To have an understanding of the signficance of this premiership it's valuable to have some knowledge of events the previous season.
In 2016 OFC established itself as a major contender at First Division level.
The Reserves won the premiership but after beating Healesville in the Second Semi Final by 10 goals the Seniors then lost the grand final to that club.
That match was played at Healesville which put OFC at a disadvantage.
A number of clubs raised objections to the decision to grant a home ground advantage to a team during the finals series. OFC was NOT among the clubs which opposed the decision.
OFC had the view, and continues to hold the view, that we were simply outplayed by a better team on the day.
However the League consequently introduced a rule to prevent clubs hosting finals which featured their own teams.
Incidentally the 2016 grand final was one of many recent examples of the best performed team of the season cruising into a grand final only to find, after a week off, that it struggled on the big day.
Ironically 2017 produced an identical scenario.
In that year the longer the season went the more it became clear that OFC would be a Flag contender.
In the last four rounds OFC had big wins over Monbulk,Emerald, Mt Evelyn and Wandin. However the one team we couldn't get past was Woori Yallock.
The Tigers beat OFC twice during the season and then in the second semi eased home to a 28 point win.
At this stage no one could have forseen the drama that was about to unfold on Grand Final day.
OFC over ran Healesville by an astonishing 15 goals in the Preliminary Final.
On Grand Final day a northerly wind was blowing with such force at Yarra Glen that the U/18 and Reserve teams (including OFC) found it impossible to score into the breeze.
In the first quarter against Woori Yallock everyone at the ground saw that an upset was in the making when OFC kicked 1.6 into the breeze and took a three point lead into the first break.
OFC went on the rampage in the second quarter adding six goals to Woori's three behinds.
After half time there was a lot of one way traffic with OFC booting another 11 majors to the Tigers two goals.
OFC won by a record 101 points in one of the most extraordinary grand finals in League history.
A few of the many "take aways" from the 2017 finals campaign-
Most team members had graduated from our successful U/18 teams of 2009, 2010 and 2013.
However there were some significant exceptions- looking at the finals series vote winners the three best performed players were Marcus Hottes, James Charge and Mitch Bonuda.
All three were recruited to the Club by coach Brendan Donovan and SMG chairman Grant Faull. They became very popular members of the Club as well as team leaders.
While a number of players had been members of the team which won the U/16 and U/18 flags Declan Fitzgerald was the only player from that group's dynamic (best ever?) midfield to feature in the 2017 flag. Declan was among the best players of the finals. Dylan Troutman and Patrick Rosier were playing at a higher level and returned to OFC in subsequent years.
Historical Perspective.
Troutman came home to OFC from Queensland in 2018 and was regarded by many as a potential Mick Scott Medallist.
He added great "run and carry" as well as superb judgement and skills to the half back line.
At the same time a handfull of players who had achieved their premiership goal didn't go on in 2018, including Blake Walter who was probably the best young forward in the League.
Nevertheless OFC was still well placed to make the grand final for a third year in a row.
After a good run with injuries in 2016 and 2017 OFC ran out of luck in 2018 and rarely fielded it's strongest team.
This pattern was to continue into the finals series when Troutman broke down during the pre match warm-up prior to the second semi final against Wandin.
Then during that match Hottes, who won the coveted League Best Player award that year, suffered a hamstring injury.
Until Hottes' departure OFC was leading Wandin and appeared set to enjoy a week's rest before the grand final.
History shows that OFC would never recover it's momentum and the Club made it's finals exit the following week against Healesville.
2019 signalled the end of an era when the big south east suburban clubs were admitted to our League.
From 2016-18 OFC was probably the League benchmark club. In terms of the competition OFC faced, and the level at which it was playing, these were arguably the greatest ever Red and White sides.
