The home and away season concluded on Saturday with 8 of Monbulk’s 12 teams qualifying for finals, and another three just missing out and finishing in 6th place – Reserves, C Grade and Under 17s Gold. This is a new record and surpasses last year’s effort of seven finalists.

Football
Seniors
For Monbulk the equation was very simple – beat Healesville and hope that an in-form Officer could defeat Woori Yallock and a finals spot would be theirs. The Hawks looked more capable early in the match, on the back of Joel Wensley plucking every ball out of the sky that was in his vicinity. Joel kicked Monbulk’s first six goals and had nine on the board by the third term, however he finished with another four behinds which robbed him of a deserved game of double figures. It was the most goals in a senior match by a Monbulk player since Shane Williams kicked 10 against Pakenham in 2019. The club record against Healesville is 16 by Peter De Boer in 1983, when Peter kicked 104 in that premiership year.

The match was also a chance to celebrate Dylan Werts’ 200th senior game. A man of few words and one of the quiet achievers at the Hawks, Wertsy can always be relied upon to do any job asked of him, particularly shutting down opposition forwards. Late in the game he was swung into the forward line and was mobbed by all his team mates when he snapped a goal in the dying stages.

Monbulk 14.13.97 def Healesville 7.10.52
Best: Joel Wensley, Joshua Spencer, Aaron Hoare, Lochlan Beecroft, Lachlan Sheppard, Dylan Werts
Goals: Joel Wensley 9, Dylan Werts 1, William Hughson 1, Nicholas Wall 1, Ziggy Hatherley 1, Hamish Emmett 1

Reserves
It was a disappointing end to what had ultimately been a disappointing year for the Monbulk Reserves as they missed securing a place in the finals. 

Monbulk 4.10.34 def by Healesville 9.6.60
Best: Jed Noar, Karl Ravenhorst, Jacob Defina, Abel Teese, Aaron Smith, Coby Passingham
Goals: Johnathon Hevern 2, Aaron Smith 1, Jacob Defina 1

Under 18s
The plucky Under 18s finished their year after being outpointed by one of the top sides in this division but never giving up despite the scoreboard. They finished 10th out of 14 teams and have some promising players of the future in their ranks.

Monbulk 2.2.14 def by Healesville 20.8.128
Best: Thomas Hill, Arley Gray, Finley Ede, Eamon Dawson, Blake Nicholson, Myles Koelewyn
Goals: Ryder Koelewyn 1, Thomas Hill 1

Netball
A Grade
Monbulk were pushed all the way by an improving Healesville outfit, but after quarter time seemed to find the answers to any challenges that the Bloods could throw at them. The resulting win and a surprise result of ROC (seventh) defeating Woori Yallock (third) allowed the Hawks to jump into third and gain a double chance, with a Qualifying Final against Wandin awaiting them. Peri finished runner-up in the goalshooting with 763 for the year.

Monbulk 65 def Healesville 53
Best: Alice Nicholas, Jorja Wragg, Rihanna Kelly
Goals: Peri Reid 40, Jorja Wragg 24, Nicole Macdowell 1

B Grade
The Hawks fine tuned their game for the impending finals with a demolition of Healesville. They will face Wandin in the Elimination Final with a level of confidence after their 58 goal win.

Monbulk 82 def Healesville 24
Best: Catherine Braniska, Alice McCormick, Ava Thompson
Goals: Chloe Baker 33, Elly Stewart 33, Dayna Walsham 16

C Grade
Monbulk’s improvement continued with another strong result, this time over Healesville. The win sees the team rise to 6th for year and they will be aiming for finals in 2027. Goal Keeper Hayley Donald was best on court in her 50th game.

Monbulk 48 def Healesville 22
Best: Hayley Donald, Maddy Buckland, Grace Sands
Goals: Maddy Buckland 32, Grace Sands 14, Macy Giling 2

D Grade
The Hawks qualified for the finals in third place as they look to defend their title. The regulation win over Healesville had added interest as Jamie Sands was a chance of winning the goal shooting. Although Jamie was fantastic, her 40 goals left her just 4 goals shy of claiming the goalshooting honours for the division.

Monbulk 58 def Healesville 24
Best: Jamie Sands, Tara Donald, Chelsea Borkowski
Goals: Jamie Sands 40, Ella Flynn 18

Under 17s
The two Monbulk sides met each other and this time the Gold girls reversed the result from earlier in the year to claim a good win. Maroon finished in 5th to make the finals while Gold finished just a win behind in 6th as the playing numbers and results in this age group have jumped upward significantly in the past 12 months.

Monbulk Gold 47 def Monbulk Maroon 28
Best Gold: Isabelle Cross, Kaitlyn Summers, Ruby Dean
Best Maroon: Chelsea Ferguson, Milla Puddy, Isla Stubbs
Goals Gold: Kaitlyn Summers 28, Amelia Magarry 19
Goals Maroon: Chelsea Ferguson 21, Ahliya Wragg 7

Under 15s
Monbulk Gold secured the minor premiership, and a week off, with a win over their club mates Monbulk Maroon. With both sides claiming double chances for the finals in their divisions, their skills and ability were on display on Saturday morning as the future of Monbulk netball looks to be in good hands. Eden Murphy has won the competition goal shooting (392) for the second consecutive year, with Isabelle Kos (Maroon – 335) and Amelia Magarry (Gold – 254) making it a Monbulk trifecta.

Monbulk Gold 50 def Monbulk Maroon 26
Best Gold: Eden Murphy, Ruby Irwin, Alanna White
Best Maroon: Grace Gaunt, Ella Osborne, Hayden Brady
Goals Gold: Eden Murphy 34, Amelia Magarry 16
Goals Maroon: Isabelle Kos 23, Grace Gaunt 3