By Lauren Henry 

Despite having the bye at the weekend, Stawell had the biggest news of the Wimmera league this week.

James Sullivan has signed on as the Warriors’ senior coach for season 2025, replacing longstanding leader Tom Eckel.

Eckel expressed earlier in the season he wanted to step down as senior coach, but the Warriors expect the top-tier player to continue as a player next season.

President Shane Field said Sullivan came to the Warriors late last season after moving to the area with his wife, a paramedic.

Sullivan’s mutual connections with other Warriors led him to play at Stawell this year, following a stint as playing assistant coach at Caulfield Bears under the tutelage of former AFL player Lynden Dunn.

Prior to that, Sullivan was a premiership player with Tatura in the Goulburn Valley league.

“He also went to Box Hill Hawks development squad, where he was seeking to improve his football, but also some coaching skill set,” he said.

“He obviously wanted to be a coach, one way or another, whether he’s still playing or whether he finished playing.”

Field said Sullivan’s high football IQ, personality, communication and leadership skills led the club into coaching talks in mid-May.

“We knew Tom was going to step down at the end of this year so we knew we had to get on the hunt,” Field said.

“When Sullivan was injured about a month ago, he sort of stepped up and became like a secondary bench coach, so we could see how well he used the bench when he had that chance.”

Field said the announcement, a month ahead of Stawell’s tilt at a premiership in its 150th year, was made in preparation for season 2025.

“Every team is trying to retain their players at this time of the year, and get prospective new recruits, so we’ve started talking to new recruits this time of year as well, and if you haven’t got a coach, you’ve got nothing to talk about,” he said.

Field said while plans were in place for next year, the Warriors still have high hopes of going deep into the finals this season.

“Hopefully we can get our full team playing – we haven’t had a full team together this year. We’ve had a few being overseas, injured and so forth,” he said.

“But, over the next month or so, we should see our full contingent. We’ve some big games coming up, with Horsham this weekend, then Warrack, and Southern Mallee Thunder and Ararat to finish off with, so a good preparation going into the finals.”

Round 14

Wimmera league senior football showcased the closest of first halves on Saturday, with all four matches having a margin of less than 10 points at the main break.

Nhill went into half time at Horsham City Oval with a three-point lead, but the Demons put on an accurate display of goal-kicking in the second half to firstly turn around the scoreboard margin to lead by 10 points at the last break, before putting their foot on the accelerator in the last quarter.

Kicking seven goals straight in the fourth term, the Demons showed they had turned around the poor goal-kicking they displayed in the first half of the 2024 season.
 Ryan Kemp led the way with five goals, while the Demons’ consistent trio of Brody Pope, Hugo Papst, and skipper Tyler Blake were judged best.

The Demons, now in fourth spot with an eight-point clearance over fifth-placed Nhill, will travel to Central Park, Stawell, to take on the third-placed Warriors, coming off a bye.

Marred by injuries to key players, it was Nhill’s first loss since round eight.
The Tigers’ finals hopes rest on the remaining four games of the season, starting this week with Warrack Eagles.

The Eagles scored their first win of the season against Dimboola on Saturday.

Down by 10 points at quarter time, the Eagles dominated the second quarter to take the ascendancy on the scoreboard with a nine-point lead at the main break.

Led by Riley Morrow and Kyle Cheney, with two goals each, along with Matthew Penny and Lachie Stewart, the Eagles’ second half impressed their home crowd.

For Dimboola, a season full of promise is heading for disappointment as it lingers in second-last place on the ladder with two wins for the season.

The Roos face another challenge this week when they host Southern Mallee Thunder at Dimboola.

In another match with a close margin at half time, Minyip-Murtoa led by 10 points over Southern Mallee Thunder, but struggled to withstand the home side in the second half.

The Thunder’s defence held strong, restricting the Burras to just four points after half-time to take a 24-point win and retain top spot on the ladder.
The Thunder celebrated Zac Robins’ 200th club game, appropriately at Hopetoun where Robins has played much of his footy before joining Southern Mallee Giants and now the Thunder.

Led by Lou White, Sam White and Billy Lloyd, the Thunder, still without leading goal-kicker Brad Lowe, had Thomas Clarke kick three goals.

Although without multiple goal-kickers, the Burras were well served by Luke Fisher, Kade Petering and John Delahunty.

A highlight for Minyip-Murtoa was the debut of Under 17 player Xavier Shevlin, who kicked a goal with his first kick in senior football.

The loss kept the Burras out of the top five, but they remain on the same points as the fifth-placed Nhill, placing even greater importance on this Saturday’s match against Ararat.

Playing at Minyip, the Burras will be hoping to impress as the club celebrates Minyip Football Club’s 1934, 1954 and 1984 premiership reunions.

But the task against the Rats is monumental.
Ararat is coming off a 23-point win in a low-scoring match against Horsham Saints.

After a goalless first quarter, the Rats kicked three majors in the second term to even up the scoreline against the Saints’ inaccurate kicking of 2.7.

It was all Ararat in the third quarter, as they piled on 1.9 – as the Saints were held scoreless.

Ben Taylor, Henry Shea and Patrick Toner were impressive for the home side, as it extended its lead to win 6.14 to 3.9. 

The Saints have a bye in round 15.

The entire July 31, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!