September 25 - October 1, 2024
A game of precision and strategy
By CHLOE JAENICKE
ANDY Barbero helped Victoria achieve third place at Croquet Australia’s Interstate Shield that took place from Wednesday, September 4 until Sunday, September 8.
The Wangaratta Croquet Club member said it was a close match between the top three teams and that it was an honour to represent Victoria for the first time, which was a completely different beast to the tournaments he’s played in the past.
“It is hard for people who don’t play croquet to understand how difficult it is,” he said.
“We start generally at 8.30am and finish at around 5.30pm, you have no breaks as such other than five minutes between games and you eat while you play in that environment and maintain concentration.”
Mr Barbero was selected for the team after his performance in previous tournaments earlier in the year and has been practising for the shield daily.
“There were around half a dozen training sessions we did as a team over a six month period, and obviously we did our own training where there’s a few of us that get together when we can, sort of socially but it is quite serious when we’re practising,” he said.
“Then I go down to the tennis courts quite a bit just to get that repetitive hand-eye coordination muscle memory happening.”
According to Mr Barbero, croquet is both a mental and physical game of precision where every centimetre counts.
■ Continued page 6
Introducing dogs to a newborn baby
MANY dogs adjust well to the arrival of a newborn baby.
Nevertheless, preparation and precautions are essential.
The information below is general and should be tailored to suit the individual dog and specific circumstances.
Remember to never leave your baby and dog together unsupervised.
Preparation
Ensure your dog is physically and behaviourally healthy, and up to date with all their vaccinations, worming, and external parasite prevention.
Ensure that your dog is well socialised and consistently responds to requests to sit, stay, lie down, and come (recall).
Learn how to understand your dog’s behaviour and body language – it’s vital to understand what your dog is trying to tell you to help you manage the situation better.
Prepare your dog ahead of time for any changes to routines and sleeping arrangements, allowing them sufficient opportunity to learn and adjust.
Precautions
Before a face-to-face introduction, allow your dog to become familiar with the newborn’s scent (e.g. item of clothing, baby blanket), and reward them for interacting with the scent calmly.
Once they are comfortable around the baby’s scent, you can proceed to a carefully supervised face-to-face introduction with your dog on a leash and under effective control.
Introductions should be very gradual, in a quiet and calm environment, and the dog (on leash) should be allowed to choose to approach if they want to or not if they do not –never force this.
Observe your dog’s behaviour closely to
with RSPCA - kb.rspca.org.au
see if you should continue with the introduction.
If the dog shows signs of stress or overexcitement, end the interaction, and try again another day when they are calm.
Only proceed to the next step of carefully supervised time off-leash when your dog is very relaxed and calm in the presence of the baby.
Supervised time together
When your dog is calmly enjoying supervised off-leash time with your newborn, involve them both in fun activities (e.g. walks) so that your dog associates your baby with positive experiences.
When you first bring your baby home, try to keep your dog’s routine as consistent as possible.
Provide attention, rewards, and reassurance to build positive associations and reduce the risk of stress, frustration, and anxiety.
Make sure your children understand that they must treat all animals kindly and handle them gently.
Even if your dog is very tolerant, constant poking and prodding may cause discomfort, stress, fear, and anxiety.
Continuously observe for stress signals and give your dog sufficient rest and space.
If you have concerns about the behaviour of your dog, seek support from a veterinarian with expertise in dog behaviour or a suitably qualified dog behaviourist.
For more information visit the https:// kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/how-shouldi-introduce-my-newborn-baby-to-my-dog/.
This Day in History, 1891
THE GENERAL ARRIVES
WANGARATTA’S small but enthusiastic Salvation Army community turned out on this day to see their beloved commanding officer, ‘General’ Booth at the Wangaratta Railway Station.
The General, who was on his way to Sydney , had time only to lean from his carriage and exhort his followers to ‘fight sin, fight the devil, fight misery, and fight drink’, before proceeding to Albury.
At Albury, where a change of trains was required for the trip on to Sydney, the General had more time to greet another enthusiastic crowd of supporters.
