Sport is an integral part of the fabric of the Yarra Valley and it played a prominent part in the news in 2025.
Here are the top sport stories in the Star Mail from the east year.
Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin was left broken-hearted after a scheduled Welcome to Country ceremony for the NRL’s Melbourne Storm was cancelled at the last minute on Anzac Day.
Aunty Joy told ABC News she received a phone call from the rugby club’s chief executive officer while driving to AAMI Park.
“His words were, ‘Hello, Aunty Joy, I’ve got a decision made by the board that you don’t do Welcome (to Country) today, but you can join in the cultural performance,” she told ABC News.
“When I got in, he said (the reason for the cancellation) was about the booing that happened (in the morning) and something like protecting or looking after you.”
In the early morning on Anzac Day, Bunurong and Gunditjmara elder Mark Brown was interrupted by a group of neo-Nazis while he was delivering a Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s Anzac Day dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance.
The Melbourne Storm released a statement and said there was a clear misunderstanding between the board and management on Friday which caused confusion with the pre-game cultural ceremony.
“The board asked for clarification about the sequencing of the Anzac Day ceremony, and we were not aware that a Welcome to Country was to be performed. We had agreed at the start of the year that a Welcome to Country would be delivered at multicultural round and Indigenous Round and would always have an acknowledgment of country when appropriate,” Storm Chairman, Matt Tripp, said in the statement.
Despite the issue not being resolved, Aunty Joy attended the club’s Indigenous Round match later in the season.
Coldstream Boxing Club coach Hayden ‘H-Bomb’ Wright took on Thai boxer Sunthon Pankhui at Melbourne Pavilion on Saturday 13 September for the WBF Heavyweight Champion of Victoria title.
After training hard with his mates, Zac Thompson and Chris Hume, Wright was able to push the opponent strongly from the first round.
The new WBF Heavyweight Champion of Victoria said he was prepared, and came out hard and strong.
“It was very even. So in the first round, I kept punching and punching him, and I nearly knocked him down and unconscious,” Wright said.
In July 2024, Wright won the Melbourne Heavyweight Championship title match against Indian boxer Ranjeet Singh by TKO which led to his first retirement to focus on coaching.
However, he reversed his decision as people surrounding him wanted him to bring another championship title back to the Yarra Valley before retiring again.
“I am very proud of all the hard work and dedication; 25 professional fights over the past 10 years, to become the new heavyweight champion and bring it back to the Yarra Valley to inspire kids,” he said.
The Eastern Ranges, the local junior representative pathway for young AFL stars in the region, made history in September as the first club to win both the boys and girls premierships in the same year.
Eastern Ranges talent lead Danny Ryan said it’s been pretty exciting to see Eastern Ranges talents get their chances at AFL and AFLW level in recent years and shared his advice for the boys and girls hopeful of being selected to play at the elite level.
“To see some of our girls that were in our program last year making their debut, Grace Belloni and Georgia Brisbane, it’s really exciting that both the boys and girls programs we’re seeing these kids have impacts immediately when they go into the AFL and we’re seeing what Nick Watson’s been able to do and Christian Moraes over in Port Adelaide,” he said.
In a back-and-forth contest, the boys in blue rallied in the last quarter to run over the top of the Sandringham Dragons, keeping their opponents goalless and nailing four goals straight to run out victors by 15 points.
The girls had three goals and two behinds on the board in the first quarter while their Dandenong Stingrays opponents could only muster a solitary point, going on to establish an insurmountable lead in the next two quarters before easing to a 38-point win.
A Yarra Glen Tennis Club player was crowned the top player in her grade at the 2025 Tennis Victoria Player Awards.
Tahlia Wheatley took home Pennant Player of the Year for the Women’s Grade 4 competition at the awards night held at Kooyong Lawns Tennis Club on Sunday 26 October.
Ms Wheatley said she was super proud to receive the award, if a little shocked at first.
“Our Grade 4 ladies went really well, we went all the way to the final, but unfortunately just fell short, by I think eight games it was,” she said.
“We had an amazing run at the start, but yeah, just got done in the end, which was a bit unfortunate, but I felt that we were really positive throughout the whole season.”
The Yarra Glen Tennis Club are no stranger to Tennis Victoria awards, winning the Community Engagement Award for the whole club and seeing committee member and coach Jarron Morris win his second Pennant Player of the Year for his grade in a row in 2024.
Ms Wheatley said she had a very consistent season, training every week, putting in the work and wanting to be better.
“I just tried my best, not putting that expectation on myself to win every game, but making sure I was in the right mindset for the whole season and training as much as I can,” she said.
Age was no obstacle for 57-year-old Triathlon champion and Yarra Glen local Jeremy Critchett after finishing second in the world in the latest triathlon World Championships in Wollongong on 19 October.
Critchett’s new, shiny silver medal will accompany the two golds he won in the 2018 ITU age group world championships in the Gold Coast, along with another gold medal he won in the 2024 Cross triathlon world championships in Townsville, on his shelf at home.
“The thing I love about triathlon racing is that it’s just such a vibrant, exciting environment for racers themselves,” Critchett said.
“You would think that with time constraints, it is easy to get isolated, but with triathlon, wherever you’re going, whether you’re running or riding or swimming, there’s lots of people generally around you doing a similar thing, so it really brings people together.”
He plans to race again at the 2027 World Championships in New Zealand.
A young Yarra Valley sport shooter stunned at the 2025 Victorian State Trap Carnival in Echuca hosted by the Victorian Clay Target Association (VCTA).
14-year-old Lilydale High School student and Melbourne Gun Club junior member Chloe Hughes-Gage finished first in an astonishing five categories at the event.
Chloe said it was just a really good weekend and she was feeling lucky.
“I went into the event knowing that I would be up against some pretty good competition, but I guess things just happened to be on the right side,” she said.
“I was really in my zone when I was shooting.”
Chloe’s luck seemed to be accompanied by plenty of skill too as she claimed the titles of overall Ladies State Single Barrel Champion (total score of 46/50), C-grade Single Barrel Champion (46/50), Sub Junior Single Barrel Champion (46/50), C-grade Double Barrel Champion (50/52) and C-grade Champion of Champions (120/125).
Chloe said she started shooting in high school after her older brother went through their school’s program.
“I know he (her older brother) will always help me if I have any questions, I’m sure he’d be able to answer them for me, so he always helps me out,” she said.
“I hope one day to get into the Victorian team for a discipline, and maybe even one day, one of my biggest goals, is shooting for Australia.”
