September 18, 2026
BFNL season comes to a crescendo A bumper program of footy and netball awaits at Newcomb’s Grinter Reserve on Saturday 19 September. The Bellarine Football Netball League grand finals have arrived and it will all begin at 8am with the 13 & Under Division 2 and 15 & Under Division 2 deciders. The A Grade grand final will be fought out between Geelong Amateur and Ocean Grove for the fifth consecutive year and the first pass will be thrown at 3.15pm. Ammos won in 2022, but the Grubbers have since gone on to a threepeat of flags. On the adjacent footy oval, the Under Division 2 grand final starts at 9.15am, the reserves, between Queenscliff and Modewarre, at 11.30am while the senior footy will feature Torquay and Queenscliff, beginning at 2.15pm. The Coutas will be aiming for their first flag since 2013 while Torquay last won in 2024. See pages 30 and 31 for previews of
both games. Ocean Grove’s Georgia Ryan in between Geelong Amateur’s Keisha Guilmartin and Georgia Duncan (rear) with Queenscliff skipper Caleb Whiteley and Torquay’s Ben McNamara. (Ivan Kemp)
Balyang’s big test By Matt Hewson A local golf course will hold a major event in early October, but members still don’t know the future of the facility. Balyang Par 3 Golf Course, one of only two Victorian 18-hole pitch-and-putt courses, will welcome competitors for the 2026 Australian Pitch and Putt Association (APPA) Victorian championships from 2 to 4 October. Balyang member Troy Freeman said the event, open to male and female competitors of all ages and offering a number of gross, nett and nearest the pin prizes, would draw people from across the country. “We’re hoping to get around 30 to 50, that
would be a great start,” Mr Freeman said. “We’ve created a relationship with Waverley Pitch and Putt – they’re the only other 18-hole pitch-and-putt course in Victoria – so we could have up to 20 of their members playing in the event. “There’s also likely to be interest from people interstate as well. There’s a fairly good mix of competitive players in New South Wales that are likely to come down too.” But the future of Balyang is unclear. In 2024, as part of its wider withdrawal from golf facility management, Geelong council invited expressions of interest from developers to lease the publicly owned facility.
The council’s announcement made clear the course would not survive in its existing form, with developers offered the chance to “transform the…existing 18-hole par 3 course into a family-friendly, fun, exciting golf product”. The council has not made any statements about what stage the leasing process is in, but Mr Freeman said he believed the City of Greater Geelong is currently in negotiations with a “preferred tenant”. “We still believe that whoever takes it on probably still has the idea of a driving range down there,” he said. Mr Freeman, who began a petition in 2024 opposing any major redevelopment of Balyang that has since gathered over 1100
signatures, said he hoped the Victorian championships could inspire potential lessees to consider leaving the course the way it is. “We’re just hoping that this event will probably spark some interest with those looking to lease it and generate a bit of a rethink about any major redevelopment,” he said. “Our hope would be that they just give it a chance and see if they can make a go of it. We know the (private) management at Waverley has been in operation for around 32 years and they run a successful business. “There’s definitely a public interest, and people as a whole want the facility to stay as it is.”
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Supporting Geelong youths By Jena Carr A Geelong program is helping young people avoid homelessness by providing support before challenges escalate into crisis. Meli’s The Geelong Project currently partners with seven secondary schools across Geelong to help reduce the number of young people experiencing homelessness across the region. Mount Duneed’s Zavier McGill, 23, is a former participant and current executive committee chairperson with The Geelong Project. “If it wasn’t for The Geelong Project, I think I’d definitely be living on the streets,” he said. “When I was younger, there was a lot
of hardship growing up...as my mum and dad separated and then my mum started using substances. “At one point we got evicted from a house, and I was couch surfing for a bit before I went to my dad’s in Leopold, but between then and there, participating in going to school was challenging. Mr McGill said that he wanted young people to know that “it’s okay not to be okay and it’s good to reach out for help”. “There’s social stigma regarding reaching out to get help, but I think it’s one of the bravest and strongest things you can do,” he said. “It’s the common saying of treating others how you want to be treated, but it’s also a way to do the actions that I wish I
Zavier McGill is a former participant and current chairperson of The Geelong Project’s executive committee. (Supplied)
had received when I was younger. “You’ll thank yourself when you look back on the change that happened from
it, and it’s a pivotal point in potentially the experience or journey that you go through.” The Geelong Project was recently recognised in this year’s Victorian Protecting Children Awards as one of four finalists in the Keeping At Risk Young People Safe Award category. “The Geelong Project shows what is possible when young people, families, schools and community organisations work together before a young person reaches crisis,” Meli chief executive Robyn Hayles said. “To have that work recognised alongside some of the state’s leading child and family services is a wonderful achievement for everyone who has contributed to the program.”
