It’s about time to close the book on 2024, a year glittered with sporting success throughout the Goulburn Valley and beyond.
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The past 12 months have featured the lot: shock losses, drought-breaking wins, dynasty-forging performances and more.
Oh, and lots of emotion — millions of tears shed in elation, frustration or otherwise.
And so, The News sports reporters have decided to cast their minds back over the biggest sport stories and highlight their favourite moments from 2024.
10. Poppa and Archer, Carlton’s cool cats
Four innings, three days, two Goulburn Valley guns.
That was the winning recipe for Carlton as Tatura’s Michael Archer and Karramomus’ Andrew Poppa helped the True Blues to a coveted grand final win over Casey South Melbourne in Victorian Premier Cricket’s March decider.
However, how they won proved to be the real jaw-dropper.
At tea on day three, Casey South Melbourne sat comfortably on 8-209 with a lead of 250 and 39 overs remaining in the match before Carlton went berserk with bat and ball to record VPC’s first reverse outright grand final win in 70 years.
A special mention goes to Archer, who took five wickets for the match (and is just an all round great guy).
9. Kanga, kanga, kanga ...
Girgarre wouldn’t have entered the Kyabram District League A-grade campaign necessarily expecting to break a drought which had carried throughout the club’s history.
The Kangaroos weren’t headline-stealers for much of the home and away campaign either, with Violet Town, Lancaster and Shepparton East setting the pace at various stages.
The side co-coached by Abbey Butler and Holly Nelson must have heard the old adage, however, that it’s all about getting hot at the perfect time, and nobody charged into finals in better form.
A second setback against the Wombats only served to further sweeten the ecstasy of Girgarre’s first crown as queens of the A-grade caper, which came through a terrific see-sawing affair after entering as underdogs.
There were calls of ‘Kanga, kanga, kanga! Roo, roo, roo!’ long into the night at Mooroopna and back home at Girgarre — and rightfully so.
8. Eagles and Bulls put Shepparton rugby on the map
If there was any doubt rugby was alive and kicking in Shepparton, that was put to bed in 2024.
Like clockwork, Shepparton Bulls romped home with an 11-point victory in the Dynasty Sport premiership grand final over Geelong Rams to salute for back-to-back flags.
But it wasn’t just the rugby union boys who had their day in the sun.
On the league field, Shepparton Eagles rose like a phoenix to triumph in the Goulburn Murray Storm Men’s Premiership – by two points, no less.
It was a fabled moment for the club, which reformed after a 16-year absence in 2024 to show the competition — and Shepparton — these Eagles really can soar.
7. Near-invincible Ibises are the men’s BASL masters
You just could not topple Tatura — and it seems there’s nothing new to it.
This period of success throughout the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League’s male ranks has been carefully cultivated by a mix of dynamic mainstays and fresh emerging powers.
By ‘fresh emerging powers’, you would naturally gravitate towards youngster Xavier Black, who shapes as one of the next locals in line for a serious crack in the world of football following an unbelievable rate of production up front at youth and senior level — often on the same day.
There have been some close-run things across the past couple of premiership seasons for Tatura, but there was zero doubt left in anyone’s minds after an utterly dominant winter season which saw the club take home youth, reserve and senior titles.
With Fraser Gosstray’s 23 goals way clear of the field in a team which scored seven or more in five different matches, the Ibises are northern Victoria’s unparalleled juggernaut with the dynasty trophies to match.
6. Gators make finals in first champ season in two decades
After a storybook finish as division one champions in 2023, Shepparton Gators returned to Big V’s top league, the championship.
It was the first time the Gators had been in the championship in almost two decades, after dominating in the late ’90s and early 2000s.
After an up and down season, Shepparton went a perfect five from five to end the year, miraculously claiming the last finals spot on the last game.
The Gators extended the win streak to six with a classic finals win away against Hume City before ultimately being knocked out by Keysborough.
The newly-promoted side finished third out of 12, blowing everyone’s expectations out of the water.
The News documented this historic achievement with the Underdog documentary, a first of its kind.
5. Kyabram’s from-the-clouds Haisman Shield triumph
Has there ever been a wackier and more wonderful run to Cricket Shepparton’s Haisman Shield than Kyabram’s from-the-clouds deliverance earlier in the year?
