FOOTY RECORDJUNIOR FINALS SERIES WEEK 3 19th August 2018 $2.00 EDITORIAL Junior Final Series – Issue 3, August 19th 2018 By MATTHEW DUCK Last week’s events involving Andrew Gaff drew significant attention and public commentary. From the moment Gaff struck Andrew Brayshaw until days after the subsequent tribunal hearing, opinion varied on what was an appropriate penalty for the act. Some (namely the West Coast Eagles FC) suggested that given Gaff’s clean history, a 3-week suspension was appropriate. Others argued that the offence warranted a 6-8 week penalty, whilst many believed that the action deserved no less than a 12-week suspension, if not more. In the Gaff instance, the tribunal had the luxury of vision. The video meant that there could be no doubt about who was involved, where the incident occurred, or when it occurred. However, questions still remained: what was Gaff’s intent? Did he mean to strike Brayshaw to the jaw or to the chest? Did Brayshaw lower his position slightly just before he was struck? And if he did, should that carry any relevance? WRFL Footy If nothing else, the debate about what the appropriate sanction was and the array Record of questions that remained despite clear vision of the incident illustrated just how challenging a job it can be for an AFL tribunal, let alone for a community league Western Region tribunal that oftentimes does not have the benefit of video footage. Football League Like most local football league independent tribunals, in the absence of video President footage the WRFL’s panel members rely on their collective experience. Made up of Meredith Angwin solicitors, police officers, professional investigators etc., the panel seeks to find the ‘truth’ from what are sometimes widely varying accounts of the same alleged incident. Level 1, Whitten They do their best under trying circumstances. Oval, Footscray On-field incidents have decreased significantly over the past 20 years. Behind-the- ball incidents in particular have absolutely no place in our game, and the tribunal CEO many years ago made a conscious effort to do all within its power to stamp out such Matthew Duck actions. Today, only one in every 26 matches features a report that results in an Office independent tribunal hearing, a marked decrease from years gone by. That said, this 03 9315 5400 figure can still be much better. The WRFL will continue to benchmark and look for ways to make the independent Editor tribunal as effective as it can possibly be. This ranges from filming more matches, Kristen Alebakis providing greater education on several levels, bolstering the panels with high-calibre personnel etc. But from time to time, when a serious incident occurs, we often hear that ‘the league needs to fix it’; ‘the league’ commonly meaning the half dozen people in the WRFL office, and ‘fix it’ commonly meaning the independent tribunal issuing penalties. And that’s undoubtedly part of it – those at league HQ and the independent tribunal play a critical role in cultural & behavioural movement. But Cover: An Altona Juniors relying on a 3-person tribunal panel to be the sole custodian of all things disciplinary youngster has his eyes on the footy. is never going to get us to where we want to go. In a league of 8000+ members, we all play a small part. Picture LOCAL LEGENDS I wish the very best of luck to all competing today, whether in a Grand Final or a lead- PHOTOGRAPHY up final. I look forward to seeing you at the footy. CONTENTS Finals Week 3 Games / Venues .........................3 Under 14s .................................................. 23–27 Umpire Appointments / Umpires Corner ...........4 Under 13s .................................................. 29–33 Under 18 Girls / Under 17 ............................6 –11 Under 12s .................................................. 35–43 Under 15s ...................................................13–21 Under 11s .................................................. 44–48 WRFL JUNIOR FINALS SEASON 2018 1 WRFL FINALS GAMES WEEK 3 GAMES Wootten Road Reserve – Oval 1 Wyndhamvale South Reserve – Oval 1 8.30am – Point Cook v Williamstown – Western 8.30am – Newport Power v Werribee Centrals Bulldogs Under 13 Division 1 Grand Final – Western Bulldogs Under 14 Division 2 Preliminary Final 10.30am – Point Cook v St Bernard’s – Western Bulldogs Under 14 Division 1 Grand Final 10.30am – Point Cook v Sunshine – Western Bulldogs Under 13 Division 2 Preliminary Final 12.30pm – Point Cook v Caroline Springs – Under 15 Division 1 Grand Final 12.30pm – Williamstown Juniors v Werribee Centrals – Western Bulldogs Under 12 Division 2.30pm – Altona Juniors v Hoppers Crossing – 1 Grand Final SEDA Under 17 Grand Final 2.20pm – Flemington Juniors/Sunshine v Werribee Centrals – Under 15 Division 2 Grant Reserve – Oval 2 Preliminary Final 8.50am – Caroline Springs v Yarraville Seddon 4.20pm – Flemington Juniors v Spotswood – Eagles – Western Bulldogs Under 11 Division 1 SEDA Under 17 Division 2 Preliminary Final Preliminary Final 10.40am – Williamstown Juniors v Altona Wyndhamvale South Reserve – Oval 2 Juniors – Western Bulldogs Under 12 Girls Preliminary Final 8.40am – Spotswood v Sunshine – Western Bulldogs Under 11 Division 2 Grand Final 12.20pm – Altona Juniors v St Bernard’s – Werribee Football Club Under 15 Girls Division 10.30am – Deer Park v St Albans – Western 2 Grand Final Bulldogs Under 11 Division 2 Preliminary Final 2.15pm – Caroline Springs v Yarraville Seddon 12.25pm – Deer Park v Werribee Districts – Eagles – Werribee Football Club Under 15 Girls Western Bulldogs Under 12 Division 2 Grand Division 1 Grand Final Final 2.15pm – Werribee Centrals v Wyndhamvale – Western Bulldogs Under 12 Division 3 Grand Final 4.05pm – Wyndhamvale v Werribee Districts – Werribee Football Club Under 18 Girls Preliminary Final WRFL JUNIOR FINALS SEASON 2018 3 4 www.wrfl.com.au WRFL JUNIOR FINALS UMPIRE APPOINTMENTS The WRFL would like to congratulate the following umpires whose hard work, skill, commitment and determination has earned them a place to adjudicate in the first weekend of Junior Grand Finals. MATCH Field Umpires Boundary Umpires Goal Umpires Thomas Little Terry West Hamish Kelly Under 11 Division 2 Alfred Johnstone Cameron Worthing Danny Civitico Salvatore Mirabile Maya Perry Daniel Whitfort Under 12 Division 1 Wayne Cooper Lachlan Smith Matthew Smith Adrian Terrill Henry Crump Harrison Vize-Boyle Under 12 Division 2 Jason Murray Jayden Kretiuk Ben Crennan Coen Chnag-kum Marcus Snyders Darren Worthing Under 12 Division 3 Richard Watt Brodie Cartwright Cohen Ralston Brendan Williams Jack Winship Aiden Howe Under 13 Division 1 Brett Hickey Jy Muir Hamzah Yussif Thomas Hill Jackson Haddad John Prentice Under 14 Division 1 Oliver Hunt-stapleton Zac Muir Ian Muir Paul Parker Jeannine Kane Felix Scarlett Under 15 Girls Division 1 Evan Eliopoulos Paige Ryan Brian Green Terance Mcgarity Shannon Steele Zara Cumming-Gray Under 15 Girls Division 2 Abhishek Sharma Adam Carter Ray Gordon Kyle Machado Monique Galea Joshua Smart Shannon Van Boven Charlie Close Under 15 Division 1 Xavier Cassar Brayden Svilar Liam O’Flynn Nicholas Van Schoten Callum Watkins Jason Sposito David Van Schoten Michael Clutterbuck Under 17 Division 1 Peter Auld Samuel Dunne Jody Richards *Umpire appointments subject to change on availability UMPIRES CORNER WRFL UMPIRES PREPARE FOR JUNIOR GRAND FINALS By GRAEME HODGART The junior finals are practically over and the senior finals There may be only one winning team, but there are six, are just around the corner. The umpiring group has a few seven, or eight others that have been unable to go the little markers that signal the threshold to the finals. Firstly, full distance and win. The umpiring fraternity is exactly there are the raised eyebrows. These are caused by the the same. Not every umpire will get to the treasured spot appearance at training of some umpires that have rarely in Finals and Grand Finals. Many will fall away due to been sighted all season. Their presence does not escape inexperience, shortage of talent, lack of fitness, injury or the attention of others. “Good to see you, Davo. It must be some other reason. finals’ time!” Here’s hoping that the participation of all players, officials Secondly, there are the raised elbows. Out on the training and umpires this weekend is celebrated in a positive track there is always talk of taking out other umpires who manner. They say that winners are grinners, but to be are vying for the same position on an umpiring panel. simply involved in our great game, even as a small bit Generally this refers to several umpires raising their elbows player (or umpire) in the WRFL, is an experience that as they run past another group of umpires. It is all done can instil many great attributes such as confidence, with good humour. determination, commitment, knowledge, camaraderie, Thirdly, there are those that ‘raise the bar’ as the finals maturity and other life skills. progress. The umpiring uniform, once slightly shabby and grubby, is now clean and ironed. Boots and runners that QUIZ were not touched from one game to another are aired, are A player runs with the ball for five metres and handpasses cleaned immaculately. Tardiness to training and games it up in the air, grabs the ball before it bounces and then are a thing of the past. They are now first there! runs another ten metres before kicking the ball. What Finals can be a great time, but it also has its down side. happens next? Every team cannot be a winner and many with great (a) The player is penalised for holding the ball. potential and expectations fall by the wayside until there is (b) The field umpire allows the play to continue. only one left. They are victorious and in the midst of their (c) The player is penalised for incorrect disposal.