-There was a bit of controversy at the 2022 WGFNC presentation night when the football premiership cup was unveiled as almost twice the size of the one played for by the A Grade netballers. Well, WGFNC head honchos Brett Tessari (Football) and Ricky McNaughton (Netball) have resolved that imbalance this year, with both cups exactly the same size. Actually, sitting side-by-side, netball’s holy-grail might be one or two millimetres bigger. They were last seen being lovingly strapped into the back seat of Tessari’s car on Monday night!
-The best line for the night at the WGFNC presentation event came from reserves joint leading goalkicker, Nick Bransgrove from NAR NAR GOON. Bransgrove revealed that he was lining up a shot for goal in round 13 when he heard a voice say “What’s it like being second best in the league.” The sledge came from CORA LYNN forward Josh Wilson, who was the leading goalkicker at that stage of the season and shared the award with Bransgrove on Monday night.
-Two club awards were handed out on Monday night, with BUNYIP winning the Most Discipline Club Award in netball and NAR NAR GOON taking home the prestigious Club Championship Award for its performances across football and netball. Patrick Noonan and Emma Parker were proud as punch as they represented the Goon on stage.
-And finally, on the WGFNC Presentation Night, well done to joint A Grade medal winners Gemma Dixon from KORUMBURRA-BENA and Renee Pilkington from INVERLOCH-KONGWAK, who stole the show with their classy acceptance speeches on Monday night. Both clubs and the WGFNC should feel very proud to have two humble, respectful and gracious champions in their midst. They’re champions…both on and off the court. Senior medal winner in the football, KILCUNDA-BASS star Dale Gawley, was unfortunately a no-show on Monday as he currently holidays in New Zealand.
-Some great news out of BUNYIP with senior coach Lachlan Petch being signed on for the 2024 season, along with this year’s best and fairest winner Alex Dijkstra. The Bulldogs went winless this season, but have been working hard behind the scenes for several months now to make sure 2024 is a more successful experience for everyone involved at the club. Petch did an amazing job to keep sprits high at Bunyip this season, while Dijkstra was the shining light on-field, earning selection in the WGFNC Team of the Year squad.
-So who’s counting? No-one can accuse NAR NAR GOON coach Justin Stanton for not being all over his stats as he addressed his team before the preliminary final against PHILLIP ISLAND. “74 sessions boys, 74 training sessions…that’s how much time and effort we’ve put in to getting here,” Stanton roared, as he pointed to his whiteboard. We’re not sure if he was trying to fire his team up or frighten them into another huge pre-season this year!
-While on stats, a member of the FOOTY SHORTS team thought it a good idea to head to DALYSTON on Saturday via NAR NAR GOON and KOOWEERUP. The mission was to measure the length and width of all three grounds using a golf Range Finder. The ground at Nar Nar Goon is thought to be huge, but is actually the shortest of all three grounds. From post-to-post, the ground at Spencer Street measures 151 metres, one shorter than Kooweerup’s ground at Denham’s Road, and 11 metres shorter than the 162 metres on offer at Dalyston. But width is where the Goon nail it, measuring a mammoth 144 metres from chalk-to-chalk on the wings, compared to 126 at Dalyston and a tiny 110 metres at Kooweerup. The Goon is 34 metres wider than this week’s grand final venue. We wonder if Tom Hams and Cam Pedersen will take these measurements into consideration in their planning.
-PHILLIP ISLAND is one of the best clubs going around, and it’s not just for what takes place on the footy field. Being the first time that their team could possibly bow out this season, coach Cam Pedersen and captain Jack Taylor presented some behind the scenes volunteers with gifts ahead of the big clash against NAR NAR GOON. Trainers, statisticians, runners, they all received a nice gift bag as Pedersen explained the meaning behind the Phillip Island jumper. He told his players they are not just playing for themselves, but for everyone behind the scenes as well. Classy stuff!
