Sport Snaps

This season the Kyabram League’s season decider is on Saturday, September 14 and the GVL the following weekend on Sunday, September 22.

With the GVL preliminary final on Sunday, September 15 there will be no clash with the Kyabram League.

With the economy even tighter this year, GVL and Kyabram League fans will now be able to view both grand finals eight days apart rather than a day.

The GVL and Murray League stage their grand finals on the same weekend but a day apart, and from my experience more KDL fans than Murray League supporters would attend the GVL grand final.

The Picola League will be first to stage its grand finals, with its season deciders on September 7.

Finals shared around

A number of Kyabram District Football Netball League clubs will be hosting finals this season.

Temporary final venues have been locked in, with Lancaster to stage the second elimination final on the first weekend of the finals on Sunday, August 25, Girgarre the first semi-final on Saturday, August 31 and Undera the second semi-final the following day on September 1.

The preliminary final will be hosted by Tallygaroopna on Saturday, September 7, with the grand final again at Mooroopna’s GVL ground on Saturday, September 14.

Bye thwarts Looby’s chances

The race for the first player to kick 100 goals for the season in Victorian senior football leagues was decided last Saturday week.

And one of the players who could have gained the honour couldn’t do a thing about it.

Former long-kicking Shepparton United star Tim Looby, now co-coaching Strathmerton in the Picola League, went to 97 goals with a 20-goal haul against bottom side Yarroweyah in round 14. But he was not able to add to this tally the following week because of a league general bye.

This opened the door in the race to 100 for Lachie Sharp, who co-coaches and plays for Bridgewater in the Loddon Valley League.

He needed seven goals to become the first player to reach the 100 milestone and obliged with exactly that amount.

Sharp’s 100 came up in 11 games, so it was no mean feat.

Renowned 100-goals-a-season player and former Benalla and Violet Town goalkicking ace Josh Mellington, playing for rival Loddon Valley League club Bears Lagoon-Serpentine, was another hard luck story in the race to 100. He was sitting on 93 goals after nine rounds — that’s an average of over 10 goals a game — but suffered an injury and has been stranded on that number because he hasn’t played since.

Interestingly, one of his current Bears Lagoon-Serpentine teammates, former Echuca United coach Farran Priest, had a day out in round 12 last Saturday week, with a 13-goal haul in the absence of Mellington.

Looby reached his 100 last Saturday, booting nine goals against Mathoura to move to 106.

Murchison-Toolamba’s James Lloyd is now poised to reach his ton after a six-goal haul against Stanhope on Saturday took his tally to 97.

Euroa makes hay without Hayes brothers

There were no Hayes brothers in the Euroa team that towelled up Kyabram big time in the first half of their GVL clash at Euroa on Saturday.

Rather surprisingly JD Hayes, a former senior coach of the club, lined up in the reserves and played a key role in bringing the Bombers undone with his accurate left foot.

JD’s brother, former AFL player Will Hayes, one of the premier players in the GVL, was also absent from the Euroa senior side, preferring to play with VFL side Carlton, whose AFL side delisted him in 2022.

Ruby shines at Albion Park

Kyabram-owned trotter Shes Ruby Roo finished fourth in one of Australia’s richest races for trotters on Saturday night at Albion Park in Brisbane.

The Jess Tubbs-trained and Greg Sugars-driven mare finished only 6.30m from the winner, fellow Victorian trained Rockinwithattitude in the Group 1 $150,000 Haras Des Trotteurs The Great Square.

Shes Ruby Roo is owned and raced by Kyabram trots trainers Peter Hall and Graham Lyon and a bunch of Kyabram businessmen gallops converts.