Gardens celebrate 175 years The community will come together this October to mark the 175 years of the Geelong Botanic Gardens in a special celebratory event. The 175 Years of Growing Together event will take place on Saturday 3 October from 10am to 3pm for a free day of family entertainment and celebration. The anniversary open day will include plant sales, guided walks, children’s activities, heritage talks, cultural performances, exhibitions, hands-on workshops and a range of food and drink offerings. Friends of the Geelong Botanic Gardens volunteer coordinator Bruce McGuiness has been helping care for the gardens for seven years. He said the event would be a great way to celebrate the gardens, the people who work there and the community that was involved all year round. “I’m hoping that the Gardens will continue to grow, and it would be nice to get more people involved, and maybe actively involved, too, as advocates for the Gardens for the future,” he said. “The children running around now are the people that will be advocates for the Gardens in 50 years’ time. “It’ll just be so important as the city grows to have a great space like this. This is a gem - this is a real asset to everyone in the community.” Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the gardens had left a significant legacy since opening in 1851. “Reaching 175 years is an incredible
Junior Mayor Viggy Ram. (Supplied)
Youth fair ready to rock
Friends of Geelong Botanic Gardens volunteer coordinator Bruce McGuiness in the nursery. (Ivan Kemp) 578456 03
milestone for a place that means so much to our community,” he said. Visit geelongcity.vic.gov.au/whats-
happening/events for more information on the Geelong Botanic Gardens Anniversary Open Day.
Review looks into Torquay’s occasional care service Surf Coast Shire Council is reviewing its Torquay occasional care service to ensure it meets the community’s future needs. Council will review the program during the next six to eight months to ensure the service remains fair, easy to access, good value and financially sustainable. Community Life general manager Damian Waight said occasional care was a valued service for many families across the Surf Coast. “The review will help council make a careful, evidence-based decision that supports families and the wider
community,” he said. “It’s important we reiterate that no decisions have been made at this stage and the review findings will be considered by our council in the future. “As our community grows and changes, it’s important that we regularly review how we deliver our services to make sure they are meeting the community’s needs. “The population of Torquay and the local childcare market have both changed a lot since we introduced the service, so it is a good time to assess council’s role in this space.”
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Occasional care provides short-term education and care for children aged 1 to 6 years, supporting families in need of care. The review will evaluate the current and future demand for the service, other childcare options available in Torquay, and long-term financial sustainability. It will also consider feedback from families through council’s annual Early Years survey and explore a range of options, including continuing and changing the service.
Geelong’s newest youth-centred event has announced its program, revealing a lineup showcasing local emerging musicians, entrepreneurs, makers and creatives. Part of the Victorian government’s statewide Youth Fest, the 2026 Geelong Youth Council’s Youth Festa-Fair runs from 11am to 3pm on Tuesday 29 September at Geelong West Town Hall. Intended to help address the high levels of loneliness and social isolation experienced by young people in a hightech world, Youth Festa-Fair will feature live performance acts, youth-run stalls, free snacks and a range of social and independent activities. The free event will put the spotlight on the creativity and passion of young people from around the region, from the nature-inspired jewellery and art prints of Alanah Forbes to the on-the-spot sketches of Addison Kemp and Daniel Lim’s handmade products raising money to support young people in performing arts. Live music will include the smooth saxophone of Jacob Evans, the indiepop and folk stylings of Kitty Beach and feel-good festival vibes from Klover Clements. The event will also make available information about local youth services and present opportunities for young people to continue making connections after the event. Youth Council Junior Mayor Viggy Ram said Youth Festa-Fair was a great opportunity for young people to come together and celebrate the talent of their peers. “We hope young people can come along, have fun, discover something new and leave feeling a little more connected to other young people in their community.” Visit geelongcity.vic.gov.au/whatshappening/events/youth-festa-fair for more information.
