Young Hawks shine in grand final showdown

Lara Stenhouse shoots one of her 14 goals in the Under 15s Grand Final. (Supplied)

By Armin Richter

Under 15s do Monbulk proud

It was Grand Final day for the Premier Division of Outer East on Saturday at Officer, which included the Under 15s. The young Hawks had caused a huge upset when they defeated ROC by two goals a fortnight ago to progress straight through to the decider. This clearly woke up the Kangaroos as they demolished Narre Warren 45-10 last week to force a rematch.

ROC were playing on their home courts and settled down first to take control of the match by half time with a commanding 25-8 lead. The Hawks threw around their team and fought hard to get back into the game. Monbulk had by far the best of the play in the second half, as light drizzle fell, and reduced the margin to 14 goals when the game concluded. This team had gained enormous respect in their first season.

Monbulk 21 def by ROC 35

Best: Bridie McCormick, Lara Stenhouse, Isabelle Cross

Goals: Lara Stenhouse 14, Isla Stubbs 5, Kaitlyn Summers 2

Monbulk FNC held their presentation Night on Saturday evening with the following results:

Football

Seniors

Best & Fairest (Jennings Medal) – Lochlan Beecroft

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Joshua Spencer

Third Best & Fairest – Patrick Barge

Most Improved Riley Finlay

Best Team Player Declan Browne

Best First Year Player Will Henderson

Reserves

Best & Fairest – Lewis Oliver

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Hamish Emmett

Third Best & Fairest – Nicholas Taylor

Most Improved – Tait Colee

Most Determined – Matthew James

Women’s

Best & Fairest – Shania Turner

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Madeline Caarels

Third Best & Fairest – Scarlett Henderson

Most Determined – Josie Ford

Most Consistent – Yanessa Hancock-Wolfe

Most Improved – Hannah Joy

Best Player In Finals – Ruby Ross

Netball

A Grade

Best & Fairest (Shayne Broekhof Medal) – Georgia Himmelreich

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Stephanie Ferguson

Coach’s Award – Sophie Stubbs

B Grade

Best & Fairest – Siobhan Munday

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Rihanna Kelly

Coach’s Award – Georgia Wilson + Chloe Schmidtke

C Grade

Best & Fairest – Sammi Kelly

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Lisa Boyle

Coach’s Award – Laura Del Biondo

D Grade

Best & Fairest – Maddy Buckland

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Hayley Donald

Coach’s Award – Ella Flynn

Under 15s

Best & Fairest – Stevie Mullinder

Runner Up Best & Fairest – Isabelle Cross

Most Consistent – Bridie McCormick

Best Player In Finals – Isla Stubbs

Best Club Person – Sascha Wolfe and Nicole Macdowell

President’s Award – P.J. Donald

The Hawks have also announced their coaches for 2025 with Matt Cunningham (Seniors), Johnathon Hevern (Reserves), Chris Hughson (Under 18s), Sascha Wolfe (Women’s football), Christina Puopolo (A + B Grade), Tom Hardwick (C Grade + Junior co-ordinator) and Fiona Carmichael (D Grade) taking charge of the teams.