GONE FISHING
Fishing still slow to crank up around the North East
SLOWLY but surely the fishing is ramping up across North East Victoria as we get deeper into spring time.
We still need some warmer and more stable weather to really switch the fish on though. Trout fishing remains very slow this week with reports of trout being caught remaining few and far between.
There have been some caught, with the locations remaining a tight secret as trout are like diamonds this season - quite rare!
I headed west last week to fish in Greens Lake and the Waranga Basin.
I caught two small redfin just casting soft plastics off the boat ramp at Greens Lake.
I caught them in the first 10 minutes of arriving and then didn’t see another fish for al-
most two hours.
Later in the afternoon I caught half a dozen small redfin at the Waranga Basin.
My fish were all small and all caught on soft plastics.
The Waranga Basin is a very large body of shallow water and a boat is required to get out into the deeper water where the larger redfin are more likely to be found.
It is one of my favourite fishing spots, although it should be avoided on windy days.
If you’re after a bit of fun with some hard fighting carp, Lake Moodemere is the place to go.
I was over there on Saturday afternoon and caught half a dozen carp, the biggest one measuring in at a whopping 74cm.
I caught all of my carp on worms.
Although carp are deemed inedible by most anglers, there’s no denying that they are a lot of fun to reel in, especially the big ones.
On another note, I threw a couple of yabby nets into a local dam one night last week.
I left them in all night and caught seven yabbies.
Just like the finned fishing, the yabbies have started moving slowly, but a bit of warm weather is required to really fire them up.
◆ FRIEND OR FOE:
Moodemere
with Rob Alexander WANGARATTA
◆ NOSTALGIA AND SUSPENSE: Explore the exciting career of Greg Bowker in Robert
Purgatory, The Price of Justice and The Granite.
Robert is no longer in Purgatory
EDGARS Books and News and the Wangaratta Library are looking forward to welcoming author Robert M. Smith on Thursday, September 26 at 6.30pm.
Raised on a farm in country Victoria, Robert now resides in Ballarat Victoria, with time to devote to his passion of writing. He has dabbled in commercial writing since the early 1990s, mainly as a playwright for one act plays and penning librettos for musical theatre.
His work has been performed in all states of Australia as well as in New Zealand and the United Kingdom winning many awards at various drama festivals.
Robert will discuss his books – Purgatory, The Price of Justice and the about-to-bereleased The Granite which is the third novel in Robert’s Greg Bowker series.
For those unfamiliar with the first two books, ‘Purgatory’ is
set in the stark and unforgiving landscape of a remote Mallee town in the early 1980s and follows the story of Greg Bowker, a young senior constable who finds himself forcibly transferred to a one-officer station.
The novel is as much about survival in the harsh environment as it is about Greg’s inner journey.
In ‘The Price of Justice’ Greg Bowker, now a seasoned Detective Inspector with the
Homicide Squad, is pulled back to a haunting chapter of his past.
Over three decades ago, as a young senior constable, Bowker cracked the case of a teenage schoolgirl’s brutal murder in the remote town of Manangatang.
The novel masterfully intertwines past and present as Bowker confronts the grim realities of both the new case and the one that
propelled his career.
The Granite marks the return of Detective Inspector Greg Bowker, this time drawn back to the town of his childhood to solve a deeply personal case the murder of his former school teacher.
This premise sets the stage for a compelling blend of nostalgia and suspense, as Bowker confronts the ghosts of his past while unravelling the mystery of the present.
Following the talk, Robert will sign copies of his books. Purgatory and The Price of Justice are available now from Edgars Books & News or on the day.
This is a free event, but bookings are required – visit https://edgarsbooksandnews. com.au/events/ or call/drop into Edgars at 55 Murphy Street 5721 3758 or the Wangaratta Library in Docker Street 5721 2366.
