So yeh, it’s always a deflating feeling when the finals finish, but it’s especially so after three weeks of exhilarating footy.

The 2026 series was akin to 2025, except this time Mt Evelyn substituted for Woori Yallock in a desperate fight to the footy death, and sadly on this occasion OFC was on the losing side of the ledger. But gees the Preliminary Final was so very close, it was an absolute cracker contest.

As had been the case in the last two matches against Mt Ev they jumped us in the first quarter with multiple midfield extractions which put our defence under siege.

It was a dour and desperate struggle for us across the whole ground with Tyler Belloni standing out because of his gut busting run and carry. Still we were able to restrict them to four goals, with a flukey wind at their backs.

Interestingly it wasn’t the strength of the northerly that made life difficult for the forwards but the fact that  it was pushing the ball out to the right at the top end while the bottom end of the Yarra Glen oval seemed more protected by the buildings and trees, which made scoring a lot easier.

It was left to peerless Percy Hyett to pull one back for us in the first quarter. Perc iced a crucial goal from 45m. Remarkably he would repeat the performance in the third quarter. Perc was the only OFC player to score a goal at the top end of the ground.

So after a fast and furious opening quarter in blustery and warm conditions we went into the first break 19 points down.

In the second quarter we at least held our own in general play but three incidents shaped the game ahead of the half time break. During a nailbiting scramble in our goalsquare, when at least two guys had shots on goal smothered, it was left to youngster Isaac Heaney to bullock his way through the pack and somehow throw the ball on to his boot for a goal. Except it wasn’t. While the OFC players and supporters celebrated the goal umpire raised one finger.

At the other end of the ground Mt Ev benefited from two free kicks 10m out from goal. In both cases the OFC players were stiff that the frees were picked up, and even more stiff that they were gimme goals. They were the only goals Mt Ev scored against the wind for the entire game.

(The following quarter The Rovers also kicked a third goal from a free kick and 25m penalty. This meant they kicked just six majors from general play for the whole match, which is testimony to the skills and desperation of the OFC defence.)

The highlight of the second quarter, and one of the highlights of the game, was Lachie Taylor’s goal from inside the centre square! We desperately needed the six points to stay in touch and the skipper duly delivered the goods under maximum pressure. It was an unforgettable moment in the context of the whole finals series. 

At half time OFC had reduced the deficit by just one point- Mt Ev maintained it’s three goal advantage- which meant the third quarter, when we kicked against the wind, loomed as a make or break period for us.

In fact it turned out to be neither.

Frank Seal went into the middle after the main break and had an immediate impact as he hit the pack like a San Francisco 49er on steroids and somehow cleared the ball out of the centre from the defensive side. He then eluded two tacklers and steadied for a shot on goal from 40m. Normally Frank can kick these with his eyes closed but the connection wasn’t true and the ball just failed to clear the goal line. But the intent was clear and the play was spectacular- it signalled to the opposition, and the large crowd, that it was game on.

If Mt Evelyn won the first quarter and we split the second stanza then the third quarter was the period when OFC started to gain the ascendancy. But except for Percy’s sensational goal against that flukey wind we just could not put the pill through the big sticks.

We booted 1.5 for the period, and also had a couple of complete misses, while Mt Ev kicked 3.3 with the wind and extended their lead.

While we struggled to find positional winners in the first quarter by the last break we had guys across the ground starting to get on top of the opposition. Even so we still faced a five goal deficit in the last quarter.

Clearly The Rovers were red hot favourites at this stage to go through to the Grand Final, but there were a few things your Bloodlines crew were mulling over.

For example, Mt Ev had surprisingly been beaten twice in tight finishes in the last month of the Home and Away season. In contrast OFC had found the grit when needed to survive challenges from Healesville and then Officer at home. It probably didn’t mean a lot, but just maybe it did mean something.

Also in our favour- a tip from a respected OFC legend who’d seen some of their big body boys play in the EFNL- he said they’d most likely fade on the large Yarra Glen ground, particularly if it was warm. As the last 25 minutes showed he was right on the money.

At three quarter time the coaches also rolled the dice in a major way.

They put young gun Blair Wilson in the ruck. Blair the Bear had already been amongst our best players across the half backline but as soon as he contested the ball-up to start the last quarter the mood of the match changed.

The move was something of a masterstroke because the key ruckmen on both teams had worked their backsides off for an hour and a half in the toughest conditions of the whole season.

Not only did Bear clear the packs with some of his ruck work he also gathered key possessions once the ball was loose.

OFC guys seemed to be running on top of the ground while Mt Ev looked shell shocked. It was the exact opposite of the qualifying final.

We opened them up with stunning goals from Hyett, Dyl Troutman, Pete “Skeet” Lucas and the irrepressible coach Dyl Wilson.

The two Dyls ran from the half backline to kick their goals while Perc coolly slotted his third one home from 40m.

But it was Skeet’s explosive run and carry from the centre square and across the arc that really lit the place up. (Was it goal of the day? Toss a coin with Lachie’s power packed set shot from inside the square).

Anyway, bottom line, we were suddenly within one kick of them and some opposition players had stopped to a walk. But- and this is very large “but”- The Rovers did enough to bottle the game up and hang on to their slender lead until the final siren. They deservedly go through to the Big Dance.

We’re not sure which people did our best player votes this week- but it was probably the most challenging list to compile all year. It was hard to find winners in the first quarter but by the last quarter blokes were standing tall across the whole ground.

