ROUND 17 V CRESWICK

The final edition for this season!

---

PRESIDENT'S REPORT

Hi to all of the Magpie Army!

Just a shout out to everyone as we head into the final swoop of the year.

I’d like to start by saying a huge thank you to all of our coaches across both netball and football. Every one of them has gone above and beyond throughout the season, giving up their time, energy and weekends to support our players and help make our club what it is.

A massive thank you also goes to all of our volunteers who help make game day happen - from line marking and waving flags, to our team managers, umpires, timekeepers, gate attendants and everyone else who pitches in behind the scenes. Your contribution often happens without much recognition, but the club simply could not function without you.

A big shout out to Julie for another fantastic job running the canteen, and to Harold for keeping the bar running throughout the season. We appreciate everything you both do.

To everyone on the committee, thank you for your commitment throughout what has been a big year. There are countless hours of work that go on behind the scenes to keep a club running, and without good people willing to put their hand up and get involved, the club simply wouldn’t function.

It’s fair to say that this year has been a disappointing one for us in some respects, both on the oval and the court. But that makes the commitment and effort of everyone involved even more important.

To all of our players - we encourage everyone to stick around, get behind each other and come back next year determined to improve. No one likes losing, and if we want to see success, it has to be something that everyone buys into. That means working hard, challenging each other, supporting our teammates and striving to be better, both individually and as a club.

The future of our club is in the hands of all of us, and there is plenty to look forward to. Let’s make sure we finish the year strongly and carry that determination into next season.

Our senior and junior presentation nights will be held soon, so we hope to see plenty of Magpies there as we get together to celebrate the season, recognise the people who have contributed and enjoy some time together as a club.

Thanks to everyone for your efforts throughout the year.

Go Magpies!

Brendan - President of Clunes Football Netball Club

---

NETBALL REPORT

As we wrap up the 2026 netball season, congratulations to everyone who has been part of another big year at the Magpies - our players, coaches, volunteers, umpires, team managers and supporters. Every contribution, big or small, helps make our club what it is.

The season has been filled with plenty of milestone games, player development and some fantastic achievements across all of our grades. It has been great to see so many of our girls continue to grow, improve and proudly pull on the black and white each week.

Our littlest Magpies in 13B have had an incredible season, finishing as minor premiers and undefeated for the entire season. What a fantastic achievement! It is a great reflection of the hard work of the girls, their coaches and families, and shows the strength of the juniors coming through our club.

Our 13A girls are likely to narrowly miss out on finals by just one win. With the majority of the team being bottom age, there is plenty to be excited about for this group. We can’t wait to see what they can achieve next season as they continue to develop together.

We’re also incredibly excited for our U15s, who have once again made it through to the finals. With the majority of the team being bottom age, the girls have well and truly exceeded expectations this season. Congratulations to everyone involved, and good luck in your finals campaign! Keep an eye on our socials for more information as the finals unfold.

Our U17s have also had a great season, with development being the focus for the group. Many of the girls were given the opportunity to experience senior netball throughout the season, which is a fantastic reflection of their improvement and progression. It has been great to watch them step up, challenge themselves and gain valuable experience.

Across our senior grades, we may not have achieved the number of wins we were hoping for, but the improvement and development each week has been a real highlight. With plenty of changes to our teams from last season, the girls have worked hard to come together, build new combinations and form strong connections on and off the court.

We were also able to reward that hard work by giving many players the opportunity to step up and experience playing in a higher grade throughout the season. Seeing players take those opportunities, back themselves and continue to improve has been one of the real positives of the year.

A huge congratulations also goes to our junior umpires, with Taya, Caitlyn and Emily all receiving their C Grade badges this season. We appreciate all the coaching and support these girls have received along the way, as well as the time and effort they have put into developing their umpiring and achieving their accreditation. It’s fantastic to see the next generation of umpires coming through our club.

This week we take on Creswick, and we’ll be hoping to finish the home-and-away season strongly with wins across the board.

Let’s finish the season off together, get behind our teams and enjoy everything that comes with finals and presentation nights.

Christine - Netball Coordinator

---

FOOTBALL REPORT

Last coach report for the season as we head into our final round matches against Creswick and we are lucky our ground has been in such good condition. Many years it would not have coped with the flooding that happened on Monday but this year we have been fortunate to have it in such good nick all year. To be able to train on the oval last night highlights just how good the ground is this year. 

Speaking of last night’s training, wasn’t it impressive to see so many Clunes footballers of all ages training together. More than 75 footballers from our youngest U/12s to our youthful senior ruckman all training in one massive group. Some great photos and vision are on our Facebook pages highlighting the importance of connection across the grades and the club. The U/15 lads played netball indoors against the 15 & Under girls while the U/18 boys ventured up to the netball court to play against the 17 & Under girls. All footballers learnt that netball is not an easy game to play and the girls all enjoyed their convincing victories. Lots of smiles on little faces last night as the kids thoroughly enjoyed training with the big blokes. Sometimes we overlook that the players at the local club are the heroes our young players can actually see up close, speak to and engage with much easier than AFL players. The value of bringing everybody together for a training session like last night can be seen immediately through the enjoyment shown by all but it should also be seen throughout the club for a long time into the future as our young players feel valued by and connected to their club.

As this is the last report it seems right that I thank everybody who has taken the time to read some or all of the weekly versions of The Swoop. Hopefully the reports have helped you to follow the club and our performances across all the grades. We haven’t won as many footy games as we would like but we have seen clear development and improvement in our three junior grades and clear signs that the Reserves and Seniors are not as far away from finals football as the ladders suggest. 

On a personal level I would like to thank Brendan Sheehan and his committee, football manager Luke Harper and Joel Radlof, Shaun Finlayson, Isaiah Shearer, Lindsay Ptchard, Christian Featherston, Lachie Wrigley, Declan Cormick, Debbie Smith, Casey Farquhar, Gary Coon and Ben Robinson for their match day roles that enable the Seniors to play. Massive thanks as well to all the coaches, team managers and volunteers that assist our other grades every week,

Special mention must go to Lauren Grace who has made the ramblings of an old coach look much better each week when she has published The Swoop. Star performance.

Players I’m looking forward to watching this week: Every one of them. All too soon the season comes to an end and for a person who loves his involvement with the football/netball club every week, it’s a challenge not to be disappointed by that. So this week I look forward to watching every player taking to the Bull Millgate Oval in a black and white jumper.

Thanks for your support all year, everybody. Here’s hoping we can record five wins from five games in the footy.

Go Maggies!