The Redbacks squeezed into finals contention in the last regular season game with a reverse outright victory over Karramomus, scalping a stupendous 16 wickets on day two.
Yet even then, Kyabram wasn’t guaranteed a top six spot.
Fortune favoured the bold, however, as outside results granted the Redbacks passage into the knockout rounds, where they lit it up.
Cue a McLay masterclass in the March decider to wrap it in a bow.
A half-century for Billy McLay and nine combined poles for Jackson and Charlie McLay carried their side to a famous flag, exorcising the demons of the grand final loss to Mooroopna two years prior.
4. Whitlock twins get drafted
The Whitlock family rode the full spectrum of emotions that comes with a child — or two — going through an AFL draft night.
On night one, there was the nervous lead-up and the stress-inducing wait as the first round was called out.
Then came the excitement as one brother, Matt, was drafted to North Melbourne, while Jack was left in a cloud of disappointment as he was forced to wait another night.
However, the Whitlock family was soon able to celebrate Jack being drafted to Port Adelaide alongside extended friends and family at Shepparton Football Netball Club.
The room erupted when Jack’s name was read out as his classmates, who had left their graduation early, passionately celebrated the twin brothers’ dreams being realised.
The duo was considered among the best key position players in the draft and are already a couple of weeks into their first AFL pre-season.
3. GVL beats O&M in interleague
Not quite a David and Goliath style match-up, but a region-inspiring victory nonetheless.
Heading into the 2024 senior football interleague fixture between Goulburn Valley League and Ovens and Murray League at Deakin Reserve, the visitor was the clear favourite.
Mainly due to O&M’s depth of talent and history against GVL — 19-10 overall win record and had been victorious in the previous three encounters.
The home side started well, but couldn’t finish off its hard work in front of goal as O&M skipped out to a 5.2 (32) to 0.7 (7) lead.
From the second quarter onwards, GVL scrapped its way back thanks to the likes of Matt Lias (Echuca), Keelin Betson (Mooroopna) and Anthony Depasquale (Kyabram).
However, the star of the show was Mansfield winger-midfielder Harry Mahoney who dominated for GVL.
After that performance, Mahoney went from strength to strength in his impact for the Eagles and Collingwood’s VFL side.
And how could you forget the GVL’s victory on the netball court?
Taking on a fearsome O&M unit, our girls in purple and gold rallied to record a 45-40 victory with Euroa centre Kellie Davidson collecting best-on-court merits.
2. Congupna wins MFL flag
The scenes were huge as grown men’s tears flooded Moama Recreation Reserve on Saturday, September 21.
There were high fives, hugs and handshakes galore among the red, white and blue as Congupna broke through for a 30-year drought-breaking premiership in incredible fashion.
After losing the 2023 grand final to Mulwala, Congupna went into the decider as favourite against a spirited Finley side.
Windy conditions kept the match tight, but a blistering third term from The Road looked to give Ben Bingham and his men a near unassailable lead.
However, the Cats bit and clawed their way back, cutting the margin from 24 points at three-quarter time to tie the scores with 30 seconds left in the fourth.
In the dying light and seconds, Wil Norman quickly booted a ball towards goal and watched as it wobbled left and right like a hooping Kookaburra cricket ball.
The shot flew through for a behind, giving Congupna a one-point lead as the final siren sounded and pandemonium broke out.
1. Four decades, two flags, one unforgettable day
Euroa doesn’t always stick out as a landmark town within the context of bigger Goulburn Valley centres like Shepparton or Echuca, but 2024 saw the Magpie girls leave a trail of Goliaths in their wake.
Punching above their weight relative to town size in Goulburn Valley League and, all too happy to admit it, Ellie Warnock’s charges set about going one better after falling short on the big stage to Echuca in 2023.
What followed was a barnstorming campaign which involved two different doses of revenge on the Murray Bombers — the most memorable moment, by far, coming when the final horn sounded on that big day at Deakin Reserve.
Only, there were two different episodes of black and white delight in succession, with the B-grade contingent having set up the double with its own flag before several members made cameos in the A-grade decider.
Ending a 41-year drought as the Goulburn Valley’s top netballing outfit, you couldn’t script a sweeter pair of successes for this supreme side from the south-east.