Surely Echuca Football Netball Club has deserved better than being “rewarded” as minor premier with games in the first two weeks of the finals at two of club’s longest road trips?
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Echuca has had to play its first two finals at Seymour and Mansfield.
In fact all four Echuca football teams had to make the trip to Mansfield last Saturday, a decision Echuca president Ash Byrne admitted did not sit well with supporters.
Popular opinion was that Kyabram, which hosted the other semi-final during the weekend, would have been a far more suitable venue geographical for his club.
Under the league’s rotational system of awarding finals to all league clubs there is never going to be a scenario to suit all clubs involved in football and netball finals.
But there is a simple answer — centralise finals.
Byrne was an advocate of this happening and said clubs who hosted finals did not make huge money out of catering with all gate takings going to the league.
Biggest crowd ever?
Has there even been a bigger crowd at a game of football at Kyabram than last Sunday’s GVL preliminary final clash between Mooroopna and Mansfield?
Long-time stalwart supporter and life member of the Kyabram Football Netball Club Peter Nelson said he could not recall when and if there had been.
‘‘We’ve had some big crowds at night games but this seemed a lot bigger,’’ Nelson said.
Not only were there no parking spaces available inside the Kyabram recreation reserve, but streets around the ground were jammed with vehicles of footy fans attending the games.
A spread of many clubs contesting the football and netball finals probably contributed to the large crowd numbers as well as the fact that premierships will be decided this year for the first time for three years because of COVID-19 and fans are obviously hungry for finals action.
Two Wombat survivors
Play it again.
There will be seven players in this Saturday’s Kyabram District League Football grand final who have been there and done that with their club.
Lancaster will have two survivors — Brad Orr and Rikki Busch — from its last premiership-winning side of 2011 lining up.
The other grand final contestant, Murchison-Toolamba, will have five players — James Milne, Shane Kay, Steve Burns, Jamie Jones and Luke Cecchin — who savoured premiership glory in its last grand final-winning team in 2013.
GVL Under-16 decision
The decision of the GVL clubs to handball the Under-16s competition back to the Goulburn Murray Junior Football League has been a hot topic in GVL circles since the announcement last week.
But is it a foregone conclusion?
Eight of the GVL’s 12 clubs voted in favour of the move but if a bid by a new group wanting to take control of the league eventuates the decision may be looked at further.
A GV businessman and media personality who is likely to put his hand up to attempt to gain chairmanship of the Goulburn Valley League has strong views the competition should still operate under league and GVL club administration, but should be moved to a Sunday afternoon timeslot for weather and umpire availability reasons.
Holland’s Pearce Medal
The man who haunted Kyabram in its shock loss to Shepparton in the 2018 GVL grand final is the Picola Football League medallist for 2022.
Waaia ruckman Ash Holland with 22 votes claimed the Pearce Medal from Katunga’s Cam Bishop and Katandra’s Jonty Wardle, both with 19 votes.
Holland received best-on-ground votes six times.
The top netball award in the league — the Lukies Medal — was won by Strathmerton’s Grace Thomson.
Rokahr Magarey runner-up
Another Shepparton player who played a big role in bringing down Kyabram in the 2018 GVL grand final has finished runner-up for the top individual award in the South Australian Football League.
Nik Rokahr who joined Norwood in 2019 was beaten by one vote by former Port Adelaide and Gold Coast utility Aaron Young, playing with North Adelaide, for the Margery Medal honours.
Rokahr and Benalla’s Sam Martyn shared the GVL’s Morrison Medal in 2018.
United re-appoints Priest
Murray Football League club Echuca United has reappointed Farran Priest as coach for the 2023 season.
Priest is confident the Eagles are ready to make further improvement on their three wins this season — up two wins from last year — with his talented young group of players, particularly if they secure some recruits the club is chasing.
Matt Carnie is likely to be Priest’s assistant again.
In the Picola League, the Picola United club is sticking with Darby Walsh as its coach for next season.
It will be Walsh’s fourth year in the role.
Vick’s fairytale ends
A fairytale comeback by former Kyabram premiership skipper Josh Vick has been thwarted at the second-last hurdle.
Vick pulled on the boots again this season to line-up with Moama in the Murray League, joining his former Kyabram premiership teammates Sam and Tom Sheldon, Josh Pell and Axel Childs at the club.
But Moama’s bid to make the grand final ended in the preliminary final at the weekend when it fell to Mulwala, which now takes on Cobram for the flag at Moama this Saturday.
Josh has been a regular in Moama’s best players and was again on Saturday. Tom Sheldon and Josh Pell both played but Sam, who coached the club this season, couldn’t play because of injury. Axel Child suffered a season ending injury at the start of the season.
UK cricket imports
Katandra Cricket Club has got on the front foot for the coming Cricket Shepparton season by announcing its ranks will be bolstered by three United Kingdom imports.
They are James Lythgoe and James Dawson — who are top-order batsmen from the Carlisle Cricket Club in the Cumbria Premier League — and Will Harries, a left-arm seamer who has represented Hampshire reserves and Wiltshire at minor county level.
Big night for Pekin
Stanhope trots trainer Gary Pekin was doing things on the double at last week’s Albury meeting.
Pekin produced Cresco Threepeat and Harnett to win the last two races on the program. His other runner at the meeting Rocks Can Roll finished second, so it was a big night for the stable.
Cresco Threepeat put up a big run to win, sitting parked for most of the 1770m trip and out-toughing his rivals.
Pekin took the drive of the night award to win on Harnett, who he squeezed through a gap turning for home to go on and break his maiden status at his 21st try.
Merrigum trainer Luke Bryant has wasted no time in getting well-travelled pacer Yareadyfreddy his first Victorian win.
The three-year-old son of Racing Hill was having his first start for Bryant and his second start on the Shepparton track at its meeting and duly delivered.
Sports reporter