| April 8 |
Warburton 4-5-29 |
OFC 24-22-166 |
| April 25 |
Upwey 11-14-80 |
OFC 6-16-52 |
| April 29 |
OFC 9-14-68 |
Healesville 4-13-37 |
|
May 6
|
OFC 5-10-40 |
Woori Yallock 11-13-79 |
| May 20 |
Gembrook 4-12-36 |
OFC 14-16-100 |
| May 27 |
Monbulk 6-5-41 |
OFC 9-19-73 |
| June 3 |
OFC 17-19-121 |
Mt Evelyn 5-10-40 |
| June 10 |
Emerald 10-6-66 |
OFC 17-12-114 |
| June 17 |
OFC 9-13-67 |
Wandin 10-7-67 |
| June 24 |
OFC 13-23-101 |
Warburton 3-4-22 |
| July 8 |
OFC 11-9-75 |
Upwey 4-19-43 |
| July 16 |
Healesville 14-14-98 |
OFC 3-16-34 |
| July 22 |
OFC 12-17-89 |
Gembrook 5-3-33 |
| July 29 |
Woori Yallock 10-22-82 |
OFC 12-9-81 |
| Aug 5 |
OFC 21-12-138 |
Monbulk 7-6-48 |
| Aug 12 |
Mt Evelyn 7-6-48 |
OFC 17-16-118 |
| Aug 19 |
OFC 14-16-100 |
Emerald 4-7-31 |
| Aug 26 |
Wandin 10-9-69 |
OFC 16-21-117 |
Ladder
| Woori Yallock |
189.13 |
60 |
| Olinda |
182.63 |
58 |
| Healesville |
196.42 |
56 |
| Wandin |
131.45 |
50 |
| UpweyTecoma |
118.14 |
50 |
| Monbulk |
96.33 |
28 |
| Mt Evelyn |
83.94 |
26 |
| Emerald |
70.94 |
20 |
| Warburton |
51.70 |
12 |
| Gembrook |
36.60 |
0 |
Qualifying Final- Yarra Glen Sept 2
| OFC |
2-8-20 |
4-16-40 |
7-21-63 |
14-22-106 |
| HEALESVILLE |
1-4-10 |
1-6-12 |
4-11-35 |
5-17-47 |
Goalkickers- James Charge 3, Nicholas Keegan 2, Blake Walter 2, Tom Millwood 1, Lachlan Taylor 1, Mitchell Bonuda 1, Chris Brown 1, Dylan Wilson 1, Kelsey Currie 1, Ethan Greenall 1
Best Players- Marcus Hottes, Josh Wallis, James Charge, Callum Beattie, Declan Fitzgerald, Ethan Greenall
Second Semi Final- Yarra Glen Sept 9
| OFC |
5-1-31 |
7-2-44 |
8-3-51 |
12-7-79 |
| WOORI YALLOCK |
3-3-21 |
7-6-48 |
11-9-75 |
16-11-107 |
Goalkickers- James Charge 4, Mitchell Bonuda 3, Dylan Wilson, Blake Walter, Lahclan Taylor, Kelsey Currie, Jayden Rankin
Best Players- Dylan Wilson, James Charge, Mitchell Bonuda, Marcus Hottes, Callum Beattie, Nicholas Syme
Preliminary Final- Woori Yallock Ground Sept 17
| OFC |
4-2-26 |
9-6-60 |
13-9-87 |
20-14-134 |
| HEALESVILLE |
2-2-14 |
4-6-32 |
5-7-37 |
5-8-38 |
Goalkickers- Blake Walter 5, Nick Broomhall 3, Mitchell Bonuda 3, Lachlan Taylor 2, Jayden Rankin 2, Mitchell Wright,Ethan Greenall, Dylan Wilson, Thomas Millwood
Best Players- Marcus Hottes,Blake Walter, Mitchell Bonuda, Chris Brown, Luke Hill, Declan Fitzgerald
Grand Final- Yarra Glen Sept 23
| OFC |
1-6-12 |
7-7-49 |
13-12-90 |
18-17-125 |
| WOORI YALLOCK |
1-3-9 |
1-6-12 |
3-6-24 |
3-6-24 |
Goalkickers- Nick Broomhall 6, Lachlan Taylor 3, Dale Rohrman 2, Mitchell Bonuda 2, James Charge 2, Blake Walter, Ethan Greenall, Marcus Hottes
Best Players- Nick Broomhall, Luke Hill, Declan Fitzgerald, Marcus Hottes, James Charge, Blake Walter ( could include whole team on this list)
Coach- Brendan Donovan
Captain- Dylan Wilson
SMG Chairman- Grant Faull
Runner- Tim Wall, Tim Scott
2017 Finals Series Best Players
| Player |
Votes |
| Marcus Hottes |
18 |
| James Charge |
11 |
| Mitchell Bonuda |
8 |
| Declan Fitzgerald |
7 |
| Luke Hill |
7 |
| Nick Broomhall |
6 |
| Dylan Wilson |
6 |
| Blake Walter |
6 |
| Josh Wallis |
5 |
| Chris Brown |
3 |
| Callum Beattie |
3 |
| Ethan Greenall |
1 |
| Nicholas Syme |
1 |
2017 Finals Series Goal Kickers
| Player |
Goals |
| Blake Walter |
9 |
| Mitchell Bonuda |
9 |
| James Charge |
9 |
| Nick Broomhall |
9 |
| Lachlan Taylor |
7 |
| Ethan Greenall |
3 |
| Jayden Rankin |
3 |
| Dylan Wilson |
3 |
| Dale Rohrman |
2 |
| Tom Millwood |
2 |
| Nicholas Keegan |
2 |
| Kelsey Currie |
2 |
| Chris Brown |
1 |
| David Noorda |
1 |
| Mitchell Wright |
1 |
| BACKS |
Josh Rankin 18 |
Luke Hill 36 |
Brendan Cooling 37 |
| HALF BACKS |
Kelsey Currie 24 |
Callum Beattie 29 |
Declan Fitzgerald 16 |
| CENTRELINE |
Ethan Greenall 32 |
Marcus Hottes 45 |
Nick Keegan 31 |
| HALF FORWARDS |
Lachlan Taylor 7 |
Mitchell Bonuda 5 |
Mitchell Wright 9 |
| FORWARDS |
Blake Walter 15 |
James Charge 19 |
Nick Broomhall 3 |
| FOLLOWERS |
Josh Wallis 28 |
Dylan Wilson 30 |
Tom Millwood 54 |
| INTERCHANGE |
David Noorda 12
Chris Brown 4
Jayden Rankin 10
Dale Rohrman 21
|
|
|
CHECK THE PICS FROM THE DAY- CLICK ON THE PDFs AT BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE 2017 SEASON CLICK ON '"CLUB NEWS" FROM THE DROP DOWN BOX AT THE TOP OF THIS PAGE. THEN CLICK ON 'PAST NEWS' AND YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS TO A NUMBER OF "BLOODLINES" NEWSLETTERS FROM 2017.