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Push on for tennis centre The push for a world-class tennis facility in the Geelong region is gathering steam, with proponents joining forces to advocate to political parties ahead of the state election. Tennis Victoria and the City of Greater Geelong put out a joint statement this week, urging local politicians and candidates to back the council’s proposed $22.5 million Geelong Regional Tennis Centre (GRTC) in Armstrong Creek. The facility would include 20 courts as well as eight multipurpose courts and training facilities. With the City committing $13 million and Tennis Victoria and Tennis Australia contributing $1 million, the council is seeking
Professional tennis player Amy Stevens has joined in calls for state and federal governments to help fund a regional tennis centre. (Supplied)
$8.5 million from the state and federal governments to get the project over the line. Local professional tennis player Amy Stevens also lent her voice to the appeal, say-
ing a regional facility would make a huge difference to aspiring young players around Geelong. “Being from Geelong, and rural Geelong, the travel was astronomical. I was fortunate to have an amazing family taking me to Melbourne five days a week, but it could be twoto-three hours one way in traffic,” she said. “I would really have appreciated having a training facility closer to home. Having a regional facility would be amazing for a visibility side of things. You can really be what you can see. “That belief system and pathway that the regional facility would provide would be amazing for the young talent coming up.
I can see the regional tennis facility being used as a hub for big professional tournaments, whether that’s a lead-in for the Australian Open or junior events.” Tennis Victoria chief executive Kim Kachel said the GRTC represented a “significant opportunity to strengthen tennis across the region”. “It will service the entire tennis ecosystem, from community participation and local clubs, through to player development, high-performance pathways and major events,” she said. “For a region experiencing significant growth, investment in contemporary sporting infrastructure is critical.
Community rallies for foster carers By Matt Hewson
Johnte Lange is a young surf photographer from Ocean Grove. (Ivan Kemp) 578671 14
Young photographer is making waves By Jena Carr A young Ocean Grove photographer is celebrating a major achievement as a finalist in an international award. Johnte Lange, 23, is one of five finalists in the Follow The Light Foundation, a global photography grant and award program supporting emerging surf photographers. Mr Lange will travel to California next month, where he will find out if he is the program’s winner, and said it was “pretty special” to be a finalist.
“It’s a great opportunity for younger people to get our work out there and get it seen,” he said. “With the ocean, everything’s so unpredictable, and it can work out sometimes, but then sometimes it doesn’t, and a lot of it’s up to chance. “I’ve definitely put in the hours of waking up early and driving down to the beach in different locations to hopefully get the shot, and sometimes it pays off; that’s just a part of the chase.” Mr Lange first developed his passion for
surf photography after following his older brother, who liked to take photos. “With my imagery, the main objective for me is to show my audience a different side to the ocean that they might not have seen before,” he said. “I like to highlight elements like the water, light and wind, and we live in a pretty cool part of the world, so I just want to show everyone that.” Mr Lange will leave for California on 14 October, and people can visit johntelangephoto.com.au to check out his work .
