OFCFNC is thrilled to launch its refreshed newsletter.

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes, seeking feedback from sponsors, members and players about how they engage with Bloodlines, what features they’d desire and how to improve Bloodlines accessibility.

We have transitioned to a platform called Beehiiv. We’re looking forward to using this format and continuing to strengthen Bloodlines.

Many thanks to Rick for his contribution. Rick’s efforts have been integral to the transition to the new format, collating the subscriber’s list and transferring them to Beehiiv. Rick’s been a busy bee, publishing many of the articles throughout this week’s newsletter.

There are plenty of exciting articles throughout this R11 publication. Go Bloods!

Fundraising · Live Now

The great thing about the raffle is the amazing prizes to be won — including brand-new cars…the chance of winning a new car is definitely worth a ticket.

Here’s a couple of home truths for you- as much as we love the soccer World Cup and tune into see games and highlights every day we saw more spectacular aerial duals, more high octane scoring and more bone crunching physical clashes in the OFC v Wandin match than we’ve seen in any World Cup game so far!  And don’t even get me started about soccer players feigning injury in a bid to secure an advantage. Can you imagine the crowd response if any OFC or Wandin players did that last week?

Football, our football, is physically relentless, spectacular and unforgiving. Regrettably we’ll never see an Aussie Rules World Cup.

So to another home truth- if we were in any doubt before Saturday it’s pretty clear there’s daylight between Wandin and the rest of the competition. But that of course doesn’t automatically guarantee Wandin another flag, so much can happen between now and September and if Saturday’s result underlined the gap between Wandin and the Rest it also again brought into sharp relief just how much they rely on two of their elite players.

On three or four occasions it was one of those two players who produced something extra special to thwart any prospect of an OFC comeback. Enough said. What about us?

Well here’s our take aways-

-              U/16 skipper Spencer Garrett played his first senior match! Wow, what a game to  have a run with the big guys!! Spencer wasn’t overawed and was confident enough to demand the ball in front of goal and slot a point on the run ( which 9 times out of 10 he would have put the big sticks). Incidentally the following day he led the U/16s to a 100 point win over third placed Healesville.

-              as a wise man once said “sometimes you’ve got to give up something to get something”, which is why Percy gets the job on Wandin’s match winning full forward and, seriously, you’d pay the entrance fee just to see these guys go at it. Did you hear the gasps from the big Wandin crowd as the pair duelled in the air in the last Q?  The Doggie spearhead finished with six but when they went man on man Perc often outpointed him and was possibly our best player.

-              is there a special rule for Shep in this competition which allows his opponents to shove him in the back and push him under the ball (repeatedly)? Just sayin…

-               “Heaney” Tonkin continues to improve every week in the midfield and has mostly rid his game of errors while emerging as a key part of the engine room. As good as he’s playing now we are again going to predict a massive upside here- we know he’s got great “run and carry” and when he gets the confidence to choose the right moments to take the game on well look out!

-              the skipper finished with two goals but could have had four or five and dominated the game in the air before Wandin allowed one or two guys to sag back and help out their under siege key defender.

-              Pete The Skeet never knows when to quit and again matched it with the best midfield in the comp. “Bloodlines” has had Pete in our best most weeks for the over a month now.

-              Big Jwol is another guy who doesn’t know how or when to quit, he gave great service and provided some physicality for the entire game.

-              Frank was his usual silky skilled self, despite being continually under the pump.

-              We are so lucky to have Dyl in our coaches box. How he can orchestrate a game of footy while actually playing in a hellzapoppin match like that is beyond us (which is probably why we are writing the notes and not coaching). Switched on fans will note that he’s been among our best players in half our games. Yep he’s lost half a yard but his body strength, vision and judgement are elite.

We can’t finish our wrap without a big shout out to Dyl Troutman, one of OFC’s favourite sons, who played his first game with us since 2018 when, ironically, he broke down during the pre match warm up when we met Wandin in a semi-final (!). Dyl’s untimely injury that year, and a rare injury to Marcus Hottes, cruelled our chances of back to back flags.

But it was a huge buzz to see the Smooth Squid in action again and let’s welcome him home this week when we host Upwey “Up Top” in the Community Bank Shield. Lets keep that Bendigo Bank Shield at Olinda folks.

We can’t finish this week without drawing attention to Keegs’ comeback. He turned the Twos match on it’s head with a spectacular last quarter. This all suggests our team is still a work in progress.

