Wednesday, 18 October 2023

 Vicki WARD (Eltham – Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Employment) (09:38): Congratulations to the Eltham Panthers division 2 senior and division 2 reserves teams for their outstanding grand final victories in the Northern Football Netball League. The Eltham seniors men’s team broke their premiership drought with a resounding victory over Diamond Creek, claiming the premiership – a special shout-out to Finnbar Maley for his stellar performance, netting a career-best six goals and winning best on ground. Well done to captains Darcy Vallance and Jackson Weatherald, coach Tom Bongetti and the rest of the team for their incredible achievement this season.

In a thrilling grand final the reserves teams faced Thomastown – sorry, member for Thomastown. Despite falling behind in the first quarter and being behind at quarter-time, they roared back to clinch a 77-point victory – a shout-out to Luke Sirianni, who won best on ground, captain Harry Chandler, coach Lukas Avramov and the rest of the team for their exceptional performance. A shout-out to the hardworking Eltham Football Club committee: president Mick Smith, vice-presidents Les Jessop, Brett Sinclair and John Rudden, treasurer Steve Smith, secretary Mal Brown and general committee members John Smith – in fact John Smith does pretty much everything – Matt Jessop, Narelle Sinclair, Mark Horsfield and Darren Hargreaves. Well done to both teams for their incredible achievements. I cannot wait to see what they do next season in division 1. It has been a long time coming, and I am glad the Panthers are back in division 1 where they belong. Go, Panthers!