**It’s a simple rule of parenting…what you do for one child you must do for another! The rule changed slightly for CASEY DEMONS Operations Manager Gary O’Sullivan last week…what you do for one son-in-law you must do for the other. O’Sullivan is the father-in-law of both Troy McDermott – a NAR NAR GOON premiership player who retired last year – and also TOORADIN-DALMORE star Matt Buntine. So, when McDermott arranged for Nar Nar Goon to do recovery at Casey Fields in the build up to the WGFNC grand final, Buntine sought out O’Sullivan and requested the same. And everyone’s a winner; both teams got their wish and O’Sullivan has not been seen to play favourites.
**Hopefully some lessons have been learnt from the absolute debacle that was DROUIN, OFFICER and PAKENHAM trying to transfer to the WEST GIPPSLAND FOOTBALL NETBALL COMPETITION (WGFNC) for next year. For starters, clubs should not have the power to vote clubs into their league, surely that is the domain of the Board, who is basically there to make those big decisions on behalf of their member clubs. It was the WGFNC clubs that decided that Officer and Pakenham were not wanted, but Drouin can come in. Then, a heavily Gippsland League-biased AFL Gippsland Region Council (does anyone know these people in West Gippsland) upholds an appeal that sees Drouin remain in the Gippsland League. Seriously, it’s been like an episode out of ‘The Office’ it’s been that funny. It’s all been an absolute joke!
**How do we fix the farcical situation above? It’s so bloody simple it should be written in crayon. 1. The clubs convey their thoughts to their Board. 2. The Board communicates with other Boards and governance bodies around the region. 3. Those Boards and governance bodies will not all agree; but they come to conclusions based on consultation. 4. Decisions are made; not all clubs will be happy, but decisions are made with the interests of all leagues in mind. We just need to get these groups together. To ELLINBANK, WEST GIPPSLAND, GIPPSLAND LEAGUE, AFL GIPPSLAND, OUTER EAST and any others that matter…come on, get together and sort this crap out in the best interests of local sport! Everyone is sick of it.
**Premierships might have been scant within Pakenham Gazette’s hyper local region in 2025, outside of DEVON MEADOWS’ breakthrough and NAR NAR GOON’s perfect season, but the future is looking bright. BEACONSFIELD saluted in the Eastern League Division 1 Under-19.5s, ENDEAVOUR HILLS won the Under-19s Division 2 Southern League premiership, while NARRE WARREN saluted in Division 1 of the competition; OFFICER got up in OUTER EAST’s Under-18s and BUNYIP saluted in Ellinbank League’s Under-16s.
**Congratulations to BERWICK’s Marcus Krasnadamskis, who on Saturday was part of the Eastern Ranges outfit which saluted in the 2025 Coates League grand final. The ruck had 13 disposals and 10 hitouts and has been key for Eastern Ranges throughout the 2025 finals series.
**Four NARRE WARREN footballers made the Southern Division 1 Team of the Year, with league best and fairest Tom Toner leading the way, named as ruck rover. Joel Zietsman was named at half-back, while forward duo Will Howe and Jake Richardson were on the interchange. The Magpies had the second greatest representation of any team, only behind Dingley, who had five players selected.
**A huge congratulations is in order for HAMPTON PARK, not just for the club’s incredible season across football and netball, but for the five Redbacks who made the Southern Division 2 Team of the Year. Luke Bull was the coach of the side and named at half-back after his impressive debut season with the club, and Jye King was named as starting ruck. Liam Scott (centre half-forward), Makaio Haywood (wing) and Mason Hawkins (interchange) were the other selections.
**WGFNC Operations Manager Brett Tessari assures us the crowd was only slightly down at Garfield on Saturday, despite appearances suggesting otherwise. The gate was only $500 down on last year, but the crowd definitely did look smaller than 12 months earlier. The can bar on the hill was almost empty all day, rather than the bustling environment of last year. The WGFNC has been very generous this year, providing live streaming through finals for nothing. We wonder how many people sat at home and watched the grand final from the comfort of their lounge room.
**The WGFNC may have to look at charging for the live streams for next year, with a neighbouring league taking $38k in sales over its finals series.
**We’re not sure what was going on, but WGFNC Operations Manager Brett Tessari gave the goal-post pads at the scoreboard end of GARFIELD a good going over at half-time of the Under-18 grand final on Saturday. Maybe there was a complaint after someone got injured, but Tessari spent a good three or four minutes inspecting the pads for danger. He then wandered off and nobody knew any different.
**NAR NAR GOON full-forward Dermott Yawney almost entered concussion protocols on Saturday…and that was 45 minutes before the Goon ran out for the grand final against TOORADIN-DALMORE. Yawney was warming up during the three-quarter time break of the reserves when a stray footy travelling at a strong velocity struck him in the eye. Yawney shook it off well, but you could tell he wasn’t impressed!
**How good was it to see NAR NAR GOON assistant coach Jason Hill and his son, TOORADIN-DALMORE star Lewis, embrace before the opening bounce of the senior grand final on Saturday. It’s been a tough two weeks for Lewis, who worked tirelessly to get himself fit after doing some serious damage to his ankle in the second semi-final against the Goon on September 6.
**Everyone was a little confused at Garfield on Saturday when the siren went two minutes went two minutes early to signal quarter time in the reserves grand final between TOORADIN-DALMORE and NAR NAR GOON. Seagulls coach Nick Pouki said it threw everyone off guard and added to the tension of grand final day.
**Cooper Pursell is getting a little greedy. After captaining OFFICER to the CCCA District premiership in March, Pursell is now a senior premiership winner with NAR NAR GOON less than six months later. Jacobus Hynes did a similar thing this year, winning a premiership with the Goon last year before a CCCA Premier Division title with CARDINIA.
**TOORADIN-DALMORE stalwart Adam Galea signed off on his career with a reserves premiership on Saturday, and also reminded us all of his immense strength. NAR NAR GOON’s Lachlan McLeod thought he would challenge ‘Zorba’ to a battle of strength, veering towards Galea as the ball drew near. Galea simply stood his ground, dug the shoulder in, and poor old McLeod went flying into the stratosphere. Well played Adam Galea, your battles with players such as Marc Holt, Kerem Baskaya and Nathan Gardiner will be remembered for a very long time.
**Congratulations to Garfield; the presentation of the playing surface on Saturday was absolutely first class. It looked like a bowling green out there!
