Who could forget captain Leigh
Privett coming from behind in "Dancing Dummies" to catch up to
croweater Les Knaggs and pop his champagne bottle. Excellent
performances in events such as "Bet your loaf" and "Frogs" ensured
consistent results. Wodonga was also in the Nareen division and was
thus thrashed by this Victorian juggernaut.
Captain: Leigh Privett
Vice-Captain: Alan Grant (Some boring normal person but still ran
marathons)
Other team members: Rosaly Shingles (aerobics instructor), Fran Plunkett
Portland
Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic Pic (We like Portland).
Portland was also a good team. Portland was captained by Ross
Murrell, who set a good example for his team with his winning
performance in the "Telephone Call" event (to the dismay of Newcastle
Captain/carpenter David Rankin). Unfortunately the team member Derek
van Veldhuisen was injured in the second event -- "Noah's Knockout"
(dressed as a large Noah -- a large dog aka Malcolm Yerbury of Temora
(NSW) knocked him over and busted his knee) and was not seen for the
remainder of the series (This injury put him out for the season). His
replacement was the surf-lifesaver Roger Trewavis. Trewavis proved to
share his captain's skill at obstacle course events, e.g. Tweetle Dee
Tweetle Dum. Portland won "Pull the Pontoon" in fine style, perhaps
with the assistance of the controversial disqualification of the Red
team. Kathy van Veldhuisen was instrumental in maintaining team
morale.
Captain: Ross Murrell (Real Estate Salesman)
Vice-Captain: Derek van Veldhuisen/Roger Trewavis
(sub)(surf-lifesaver)
Other team members: Kathy van Veldhuisen, Denise Millard, Max Dennert, Paula Murrell
Eltham
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Eltham, like Stirling, was one of the few teams to have competed
in more than one series of IAK. Not a bad team.... for Eltham. Eltham
fits in to the category that also holds Orange (NSW) -- as one of the
unluckiest teams. Scoring 20 division points, Eltham drew equal with
Benalla (Vic). Normally this score would qualify for a place in the
semi-final, but Benalla took the honours due to a countback.
Throughout the four meets of that series, Benalla had scored two (2) more points.
Eltham still won the $1000 prizemoney for winning their final meet,
but it was no consolation for competing in the $10,000 semi-final.
Vice-Skipper Draheim's gutsy effort in the team's joker event, "Jolly Giant
Sailor" was a memorable moment for Eltham as it nearly won them that show.
Draheim is arguably the most popular of all IAK competitors, commanding a
'cheer squad' (just ask Fiona MacDonald), and demonstrated virtuosity in many events, including 'pillowfight'. In its earlier series Eltham came up against the near-invincible Melbourne City.
Even before that, Eltham competed as the Diamond Valley Devils (see below) and garnered massive success, winning the first series Grand Final. A strong rivalry grew with Stirling, culminating in the 100th episode face-off, hosted by Ricky May.
See the team train for 'Creepy Crawlies' on the streets of Eltham in the gallery.
Captain: Jeff Griffith
Vice-Captain: Curt Draheim -- "How could we forget a body like that!?" - Billy J. Smith;
"He has a cheer squad", "He is a big guy", "The champion of the blue team" - Fiona MacDonald;
"He's wonderful" - Kerrie Draheim
Other team members: Kerrie Draheim, Janne Griffith
Bairnsdale
Captain: Jim McSweeney
Vice-Captain:
Other team members:
Benalla
Benalla won the Victorian division of Series 2 of IAK. Having
scored 20 points, they narrowly beat Eltham (Vic) on a countback.
Benalla entered the semi-final for that series representing Victoria.
Captain: Andrew McPherson
Vice-Captain:
Other team members:
South Melbourne
South Melbourne won their Victorian division and scored 11 points
in their semi-final. This was not enough to reach the Grand Final as
Melbourne City scored a greater score in their Semi-Final. All members of the South Melbourne Lifestyle Gym at Albert Park, this team was able to finish best in its division to reach the semi-final.
Captain: Wayne Stokes
Vice-Captain: Les Mollard
Other team members: Kerri Williamson, Mandy Hope
Thornbury
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Captain: Helen Avrim
Vice-Captain: Mark Barbatsa
Preston
Captain: Electrician Jeff Sabransky, who encapsulated his team's chances in the Victorian division: "We have Buckley's of catching the other two [teams]". Admittedly they were Eltham and Melbourne City so I'll give the guy a break.
Vice-Captain: James Lester
Other team members: Phil Booth, Michelle McKinstrey
Mordialloc
Captain: Wally Shaeller
Vice-Captain:
Other team members: Raelene Shaeller
Coburg City Fliers
Captain:
Vice-Captain:
Other team members: Neil Street, Cheryl Westock, Denise Kinlay, Ricky
Geelong Coasters
Captain:
Vice-Captain:
Other team members: Dierdre Beckworth, David Neil -- a funeral director. In 'Bridge The Gap', Billy J. Smith observed "I hope he's not going to his own after this!". Simon Nott -- a night watchman (!?), Geoff Findlay.
Diamond Valley Devils
Subsequently competing under the Eltham banner (see above), the Diamond Valley Devils were victors in the Grand Final of the first series. Go Blue!
The team placed a large emphasis on training, and this paid off with successful results. Some of the team's training methods can be viewed in the gallery.
Captain: Jeff Griffith
Vice-Captain: Curt Draheim
Other team members: Kerrie Draheim, Janne Griffith
Otway Rangers
Captain:
Vice-Captain:
Other team members:
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