Image credit: Nerissa Byrne
2025 Victorian Wheelchair Football League – Match Reports Round 1
Championship Division
Essendon 6.5.(41) def. by St Kilda 18.8 (116)
Goals:
St Kilda – Ryan Smith (10), Michael Milton (5), Sebastian Welsh (3)
Essendon – Caleb Logan (3), Chris Henderson (2), James Leonard (1)
The 2025 Victorian Wheelchair Football League – Championship Division opening match saw St Kilda come out with a point to prove. Captain Nick Briant gave a defensive masterclass in the first half restricting Essendon to only two goals and providing the Saints with a lockdown role on key Essendon forward Caleb Logan. In the second half, Shaun Groenewegen and Sebastian Welsh went from strength to strength taking control of the ruck and dominating throughout the centre and forward zone. Notable mentions to Chris Henderson who featured in his first match for the Essendon Football Club and Hayden Farley in defence.
Hawthorn 5.5 (35) def. by Richmond 14.7.(91)
Goals:
Hawthorn - Yassin Hill (4), Andrew Harrison (1)
Richmond - Angelo Mavroudis (8), Chris Kotsanas (6)
Reigning premiers Richmond opened their 2025 Victorian Wheelchair Football League campaign with a 56 point win over the Hawthorn Football Club. Led by Teisha Shadwell in the ruck position, the Tigers dominated, winning the contested ball and getting the football out to forwards in Angelo Mavroudis and Chris Kotsanas. Richmond held Hawthorn to two goals at half-time, scoring four themselves. Hawthorn forward Yassin Hill managed to sneak a couple of goals before Richmnd backman Judeland Antony put a tighter tag on him.
In the second half, Richmond forwards Angelo Mavroudis and Chris Kotsanas proved to be a dominate pairing, combining for 14 goals to lead the Tigers to a great Round 1 win.
Highlights – Ricky Cox making his debut for the Hawthorn Football Club. Angelo Mavroudis & Miranda Charlton celebrated playing their 50th match for the Richmond Football Club
Community Division
Hawthorn 1.2. (8) def. by Richmond 16.11. (107)
Goals:
Hawthorn - Andrew Hutchings (1)
Richmond - John Secombe (10), Bryant Parsons (6)
The Richmond Football Club showed that they might be the team to beat for the 2025 Community Premiership with an outstanding opening performance against Hawthorn. Richmond scored seven goals to one int he first half, with a goal from Andrew Hutchings the highlight for the Hawks in the second quarter. The margin sat at 41-points to Richmond at half-time.
The second half was equally as dominant, with Tigers key forwards John Secombe and Bryant finishing the match with 10 goals and six goals respectively. A great start to the season by the Tigers, defeating the Hawthorn Football Club by 99 points.
Essendon 9.6. (60) def. St Kilda 2.1.(13)
Goals:
Essendon - Jordan Kinniburgh (5), Kaleb Powell (3), Ben Milton (1)
St Kilda – Trent Johnson (2)
Essendon saw Oscar Mugewa debut in his first match as well as returning player to the league Yasmina McGlone. Both players showed some impressive skills, scoring multiple goals in the first half. The Bombers lead at half time with six first half goals to St Kilda’s two, both scored by Trent Johnson. The second half saw Essendon hold St Kilda scoreless in a dominant performance to win by 47-points
2025 Victorian Blind Football League – Match Reports Round 1
*Please note that the scoring system for AFL Blind is dependent upon a players level of classification as to how many points are awarded for a goal and point.
Port Melbourne 1.3.(16) def. by Hawthorn 13.4 (153)
Goals:
Port Melbourne – Travis Zimmer (1)
Hawthorn – Ned Brewer Maiga (4), Cebby Johnson (3), Brad Brider (2)
The 2025 Victorian Blind Football League Round 1 commenced on Friday night under lights at Game On Indoor Sports Centre, Tullamarine, with Hawthorn Football Club versus Port Melbourne opening the season.
It was a 2024 VBFL Grand Final Replay, with Hawthorn looking to defend their premiership title.
The first half Port Melbourne had a number of goal opportunities be unfortunately missed by over possessing the football and then being caught holding the ball, only managing to score 16 points for the game, led by a great goal from key forward Travis Zimmer.
Hawthorn scored 85 points in the first half led by their captain Ned Brewer Maiga who was getting the football from the middle of the field and scoring goals on the run. In the second half, Cebby Johnson was given opportunities to kick goals and he did not miss scoring three for the match to lead Hawthorn to a dominate win by 137 points.
St Kilda 6.5.(69) def. Hawthorn 5.4 (45)
Goals:
St Kilda – Shannon Jones (3), Caleb Neyenhuis (1), Jasper Steeds (1)
Hawthorn – Ned Brewer Maiga (2), Brad Brider (1), Steve Obeid (1)
The second match of the night, saw St Kilda take on Hawthorn, with two Saints players debuting, Phoenix Romanis and Phoebe Buck. It was a tight encounter with both teams going goal for goal, both teams finishing the first quarter on 10 points. The second quarter saw St Kilda start to take control of the match with key goals from Captain Shannon Jones to give the Saints a 12-point margin at the half time break. The third quarter both clubs matched each other well with the Hawks narrowly leading the Saints by nine points at the final break, before the final quarter which saw goals to Caleb Neyenhuis (St Kilda – B1 Classification Player) and Jasper Steeds, helping the Saints to run over the Hawks and come away with a 24-point win.
Port Melbourne 3.2.(46) def. by St Kilda 10.8 (117)
Goals:
Port Melbourne – Daniel McKee (2), Penelope Bunn (1)
St Kilda Goals – Shannon Jones (4), Jasper Steeds (3), Caleb Neyenhuis (1), Phoenix Romanis (1), Phoebe Buck (1)
In the final match of the night, Port Melbourne Football Club played St Kilda, with the Saints off to an early and commanding lead with multiple goals from Shannon Jones and Jasper Steeds. Stephen Palmer dominated in defence for St Kilda and stopped any attacks forward from Port Melbourne players Sebastian Arblaster and Wes Jeffery, to give St Kilda a 57-point lead at half time. Port Melbourne regrouped for the second half, managed goals from key forward Daniel McKee (B1 Classification Player) and dominant midfielder Penelope Bunn to bring the margin back to 31-points at the final break.
The final quarter saw a outstanding performance by the St Kilda involving their new players Phoebe Buck and Phoenix Romanis, with goals to both players in the final minutes to cap off a sensational 71-point win by the Saints.
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