-It was a blow to hear that WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS coach Harmit Singh will be leaving the club at the end of the season due to increasing commitments in his role at COLLINGWOOD and to his young family. It wasn’t that long ago that the Dusties had no 16s or 18s, but under the leadership of Singh and members of the Dusties community, the club is now fully functional in all age groups and in a great position to capitalise on that moving forward. Singh almost pulled off a miracle last year, leading the Dusties to one kick away from a grand final. All the best Harmit for the future.
-Former COLLINGWOOD champion and senior coach Nathan Buckley will pull on the jumper of NILMA-DARNUM on July 22 as part of the Carlton Draft. Other stars, including David Mundy (Carngham Linton), Kane Cornes (Moyston-Willaura), Jordan Lewis (Buchan), Josh Kennedy (Murrabit) and Bernie Vince (Maryborough Rovers) are also involved in this year’s draft, designed to give an injection of enthusiasm into struggling footy clubs. Buckley’s opponent on July 22 will be the Luke Young coached CATANI. Remember Luke, the spectators will be there to watch Bucks…so don’t tag him!
-It’s great to see so many debutants playing senior football and A Grade netball in the WGFNC this season. The exciting trend continued on the weekend with Meika White (PHILLIP ISLAND) making her A Grade debut, while Matrix Chisholm and Darren Gardiner (DALYSTON), Jesse Briganti (KOOWEERUP), Jesse Craven (TOORADIN-DALMORE) and Thomas Cornwall (WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS) all played their first games of senior footy. It was an exciting day for Cornwall, who was celebrating his 16th birthday on Saturday. He kicked a crucial goal in the third quarter to help keep a gallant GARFIELD at bay!
-We’re assured it happened through the evolution of nature but those two pesky geese that frequent the outer wing at the Cowes Recreation Reserve were nowhere to be seen on Saturday. It was either natural evolution, or the two intruders were scared off by the great holiday crowd at PHILLIP ISLAND on Saturday.
-We’ll have to do a bit more homework on this one, but the NAR NAR GOON reserves must have broken some sort of record on Saturday with 16 goal-kickers sharing the load in the 36.22.238 to 0.4.4 victory over an undermanned KILCUNDA-BASS. Bayley Tytler led the way with five goals, while a further 10 players kicked two goals or more.
-A special shout-out to the Langley family from CORA LYNN after the recent passing of their grandfather Norm, aged 88. Footy Shorts had a strong connection with Norm through a good friend, and Norm was an absolute ripper bloke who loved a cold beer and a chat. RIP Norm Langley!
-Well done to all clubs who have made the effort to support the 2023 Big Freeze…aimed at raising funds and awareness for the fight against MND. CORA LYNN was one club at the forefront of the campaign with Darren Briggs, Peter Ferguson, Lindsay Carter, Shaun Sparks, Lou Walsh, Emily Brook and Alicia Sheriff dumping themselves in bins full of ice-water, while the Cobras took a team shot at PHILLIP ISLAND on Saturday with all players and support staff wearing the now famous blue beanies. Down at GARFIELD, famous faces such as Judy Bishop and Glenn ‘Sonny’ Wouters were just some of the names to slide down the green and gold slide into a waiting pull of freezing cold water!
-Luke Walker has another accolade to his name. The former PAKENHAM and KOOWEERUP star – who now calls WARRAGUL INDUSTRIALS home – took out the equivalent of the Brownlow Medal at the AFL Bali Masters for Over-35s on the weekend. The Dusties also won the ‘Bowl Division’ Final, making it a worthwhile trip for Tex and his teammates. Among those were Dusties president Shane Ingham and club legend Shane Brewster.
-While on mid-season trips, we’re hearing one club in the OUTER EAST competition is not very happy after one of their players returned home of Monday with an injury that is likely to keep them out for two or three games. We’re sworn to secrecy on this one…but apparently the player suffered a hand injury while a little under the weather.
-Last week we set BEACONSFIELD icon and club historian Lawrie Canning a task…to let us know if Nick McPherson – who played his 100th game last week – is the best number 46 in the club’s history. Well…once again, Lawrie hasn’t let us down. Here is his response:
Thanks for the assignment re No 46s at Beaconsfield. It is a complicated answer as three other notable players wore this jumper number at some stage at Beaconsfield. Gavin (Benny) Walker wore it in the 1980 senior premiership, but changed to jumper 16 in the next year’s senior premiership and when winning the senior best and fairest in 1986. He played 145 games and would be the clubhouse leader as far as achievements went.
Mark Ziemann captained the seniors in 1991 wearing 46 and was a very good player who played in a twos flag wearing 62 and played 139 games.
Pat D’Arcy was a very good senior player, wearing a low number-7 but graduated to 46 which he wore in a twos flag. He played 130 games.
Nick McPherson has worn the same number throughout his 100 games so is the most consistent on that front and has a senior flag to his name as well. Also, noteworthy; Gavin Walker’s son Brad captain/coached a senior premiership at BUNYIP.
Thanks Lawrie…I think we need to set you up with your own column!
-Premierships are built through good habits and a commitment to playing your best football for 120 minutes. In NOBLE PARK’s brilliant win over Balwyn on Saturday, veteran Luke Bull, who put his hand up to play in defence to combat the Tigers’ potent forward line, could be heard barking instructions and encouraging his teammates deep into the final term, despite the contest being ultimately over. Look out for the Bulls in the back half of 2023, who Steve Hughes said ‘rediscovered our brand” of football.
-While digging through the archives to find photos of OFFICER legend Michael Moylan ahead of his 350th game this weekend, the Gazette’s sport team found a gem of current Officer coach Daniel Charles playing for BERWICK against Moylan back in 2008. The fact that both are still involved in the local footy scene to this day highlights their immense contribution to the region.
-Congratulations to GIPPSLAND POWER graduate Ryan Maric, who made his West Coast Eagles debut on the weekend, just 10 days after arriving at the club and one game in the WAFL side. Unfortunately, the Eagles were defeated by Adelaide by more than 100 points but he was a bright spot, kicking a goal with his first kick at AFL level. He finished with two goals from eight touches.
-Plenty of people were happy to get stuck into Shubman Gill for his social media post insinuating the wrong call had been made by the umpires in calling Cam Green’s catch a fair one. Among those was Springvale Districts’ DYLAN QUIRK, who cheekily responded to Gill’s screenshot of the ball at its closest point to the ground with a screenshot from a few frames earlier, which saw Green pouch it clearly above the playing surface. He captioned: “Catches it 6 inches off the ground, boss” – we think he speaks to the sentiment of most Australians!
-Congratulations to Wandin’s CONNOR SMITH, who made his VFL debut for Footscray on the weekend. Smith gets rewarded for his excellent form as a midfielder-forward who has led Wandin’s strong start to the year. He had six touches to start his State League footy career and played alongside the likes of Hayden Crozier and Mitch Hannan.
-A shout-out to the following locals who will play in an AFLW Academy vs All Stars clash this week at Marvel Stadium: Mikayla Williamson, Bianca Lyne (both Dandenong Stingrays, AFL Academy), Sophie Butterworth, Meg Robertson (both Dandenong Stingrays, under-23 All Stars). The under-23 side is made up of Victorian, Tasmanian and Northern Territorian players as nominated by AFLW clubs while the Academy brings together the best under-18s players around the country. It’s a great opportunity to put your name forward in front of recruiters.