Percy Hyett, Francis Seal, Isaac Tonkin, Peter Lucas, Dylan Wilson, Lachlan Taylor

As selection was approaching on Thursday evening we were given the news we were going to be without Goldy & Brodes due a mix of illness and injuries. Unlike previous weeks when we’ve lost our top end talent we gained the likes of Nick Keegan ( first game for the year ) & the return of Eroy, a few very welcome additions for what we had tipped to be a tough match ahead for the lads. 

Going into the game there was a sense of optimism around the group coming off the win against the 5th placed Monbulk the week just gone. 

The first quarter went the way of Wandin even though we had the fair share of play. We sustained two injuries that took Sammy and Brandy out in the space of the first 10mins. 

The 2nd quarter was very much the same as the first, plenty of opportunities just poor execution when we had ball in hand. 

Half time couldn’t have come at a better time as we restructured a few lines which put us to a 3 goal deficit leading to the final break. 

As we headed into the 4th quarter we laid it out to the boys to have a dip at winning the game, take our chances with using the corridor & breaking lines as we’d rather loose the game having a dip rather than just rolling over. The next 20 minutes was one to remember with keegs, eroy, jurey, and shed making the most of there opportunities in front of the goals, it’s easy to focus just on the mids and forward line but in reality our drive came off the incredible hard working backline repelling everything wandin through at them.

The next few weeks will only get more challenging with the likes of 2nd placed Upwey and ladder leaders Mount Evelyn in consecutive games. 

We shouldn’t be afraid of what’s to come, they’re top teams for a reason and we will learn a lot from both of them and will continue to grow as we launch into the second half of the season. 

There’s no guarantees in life and especially with footy, we need to keep turning up and continue to grow as a squad to push deeper into the season and see the rewards for our hard work.

Angus Nelson, Nick Keegan, Brodie Clark, Harrison Nitschinsk, Ethan Royle-Young, Kit Sutton

Although coming up short against a quality Wandin side the boys played one of their best team games of the season. The usual leaders stepped up in Lachie T Lenny B, River B, Luke C and Will M but it was the improvement and development of our new and bottom age players that was most pleasing. Momo, Jake, Flynn, Lenny, Benny, Henry, Cooper, KJ Mads and Khevin continue to show improvement and a better understanding of the game from week to week.

Keep focusing on the process and the wins will come.

Lachlan Tonkin, Lennix Barry, Will Meyer, River Bellemo, Mads Peacock, Leonard Pritchard

This was a big one. The Vets Bloods travelled to Belgrave to face a side that had lost just once all season, and with finals on the horizon, the Vets needed a result to keep their own hopes alive. They got it, grinding out a 13-point win, 4.4 (28) to 1.9 (15), in cold, misty conditions that made for tough, scrappy footy all night.

The standard was set early. The first quarter was played almost entirely in our forward half, with strong work at the contest keeping the ball locked in attack. We couldn't quite capitalise on all that pressure, but the message was clear: we could match it with the form side of the competition.

That platform carried through to half time, with the Vets up 14 to 6 at the long break. Belgrave weren't going away though, and they came out firing in the third quarter, finding their chances and clawing the margin back to a single point by three quarter time. It was the kind of spell that can unravel a season if you let it.

Instead, the Vets knuckled down. With the season on the line, the last quarter was all about effort and composure, and some great individual contributions saw them do just enough to hold on late and get the four points.

Best on ground honours went to Dale Rohrmann, Joseph Catania, Paul Simmons, Andrew Rogers, Heath Roberts and Garratt Mcdonald, the engine room of a win built on grit as much as polish.

Goalkicking was shared around, with Dale Rohrmann and vice-captain Daniel Stevens each booting one, while George Azzam finished with two majors.

It's the sort of win that should give the boys plenty of belief heading into the final round, even with a bye on the cards. A statement performance, against the best team in the comp, with everything on the line.

Dale Rohrmann, Joseph Catania, Paul Simmons, Andrew Rogers, Heath Roberts, Garratt Mcdonald

The 2016 2’s Premiership Reunion is this Saturday 4 July. Come along and catch-up with the champions from the successful day against Mt Ev.

The Olinda cult hero affectionately known as “Onions”, Anja Hulston celebrated her 50^th game in style Friday night, playing a great game and helping her side to an impressive victory.

Onions joined the junior Club as an U16 in 2022, playing 10 games,  before joining the Senior Women’s side in their Premiership 2023 season.

Onions played every game in the regular season as a dedicated tagger, after the retirement of Kylie Verbaakel.

She kept the best midfielders in the Competition quiet and was named in the side’s best multiple times, cementing herself as an incredibly valuable player in the Premiership race.

