Women’s Non-Contact Match Report
Well, we hosted our first ever Triple Header at the Warrior’s – Edinburgh Park!
It was “Pride” Round and we welcomed Port Melbourne, Mordialloc/Peninsula, Box Hill Nth & Williamstown to “Our Side of Town!”
We all got to the rooms extra early to deck out our club rooms and ground with “Pride” colours! A big thank you to all the Team who pitched in and put together our hampers/gifts for our Raffle prizes for the day – this was a huge success and helped raise money towards our end of season function.
The morning was full of sunshine, but a crisp chill in the air. Our match started with our usual buzzing vibe. To even up the sides 3 Warriors Girls helped Port out each quarter – or they helped us out! It was like having many “Sues” out on the ground with their advice, coaching skills and patience.
Before we knew it, we were scoring goals! The ball was constantly pinging up & down the field with lots and lots of running! To help us along we had an old favourite Libby who joined our team on this special occasion, and boy did she help us out all over the ground pulling down marks and kicking goals effortlessly. Steady eddy Helen joined her and kept the defense tight and goals hot to trot!
It was a usual day in the office for our ever-reliable Sandra – again she didn’t disappoint with her rucking and movement down field. Mich our newcomer definitely show-cased her new ball skills and appears to get even better with every game.
Sunny, Abi and Jen worked the field up and down like “war horses” never giving up and giving the forwards plenty to work with, even Abi’s usual nerves dissipated! Doc, with those centre clearances, was on something for sure – Adrenaline!! She just could not be stopped and ended up with our BOG for the round!
Kirsty’s game in forward was exceptional with her magnificent display of goal kicking! Rey’s massive and accurate kicks were certainly an advantage to help clear the Port girls and we were well on the way with our scoring. And Sue our General, always holding her own and always with positive praise for her Army! Me – a whole tub of “Grippo” would have come in handy with all the sitters I dropped! Even played tunnel ball on one occasion down back! Anyway, there’s always next game!
Susie you were certainly missed with your runs down field and kicking the wrong way, but I’m sure you enjoyed your time even more celebrating with your son! Umpire Bourkie, thanks again for your hard whistle blowing and fairness across the ground. Flea – sorry you missed out as you were stuck in the Canteen! Apologies in advance if I have missed giving someone a special mention – it takes a lot to think about what happened 3 days ago – my mind is reeling! There was lots of photos taken of the game and Team, and we even made the Dandenong Star News!
The following Over 35s Women’s Contact matches saw Port & Mordi/Pen fight it out on the field, with Port the victors and Willy with an easy win over Box Hill. I certainly think the caliber of these game surprised some of our boys with the level of skills and ferocity and intent the women’s contact team played with! We even had Channel 7 down at the ground interviewing Port’s Assistant Coach!
Overall, it was a highly successful day for the Club! Special thanks to Flea, Blake & Matty D who worked tirelessly in the Canteen -ensuring the food and wine was flowing and Kenny for coming to the rescue with the Coffee back up plan! Big thanks to everyone else (too many people to mention) who helped make this day a highlight and put us on the map! We hope to host a few more next Season!
Signing off Ren – really brain dead now!

Men’s Over 50s Match Report
Sunday saw the plucky Eastern Warriors take on the undefeated Box Hill at a sunny but rather breezy Edinburgh Reserve. The ground looked a picture, the grass mowed to perfection, the blue sky glistening off the white lines and the sound of V8 Supercars filled the air as they pointlessly went round and round at the nearby Sandown racetrack. Unlike the race cars, the Warriors took to the field full of purpose. Sadly, I was not part of the team due to a soft tissue injury. I have the body of a fifty-something, the ambition of a twenty year old, the maturity of a teenager and the hamstrings of an octogenarian. I consoled myself by offering to be goal umpire for the match. I had filled this important role once before, and the feedback I received was positive. “Enthusiastic but clueless,” was one review I remember.

I took up my position and practised my waving technique, I was aiming for something that communicated elation and gravitas in equal measure – with a little flourish at the end. Adam in the other goal square waved back at me with his flags. Even though he was only a speck in the distance I could see he was impressed by my technique. And then the game began.

It was an enthralling contest, the Warriors matched the Box Hill team for intensity and from where I stood it was great to watch. We were kicking with the wind and, standing at the playground end, I was soon in the action – waving my single flag as we hit the lead with a point. Clint, part cheetah/part scud missile, was doing a lot of good work and our debutante David was getting some telling possessions. From where I was I couldn’t tell if he was wearing unreasonably long shorts or if he had unusually short legs – but we are a tolerant team at the Warriors and even those deficient in the length of their limbs are welcome. As the siren sounded to end the first stanza neither side had kicked a goal – it was the best goalless quarter of football we have ever played.

With Box Hill having the wind in the second quarter I readied myself to be waving two flags – but the Warrior defence stood firm and repelled repeated attacks. Bruisa was magnificent at full back. Like a colossus he strode across the superbly manicured turf leaving Box Hill forwards in his wake. Dave H was his usual vociferous self, and attacked the contest with the ferocity of an accountant onto a stray tax receipt. Whichever opponent Grunta locked his beady eyes on was brought down in a crunching tackle and Fitzy, in his 150th game, linked up a number of forays into the forward line from his wing. When Magoo kicked a goal the fans erupted. I couldn’t actually see what happened, because I was at the other end, but we were in front and that was the important thing.

The second half I swapped to the Sandown end, where the stiffening breeze brought the unmistakable scent of burning rubber and E75 Racing Fuel. The Warriors continued to battle against the highly fancied Box Hill side. Thorny slid effortlessly between defence, the ruck and the forward line and set up a number of attacking moves. Nails continued to hammer away in the midfield, Pawsey got his hands on everything that came his way, Killer was dangerous and CT (despite having some sort of support bandaging on virtually every joint – including a suspicious bulge in his shorts) was his usual elusive self. But when Speedie was poleaxed on the half-forward line it was almost a metaphor. As he lay winded on the ground like a dying fish, the tide turned and Box Hill slowly got on top. I gloomily waved my flags as they kicked a couple of goals. By the time I flagged their final goal in the last quarter my waving was limper than a bishop in a brothel.

But it was a great team effort, and as Fitzy was chaired off the ground by captain Carbo and Robbie through a well deserved guard of honour, I thought to myself, “I hope they don’t drop him.”