So can we respectfully add a few names to the list which appears below-

Lachie Meadows- was strong all day, especially in the first quarter when the pill was red hot.

Dyl Troutman- see above (Meadows). Does this guy ever lose a contest or turn the ball over? It’s just an absolute pleasure to watch him play football.

Noah Desta- like a lot of guys worked his way into the match and also took mark of the day. His groundwork, for a big guy, is awesome as is his determination to never, ever lose a contest.

Can we also give honourable mentions to the young guys, Tom Ford, ET and Zach Seal who each provided some very special moments for us.

And a huge thank you to all the guys and the coaches who gave us such a memorable September.

Missing In Action Award- S Cuthbert. Sam was among Bloodlines Best Players in each of the last four weeks prior to the finals. Remember how he kept us in the game at Warbie in the first half with his forward line penetration and deft delivery? We missed his precise passing going forward on Sunday.

In a desperately tough and intense struggle there was at least one lighter moment on Sunday.

A number of young Mt Evelyn spectators at the bottom end of the ground were Lilydale Secondary College students and recognised Kelsey!

They enjoyed a free period of sledging, but at least they were good enough to call their teacher Mr Currie !

Can we take this opportunity to wish Mt Evelyn all the best in the grand final. We can’t remember the last time they made the “Grannie”, so good luck.

Footy’s Full Circle- we do some fact checking -

Mt Evelyn last won a premiership in 1998.

The Rovers were playing in Fourth Division of the Eastern comp in that year.

The team they beat was Rowville.

This weekend Rowville and East Ringwood will play in the EFNL Premier Div GF.

Prior to 1998 Mt Evelyn’s best results were Div 3 Eastern flags in the late 60s.

Mt Evelyn became a powerhouse in Div 3 in the absence of the Big Dogs of that division who had been promoted to Div 2 in the 60s.

The Big Dogs were OFC (premiers 65,66 and 67).

By the early 80s OFC was aspiring to play Div 1 in Eastern and in the finals we thought there was one club which stood between us and a Div 2 flag.

That club was Rowville*, which went on to play in Div 1 in Eastern BUT by 1998 was back in Div 4 playing Mt Ev.

We are going to run a competition at 10pm on Presentation Night to see how much of the above “fast facts” people can remember.

*we thought we’d struggle to beat Rowville but as history shows we didn’t get past Doncaster.

While it’s not the job of this newsletter to repeat rumour and scuttlebutt we do like to keep you informed of the things we’ve heard which could impact us in the near future.

We were told by a couple of well placed people at the weekend that at least three, and perhaps up to five, EFNL clubs are interested in adopting our community sport “country footy/netball” model. Which means football and netball are played on the same day at the same venue.

Currently the Eastern clubs play netball on Friday nights and a majority of the clubs don’t have courts at their footy grounds.

Clearly the massive changes that are barrelling down the highway towards us have to be in place next year ahead of the new look (Greater Eastern?) league in 2028. Stay tuned.

A heap of OFC juniors have been invited to the Outer East awards night this week- and we wish them all good luck.

The large number of invitees reflects the stellar year which OFCJFC enjoyed. With three premierships, including two in the boys top divisions ( 16s and 14s) it was arguably the best year ever for our juniors.

On the back of the huge season which the kids enjoyed five of them have been invited to trial with Eastern Ranges-

Spencer Garrett, Sydney Higgin, Rylan Johnson, Maya Blackall and Ella Moore.

The seniors have already seen Spencer in action in the Firsts this year- and what is our rule of thumb with U/16s playing seniors? Without exception they go on to enjoy stellar playing careers.

This week our roaming lense captured someone very special in the crowd, the seemingly indestructible Glenn Taylor.

“Choco”, as he’s known, was our match day Gate Attendant for many years and is also something of a legend at Olinda Cricket Club.

He’s suffered massive heart issues, and related complications, a few times in recent years but somehow always manages to outpace the grim reaper.

What a total hoot to see him out and about, yet again, in the red and white.

This is a story Bloodlines has told before but a few years back one of our editorial staff was on a local School Council when hours of work were put into organising a fete.

The fete was a great success and thousands of dollars were raised. Dozens of volunteers contributed to the day.

Afterwards the woman who organised the fete said while she was very happy with the outcome she couldn’t believe the amount of work (and stress) required to make it all happen and that she would NEVER do it again. She was good to her word.

Suffice to say OFC hosts nine home matches every year with a similar massive workload to a school fete on each of those Saturdays.

To our dozens of volunteers who make it happen, week in and week out, thank you for the year- come along and celebrate the season this Thursday night-

Due to staffing levels and many other factors it’s unlikely Bloodlines will never compete with the New York Times or any of the great journals of the world.

However what we can do is aspire to their standards of accuracy and fairness, and it’s with that in mind we offer a profound apology to Sacha Sullivan.

In our excitement with our big win over Officer in the semi final we reported Sacha was seen to stumble behind the goals while taking a mark and finished with legs and kyber pass facing skyward.

There’s a clear inference there that Sacha dropped the mark.

We are more than happy to correct the public record- despite tumbling backwards over a pram Sacha did NOT drop the mark.

He even supplied this pic as evidence-

Massive congrats to Stu Horner who has not only been selected in the VFL Team of the Year but has been recognised with the captaincy.

Stu was named in a back pocket.