After 17 rounds of the East Gippsland Football Netball League, Orbost Snowy Rovers has finally secured the golden ticket to the 2025 finals, after a massive 152-point victory over a winless Paynesville at Lochiel Park last Saturday.
Several times throughout the season, the Blues have looked too far back to make the finals, at times eight points separated them from the top four, but in a brave and gallant effort, they never conceded hope under the guidance of Peter Seal, and eventually has secured a spot, matching their 2023 effort.
With Paynesville as their final round opponent, finals action seemed inevitable, but they still needed to get the job done by over 100 points and hope that Stratford didn’t turn its season around completely and annihilate neighbour, Boisdale Briagolong in the “Battle of the Avon”.
In the end, Orbost Snowy Rovers secured the vital fourth spot comfortably, by four points and nearly nine percent, but there were some anxious moments in the final home and away day of the 2025 season, with anxious texts flying back between Orbost and Boisdale.
At three quarter time at both venues, the live ladder had the Swans playing finals action as they led by 16 points and seemed to be playing better than the Bombers, with the Blues 84 points in front of the Gulls, Stratford holding a percentage advantage of less than one percent, with 30 minutes to play.
With their season on the line, the Blues finished full of running, kicking 11 goals to one in a lengthy final term, the Gulls thinking that their season from hell would never end.
It hadn’t been one-way traffic all day, with Paynesville showing plenty of fight early in the match, where they traded goals with Orbost, trailing by only 14 points at the first change.
The margin blew out to more comfortable 70 points by half time from a home side perspective, only for the visitors to batten down the hatches and battle hard in the premiership quarter, restricting Orbost to just three goals, while they added one of their own.
A similar effort from the Gulls in the final term could have seen the Blues miss a finals appointment, but it wasn’t to be, as experienced players like Kieran Vickery, Hamish and Curtley Nettleton steered the Orbost ship to safety, when rough waters threatened.
Orbost had 10 individual goal kickers, led by Max Herbert, who kicked five in his best game for the season, well supported by goalkicking half backs Vickery (four goals) and Max Welsh (three), with Hamish Nettleton also bobbing up with three.
Jamieson Humphreys, Gus Rogers, Jayden Price, Jarrah Nettleton and Charlie Mein all chipped in with two each, while James O’Dwyer finished with two for the Gulls.
Among the best for the Blues were Vickery, Curtley and Hamish Nettleton, Welsh, Herbert and the consistent Rogers.
Joshua Carroll, Harry Gibbs, Jordan Farquhar, Judah May, Thomas McKay and Seth Stevens all battled hard for the Gulls, who will look to reload over the off-season and bounce back under a new coach in 2026.
Orbost Snowy Rovers’ focus quickly turned to this Sunday, where they take on Boisdale Briagolong in a do-or-die elimination final at the Bairnsdale City Oval.