M. Smith’s novels,
with Belinda EDGARS BOOKS & NEWS
5.30 7.30. 6.00 Kids’ Programs. 2.05 Paddington. 2.45 Pop Paper City. 3.10 Wiggle. 3.30 Play School. 4.00 Andy’s Wild Adventures. 4.15 Kiya And The Kimoja Heroes. 4.40 Peter Rabbit. 6.05 Little J And Big Cuz. 6.25 The Adventures Of Paddington. 7.05 Riley Rocket. 7.35 The Inbestigators. 7.50 Operation Ouch! 8.25 Deadly Dinosaurs. 8.55 Ice Age. 9.40 Doctor Who. 10.30 Merlin. 11.15 Fresh Off The Boat. 11.35 Late Programs. 6.00 Morning Programs. 1.15 ABBA: Against The Odds. 2.45 ER. 3.30 Doctor Who. 4.15 Fresh Off The Boat. 4.35 MythBusters. 5.25 Long Lost Family. 6.15 Car S.O.S. 7.00 My Family. 7.30 Would I Lie To You? 8.30 Breeders. 9.20 Extras. 9.50 ER. 11.20 Rage. 12.20 Documentary Now! 12.45 Upstart Crow. 1.15 Fresh Off The Boat. 1.35 Would I Lie To You? 2.10 Long Lost Family. 2.55 Penn & Teller: Fool Us. 3.35 Late Programs.
6.00 WorldWatch. 9.00 Paul O’Grady:
6.15
A game of precision and strategy
■ From page 1
“Any sport with a racket or a bat, if you try and hit it too hard or force it that’s when you get the errors so it’s all about that continuous flow,” he said.
“I had to take that thing of the last shot is the last shot, the next one is the one that counts, if you dwell on mistakes you end up playing really poorly.”
Mr Barbero started playing croquet around three years ago when he was looking for socialisation during the COVID lockdowns, leading him to the Wangaratta Croquet Club.
He said he attributes much of his success and rapid improvement in the sport to the support he received from the club.
“There is so much support you get from those who are
better than you and I’ve often had people say to me ‘I want you to get better than me’ so they really do push that for everyone to improve,” Mr Barbero said.
“It’s probably the most selfish sport to play when you play in the actual tournament, because you have to be to win the games, but it’s probably the most unselfish sport I’ve played from a social and supportive aspect.”
One of his other favourite aspects of the sport is the strategy involved in croquet.
“I enjoy the strategy, because yes you are trying to beat other people, but you’ve got to beat yourself at the same time,” he said.
“You could be technically the best player in the world but if
you don’t have a strategy, we would still beat you, the skill level is important, but the strategy is ultra important.
“It’s amazing how complex the game is, everyone thinks you just have to put a ball through a hoop, but its far more than that.”
Because of this, Mr Barbero said he encourages any strategic thinkers or anyone with good hand-eye coordination to come down to the club and try the sport out, regardless of their age.
“We just want to encourage younger people, whether they’re 15 years old or 35 years, just to have a crack at it,” he said.
“If you’ve got the capacity to play the strategy correctly you could be a really good player.”
He especially suggests the sport to those who have played racquet sports, like tennis or golf, or those who enjoy mental games like chess.
While it is typically classed as an older person’s sport, Mr Barbero wants to get away from this stereotype as he believes it also requires plenty of physical fitness.
“I always say to someone if you think it’s an old person’s sport, come down and have a whack with us because it will have them walking kilometres in a day,” he said.
For those interested in the sport, Mr Barbero said the Wangaratta Croquet Club always welcomes new members to their social hits on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons at 46 Ryan Avenue.
FEATURE STORY
◆ SUPPORTIVE CLUB: Cheryle Beckley, Joan Dyson, Terry Wilson, Joan Guttormsen, Andy Barbero, Maureen O’Keefe, Gavan Kelly and Janet Kelly from the Wangaratta Croquet Club all support each other to improve in the sport.
THE ROLE OF PUBLISHERS
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Employee or contractor? Why it matters
IN the landscape of modern work, the lines between different types of workers can often become blurred.
As a business owner or manager, you might find yourself grappling with a question that seems simple on the surface but can have far-reaching implications: is this person an employee or a contractor?