In 2024 Coach Simon made the decision to do away with dedicated tagging and Onions was(albeit reluctantly!)sent down back. While Onions has spent times at centre half back, she has settled in the back pocket and has proven to be a vital piece in one of the most fearsome backlines in the Competition.

Fast and tough, with a lethal left foot, Onions’ is very dedicated to her fitness, and can be seen running laps regularly at any time of the year.

She also barely misses a training, and has always worked diligently on her skills, often in her own time.

A vibrant and loved member of the team and the Club as a whole, we couldn’t be prouder to congratulate Onions on her 50 games.

Making somewhat of a celebrity appearance for the 2’s in their victory against Monbulk, D Woodfield brought up the double ton when he laced the boots up.

Dom is a much-adored figure at the club and his presence brings many smiles to teammates and supporters.

Dom’s footy smarts has been one of his strongest assets. It was on display during the final term against Monbulk. Olinda had just struck the front and Monbulk were under pressure. The Hawks attempted a short kick out of the backline towards the middle of the ground. Predicting that MOnbulk would look to transition through the middle, Dom sprinted from the wing to spoil the kick and its effect resulted in an Olinda set-shot. Moments like this win matches of footy and Dom’s efforts, defensively and offensively, have long earned the respect of his teammates.

The twinkle you soon realize is actually the beam of a lighthouse, warning you off the rocks. – Richard Osman

The Assistant Coach was talking to Charlotte(Webby)Edwards before the game against Belgrave at home on Friday night, and she had a twinkle in her eye. He said “you’re on tonight aren’t you?”. She smiled and replied “I’m #@%*ing on!!”.

5 minutes into the game the Assistant Coach turned to the Gaffer Simon Gilson and said “she’s on tonight”.

By the end of the first term any doubts that she was “on” were shattered. Webbster had just amassed 31 ranking points, the most by any Olinda Women’s player in their history, breaking her own previous record of 28.

At the final siren Webberlenko had accumulated a massive 92 ranking points, the most since the 2023 Grand Final when her Blood Blister Liv and AFLW star Grace Belloni topped 100. She had gathered so many stats that the stat keeper ran out of room on the page.

Beware that twinkle!

Webby is a force of nature.

She is also an exceptionally smart and hard working footballer. She is a natural winger who knows where the ball is going and has the motor to get there. Regularly! Strong in the air, in the contest, by foot and by hand, she is the complete footballer. We counted 3 handballs Friday night that went as far as kicks and hit their intended targets, that’s an elite measure of effort and talent right there. Webby is also tough as nails, and will put her head over the footy every time, and is also a fierce protector of her teammates.

This correspondent has been racking his brain thinking of an AFL winger that Webby most resembles. The architype AFL winger has always been tall, sleek and fast. Think Keith Greig (2 Brownlows), Robert Flower or Doug Hawkins. None were considered particularly tough, and would do their best work outside the contest.

1 winger that comes to mind in the Webby mould is the most recent Brownlow medal winning winger Robert DiPierdomenico who won the award in 1986.

“Dipper”was tough, brutal actually, but hard working and skillful, and also a beloved character with his teammates and club supporters. Sound familiar?!

Friday night was a watershed moment for team and Club favourite Webby, and the strong Olinda crowd were rewarded for braving the cold conditions to witness it.

There must have been something special on the breakfast table Friday morning at the Edwards house because big sister Liv(The Weapon!) brought her own footy to the Bloodery too.

The 2 sisters compiled an amazing 165 ranking points between them, the most as a duo since ’23. They are surely the most impactful siblings at the club since the Scott brothers?

Liv’s brilliance has been well known since she kicked 5 in her first game, but the word ”brilliant” sells her short. Her freakish ability to do the impossible is becoming legendary up on the Hill. Last week she did the never before seen act of smothering the ball with her fist.

There is no word for this act, but we’re thinking maybe ”spother” or “smoil”?!

Always looking to outdo herself, this week in the last quarter she grabbed the ball off a Belgrave player’s foot AS SHE WAS KICKING IT!! Who would even think to sacrifice their fingers to do such an act?! The Weapon!

Liv’s first of her 3 goals was a massive team highlight and had Coach SimDog beaming.

Ella(Hell’s Bells)McRae took a contested intercept mark between 2 opposition players from a clearing Belgrave kick out of Olinda’s forward line. As Nessy(Westside)Bateman charged out of the square Bells laced her out and Nessy took a beautiful clunk. Ness’ kick into the goal square was marked in the middle of a massive pack of players. So massive in fact that we couldn’t see who marked it until that player emerged with the ball. No guesses who it was….The Weapon!

