What a weekend, our A Grade girls took a massive step towards claiming a finals berth, the Seniors banked another four points in an account that’s already very full and the Reserves played in one of the most dramatic encounters of the season.

But we are going to lead this week, for the first time ever, with an U/16 victory because it’s about as special and unique as they come.

Here’s the scene setter- Mt Evelyn finished unbeaten on top of the ladder in the top division. OFC was second but we couldn’t get near them, they rolled us by nearly eight goals in the semi final.

When the final siren sounded on grand final day they were still in front but a massive twist to this game was about to send the OFC players and supporters into paroxysms of joy, and the Rovers into disbelieving despair.

At three quarter time Mt Evelyn led by 22 points and although OFC had clung on tenaciously all afternoon there was no sign of the storm that was about to be unleashed.

Coach Lachie Taylor exhorted the boys to run and push forward in the last quarter, and to believe in themselves. Which is precisely what the guys did and suddenly there was chaos in our front half half and Mt Ev was under siege.

OFC bombarded the goals scoring 4.5 while Mt Ev could mange just the two goals. With only a minute or so on the clock we desperately needed another goal and when a careless tackle led to a free kick Jack Ford calmly slotted home the winner, from 30-35 metres out, after the siren!!!

OFC were Premiers- by one point.

It was as close as you’ll ever get to a miracle win.

Bruce “Popeye” Lowery asked someone to pinch him because he thought it must be dream. Popeye was playing juniors in 1966 when OFC pulled off it’s greatest ever escape against Wandin.

After being behind all day in ankle high boggy conditions our Seniors were down by five points with a minute on the clock. Barry McCarthy was awarded a free kick however he was 40 metres out and the ball dropped short in the mud. But incredibly the Wandin player ran over the mark so Barry was given another kick 15m closer to goal. This time he kicked truly and OFC hit the front for the first time all day. As the ball was thrown up in the centre the siren rang.

These stories live on as long as the club does- they are a part of OFC folklore and now we have one more amazing tale to tell.

Analysis- we don’t believe anyone in the competition thought OFC could beat MtEvelyn, and Bloodlines can confirm a few OFC people also had their doubts. But crucially the coach wasn’t among them.

Lachie was convinced that if he tweaked the team and added the U/14 stars (who had won their flag the week before), he could find a path to victory.

Syd Higgins, Billy Brown, Slade Dean and Rylan Johnson were the four young stars who came into the U/16 side.

All you guys will remember this time for the rest of your lives. We know this because we still have players from the famous 1958 U/16 flag who read this newsletter and recall that famous win over Upwey (our first junior flag). 

Sunday was indeed an historic day for OFC with the U/14 girls, coached by Darren “Dazzler” Reid, also winning the flag.

The girls were in the same position as Mt Evelyn’s U/16s- they went into the match against Monbulk unbeaten and clear flag favourites.

However Monnie had pushed our girls ( it’s actually a combined OFC/Gembrook team) a couple of times during the year and although we held them scoreless up to halftime the feeling was the Hawks would mount a challenge at some stage.

It came in the last quarter when they slammed on 1.3 to claw their way to within one kick  of OFC. But the girls hadn’t worked their backsides off all year to let this one slip on the most important day of the season and they held on for a sensational win.

Coach Daz was keen to underline what a magnificent team effort the whole season has been. He also urged people to keep an eye on Ella Moore, the best defender in the League, and Edith Pattison who was BOG in the Grand Final.

He also told Bloodlines that key forward Maya Blackall is the leading goal kicker in U/14s with 34. Now it’s not as though we don’t believe Darren, we’d trust him with our trophy cabinet, BUT 34 seems like an awful lot of goals for anyone, let alone an U/14 player to kick!! Well of course it’s true, Maya booted 32 in U/14s and another couple in the U/16s.

That’s seriously impressive.

We need to note, and thank, the Gembrook girls who were members of this combined team. Incredibly the girls had only one joint training session before the first round but quickly built friendships which strengthened during the season.

Bloodlines checked Daz’s 2026 season report, and this quickly jumped out as us-” game days were structured with the girls having a lot more to say in the group, particuarly with on-field rotations, holding positions and creating space for ball movement”. How good is that!?

A shout out also to Daz’s assistant coach Duncan Brown-we are sure it was a long and emotional day for Duncs who had two boys running around in the U/16s.

For the record the U/14 girls and U/14 boys went through the entire season undefeated, which makes them CHAMPIONS and PREMIERS.

We came close to a serious season stumble last week when we drew with a struggling Healesville but those two points may prove invaluable.