Just because you call a staff member a ‘contractor’ does not mean that they are one.
At first glance, the distinction might appear straightforward.
Why does this classification matter so much?
The answer lies in the significant differences in rights, benefits, and obligations that come with each category.
For your business, misclassifying an employee as a contractor can result in you owing back-payment of wages, pension contributions, and other entitlements.
There’s also the risk of legal action from misclassified workers and potential damage to your business’s reputation.
But what about those situations that fall into a grey area?
The level of control your business has over a worker is a key factor.
The degree of integration into your business is another important consideration.
Employees are typically more integrated, often wearing company uniforms or having a company email address, while contractors usually maintain a separate identity.
Employees generally use equipment provided by the employer, whereas contractors often use their own tools.
Financial risk is another aspect to consider.
Contractors typically bear the financial risk of their work,
LEGAL MATTERS
such as the cost of rectifying poor work, while employees don’t usually face this risk.
The method of payment can also provide clues - employees are usually paid a regular wage or salary, while contractors often invoice for completed work.
Don’t assume that having a contractor agreement is determinative.
While having a contract is important, the actual working arrangement takes precedence in determining a worker’s status.
It’s also tempting to assume all gig workers are contractors, but this isn’t always the case.
Each situation needs to be assessed on its own merits.
So, how can you ensure you’re getting it right?
Regular reviews of your workers’ status are crucial, especially if their roles or responsibilities change over time.
Consistency is key - apply the same criteria to all workers
in similar roles.
And always document your decision-making process when classifying workers.
Remember, properly classifying your workers isn’t just about compliance - it’s about fairness, transparency, and good business practice.
By understanding the distinctions and implementing best practices, you protect your business from legal risks while ensuring your workers receive the rights and benefits they’re entitled to.
By staying vigilant and informed about worker classification, you’re not just protecting your business - you’re contributing to a fairer and more transparent work culture.
In the long run, this approach benefits everyone: your business, your workers, and the wider community. It’s an investment in your business’s future that’s well worth making.
YOUR HEALTH
with Belinda McPherson (BHSCI. NATUROPATHY)
Supporting women’s health
NATUROPATHS are brilliant at supporting women’s health and our unique perspective of combining women’s herbs along with taking time to consider your physical, emotional and social needs mean your naturopath will reduce your symptoms, build your vitality/energy and promote your body to heal itself.
Women are often confused about what is normal?
Are my periods normal?
Is it normal to suffer anxiety before my period?
Is my bloating normal?
Should I have ovulation pain?
Does everyone have cervical mucous?
Should I see the doctor for this skin blemish?
Is it okay to feel this tired after having a baby?
Women often have a lot of health questions and what is normal for you is often very
individual depending on your genetics, lifestyle and your bigger health picture.
I love having these conversations with you.
As a naturopath, I take time to disseminate your normal and help you to achieve your best normal.
For most people there will be a certain system of their body that is prone to dysfunction when it is under stress (stress can be physical like an injury, lifestyle induced like eating foods that don’t agree with you, poor sleep habits or it can be an emotional or mental response).
These stressors tend to affect our vulnerable system/ organ– this is why one person is prone to PMS, others are always tired or bloated and someone else always gets a cold or sinus infection whenever they are run down or stressed.
Once we work out what is causing the stress for your body we come up with a herbal and nutritional prescription to correct any imbalances and nurture the weakest organs.
We also refer to our team of specialist natural health care providers such as chiro, massage and osteopathy for body work and counselling/ kinesiology for emotional issues.
As you start to feel better we put together a list of things you need to do daily to keep yourself well such as diet changes, stress management techniques or changes to sleep and exercise habits.
During this process we are negotiating with you to make it easy to implement plans that set you up for success and optimal health.
I look forward to having conversations with you soon.
◆ WOMEN’S HEALTH: Naturopaths can help women with their health issues.
PHOTO: Dragana Gordic/ Shutterstock.com
with Jonathan Green Legal