Jacquie(Parrot)Ring is a scary proposition when she’s running at you knees up, in fact the Assistant Coach has to wear 2 pairs of undies when he’s holding the bag in warm ups!!

Jac was in full flight Friday night and completely dominated the ruck contests and won almost ever tap, and impacted around the ground with her intercept marking, strong tackling and creative handball. Jac and the side’s first goal was a contender for goal of the year(Liv Edwards raises an eyebrow every time I write this!)

In the first quarter Chloe(The Smiling Assassin)Kanally stood strong in a tackle and fired out a left-hand handball to Jac. Jac then handballed to her skipper Miss Football Lily(Laser)Carlin then sprinted past for the give and go, Jac then launched an almighty bomb from centre half forward to the joy of all in attendance. 

Nessy(Westside)Bateman has been playing her best footy the past month, and it cumulated with an excellent performance Friday night in her last game on these shores for 2026.

Ness started her senior career at full forward and spent the bulk of the Premiership winning year of 2023 there, before being moved to middle at the start of 2024. Ness was simply too valuable to not be where the ball was. Moved forward this year as the side tries to blood a new on ball brigade, Ness’ cleverness and creativity has shone through and she has been hitting the scoreboard most weeks. So she did Friday night in the third quarter when she snapped truly from deep forward and received an hilarious photo shoot goal celly in the goal square. A fitting farewell to a treasured member of the side and the Club.

Safe travels Ness, we’ll miss you!

Coach Simon got access to the vision of multiple games during the week and gave it those players who wanted a look. It should come as no surprise that Miss Football Lily Carlin was the first to put her hand up, and of course she devoured every second. Watching herself running around she was shocked and exclaimed “#@%* I’m faster than that!”.

There should have been a collective shudder around the Competition at that moment.

Lil was blisteringly quick Friday night, sprinting the lines, bouncing and shooting her laser passes into the forward line. At one point the Assistant Coach had to ask “who’s that?” because she was running so fast. This, added to her fierce contested work means Lil is going to be even more of a nightmare for opposition mids for the rest of the season.

The game itself would have been highly entertaining for Olinda supporters, and the side goaled in every quarter to run out 6.9.45 to 0.4.4 victors over Belgrave. The second quarter especially, where the ball lived in Olinda’s forward half and the team cashed in with 3 goals was up with the best footy they have played. To Belgrave’s credit they upped their pressure in the second half and were much more competitive but The Bloods still held them goalless.

The side had a host of players that could have been named in their best which is always a strong sign and every player could be satisfied that they played well. The intensity will increase tenfold next Saturday in the twilight game at The Bloodery as the side faces Upwey in the battle for fourth spot. We’re expecting a finals-like contest, I would encourage all Olinda people to stick around and support our girls.

Vanessa Bateman, Lily Carlin, Charlotte Edwards, Chloe Kanally, Jacqueline Ring, Kyah Barry

Rachel Smart was the story of the 2025 All-Star competition, winning votes in every grade  as she moved up the ranks, finally settling in her rightful spot in A Grade. Much harder to get votes in a team featuring names like Hennessy, Chen and Argoon. With all 3 missing this week Rach stepped up and helped get the squad she skippers get on top of the All-Star podium for the first time this year,

Who is the best Grigg?? Not even going to weigh in on this one, but while Ella was plying her trade against the best in A Grade, sister Millie was getting BOG in B Grade. We’ll let the Grigg sisters fight it out over this one!

A  late inclusion to the All-Star competition this year with his first game was Nick Keegan who was high in the votes in the Rezzies barnstorming win. A probable inclusion in the 1s next week, will he be able to replicate?

The Streetsmarts are making a late charge, and salute for the first time with a BOG to Millie Grigg, and vote getting games to Rachel Smart, Nick Keegan and Alivia Nelson.

Prez Ben Sely-Hele might be a genius with the bargain basement $200 Streetsmarts.

Both teams were missing their stars because of VNL matches on Sunday so just how this match would play out was a bit of an unknown.

OFC is furth on the ladder while the Doggies are second, one win clear of us, and at the end of the first quarter when we were down by just three goals the red and white fans began to think about an upset.

Those thoughts lasted about five mins as the Doggies found their bite in the second quarter and piled on 20 goals!

Marv Pringle was probably our best, she shot 22 goals and was an absolute live wire in the front half for the entire match. Jess Ashton-Smith contributed 16 taking her season A Grade tally to 129.

We also loved Rachel Smart’s game- it seems like a lifetime ago that Rach was turning heads in D Grade.