-While on PHILLIP ISLAND and their jumper, it looked more like a ‘Man Power’ concert than a footy change-room just minutes before they ran out on Saturday. All 22 players stood in a circle, fully kitted out except for the jumpers that sat on their shoulders. “Just remember who we’re playing for and what this jumper means,” coach Cam Pedersen said, before all players pulled on their jumpers simultaneously.
-Footy shorts stumbled upon a genius business idea en route to the Southern Football Netball League Division 3 Grand Final. About three hours before ENDEAVOUR HILLS hoisted the premiership cup, spectators from all over were parking in the nearby streets, with the crowd brimming and one nearby resident had the thought to host a garage sale. That house’s front lawn also maxed out its capacity, and no doubt made a truckload of cash.
-It was great to see a few CRANBOURNE EAGLES club people get down to Shepley Reserve to support Keely Cornwall on Sunday for the DANDENONG STINGRAYS. All year, she has either been playing away, or when she has been at home, it has clashed with Eagles senior matches. She is the only player from Cranbourne on the Rays’ list in 2023 and contributed to a big quarter-final victory.
-On DANDENONG STINGRAYS, it’s worth highlighting the efforts of Ben Hopkins, who a couple of weeks ago took out the boys distance covered record in a match, running more than 13 kilometres in the Rays’ loss to Tasmania as he provided run from the backline. He took the record off Henry Hustwaite, now Hawthorn-listed, while Miller Bergman, at North Melbourne, sits in third.
-Commiserations to the HAMPTON PARK reserves, whose excellent run through the 2023 finals series has come to an end, Murrumbeena proving too good late in a 12-point win. A shout-out, though, to Sam Ward, who was excellent in the ruck and had even some Beena watchers singing his praises.
-DOVETON’s senior season came to an end on Saturday with a preliminary final loss to Murrumbeena which also spells the end of coach Michael Cardamone’s time at the club. He was at the helm for two seasons, guiding them to a grand final and preliminary final, and will certainly be hot property on the local footy market going into 2024.
-It was great to see ENDEAVOUR HILLS under-19 captain Aydin Dikolli in good spirits post-game. Premierships are often tinged with stories of heartbreak, and it was he who made way for fellow teen Jacob Grant, which would no doubt have been tough, but he was able to put that to one side and recognise his team’s achievements post-game.
-A shout-out too, to Chris Arnott from ENDEAVOUR HILLS, who has played a big role off the field in the establishment of the Falcons, who was on cloud nine on Sunday afternoon.
-NARRE WARREN’s late revival against WANDIN sets the table for a potential epic grand final clash in two weeks’ time, and made all the more impressive considering the absence of Kurt Mutimer in the final minutes. The ball magnet came from the field during the final quarter for treatment and with Wandin leading and on the charge, Shane Dwyer chose not to send him back out on the field to preserve him for a preliminary final. “We lost Mutimer in the last quarter so we didn’t risk him,” Dwyer said after the game. “At that stage we were eight points down and I thought ‘are we going to play next week?’ so I thought ‘let’s look after you’. But to win with him on the bench was pretty good from us.”
-Footy Shorts is officially on scoreboard watch for the Outer East’s finals series. Last week we detailed the drama that threatened to unfold at EMERALD during PAKENHAM’s thrilling win over UPWEY TECOMA, and on Saturday there were similar scenes at OFFICER during the NARRE WARREN v WANDIN clash. Late in the third quarter a mystery goal was added to Wandin’s score, before being corrected at three-quarter-time. Given the final margin was just three points, thank goodness the error was corrected!
-NAR NAR GOON’s juniors have secured the coaching services of PAKENHAM legend Michael ‘Jock’ Holland for 2024, who will steer the Under 16’s ship as coach. Joining him at the Goon is Glenn Cross, who will coach the Under 18s.
-Gate attendants and canteen operators were breathing a sigh of relief when eftpos card reader platform ‘Square’ was revived on Friday night, after experiencing an outage earlier in the day. Leagues and clubs were quick to post on their social media pages alerting spectators to bring cash to grounds on Friday, but the ability to tap and go was critical in ensuring a smooth day at the footy.