Hundreds gathered at Kardinia Park yesterday (Thursday 17 September) to support Geelong’s foster care community. Meli’s fourth annual Foster a Future Breakfast paid tribute to those families and individuals who continue to open their homes and hearts to the young people in our region who need it most. The breakfast is the flagship event of Meli’s Foster a Future Appeal, which raises funds to support foster families, buy food vouchers, provide vital services and train new foster carers. The gathering heard from Olympic gold medallist Brooke Hanson, whose upbringing formed the basis for her future success. “I grew up watching my parents open our home to children and families in crisis and it’s shaped who I am today,” she said. “I’ve seen firsthand the difference that a safe, caring environment can make, especially for children coming from really challenging situations. Foster carers don’t just provide a roof over someone’s head, they offer hope, safety and a sense that someone truly cares.” Past care leaver Ella Bone, joint winner of the Leadership Award at this year’s Geelong Youth Awards, spoke as part of a panel discussion and said anyone considering foster care should “definitely give it a go”. “It changed the trajectory of my life,” she said. “I’ve lived in over 35 different placement homes…no family is perfect, but the families that continue to show up for each other are the ones that make a difference.” Visit meli.org.au/fosterafuture to donate or for more information.
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Bringing Norlane together A new community space designed to bring neighbours together has officially opened in Norlane this week. The Spruhan Avenue Neighbourhood Hub opened yesterday (Thursday 17 September) on the site of the former Norlane Baptist Church after a $2 million redevelopment by community non-profit The Good Neighbourhood Project (formerly Norlane Community Initiatives). Designed as a multifunctional community space, the hub is intended to provide a place to build community resilience, reduce social isolation and empower local residents through learning, connection and participation.
It includes a 45-seat community cafe, and large dining hall and lounge, learning and youth spaces, a 200-square-metre urban farm and creative spaces. The Good Neighbourhood Project co-executive director Simon Reeves said the opening was about much more than restoring a building. “This is about hope. To see the building transformed into a place that can serve the neighbourhood for generations is exactly what The Good Neighbourhood Project is all about, investing in people, places and local potential,” he said. “We believe vulnerable neighbourhoods deserve investment, not just in pro-
grams, but in people, relationships and places where community life can grow.” The hub’s development has been supported by major contributors including the City of Greater Geelong, Anthony Costa Foundation and Bisinella Developments. Bisinella Developments chief executive Richard Bisinella said the work Simon and Kaylene Reeves had done in the community was “truly extraordinary”. “Hearing Simon speak about his work in the Norlane community, while watching our sons play soccer in 2017, I quickly realised just how much this project meant to him and to the people around him,” he said.
“I felt that, if my project management experience could help in some small way to support the project’s delivery, I wanted to contribute. The continued support from the Geelong community is a powerful testament to their belief in the project and the positive impact it can have on the community.” Mr Reeves said the completion of the redevelopment was just the beginning. “The building is finished, but now our aim is that Spruhan Avenue Neighbourhood Hub becomes a place where local ideas are given room to grow, and where people have opportunities to contribute to the life of their neighbourhood,” he said.
Councillor Adrian Schonfelder with Winchelsea Transfer Station’s new soft plastics recycling compactor. (Supplied)
Recycling gets softer at Winchelsea Local Australian Transplant Games competitor Jonathon Walker. (Ivan Kemp) 578593 03
Games celebrate the precious gift of life By Matt Hewson A Geelong athlete will travel to Launceston later this month to compete in his seventh Australian Transplant Games. Nearly 30 years after receiving a life-saving stem cell transplant, Jonathan Walker will represent Victoria at the 18th edition of the Games in basketball and athletics, having previously competed in the Ballarat, Adelaide, Geelong, Melbourne, Western Sydney and Canberra editions of the event. After being diagnosed in 1996 with myelofibrosis, a rare blood and bone marrow cancer, Mr Walker underwent the stem cell
transplant in 1997, subsequently spending six months in and out of hospital after developing serious complications. Mr Walker said he was excited to once again be part of such an “amazing” event. “The Games are about creating more awareness of transplantation and organ donation, that’s the most vital part,” he said. “They obviously provide an outlet for competitive sport…and meeting like-minded people and sharing similar journeys is really quite inspirational. “But showing our appreciation to those who have donated and their families, recognising and thanking them for saving the
lives of so many is really important. That’s what it’s really about.” Transplant Australia chief executive Chris Thomas said Mr Walker’s story demonstrated the lasting impact of a donor’s decision. “His story is a powerful reminder that when someone makes the decision to donate, they are not just giving someone more time; they are giving them the opportunity to experience the milestones and moments that make a life,” he said. Visit donatelife.gov.au to register as an organ and tissue donor and tell your family about your decision.