Mera Pringle, Rachel Smart, Emma Hunter

After a 34 point loss in round 2 to Wandin the girls were back to prove a point. With an ever changing team list, each week takes a bit of adjusting and it shows with our starts to the game going down 18-7 in the first. A tighter second quarter with the injection of M Howie into the attack end cleaned things up alongside S Seddon's use of height in the circle to create some much needed gains.

The second half yielded some swaying results with Wandin getting back on top during the third due to strong defensive pressure. The girls didn't drop their heads and came out firing in the last with a goal for goal showing between the two sides, neither teams let off until C McCallum got thrown into the defense end after a dominant showing in goals where that pressure continued and Wandin struggled to answer letting us pull ahead and win the last quarter 7-9.

Millie Grigg, Cassandra McCallum, Sarah Seddon

This match was always going to be a massive ask for our girls who were up against a team that has dropped just one match for the year.

To be fair to our girls though Wandin had a player in their team who shot 50 goals and it was tough to find someone to go with her (she then shot 30 goals in B Grade!).

Veteran Sarah Kennedy ran herself into the ground trying to stem the tide and , given the scoreline and the one way traffic, Molly Jones had one of her best games of the year.

We have a week off because Upwey has no C Grade team then we are back for another massive challenge against Mt Evelyn.

Sarah Kennedy, Tempest Clarke, Molly Jones

With an almost full team back minus the skipper, D Grade was in high spirits for the Wandin clash. Whilst the scoreboards don't always reflect it, D Grade actually matches up against Wandin pretty well, and it is always a tough contest between the two sides.

Unfortunately, a rough start to the first with Olinda only being able to score 1 goal against Wandin's 8, but the team didn't let this rattle them. Again helped this week by T Clarke, J Donner and S Pringle, the fight was on and D managed to hit the scoreboard a bit more in the second quarter.

Going into the half time break, it was going to take a big effort to claw back the 11 goal lead Wandin had gained, but the energy had shifted and there was a huge push from the girls in the second half. Some amazing defensive work from A Clyne and A Nelson helped us gain some ball, and M Box stood up with some well needed goals.

This led the girls to winning the 4th quarter with 10 goals scored to Wandin's 7 scored. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to get the win, but was a great result compared to our first outing against Wandin which we lost by 18.

Amy Clyne, Alivia Nelson, Martha Box

This weekend the 17s came up against a 7th placed wandin side. We came out of the blocks a bit slow, conceding 15 goals in the 1st and 2nd quarters. But then came the 3rd, by far the best quarter of netty we've seen all year! We put a season high 7 goals on the board and held wandin to 7 as well! Making the 3rd quarter our first drawn quarter for the season. It was a great effort across the board, Zara was able to hold down the defense end well while Steph was able to almost perfectly execute her feedback in attack.

Monet Makaay, Natalie Daly, Eliza Watson

Work on the final phase of the Olinda Green project is due to start in September so no doubt there’ll be some disruption to cricket season but the new car parking and shelter should be in place by next footy season.

Also you’ll soon notice the new disabled car parking space near the old netball court will be completed. It was about this time last year we finalised the site for the disabled parking and at last we are near the top of the YRS list for this financial year.

Hilltop has also sought advice from YRS (the Shire) about a lighting upgrade so we can place LED lighting on the main oval. Rough costings put the upgrade out of our reach financially; it would probably set the clubs back collectively about six figures. However YRS has assured us Olinda is in the top 10 clubs in the whole Shire to get the LED lights down the track.

Two of our Senior footballers have been enjoying their travels across Europe this year. L ‘Wheels’ Kennedy has been playing a few games for the North London Lions and last weekend, he added a bit of extra firepower to the Lions with the inclusion of his Bloods teammate L Smith.

A big thanks to Lilydale Safety Wear (‘LSW’), who has provided the club with a weekly $50 voucher, to be awarded to players that reflect the values of OFCFNC, through their conduct.

 Round 9 - B Grade - Charlotte Rickards

Charlotte has consistently embodied our club values through her positive attitude, willingness to take on feedback, dedication to improving her game, and readiness to step up and help the club by playing wherever she’s needed.

Round 10 - D Grade - Eboni Tucker

Eboni embodies club spirit working tirelessly behind the scenes keeping things running for the netball, while also stepping up wherever needed to score and help out in the canteen, as well as being a valued member of our D Grade squad.

Additionally, all Outer East FNL clubs now receive a 10% instore discount. Simply need to mention that you play for Olinda Ferny Creek, for example, and LSW can apply the discount to your account for future purchases.