Round 5 Match Report

Round 5 Review

Another beautiful sunny day greeted us at GBO on Saturday as we arrived for our clash with fierce rivals Old Ivanhoe, with whom we have had some great battles over the last few years. The BBQ was on, and the snags all sold out. A big thank you to Terry Walker, Andrew Gibbs and Martin Ross for their cooking and sales skills.

First up were the ressies, and after an even first half, Old Ivanhoe gradually pulled away from our boys, going on to win by three goals. The game featured Flynn Chable’s 50^th game for the club. Flynn approaches every game with intensity and effort, and his skills are a pleasure to behold. He has also become a great leader around the club, setting an excellent example for our young players. Well done Flynn on reaching this milestone, we are looking forward to many more.

In the following match the seniors took on the undefeated ladder leaders, and apart from a ten-minute patch at the start of the third quarter during which Old Ivanhoe kicked four goals, basically controlled the game. We eventually ran out winners by eleven points, following a stirring three goal to nothing last quarter. It was a true team effort, with all players contributing at various times of the game, and one which should give the boys the confidence to know, that, one our day, we can match it with the best of them.

Our women continued their unbeaten start to the season, this week thrashing an inexperienced Preston side 117 by points. We will get a better gauge on where we sit over the next three weeks when we play the other three sides in the top four.

Our Under 19’s had the pleasure of a 9.20am fixture at the “Snakepit” against St Bernards, and found the opposition too strong, going down by 91 points. Given the significant regrading that has occurred in the division it could take a while to sort out where teams belong.

By contrast, the Thirds recorded a ten-goal win over Old Ivanhoe after a six goal third quarter put the game beyond doubt. We are holding down second position on the ladder, albeit in a very close competition (aside from runaway leaders Old Xaverians).

This week the men’s senior teams travel to Elsternwick Park to take on Old Melburnians, who will be desperate to record a win after falling just short a few times this season. The women host Mazenod in a 2.00pm game, the Under 19’s host Williamstown and the Thirds play Old Scotch at Camberwell Sports Ground.

On Saturday we will celebrate two important milestones, with James “Jimmy” Allen playing his 150^th game for the club, and Nick Latsas his 200^th. Both Jimmy and Nick have been fantastic contributors over many years, and a tribute to each is attached to this newsletter. Thanks to Tim Killworth for this contribution.

I would also like to congratulate Josh Holding on reaching the 100-game milestone two weeks ago. An Under 19 premiership player in 2017, Josh has almost reached “veteran” status. One of our most consistent performers, we know what we will get every week from Josh. Full on competitive effort, with good skills to boot. Congratulations on reaching this significant milestone Josh.

Good luck to all teams this weekend.

Go Wellers!

Gavin Powell
President

Weekend Results

SENIORS		10.11.71
Old Ivanhoe		8.12.60

RESERVES		11.6.72
Old Ivanhoe		13.12.90

WOMEN		18.15.123
Preston Bullants		6.0.6

U19		1.1.7
St Bernards		14.14.98

THIRDS		13.8.86
Old Ivanhoe		3.9.27

-- Round 6 --

Saturday 17th May

Thirds vs Old Scotch (A)
9:20am @ Camberwell Sports Ground
MAP

U19 vs Williamstown (H)
11:30am @ GBO

Reserves vs Old Melburnians (A)
11:40am @ Elsternwick Park
MAP

Seniors vs Old Melburnians (A)
2pm @ Elsternwick Park
MAP

Women vs Mazenod (H)
2pm @ GBO

Club Memberships Available

Nick Latsas - 200 games
The Wellers’ Community takes great pride in celebrating Latta’s 200^th game for the Club. Joining the Club in 2009, he was an integral part of the Premiership winning Under 19s team that season, topping the season off by winning the Best & Fairest award. Not known as the prototype athlete, Nick has a reputation for his powerful midfield play, showcased with his trademark fend off resulting in opponents sitting on their backside! He is also quite capable of snagging a goal or two when he is in the zone.
Over a long period of time Latta has been a massive contributor to the Club’s Senior XVIII, having featured in finals series that started in 2010, culminating in a massive finals series in 2022, where we missed a grand final victory.
With the advent of COVID and a significant work place injury causing Nick to suffer a long- term leg injury, missing almost 2 seasons, he has displayed the resilience required to keep turning up season after season to achieve this coveted games milestone.
We love his laugh, his banter and his opinions. Life around the Club would certainly be just that little bit staid without the great man in our presence. Latta, congratulations mate, you are a ripper!!

Jimmy Allen – 150 Games
This Saturday we celebrate Wellers’ royalty James ‘Jimmy’ Allen who reaches the 150 game milestone with the Club. For those of us who have watched him grow as a footballer, straight out of year 12 at Camberwell Grammar School, to the Captain of our football club, his contribution to the Wellers cause has been nothing short of stunning and will be long remembered.
After playing a couple of 19s games in 2014 while still finishing Year 12, he committed to the club in 2015 after being tempted by the possibility of playing VFL at Port Melbourne. He has been the key driver of our senior midfield pack, dominating possession to the team’s advantage for the majority of games he has played, a statement confirmed by him winning six Club Best & Fairest Awards, starting in 2015.

