Once there were 6, then there was 3, now there is one! That’s the outcome of all our teams that were involved in our 2025 finals campaign. Last Saturday at Raiders Central, was the A Grade netball coming up against the top team in the Mallee Eagles who, by the way, were undefeated. In a cruel twist of fate, the girls got beaten in extra time after they were both equal on points after normal time. However, all is not lost as the girls get another chance this weekend, which is do or die, this time playing Tooley-Manang at bloody Lalbert! The Under 17’s netball, Under 15’s footballers and Ressy’s were all up on the Sunday at Tooleybuc, and unfortunately, they were all eliminated. The Under 15 footballers got rolled by 20pts in a hard-fought game but having said that they have had a very good season and should be proud of their achievement, so congrats to you boys. Hopefully you will come back bigger and stronger in 2026. Best players were Jakson Curry, Brodie Hall, Alex Chisholm, Bailey Weston, Dustin Bohn and James McDonald. The Under 19 netballers couldn’t get over the line. Next up were our Ressy’s and unfortunately, they decided to put in probably their worst game for the year; a 59-point loss was the end result. Think the warm conditions were one of the factors in their loss which means if your fitness level is not ready for finals it is difficult to run a game out. Doesn’t that come down to training the whole year! Also, it is hard to gain confidence if the people officiating the game are against you, if you thought the umpiring is bad in the AFL you should have witnessed this game. Some of the decisions were absolutely disgraceful even for Reserves football, even guessing at times! Raiders best players were Joel Davidson - very good effort by young Joel, Tom Amor, Rylan Attwell, Ash Molin, Todd Frankling and Matt Lolicato. Disappointing finish to the year fellas, obviously injuries late in the year didn’t help, especially when they are to your better players. However you earned your 2nd spot on the ladder with some good wins during the year, but if you want to continue to play finals football it all comes down to making a commitment to attend training for the entire football season. Your fitness will pick up and your skill level will pick up which will make all the difference come September 2026. So that just leaves our A Grade netballers in to represent us now. They play at Lalbert on Saturday, so good luck girls. Bring it home for the Raiders army! Last Saturday we hosted the 2nd semifinal on a warm windy day, and what a day it was. A huge crowd was in attendance, some good games of footy and netball, plenty of food and refreshments were available and everyone was happy.

So, a massive thank you to all our volunteers, I won’t single anyone out yo