RedRoy Mail - 27 May 2022

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RedRoy Mail - your update from Fitzroy Football Club.

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Round 8

Milestone Roys

Congratulations to Tom O'Donnell who will play game 150 this weekend — congrats Curly!

Fitzroy IT Sir Doug Nicholls Lunch

To mark the AFL’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round and National Reconciliation Week, Fitzroy Football Club will be holding our own Sir Doug Nicholls event during our Fitzroy IT round.

Our speakers are both proud Yorta Yorta women, Member for Northern Metropolitan Region in the Victorian Parliament’s Legislative Council Sheena Watt, and Fitzroy Junior Football Club coach and ALP candidate for the state seat of Richmond, Lauren O’Dwyer.

They will share their thoughts on what Sir Doug Nicholls means to them, why the Treaty process in Victoria is important, and what the change of government federally might mean for First Nations People.

This lunch will take place before our Senior Men play De La Salle at Brunswick Street Oval.

Please join us on Saturday, 4 June for our Fitzroy IT Sir Doug Nicholls Lunch.

Bookings are essential – don’t miss out!

Date: Saturday, 4 June
Time: 11:45am for 12pm start
Cost: $45 for lunch (roast meats or vegetarian option, vegetables and salads, and cheese platter) with drinks at bar prizes
Location: Community Room, Brunswick Street Oval

Bookings close 9am Thursday, 2 June—Secure your ticket now!

Taking care of business at BSO

Image: Phyllis Quealy

By Guy Gorilla

As I kicked leaves strolling across the Edinburgh Gardens, I was a bit concerned. Not so much about the ‘big event’ later that night, but more how the Roys would go replacing a quarter of their side after the previous week’s meritorious victory over St Bede’s. Sure, we were playing the cellar-dwellers in Carey, and most of the replacements were competent. Grace, Wilson, Ramshaw, Lambert, Mitchell and debutant Fendyk came in for half a dozen injured or unavailables: Harvey, Hogg, Megennis, Minahan, Pyers, and a late ‘out’ in Green.

The Two’s stuck to their guns and ground out a win against the well-performed Carey outfit. The scene was set, clear skies, autumnal chill, and a point to be proved. In reality, there are no easy games. If you think otherwise, you’ll flounder.

It was pretty sloppy early. Not the ground, the skillset. A bit of a holding pattern. Will Symons goaled after a slick transfer. Brad Fendyk showed himself to be a tall, rangy left-footer. The Ramshaw family can expect a Yarra Council bill this week; Heath left scorch marks on the playing surface everywhere he went. Tom Wilson was in the thick of it, causing a turnover in their defence, and got it to Matt Kyroussis for a goal. A beautiful centre bounce tap found Donovan Toohey on the move, he flicked the switch, and bombed a long one from just inside the centre square. We then seemed to take the foot off the pedal a touch, they kicked a couple, gave them a sniff. Big Bill Clayton snapped one, Toohey kicked another from 50, and Harrison Grace marked and goaled after the siren. It was 45–22 at the first change. Order restored.

The coach stressed at the huddle that we shouldn’t overuse the ball, be ruthless. I like that, I did a major in ‘foot on the throat’ in my tertiary days.

Rhys Seakins went down early in the second with a head knock and spent the rest of the day on the pine. Goals continued to flow however despite the loss of the ‘magnet man’, Tom Wilson and Bill Clayton among the major kickers. Fendyk goaled off the ground, maybe there’s some Dutch soccer skill in there somewhere. 73–31 at half time. The midfield group of McKay, Wotherspoon, Toohey, Grace and Ted Clayton was ‘on the money’. Ted was maybe 5 per cent off premium – his head was partially focused on events later that evening.

Captain Jack Hart, a force at centre half forward, kicked a couple at the start of the third, benefitting from Darcy Lowrie storming the ball from defence. Speaking of defence, Chris Doherty was inspirational, a true granite defender. Professor Borland got on the end of one from Ramshaw, and it was 101–52 at the final change. There was declining resistance from the boys from Bulleen.