Conservation Regulator expands Net Swap program to Geelong By Jena Carr Greater Geelong community members will be able to freely swap illegal fruit tree netting for legal materials through the expansion of the Net Swap program. The Conservation Regulator program will extend across the region as wildlife entanglements continue to be recorded. Chief Conservation Regulator Callie Donaldson said that removing illegal netting from circulation helped reduce the risk to birds, possums and threatened species. “After the success of the pilot program, we’re pleased to expand Net Swap to
more councils, helping even more Victorians make the switch to legal fruit tree netting,” she said. “By expanding Net Swap into Greater Geelong, we’re supporting residents to switch to legal fruit tree netting and make their backyards safer for local wildlife. “Many Geelong residents are used to seeing grey-headed flying-foxes flying overhead at dusk, while parrots and possums are familiar visitors to gardens throughout Greater Geelong. “Unfortunately, these animals can become trapped in illegal fruit tree netting, suffering severe injuries as they struggle to escape and, in some cases, dying be-
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fore help can arrive.” City of Greater Geelong Council will hold its first Net Swap event on 13 October at the Friends of the Botanic Gardens Nursery, where unsafe netting will be exchanged for legal fruit nets. “When buying netting, people should test to see if a small finger can fit through the mesh and if it does, then the netting is most likely illegal,” City Infrastructure executive director James Stirton said. “We recommend netting trees only once fruit has formed so pollinators can access flowers, checking the nets daily and removing them once the fruit has been harvested or is over-ripe.”
Soft plastics recycling has come to Winchelsea as part of a new 12-month trial, making recycling easier for the community. Winchelsea Transfer Station will now collect soft plastics for the first time, following a resident’s request for a soft plastics recycling service at the transfer station. Surf Coast Shire councillor Adrian Schonfelder said Anglesea Transfer Station housed council’s main soft plastics collection point, with a smaller system now being trialled at Winchelsea. “We’ll see how the trial goes over the next 12 months and whether the service is working well for everyone,” he said. “We know recycling is important to our community, and we’re really pleased to be able to offer residents another way to keep materials out of landfill. “This service came from a community request, and we’ve been able to find a new approach that could make soft plastics recycling work at a smaller transfer station.” Soft plastics are items that can be easily scrunched up, including bread bags, chip packets, plastic bags and cling film, as well as thicker items like pet food bags and squeeze pouches. The plastics will be compacted into bales once collected and transported for processing, before being transformed into recycled plastic resin for use in new soft plastic packaging. Some materials may also undergo advanced recycling and be converted into oil that can be used to create food-grade plastic packaging. Residents can drop off soft plastics and feed bags at the Winchelsea Transfer Station for free during opening hours. Visit surfcoast.vic.gov.au/softplastics for more information.
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By Jena Carr A Drysdale man is encouraging everyone to advocate for themselves in the health field and help reduce stigma around people experiencing dementia and brain conditions. Andrew James Lovell, 61, is a proud Narungga man and passionate advocate who lives with Parkinson’s disease, vascular dementia, epilepsy and other neurological conditions. “I had an MRI done last year where doctors discovered some cognitive changes... and I was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment on 17 December,” he said. “To say it was a shock to receive that diagnosis; that would be corny to say, but it was...and there are a lot of things that dementia does to your body. “For me, it affects everything from controlling when you go to the men’s room to when you eat and choking is an issue for me every day as I choke on everything from air to fluid to food. “There’s medication to eat, sleep, function, remember, and medication to take for the side effects of the other medications, and on and on it goes.” Dementia Action Week (21 to 27 September) will begin with World Alzheimer’s Day on Monday 21 September, and aims to inspire people to share their experiences living with dementia and start conversations. “In my experience, when there are brain-based disorders, there is the assumption that I’m stupid and that I can’t speak for myself,” Mr Lovell said. “I’m not medically trained, but I’m not an idiot...and I’m very aware that Aboriginal
Andrew James Lovell is a proud Narungga man and passionate advocate. (Ivan Kemp) 578041 06
people have the lowest life expectancies, as well as the poorest health and disability outcomes. “I wanted to find out what was wrong and what changes had occurred in my brain, and to do that, I’ve learnt that to know where you’re headed, you’ve got to know where you’ve been.” Mr Lovell is an advocate and member of many health groups, including Dementia Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group, to ensure the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are heard. “I’m a survivor of trauma by way of sexual, physical, and other abuses from the age of four through to 17, and there have been many physical impacts on my head as a child,” he said. “When I looked at the results of the MRI, the areas of my brain where
these conditions have been diagnosed are primarily in the areas where the physical impacts to my head had occurred. “My mother always used to say to me that it is important to do something about change, or change will never happen...and I’ve learnt that to be anything other than who I am is a mistake. “Being your own self-advocate is the best thing you can do; unfortunately, that brings its own set of problems and enemies, but that won’t stop me.” Visit dementia.org.au/get-involved/ dementia-action-week for more information or to get involved with Dementia Action Week. If this story has prompted any questions or concerns, visit dementia.org.au or call the 24/7 National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.