In sixth place on the ladder we are on equal points (38) with Warburton Millgrove, but their superior percentage has placed them just inside the Top Five.

In the final round Warbie has a trip to Mt Evelyn where they’ll face the undefeated top team. In contrast we are at home to nineth placed Gembrook. If Mt Evelyn does the job we all expect then our fate will be in our own hands.

And it looks like we’re hitting form at the right time after we put on a devastating performance to knock ROC (Rythdale Officer Cardinia) out of the finals race.

In one of our strongest opening quarters of the entire season we blizted ROC 18-11 and didn’t look back as we ran away to a very solid 18 goal victory.

How did we manage to turn things around so dramatically in just a week? Well we can’t go past the return of skipper Soph Hennessy after her VNL finals commitment. It’s not just her speed and ability to link both ends of the court that stands out but also her desperate defence.

However on Saturday Soph had to leave at the last break because of a VNL commitment and it was Cheryl Chen who stole the show. Chezza won Best on Court honours. How about those incredible reflexes? She is lightening quick and enjoyed an insane number of intercepts.

And what about Marvelous Mera? Marv dislocated her finger but played through the pain barrier to enjoy one of her best games of the season.

Overall it was a stunning overall team performance against a side that, like us, had enjoyed eight wins before Saturday. Let’s make sure of it this week girls!!!!

OFC people definitely need to check in with the A Grade netball on Saturday and encourage our girls- you might be surprised at what an exciting unit they have developed into.

Best Players- Cheryyl Chen, Mera Pringle, Eloise Argoon

( apologies for the lack of quarter by quarter score breakdowns- there seems to be a disconnect between Microsoft and Play HQ atm)

There was concern in some quarters leading up to the clash with Officer that if they were ever going to beat us at our home ground this could be the day.

OFC had already locked away the second chance while the visitors were under a little bit of pressure to make sure they ticked-off fourth or fifth position.

Adding some extra intrigue to the build up OFC was missing a batch of important players while (according to our “intelligence”) Officer was near full strength and had been cutting a swathe through the competition.

So given all that how would did we hold up?

In a word- magnificently (give or take 15 mins in the last quarter).

We took a 16 point lead into the first quarter and looked a three or four goal better team all afternoon- until the wheels almost came off in that last stanza.

OFC people who saw us host Officer last year will recall a similar scenario- we were clearly a better team all afernoon until there young guys got up and about in the last 20 minutes and gave us some serious trouble.

What happened this time?

It’s not easy to pinpoint but their midfield started to win some ball, after being beaten all day by Pete The Skeet, Perc and Tyler. As Officer lifted it’s work rate and was first to the ball they won a string of umpiring decisions which brought some remonstrations and umpire penalties. It got very messy from an OFC perspective but the boys hung on to keep their winning record in tact.

Take aways-

.We are still processing exactly what we saw on Saturday in that drama laden curtain raiser to the Senior match.

Up against second placed Officer we stunned them in the first quarter and led for the entire match until, literally, the last 90 seconds. It was an unpalatable result to swallow for our injury ravaged group who, we felt, deserved a better outcome.

Anyway lets go straight to Big Nick’s Bag of Tricks.

In Round 8 this season Officer smashed us by nearly 100 points but if the Roos were expecting another walk in the park they’d come to the wrong venue.

With our midfield winning plenty of early ball we enjoyed repeated inside 50s in the first 15 minutes and Nick Schiano ran riot. He booted three goals and gave away another. That meant we were able to take a 17 point lead into the first break.

Nick, who joined us from the western suburbs via Narre Warren, also contributed another goal later. He gave us massive presence up front.

By half time we pushed that lead out to 23 points but the team was rocked by a couple of key injuries.

Captain courageous Jack Lucas and  Cass Hine, our most consistent player over the past month and a half, were concussed in sling tackles.

While there was no malice in the incidents there’s equally no doubt the tackles should have resulted in yellow cards. Sometimes the changes to footy rules are a bit of a dogs breakfast.

After the AFL introduced penalties for sling tackles, to avoid the sort of injuries we saw inflicted twice on Saturday, the umpires cracked down hard. Now it seems to be not such a big deal. It’s inconsistent and incredibly annoying. It may also have far reaching consequences. For instance if we make the finals we may be without our skipper. In Cass’s case there’s even more riding on it. It’s his fourth concussion.

Anyway lets get to some more positives- LJ chipped in with three sensational goals on Saturday which underlines just how much we’ve missed our vice captain.

Mitch Low was a rock in defence, he’s clearly becoming more confident each week as he realises he can out muscle opponents. Bloodlines had him in our top three players.

