The annual AFL Nines at Byron competition has become an unmissable competition on the community AFL calendar.
The two-day carnival sees AFL Nines teams from across the country descend on the lush lawns of Byron, with hundreds of participants taking to the field at Byron Bay's Cavanbah Centre – Sports & Cultural Complex.
In 2024, the Coogee Flamingos was one of those teams, travelling from Sydney’s eastern suburbs to compete in the Masters Seasoned – 45+ division.
However, the Flamingos weren’t just any other team.
They boasted a legendary recruit of none other than Sydney Swans great, Michael O’Loughlin.
O’Loughlin played the first of his 303 matches for the Sydney Swans in 1995, earning him an AFL Rising Star nomination that year before going on to play in his first of three Grand Finals at the Sydney Swans the following year.
10 years after his debut season, the dual All-Australian team member was honoured with selection in the AFL Indigenous Team of the Century and became a Sydney Swans Premiership Player when the Swans’ clinched the flag in 2005.
After his retirement in 2011, O’Loughlin was inducted into the Swans Hall of Fame in 2011 and became a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
O’Loughlin led the Coogee Flamingos at AFL Nines at Byron, which featured fellow Sydney Swans 2005 Premiership Player Amon Buchanan.
A former Sydney Swans forward between 2000 and 2009, Buchanan now is an assistant coach at Moore Park under Dean Cox, responsible for the team’s forward line and offensive ball movement.
While the Flamingos’ campaign of AFL Nines at Byron got off to a difficult start, losing in Round 1 by 16 points, they bounced back to claim the win in Round 2 and 3.
The Coogee Flamingos finished third in the Grand Final playoff after a forfeit by their opposition.
Registrations for the 2025 AFL Nines at Byron are open. Teams are required to have 9 – 15 players, all aged 18+.
To learn more and register for the 2025 AFL Nines at Byron, visit play.afl/play/afl-nines/byron-nines.