The Allen family have made significant contributions to our Club over many years. Jimmy’s Dad Anthony coached the club in the late 2010s, the last time we were playing in Premier B, and his Grandpa is his personal statistician each week.
With two strong Grand Final performances in 2022 & 2023, but not quite achieving the desired outcome, we are all certain that Jimmy aspires to achieve the ultimate team success in footy, and complete his footy career as a premiership winning Captain.
Jimmy continues to develop his understanding as to what it takes to be part of a successful footy club by taking on a committee role, further cementing his position in the Wellers pantheon of superstars at the club, both on field and off field.
Well done Jimmy, we all can not wait to see you achieve the next milestone of 200 games.

Seniors vs Old Ivanhoe

We took on the winless Fitzroy last week, and this week the undefeated Old Ivanhoe. This game presented a great challenge to the group, and an opportunity to take on the form team of the competition.

We went through a lot of vision this week to see where Old Ivanhoe’s strength were, and how they have won their first 4 games. The overwhelming conclusion was their midfield dominance in the early rounds contributed to their wins. Mirkov, Naish and Murphy are the inform midfield in the competition and we needed to go to work on how to limit their impact. My advice all week to the group was to respect our opponents and acknowledge their strengths, but also what we need to do so their impact on the game wasn’t as dominate as their earlier games.

Well done to our two young ruckman in Ruben Hopkins and Garnet Brennan who competed all day with their ruckman Mirkov. The two boys limited his ability to give his midfield first use. Our other mids in Jimmy Allen, Lachie and James Harker, Cal Rutledge, Sam Veitch and Robbie West worked well together around stoppages. Down back our defenders again worked well. Lachie O’Neill benefited by the boys engaging their opponents and allowing him to come in as a third to intercept mark.

Old Ivanhoe bust out of the blocks at the start of the third and put on 3 unanswered goals, pushing their lead to a game high 20 points. Our boys didn’t panic and went into control the game mode. The boys ability to soak up Old Ivanhoe’s pressure and also control possession was pleasing. The move to put Ben Carlisle in the midfield prove to be a valuable move, Ben did a great job keeping Billy Murphy under control. We then added two goals before ¾ time which was off the back of composure with footy in hand. At the last break we had Old Ivanhoe’s lead back to an achievable target.

We kicked early goals in the last that gave us the lead. Again, the boys didn’t panic with ball in hand, and we worked the ball forward to give us opportunities to score. The group show maturity in keep to the task when challenged, also to stick to the game plan even when the opposition had control of the game.

Best Players: Sam Veitch, Lachlan O’Neill, Lachie Powell, Joshua Blew, Will Day, Ben Carlisle
Goal Kickers: Harry Laukens 4, Liam Thomas 2, Caleb Finlayson 1, Callum Rutledge 1, Sam Veitch 1, Robert West 1

Neil Connell
Senior Coach

More photos on Google or Facebook

Reserves vs Old Ivanhoe

Best Players: Lachlan Purcell, Joshua Davidson, Tyson Beechey, Charles Robertson, Sam Boyce, Nicholas Latsas
Goal Kickers: Tyson Beechey 4, Jasper Fodor 2, Liam Visser 2, Sam Boyce 1, Nicholas Latsas 1, Lachlan Purcell 1

Steve Warr
Reserves Coach

More photos on Google or Facebook

U19 vs St Bernards

Video Match Reviews here

Best Players: Freddie Askew, Darcy Albert, Hayden Bourke, Ryder Smith, Benjamin Gale, Harry Taylor
Goal Kickers: Ryder Smith 1

Al Rodrigues
U19s Coach

Women vs Preston Bullants

Best Players: Alannah Frampton, Isabel Dedoncker, Esther Sandy, Laura Macdonald, Isabella Burke, Ava Sandy
Goal Kickers: Dilara Al-Sabbagh 5, Bridget Facey 4, Rebecca Bellpieri 3, Bec Kertes 2, Gabriella Bianco 1, Jess Humphries 1, Amelia Standfield 1,Olivia Willie 1

Nick Hooper
Women's Coach

More photos on Google or Facebook

Thirds vs Old Ivanhoe

Best Players: Oscar Cirulis, Ben Craigie, Cohen Frazer, Timothy Heavey, Lucas Noack, William Woods
Goal Kickers: Timothy Heavey 3, Ben Craigie 2, Nicholas Curwen 2, Oscar Cirulis 1, Matt Cottrell 1, Cohen Frazer 1, Max Kearsley 1, Nicholas Russell 1, William Woods 1