Interestingly five of the six players listed in our best are guys with plenty of run in their legs- Ollie, Harry, Brodie, Darcy and Campbell.

You can add young Tonkin, Leroy, Tommy, Cas and Kit and a couple of others to that list of running players and it’s little wonder OFC has become a handful.

So to the bottom line-if we beat Gembrook we play finals! Nothing more needs to be said.

So Officer junior club has an extraordinary 27 teams and they all feed into an U/18 team, which plays in Outer East, and then an U/19 team which is in the Southern League.

How does OFC compete with that going forward? Clearly we’ll struggle- like most of the other clubs in Outer East,. Compounding our problem on Saturday was the fact that for a variety of reasons we had just 14 players. Officer leant us four of their boys so we could have a game of footy.

Here’s Scotty’s take on the game-

A real tough day for the boys coming up against the undefeated benchmark in Officer with only 14 players but I couldn’t be prouder of the effort the boys put in for the four quarters.

The boys never dropped their heads once throughout the game even with a heavily one-sided scoreboard. River Bellemo continued his strong season, James Dixon has produced a really strong month of football. Our leaders in Lachie, Lenny and Will continued to toil away all day and showed great leadership and maturity.

Well done boys on never giving in.

ROC came into Saturday’s game sitting second on the ladder with just two losses for the season. After a 76-24 loss in our first meeting, B Grade knew they were facing a quality opponent.

Despite ROC edging away each quarter, the girls produced a consistent four-quarter effort and never let the game get away from them. They continued to compete right through to the final whistle, putting up 7-13 goal quarters against one of the competition’s strongest sides.

A huge shout out to fill-in Zana Rexhepi, whose aerial presence and relentless pressure were invaluable. No matter the bib, she always brings energy and intensity. Mel Thomas also returned for her second game since welcoming her baby, rotating through GA and WA and adding experience and composure in attack.

Jas Donner continued her development at B Grade level, doing a fantastic job at WD while playing her second game of the day. Emmy Van Duuren was strong through the midcourt, while Sarah Kennedy stepped up from C Grade after an impressive centre court performance earlier in the day.

Millie Grigg was another standout, stepping up since sister E Grigg moved into A Grade. Her attacking drive, deflections and turnovers made a real impact through the midcourt. In goals, Tilly Brewster stood strong against a physical defence, while Cass McCallum provided valuable minutes at WA and in the goal circle. S Seddon also battled strongly in defence, pulling in some impressive rebounds.

While the result didn’t go our way, the team’s attitude, effort and determination were something to be proud of.

Thanks for the report Eb.

Best Players- Zana Rexhepi, Cass McCallum, Millie Grigg

C Grade is another side that has had to adapt to a changing team list throughout the second half of the season, with Mary Taylor unavailable due to pregnancy and Molly Howie currently travelling through Europe. Given those changes, the way the group has continued to compete, welcome players into new roles and keep developing each week has been a real credit to everyone involved.

On paper the 17-62 result was a tough one, but there were plenty of positive signs for the group. The girls started strongly and took the game right up to the opposition in the first quarter, trailing by just three goals at the first break. Unfortunately, the opposition were able to build momentum from there and gradually pull away across the remaining three quarters, but the effort and enthusiasm from our group never dropped.

Alivia Nelson and Martha Box again stepped up to play higher grade netball, continuing to gain valuable experience and confidence at the level. It was also fantastic to welcome Sam Daly back from injury, providing an important boost to the side and adding another option through the court.

Jas Donner delivered an outstanding performance and was a standout throughout the game, while the group as a whole continues to show steady growth and development each week. The changes through the court, including Bridie Howie rotating into the midcourt and Stormy Clarke combining with X Box in goals, provided a different look and created some encouraging passages of play. Casey Patterson worked tirelessly at WD, applying strong defensive pressure and contesting every ball, while M Jones consistently delivered quality feeds into the circle and looked to create opportunities for our shooters.

Another highlight was the leadership shown by Sarah Kennedy, who continued to guide and encourage her teammates throughout the contest while leading by example with her effort and attitude. While the scoreboard got away from us after quarter time, the girls can be proud of the way they competed and continued to work for each other, with plenty of positives to build on moving forward.

BEST PLAYERS-Jasmin Donner, Bridie Howie, Alivia Nelson

To provide some context to Saturday's game, ROC are one of the toughest teams in the competition. Sitting third on the ladder, their only losses this season have come against Mt Evelyn, Monbulk and Wandin.