The goals came regularly during the final stanza: Ramshaw, Wotherspoon and Lambert, then Ted Clayton before he snuck off to ‘Don’s Party’. Symons was racking them up, a chill descended, much of the heat had left the game. Max Ellis went forward, marked and goaled, mass hysteria ensued. The iconic defender was mobbed by his mates on the occasion of his 200th. He then won a free and kicked another. What a champ, proof positive that you don’t have to be a showman to be popular, respected, loved by all, players, staff and supporters alike. He refused the ‘chair off’, just went about his business, kind of hoping all the attention would somehow go away. Well done E Dog.

An 80-point win in the end, very handy. 2 or 3 injuries, but soldiers ready to step up for an away game against Haileybury next Saturday.

Is this the game where we put our stamp on the season? Be there.

Sponsor Networking Night at FVBSC

As a community sporting club, the support that our sponsors, community partners and business members provide us is vital for our sustainability and enables us to create the best environment for our players to represent our great club each weekend.

This week, we were able to bring everyone together at the Fitzroy Victoria Bowls and Sports Club to network and hear what is happening at the club at our Sponsor Networking Event.

We want to give special thanks to Clifton Hill North Fitzroy Community Bank (Bendigo Bank) for their financial support, Bontempo and FVBSC for the catering and venue, and to our two Senior coaches, Luke Mahoney and Michael Harper, for coming along and providing an update on how the Roy Boys and Roy Girls are going this year.

The feedback from the night was very positive, in particular the attendees appreciated hearing from our President David Leydon on the momentum the club is generating off the field and from Director Player Wellbeing Michael Pickering about the leadership and wellbeing programs the club is running. Many of these programs have been able to be delivered because of the generous support of our great sponsors and partners who were in the room for the networking event .

We encourage everyone to support the businesses and organisations that support us. For more information about any of our sponsors, community partners and business members head here and also check out our Business Directory.

If you know of a business that would like to be a sponsor or business member of the club, please encourage to do so by either enquiring through our website or contacting Robert Olney, Director Sponsorships at: sponsorship@fitzroyfc.com.au.

2022 player sponsorship – a tax-deductible option!

As most supporters know, there are considerable costs associated with fielding teams to represent our great club. This includes grounds, trainers, coaches, footballs, insurance, league fees and much more.

Many of our players are students who study full time, work part time, or are graduates at entry level jobs. So finding the $315 to $430 for registration fees each season can be a huge challenge.

To help ease this pressure, the club has established the Fitzroy Football Club Player Assistance Fund (supporting the Player Sponsorship program) to be used exclusively to cover player registration fees.

Donations to the Fitzroy Football Club Player Assistance Fund are fully tax deductible.

These donation payments come to the club, and not to the player, so it doesn't breach the amateur status nature of the competition.

Through the club’s fundraising partnership with the Australian Sports Foundation, the Player Assistance Fund enables supporters to receive a tax deduction for assisting FFC players to cover the cost of their registration.

The suggested donation amounts per player are as follows:

Team   Player assistance donation
Men’s Senior and Reserves           $430
Women’s Senior and Reserves      $315
Men’s Thirds                                   $315

If you’d like to make a contribution towards assisting a player but don’t want to pay the full amount, please feel free to do so and your contribution will be grouped with other kind donations. It all adds up and is a great help for our players.

To assist a player, please complete the donation form here. If there is a particular player you’d like to provide assistance to, please note their name in the ‘supporter message’ on your form.

If that player has already been supported, we’ll get in touch with you to allocate your donation to another player’s fees.

For further information, please contact Robert Olney (sponsorship@fitzroyfc.com.au or 0413 767 907).

The Toyota Good For Footy Raffle is on! Buy your tickets now!

It's back! Your chance to win some great prizes and support the mighty Roys!

In 2021, we raised a total of $6710 which went directly to supporting our Club. Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket!

We've now got the 2022 raffle up and running and we'd love to see Fitzroy on the leader board and smash last year's sales to keep our club strong.

All you have to do is jump online and buy your tickets to be in the running to win one of 10 amazing prizes, including a brand new Toyota!

100 per cent of the proceeds go to supporting the Fitzroy Football Club. The raffle will be drawn at 12pm on Monday 5 September, 2022 with winners announced on Wednesday 14 September.

Let's get on that leader board—buy your tickets today!

Go Roys!