Benalla All Blacks
Football
Season 2022 was one where everything went right for Benalla All Blacks on the football field.
After dominating their way through the home and away season, a campaign where they only dropped one game, the Panthers romped their way through the finals series to be crowned premiers.
The reserves joined in the celebrations to make it a memorable double for the All Blacks, as the club’s entire community revelled in the success.
But as the old saying goes, the only thing better than winning one is winning another, and for coach Nich Spencer that is the prime objective.
“The core group we’ve got at the club are very keen to have another crack at it,” Spencer said.
“It was something we certainly enjoyed after doing it, so the boys are pretty hungry to taste that feeling again.
“I’m confident with the group we’ve got and our depth we can be around the mark again, if we can play finals then anything can happen.”
But while the goal is the same, the Panthers’ squad will have a different look to the one we saw a couple of months ago.
Premiership skipper Riley Moran and Jackson Hourigan headline the list of players not returning for the back-to-back tilt, but with the likes of Chelton Orchard and Tom Levy set to lead an exciting crop of youngsters, Spencer was confident his group had what it takes to be a top contender once again.
“We’ve had a few blokes move on, so we’re looking at a few guys who played good footy in the reserves to step up,” he said.
“You’ll see a bit of a different style of footy from us this year centred more around a game plan.
“But with the nucleus we have I’m confident we can push it right to the end again.”
Netball
Season 2023 will be the beginning of a new dawn on the netball court at Benalla All Blacks.
After finishing in third spot on the ladder, the Panthers fell short in the finals series, with a five-goal loss to Tarawingee ultimately proving to be their undoing.
But while the hurt of that loss still cuts deep, with Alara Jones and Georgia Spencer taking the reins of the A-grade unit there is a new sense of optimism and excitement radiating through the club.
“It is brilliant to have these two girls lead our A-grade side next season,” All Blacks president Phil Spencer said.
“We put it on the girls to see if they were willing to have a go and after thinking about it for a while they decided to take the reins.
“They are both such great club people and they both have so much to give, Alara has been around the club for over 20 years and if she can’t pass on a bit of her knowledge with Georgia, who has been there for three years and also played a lot of GVL and state netball.
“You don’t get much better netball coaching than that around Benalla, they are the two for the job and we can’t wait to see what they can achieve.”
Goorambat
Football
A heart-breaking 11-point elimination final loss to eventual OKFL runner-up Bonnie Doon is the fuel set to drive Goorambat to new heights in 2023.
The Bats, who were a dangerous proposition each and every Saturday, finished the 2022 season in sixth spot with a number of their youngsters solidifying themselves as senior football stars of the future.
With Sam Gladstone and Jared Brennan going around as co-coaches once again, the aim will be continuing to build a culture of sustained success.
The departure of key pillars Campbell McCoy, Ethan Cooke and Blake Uebergang will test the Bats’ depth to an extent.
But with a host of exciting youngsters coming through, Gladstone forecast an exciting campaign for Bats fans.
“Hopefully we can continue to make another push up the ladder,” Gladstone said.
“We did lose a few which was a bit of a blow, but I think we’ve recovered well from it and are shaping up really nicely all over the ground.
“Finals is obviously on the cards and if we get there anything can happen, so the aim will be to give ourselves every chance and just back ourselves with an exciting brand of footy.”
Netball
Similarly to their senior football counterparts, Goorambat’s A-grade netballers will be spurred on by finals heartache in 2023.
The Bats, who continued on their upwards trajectory in 2022, finished the home and away season in fourth position before winning an elimination final against Whorouly to set up another do-or-die showdown with Tarawingee.
Unfortunately that is where the Cinderalla story ended, as they fell by three goals in an epic semi-final showdown.
Now, with Sarah Osborne set to take the reins solo after co-coach Amelia Gall stepped down, she will be looking to take advantage of what is set to be an exciting blank canvas.
Having a young and hungry group of talented players at her disposal, expect the trend of continued improvement to continue on the netball court at Goorambat this year.