When we first met ROC this year, they handed us a 23-goal defeat. With a largely unchanged line-up by D Grade standards (E Nelson and E Tucker out, S Mik in), we took the court determined to show how much we had improved.

The first quarter was one of our best starts of the season. The attack end was clicking, with Martha, Logan “Sunny” Fairweather, Jess Vah (formerly Day) and Ruby Fleming combining well despite plenty of physical pressure in the circle. We matched ROC from the outset and went into the first break just three goals down.

The second quarter belonged to the defenders. Kym Anderson, Alivia and Amy Clyne were outstanding, restricting ROC to just one goal for the quarter. As Coach Daniel put it, "I've never seen someone so scared to feed a ball in," with Alivia constantly picking off intercepts, while Amy cleaned up everything that came her way. Their efforts helped us head into half time trailing by just one goal.

One of the biggest focuses for D Grade this season has been maintaining our execution under fatigue and playing four consistent quarters. Unfortunately, ROC were able to gain the upper hand in the second half, winning it 18-10. Despite that, there were still plenty of positives. Sunny and Soph Pringle showed just how much their connection has developed since our first meeting with ROC, while Sam Mik provided a strong target at GS and finished off plenty of good work down the court.

Despite the final seven-goal loss, D Grade should be incredibly proud. To reduce a 23-goal defeat to just nine goals against the team sitting third is a huge reflection of the progress this group has made. Sitting seventh ourselves, Saturday's performance felt like a win in many ways and shows this team is continuing to improve week after week.

Best Players-Alivia Nelson, Logan Fairweather, Amy Clyne

The “babies” of our OFC family are already looking ahead and the girls are going to play a Spring-Summer competition at Kilsyth so they can then roll straight into Outer East 2027.

While it’s been an incredibly tough season for them their resilience has been extraordinary ( actually it’s been better than that, it’s been inspirational) and we are very proud of the fact you have stuck to your guns through a very challenging time.

Now lets look to the coming week- we play Gembrook who are one position above us on the ladder- the match starts at 9.55 so lets get along and support the girls in their last match of the season!!

Best Players- Raven Holmes, Zoe Arthur, Natalie Day

Eboni Tucker- writes some of our netball reports, plays for D Grade, completes the team sheets and paperwork, works in the canteen… in her spare time Eb is a lawyer.

The squad named after my favourite food, owned by my favourite pool man, and skippered by the player with the best name at the Club sits atop the All-Stars weekly winners podium for the first time this year.

Squad 13 “Donner’s Kebabs” salutes this week with a BOG to skipper Jaz Donner in C Grade and Ollie Clarke in the Rezzies, along with votes to Brodie Clark in the Rezzies.

With only a week of voting left, Squad 9 “Rachel’s Streetsmarts” continue their red hot form from the last month in 2^nd this week, while squad 7 “Molly’s Hatchetts”, predicted to finish high in the voting, had a week of consolidation in 3^rd.

Thanks -as always- to Sacha

It’s with an air of sadness we acknolwedge the passing of 1988 Premiership player Billy Pallott who was not only a great centre half back but a universally popular bloke at the Club and around the community.

We thought we’d let some of our past players/coaches speak for us-

Ian Symons ( Bill’s coach 1988-1990)- “Billy was as hard as a cat’s head. Nothing got past Bill and if it did his brother John at full back would clean it up. He gavehis opponents nothing except bruises. Bill was one of the first picked each week, as honest as the day is long and one of the ey reasons for our 1988 flag. Vale Bill, taken too soon.” (thanks for the pics Deb)

Bruce Lowery (coach 1986-87)- “Billy had a fine football brain, he not only understood game plans, he could innovate as well. A strong mark and kick made him an automatic selection as a key position layer. And quite apart from his football abilities he was just a really nice bloke.”

Shane Fitzgerald ( played with AND against Billy)- “played with distinction on and off the field. Great team mate on the field and great mate off it. During my time the Pallott brothers were the best recruits we ever had to the club. I also enjoyed their company socially, at some clubs guys would play and then disappear but the Pallotts were great blokes.”

Anon- “Billy played in a more robust footy era and told me at least twice of fronting up to a certain Upwey full forward at Upwey. His opponent was in the Vicpol SOG and took great pleasure in monstering opponents. On this particular day Bill went to shake Walshy’s hand prematch and the full forward attacked him. By the time the game began Billy’s jumper had been literally torn off him. All Bill could say was ‘take it easy Walshy’.”

Billy was found unresponsive in his bed last week. His funeral is on Thurs 27 August at 1.45. Lilydale Memorial Park.

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