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Retirees want ‘fairer’ rates By Jena Carr Surf Coast Shire retirement village residents are calling for a fairer and more affordable rating system. Star of the Sea Retirement Village (SOTS) is requesting Surf Coast Shire Council to recognise and correct what they describe as a long-standing anomaly affecting older residents. SOTS Residents’ Committee spokesperson Gerry O’Byrne said residents weren’t seeking preferential treatment; they just wanted fair rates. “People living in land-lease retirement communities should not be disadvantaged because their form of housing does not fit
neatly within a traditional rating model,” he said. “Residents fund and maintain much of their own infrastructure, roads, drainage, recreational facilities and community amenities, while continuing to pay full council rates. “We want Surf Coast Shire Council to recognise and adopt a rating model that reflects equity, transparency and the level of municipal services actually provided.” Retirement village residents across the Surf Coast Shire currently pay standard residential council property rates. Mr O’Byrne said two years of unsuccessful appeals have driven residents to pursue council again to provide rates relief to retirement villages.
“We are asking council to acknowledge that land-lease communities differ fundamentally from conventional residential developments,” he said. “Residents argue that the current rating methodology fails to recognise the unique practical and legal status of land-lease communities. “We have compared rating practices across Victorian councils, showing that more equitable approaches are both possible and consistent with the objectives of the Local Government Act 2020.” Council Strategy and Effectiveness general manager Joanne McNeill said council will consider reducing rates under the Ministerial Guidelines for
Differential Rating. “Council considered the potential for a retirement village land differential rate as part of the Revenue and Rating Plan adopted in June 2025 and the 2026-27 Budget process,” she said. “The Revenue and Rating Plan included a comprehensive review of rating differentials, and the review was guided by key taxation principles including equity, simplicity, capacity to pay, and sustainability. “The next Revenue and Rating Plan needs to be reviewed and adopted by 30 June 2029, and we will invite community input, and council will consider all submissions when making its decision.”
Nature petition gains traction By Jena Carr
Wildflower and Art Show coordinator David Walmsley and former Angair president Sally White. (Ivan Kemp) 578107 05
Spring blooms across the Surf Coast With spring bringing life to bushland around the region, Anglesea’s yearly celebration of flowers, creativity and the environment returns this weekend. Volunteer conservation group Angair will present its annual Wildflowers and Arts Show at the Anglesea Community Precinct on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September Having run every year since 1970 except for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, the show will include displays of native flowers, with local plants available for sale. Visitors can also take guided walks and bus tours of bushland and flora reserves to
see native plants, wildflowers and animals in their natural environment and explore the site of an exciting local conservation project. Books, cards and arts and craftwork focused on or inspired by native plants and environmental subjects by local creators will also be available for viewing and purchase. The show will also feature live entertainment, activities for kids, information stalls and food and drink. President Liz Fenwick said Angair was “really pleased” to be able to provide an affordable experience for families.
