Yarrawonga Chronicle

FOOTY FINALS

GOOD LUCK to the footballers & netballers in the finals from the following businesses

The Tungamah Football Netball Club are re-establishing themselves as league heavyweights once again with 10 of their 11 grades gearing up to play finals.

In the football, the seniors have cemented themselves in the box seat, claiming the minor premiership with only one loss while the Reserves and fourths also took out top spot, going through the season undefeated.

The Thirds too had a successful season finishing in second position with only the one loss.

In the netball only one grade has missed out on the chance at premiership glory with A Grade and C Grade finishing in second, B Grade and Under 13s finishing third, C Res in fifth and Under 15s in eighth.

Seniors

With a few new faces coming into the team, the Seniors have gelled together nicely and put together a very good home and away season.

Having lost only the 1 game they will finish top 2 which gives them a great chance at going deep into the final’s series.

Coach Stevenson has managed the group extremely well in his second season in charge and now has a well-balanced and fit squad that are hungry for success.

The improvement in some of the youngsters in Des O’Kane, Ned Connell, Oscar Willis and Zach Scott as the season has progressed has been great to watch and there is a lot of excitement around what they can achieve over the next six weeks.

The senior Bears have also added leadership in defence with Chapman and James Lawless now giving some support to Gus Ford and Dylan Scott.

The midfield looks well balanced with Matt O’Kane and James Irvine providing the grunt, while Nick Irvine, Ferguson and Stevenson all have class and running power.

Liam Connell and Damon Symes have proven a formidable ruck duo with the latter proving a handful for defenders when he pushes forward.

Ash Saunders has put together another fine season and is the focal point in the forward half, but he has had some great support from Jhett Cooper, Nick Lawless and Chris Powell.

There isn’t a lot between the top 4 or 5 teams in the competition which will make for an interesting and compelling finals series.

Here’s hoping the seniors can bring another premiership back to the Bear Pit.

Reserves

The Reserves have had an incredible home and away season remaining undefeated. The

success has been predominantly due to the exceptional depth, with 47 players having taken the field for the reserves this year.

25 of these players have played senior football in the last 2 years, with 14 playing up this year alone. Xav’s coaching style for the senior squad has been excellently implemented and executed by the playing group.

The reserves have been fortunate enough to play the other teams in the top four in the last few rounds which has given the group some quality hit outs prior to the finals series. There will be some solid competition during the finals but the reserves playing group is confident they can have a big impact on the final’s series.

Thirds

The thirds team took on a different look this season with an influx of new players to the club. The group has bonded well under the experienced coaching group of Paul Sidebottom and David True with Joel Whinray taking on the team runner duties.

After losing the first game of the home and away season the Bears have since been undefeated. The team has been building momentum and expect to go deep into the finals with all players working hard to gain selection and retain their positions in a very competitive side.

The coaches believe they have the playing group that could go all the way and bring home a premiership.

Fourths

Coaches Ryan Walker, Jason Arnold and Shannon Doyle are super happy with how the team is travelling. The boys have been training two times a week all season and every single one has had massive growth in skills and fitness.

The Fourths are coming into finals undefeated, which hopefully the kids don’t get ahead of themselves. Finals are always a different story, but the boys are excited about playing some good competitive games.

Forward Lenny Lonergan has broken his arm, hoping to have home back for finals. The fourths wish all the other Tungamah teams all the best in finals.

NETBALL A Grade

Currently sitting second on the ladder, with 12 wins and 3 loses. The team have had a much better season this year. The A Grade have had some competitive games in the last few rounds that will set them up for a good final’s series. The team have the determination and potential to make it deep into finals, they continue to work hard to make sure they are there on that last day, ready to fight for glory.

B Grade

The team has had a great season being able to adapt to the unfortunate injuries and illnesses that were suffered throughout the season.

B Grade have been training hard the last few weeks, bringing everything together as a team and are extremely excited to start their finals campaign with the full team, ready to show everyone what they are capable of.

C Grade

Interesting season with various injuries and illnesses, however the squad have handled the adversity seamlessly. There’s been ins and outs, but everyone has stood up when it counted and is a valued member of the team.

The mix of old and young is proving beneficial, and that experience will help them leading into finals. Great versatility in the team allows for changes when needed, they will be a force and predict to go deep into finals.

The extended squad for the year has included: Felicity Irvine, Adele Symes, Lauren Mason, Sally Costigan, Sandy Dickie, Mariah Duffy, Caz Purcell, Jenny Buerckner, Carly Beattie, Briar Rodaughan, Ally Cooper, Brodie Gissing, Lilly Burns, Brooke Bourke,

Anna Zanin, Addi Priestley, Cait Sinclair and Shylee Brown. This team is capable of a lot of fun but are very competitive when it counts.

C Reserve

A very solid season from the C Res team. Coaches Sally Eales and Bridget Saunders are very pleased with how well the team has come together. After starting the season with three very close losses the players and game plan clicked and then continued to show improvement every week to finish the home and away season 10-5 and in fifth position.

The team consists of Bernadette Attwood (Captain), Jorja Goldman (Vice Captain), Amber Peachey, Brooke Bourke, Danielle Sidebottom, Grace Whitelock, Hannah Moore, Jade Ralph, Kait Megarrity, Olivia Hayes and Sophie Lidgerwood. The finals campaign should be very competitive as there have been some very close games among the top 8, but C Res are ready for the challenge.

Under 15s

The Under 15 girls are going into the finals sitting 8th on ladder. They’ve had a pretty tough season with some very challenging games, finishing the season with 7 wins and 7 losses. With 11 girls on the team, the Under 15s haven’t had the whole team play all together yet, so heading into the finals campaign they are excited to have everyone but one back.

Throughout the year the under 15s have had many 13s players come up and filter through, as well as a few of the girls making a senior debut at such a young age. The Under 15s are definitely going into it as the underdogs, feeling very capable of being able to get as far as they put their minds to.

The girls are ready to put up a fight, and no matter what the result is at the end of the season, the coaches couldn’t be any prouder of how far the girls have come as a team. Go Bears.

Under 13s

This great bunch of girls are playing more like a team and are ready for finals. They have had plenty of close games and showed fight and determination giving them experience to draw on. There is plenty of versatility in the squad and the coaches can’t wait to see what they can do. The squad: Emily Buerckner - brick wall, Brooke Kirchen - pillar at either end, Elli Buerckner - versatile, small tall, Charli Cummins - speedy space finder, Lucy Judd - dead eye, Laila Prado – agile, Abbi McLarty – determined, Kiera Buerckner – unpredictable, Chloe Lawless - decision maker, Tayla Mason – strong and Lillie Raven - rebound specialist.

SPORT

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2022-08-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-10T07:00:00.0000000Z

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