Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the mighty Melbourne Demons sadly falling short this finals season, it is appropriate that we acknowledge another outstanding sporting club in the great state of Victoria, and that is the Tonners, the Old Brighton Grammarians, who have had a fantastic year this year. I would like to congratulate Old Brighton on an outstanding season and thank them so much for giving me the honour, with my fellow No. 1 ticketholder, Felicity Frederico, of being able to stand as their No. 1 ticketholder and in this place.

This year the seniors confirmed their status as the top premier B team with a magnificent win against Old Scotch in the grand final only last month. For the fourth time in this season, they went to battle against Old Scotch and gave them a hotly contested game of footy. It was a well-fought game in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Trevor Barker Oval. The Tonners looked like winners for most of the match, but it was Pat Liston's goal to answer the Cardinals' late thrust which sealed the match with moments to spare. The final margin was 36 points. It was the club's fifth senior premiership and the first since 2013.

On behalf of the Goldstein community, I'd like to congratulate the premiership players of Old Brighton and their seniors team: Harry Hill, the co-captain, who got three goals; Michael Karayannis, who got two goals; Ben Jakobi, Daniel Anthony, Anthony Zimmerman, Brock Rawlinson, Luke Healy and Pat Liston, who got one goal each; and Andrew Dewar, Tom Fisher, Ben Jarick, Dylan Verney—he was the co-captain and the winner of the Ian Corder Medal for his outstanding performance in defence—as well as Matthew Gadsden, Michael Dewar, Tom King, Stuart Hooy, Tom Garner, Raury Bolger, James Davis, Oliver Cavallaro, Michael Slater and Ben Austen. I'd also like to acknowledge and thank so much the coach of the team, Greg Hutchison, for his remarkable contribution, as well as so many other people who contributed to Old Brighton this year, including the president, Shane Young; the vice presidents, John Rawlinson and David Paterson; the treasurer, Pam Fitzpatrick; the secretary, John McKell; the trading operations manager, Phil Anthony; Jack Geddes, for events fundraising; Louise Graham, for events; Leanne Sargent, also for events; Frank Cavallaro, for club development; Richie Gee, for sponsorship; and Rosie Jakobi, for catering.

It was also a very important year because it was the first year that women's footy was part of Old Brighton. I particularly want to thank the committee, which included the coach, Peter Grant; the assistant coach, Andrew Grant; the team manager, Janine Olivier; captain Madeline Grant; vice-captain Nadia Olivier and deputy vice-captain Megan Yeoman; as well as Louise Graham, who continues to provide incredible support, and Ben Verney. I also want to thank the incredible number of women who played an important role as part of this inaugural team: Sophie Grant, Chloe Mutimer, Indi Tait, Maddie Grant, Nadia Olivier, Sophie Ambrose, Rachael Sargent, Gina Kay, Isabella Riegler, Natasha Lade, Clare Cameron, Morgan McGregor, Greta Dickson, Alex Currie, Eliza Grubb, Freya Fajgman, Maddy Ogilvie, Bonnie Chipp, Shelley Jones, Jeanine Vette, Kathleen McKinna, Georgie Lawless, Jacqui Stenniken, Iona Miller, Emily Grant, Emma Lomas, Elaine Dargan, Katie Grant, Evelyn Turek, Isabella Roper, Sarah Priestley, Maddy Stenniken, Megan Yeoman, Abbey Franklyn, Alex Briggs, Alice King, Amy Fogarty, Annie Grant, Camilla Fisher, Claire Lazarides, Ella Finnis, Emily Shaw, Emma Helmer, Freya Breidahl, Gabby Lovell, Gaynor Ramsay, Georgina Kennedy, Loui Healy, Mary Trumble, Phoebe Goodman, Sam Dick and Tansy Mutimer.

And, to cap off a highly successful season, I was lucky enough to attend the Old Brightons 2017 Best and Fairest competition at the convention centre. I'd like to further congratulate all the award winners and runners-up in the Best and Fairest awards, particularly, for the seniors, Harry Hill; for the women's, Indi Tait; for the reserves, Marty Ho—and this deserves a little dance: Marty Ho, Marty Ho!—and, for the under 19s, Tom Wallace. Congratulations to the reserves, to everybody who contributed to the victory against Old Scotch and to the Old Brighton Grammarians footy team, which is one of many footy teams that are part of the Goldstein electorate, who all do us proud through their activity on weekends to make sure that they bring together the community.

I've got to say that one of my favourite things to do every weekend is to go and watch the Tonners play and be victorious against many of the teams across the great state of Victoria. So, to the Tonners on their dual premiership in 2017, congratulations, and we look forward to you going back and smashing it up in 2018.