Hogging the pointy end

By Paul Pickering
THEY are the self-proclaimed “boys from the bush”, a darts team named after a pizza shop.
But don’t let the laid-back attitude fool you, the Boss Hoggs are serious about being taken seriously.
The eight-man team, which calls Pakenham’s Purvies pub its home, has taken the South West Gippsland Dart League by storm in its first season of competitive play.
These “boys” hail from Longwarry, Warragul, Labertouche and Drouin and remain unbeaten after six rounds, having already defeated the reigning premiers, Pakenham, twice.
Team captain Gerard Mitchell, who owns Boss Hoggs pizza shop in Longwarry, says the Hoggs evolved out of a weekly get-together over a couple of beers in his shed.
“We’ve been playing social darts on a Monday night for three years, and we got pretty good, so we thought, ‘why not have a crack at the big boys?’ ” he said.
“And, to our surprise, we were very competitive.”
The South West Gippland Dart League consists of six teams; two from Purvies, two from the Pine Grove Hotel in Upper Beaconsfield and two from the Ranges Hotel in Gembrook.
They’re not exactly playing for sheep stations, but Mitchell reckons it can get pretty competitive.
“Don’t get me wrong, we play to win,” he said.
“We support the pub, have a couple of drinks and enjoy each other’s company, but we can play a bit, too.”
And he admits that the Hoggs’ striking outfits have generated some light-hearted banter between the teams.
“When we played our first game, they said, ‘you look all right, but can you play darts?’ We beat ’em first up and they were a bit shocked.”
Mitchell and his mates are keen to get more people involved in the sport, which once thrived in the Gippsland region.
For details on the South West Gippsland Dart League, call Shane Worrell on 0418 522 279.