The Fitzroy Stars are the 2025 Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 premiers after an impressive 53-point triumph over Laurimar at Main Street Recreation Reserve.
Neville Jetta’s team led from start to finish in the 15.10 (100) to 7.5 (47) win and always looked likely to prevail in the decider.
AFL star Eddie Betts was named best afield after kicking four goals and giving one away.
After the game, Jetta paid tribute to retiring veteran Lionel Proctor who is hanging up the boots at the age of 45. Proctor has played in four grand finals in the league.
His first was a loss to Whittlesea in 2013 on a day when now Laurimar coach Jimmy Atkins played for Whittlesea. After playing and coaching in last year’s losing grand final, he now bows out with a well-deserved win.
The Stars won the toss and kicked with a handy breeze in the first term. Raman Winmar had a goal on the board very early for the Stars, who controlled the play early without putting it on the scoreboard.
Around the 10-minute mark, the game was held up for over 30 minutes when Noah Mooney was injured and required an ambulance to come onto the field to assist him. It left the Power a man short for the rest of the match.
The Stars goaled quickly after the resumption and slammed on another two to lead 27-0 before Cooper Herbert kicked one against the run of play at the 59-minute mark in a quarter which took more than an hour to complete.
Herbert was one of the better players for the Power and his day included an absolute speccie, only to see the umpire pay his teammate a free kick and thus his mark was disallowed.
Laurimar sought to reduce the deficit kicking with the breeze in the second term, but the Stars kicked the first two majors courtesy of the busy Alex Williamson and Kain Proctor.
Proctor’s goal came after poor discipline from the Power meant that he was brought to the goal square for an easy conversion.
Laurimar fought back hard in the latter part of the term, kicking three of the last four goals. They had won the quarter by a point and were down by a manageable 22-points at the main break.
Their challenge was to hold their opponents and then chase them down once they had the wind in the final term.
Once again, the Stars held sway early in the term. They had three majors on the board in quick time and looked to be cruising to an easy win with a 42-point buffer.
But then leading goal-kicker Patrick Fitzgerald stepped up and kicked two of his four for the day in the middle stages of the term. It was a period of dominance for the Power, but they missed a couple of other gettable shots.
The margin was 27-points late in the quarter when Eddie Betts kicked a late one for the Fitzroy Stars to extend the lead to 33-points at the last change.
Laurimar had kicked six goals to that juncture and would need at least another six with the breeze to claim victory. But the Stars did it again.
As in each of the first three quarters, they goaled early on when Kyle Wheatley took the advantage after a free and ran into the open goal.
The game was done and dusted at the 11-minute mark. The ball was kicked deep into the Stars forward line. Eddie Betts remarkably outmarked three opponents who seemed to be in a better position and kicked his fourth to extend the lead to an unassailable 45-points.
Later, Betts had a chance for a fifth but handed it off to fellow veteran in Lionel Proctor who slammed it through.
Fitzgerald was the only dangerous forward for the Power and scored his fourth major in the dying stages of the contest.
Laurimar had few winners on the day, but Aidan Clarke excelled in playing mainly on Patrick Farrant and keeping him goalless as well as taking numerous intercept marks.
Cameron Moloney pleased his coach in keeping tabs on dangerous forward Elijah Taylor. Ethan Bateman was terrific in defence, while Josh Leather did a power of work in rucking almost all day and also managed to get quite a few touches as well.
Power fans would rue the fact that their team often let Stars players run into space for easy marks. They also weren’t as good at hitting targets when in possession themselves.
Kain Proctor and Ethan Penrith led a dominant Stars midfield, with playing coach Jetta lending a helping hand.
Ruckman Brock Carter limped off the field close to three quarter time and Allan Norris impressed in rucking the entire final term for the Stars. James Trajkovski’s left-foot kicking skills were on display and he often sent the ball deep into the forward line.
The Stars have earned their promotion to MC Labour Division 2. Laurimar was disappointing on the day and will set their sights on a strong 2026 campaign.
