FOR one last time in the 2026 football season, we go Around The Grounds. What a year it was.
ROSBROOK GANNON RUN AND WON
It was incredible to be back at the Frank Rosbrook and Stacey Gannon Medal count last Wednesday night. First time in a few years for me and got great insights from plenty of the winners.
Heidelberg’s Sam Gilmore won the Frank Rosbrook Medal for division 1, and his speech was one of the finest I have ever heard in my life. He spoke bravely about the loss of his child in April at just four days old, and football, in his eyes, ‘mattered little’ to him this year.
It was truly a remarkable effort – he won with the last vote of the night, and it speaks volumes of the culture of Heidelberg and how it managed to look out for Gilmore all season long.
Bec Colwell was the winner of the first-ever Stacey Gannon Medal, dominating the count and winning by seven votes. It was a night where North Heidelberg’s goalshooter essentially swept the pool of awards.
In division 1 women’s footy, Kira Lemire had a terrific year, and was a deserving winning for Montmorency, polling 16 votes to win by four votes.
Other winners included South Morang’s Nathan Stefanile in division 2 – you can read about his win on page 27 – Isabel Young winning with the last vote of the night in division 2 women’s, Ivanhoe’s Riley Loton doing enough to win division 3, and Epping’s Nancy Cakau winning the division 3 women’s count.
THE GREATEST FOOTBALL DYNASTY OF THEM ALL
It’s confirmed – this Heidelberg team is probably the greatest we have ever known on the football field in the Northern Football Netball League.
While the Bergs still have a way to go to catch up on Diamond Creek’s netball exploits – they won 11 in a row – it’s an incredible effort from all at Warringal Park to win five in a row.
Perhaps even more impressively, they have now also claimed three under-19s premierships in a row – when you take into account the turnover every year, it’s an incredible effort, only achieved for the fourth time in league history – Northcote Park/Alphington in 2003-05, Greensborough from 2009-11 and again in 2014-16 the other three times.
In the senior game, Greensborough threw absolutely everything at the Tigers, and the margin was still just 10 points the difference at the 14-minute mark of the final term.
However, a run of four goals in seven minutes, coupled with some ill-discipline from the Boro, sealed the game and the flag for the Tigers.
Tigers young gun Josh Shepherd claimed the best-on-ground medal with a super performance from the wing.
THE CELEBRATIONS
What I can tell you about Heidelberg is they love Coldplay’s classic, Viva La Vida. That reverberated around Preston City Oval after the game, and at least another five times that night at Warringal Park.
Indeed, I was there, and it was just such a nice night. Everyone was having a great time, although I can confirm a handle of the premiership cup was indeed broken.
Just also wanted to give the club a bit of a shoutout, their warmth was very much felt on the night. Was great to be welcomed in as a random punter walking in and the amount of respect the club has is very clear to see.
AND, OF COURSE, THE UMPIRES
Well done to all the umpires who umpired extremely well in the grand final. It was great to be at Bundoora Park on Thursday night to see who would get picked for the game.
Each of the three field umpires had a story to tell. For Andrew O’Neill, it was his 12th grand final. For Luke Richardson, it’s five division 1 deciders in a row. The most remarkable story was Austin Welsh’s. The division 1 grand final was just his 23rd senior game as a field umpire.
SHOUTOUT TO GREENSBOROUGH
While the Boro ended up falling just short, the club deserves a lot of praise for making a game of the grand final.
They, for a large part of the game, probably outplayed the Tigers, but it was just the cleanliness of the men in yellow and black that made all the difference.
All told, it was a coaching masterclass from Matthew Hyde for three quarters. They did incredibly well to come from fifth, winning well in the previous three finals.
A RESERVES CLASSIC
Heidelberg’s only miss on the day was the reserves, and it was an instant classic.
Montmorency came in looking for its first flag since 2011 and jumped the Tigers to lead all throughout the first three quarters.
The last quarter was incredible. It went goal-for-goal for the first 10 minutes, before Heidelberg kicked another two quick goals to lead by seven points – having kicked six for the term.
But Montmorency did not give up and kicked the final two goals of the game to pinch the flag by seven points. Ten goals altogether for the final term.
A special shoutout is reserved for Montmorency’s playing coach, Daniel Keenan. Having won the division 1 reserves count on Wednesday night, he finally got his flag for the Magpies – 378 games with the club, adding in 106 games for Hurstbridge, he got to taste the ultimate success for the first time.
If he plays on next year, he is likely to pass 500 games. That would make a great interview.
THE FUTURE OF THIS COLUMN
So, this is the last Around The Grounds for the football season, and I’ve had a blast doing it every week.
However, I have a lot of plans to keep this column up and running for the Diamond Valley Cricket Association season – I envision perhaps having a chat to the league over the next couple of weeks to lock in some things going forward for the season and go from there.
Around The Grounds will return for the 2027 football season as well, regardless of what the future holds.