By Marcus Uhe
Tom Toner’s third goal of the 2024 Outer East Football Netball Premier Division football grand final may as well have been the final siren on the afternoon’s proceedings.
A tough set shot from under the scoreboard at Rob Porter Recreation Reserve during time-on in the final term, Toner celebrated by turning to his family on the fence and mimicked cracking open a can to get celebrations underway.
It was a moment of jubilation, and a far cry from the corresponding day back in 2023, when the Magpies, in Toner’s words, “got our pants pulled down.”
With external voices discounting the Magpies’ prospects ahead of the 2024 season, the dynamic midfielder said the ability to prove people wrong – and do it against their nemesis in Wandin – made this triumph extra special.
“There were a few people that wrote us off at the start of the season that didn’t have us in the top four and that was the burn in the belly from day one,” Toner said.
“We all said it – everyone wanted to write us off but we knew we had a lot young kids that would come through.
“Sam, my brother, started us off on fire, Sam Johnson, Jordan Butera, so many young kids stood up and did their role and that’s what wins you games in the end.
“They beat us last year so you can only go off past performances, but I felt we were the underdogs.
“They’ve got some star power, they touched up Woori Yallock and we only just got over Woori Yallock.”
Toner’s four-goal performance earned him best-on-ground honours in Saturday’s grand final.
Nullifying the Wandin midfielders including Aaron Mullett and Patrick Bruzzese in the middle and kicking crucial goals in tense moments put the cream on top on top of a brilliant season in which he led the Magpies midfield throughout, polling 21 votes in the Smith-Ramage Medal count for the competition’s best player.
His second of the afternoon, a brilliantly-struck long set shot with the wind at his back that carried 50 metres easily after Wandin had cut the lead to 15 points, was as decisive a moment in the game as any, that reinforced Narre Warren’s upper hand in the contest.
He did the same against the Bulldogs in round 15, when he nailed critical goals as part of the Magpies’ stunning comeback, in a game that did plenty in dictating the premiership race.
There’s few names more synonymous with any club than the Toner’s are with Narre Warren, with Tom further solidifying the legacy in Saturday’s performance.
The son of Shannon, nephew of Chris, brother of Sam and Ben, cousin of Daniel, Jack, Mitch and Josh said the club is “in the blood,” and when proposals were made in the offseason to change jumpers, it didn’t take much for Tom to cast them aside.
“You obviously get your offers from other clubs but it’s the family club here,” he said.
“My dad played here, Chris is my uncle and he played and coached here, ‘Grubbo’ (Shane Dwyer, uncle) played and coached.
“They’re all champions of the footy club.
“It’s a good family club and everyone just wants to be here.”
