Big turnout for popular grand final parade

By Robert Muir

Sep 28, 2022

Ready for last Sunday’s grand-final and eventual winners were Yarrawonga A Grade netballers.

With local football and netball clubs’ theme songs belting out and an estimated 1,000 onlookers, the grand-final parade last Friday in Yarrawonga comprising local netballers and footballers in the 2022 grand-finals was spectacular.

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Especially around Belmore Street’s main roundabout at Piper Street, where hundreds of fans gathered decked out in their clubs’ colours with scarfs, jumpers, streamers, balloons and signs.

A snap-shot of the big grand final parade crowd at the Piper Street roundabout.

Premiership players boarded trucks, utes and boats for the parade behind their drivers whose vehicles included a tractor, 4-wheel drives, a fire brigade truck and car. The grand-finalists and premiership players were greeted with loud applause.

Master of Ceremonies, Yarrawonga Football Netball Club’s Phil Conway welcomed the big crowd.

Senior Yarrawonga footballers in the parade before their narrow grand-final loss.

“Thank you for coming out here today,” the junior co-ordinator and board member told the large gathering.

Ovens and Murray Football League’s 2022 best and fairest award winners for both the seniors and the reserves are Yarrawonga’s Leigh Masters (further from camera) and Xavier Leslie- the latter the Pigeons’ record senior games holder and winner of the Morris Medal in 2013; also pictured with parade MC Phil Conway interviewing the winning pair.

“It’s a terrific opportunity to celebrate the area, and our football netball clubs.”

Yarrawonga Reserves paraded, then went on to win the 2022 grand-final.

Heading the two-block parade from Orr Street was the Mulwala senior football team who broke a 32-year-old drought, when they beat Cobram by one point to win the Murray league premiership.

Mulwala’s senior footballers enjoyed being part of a premiership parade after winning their first flag for over three decades.

Tungamah footballers and netballers followed. The club’s netballers dominated the big day in the life of the Picola and District League, winning all four senior finals – A Grade, B Grade, C Grade and C Reserve. Tungamah Thirds also clinched the premiership.

Then it was Yarrawonga Football Netball Club’s A Grade netball and football teams, ahead of their grand-finals last Sunday at Lavington. The Pigeons were triumphant in the A Grade netball and Reserves football, and in the seniors almost beat favourite Wangaratta Magpies, going down in a thriller by three points.