“The focus of the Angair show is always on celebrating, appreciating and experiencing the local bushland and its diversity of plants and animals,” she said. “However, this year Angair is also offering more activities for kids with special presentations by Wildlife Xposure and Coastal Nectar, which are sure to be popular “With adult entry at $10 and children under 12 free for the whole weekend, it is a great way to start the school holidays without breaking the bank.” Visit angair.org.au for more information.
Community members across the Surf Coast are giving the region’s wildlife a voice by campaigning for better native vegetation and wildlife habitat protections. More than 1000 people have signed the Protect Nature on the Surf Coast: Stop Habitat Loss and Create a Surf Coast Plan for Nature petition calling on Surf Coast Shire Council to consider a more strategic approach to protecting nature. Petition starter and Surf Coast resident Aleisja Henry said the petition was “quite an emotive thing” after witnessing wildlife being displaced because of council developments. “It’s not about stopping development; it’s about having a biodiversity strategy and positive steps,” she said. “It demonstrates that we really care about nature here on the Surf Coast and that we would like it to be better protected. “We can’t just keep meeting minimum standards of planning laws and rules and think that that’s going to help us in the long term. “It’s about having a habitat-first approach by creating a Surf Coast Plan for Nature so we start to think about these things and embed them in policy.” The change.org petition received 1200 signatures as of 4.30pm on 16 September, and the petition is scheduled to be tabled at Surf Coast Shire Council’s Tuesday 22 September meeting. “Subject to council resolution, a response will be brought back to a council meeting later in the year,” a council spokesperson said. People can visit the petition’s change. org webpage for more information and to sign the petition.
Report looks at better pathways to employment Stronger pathways for students to pursue roles in industries across the state, including Geelong, are the highlight of a new parliamentary report. The Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee has made 43 recommendations in its final report on the inquiry into student pathways to in-demand industries. Committee chair and Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant said the recommendations aimed to ensure the state was keeping pace with labour market needs. “Victoria’s economy is changing, and Victoria’s workforce will need to change
with it,” she said. “Most of Victoria’s future workforce will need a qualification in either vocational education and training (VET) or higher education. “We need to guarantee easier access to the training required to secure employment in both established and emerging in-demand industries.” Barriers for students accessing VET courses included scheduling, costs and limited subject availability, which was also amplified for minority cohorts, including those in regional areas. Members of the committee travelled
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to Warrnambool and Geelong, and engaged with 10 youth associates with lived experience of higher education and training as part of the inquiry. “These youth associates provided invaluable perspectives that have informed many of the recommendations included in this report,” Ms Marchant said. Report recommendations aimed to strengthen existing student pathways, expand career education programs, improve partnerships between schools and relevant organisations and provide tailored support to parents, students and job seekers.
Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee chair and Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant. (Ivan Kemp) 324326_04
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Region’s youth recognised The region is in great hands if the quality of the outstanding young people recognised at the Geelong Youth Awards is anything to go by. The awards, held at Norlane ARC on Friday 11 September, recognised the contributions, achievements and talents of young people aged 12 to 25 across nine categories. The winners were selected by a panel of young people, including members of the 2026 Youth Council. Active Achievement Award Marli Milne, 18, for leadership in sport and dedication to empowering young athletes. Through coaching, mentoring and the creation of inclusive sporting programs, Marli has helped young people build confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging while encouraging lifelong participation in physical activity. Arts & Music Award Kiarra Ifka, 16, for using creativity as a powerful tool for advocacy and inclusion. Through poetry, storytelling and public speaking, Kiarra has raised awareness of neurodiversity, challenged perceptions and inspired meaningful conversations about belonging, understanding and acceptance. Citizenship Award Novalie Morris, 13, for extraordinary courage, advocacy and commitment to helping others. Despite ongoing health challenges, Novalie has used her experiences to improve the lives of young patients and families through hospital advocacy, fundraising and community leadership.
Through her Bee Brave initiative, she has raised more than $30,000 for hospitals and support organisations while inspiring hope, resilience and connection across the community. Cultural Awareness Award (joint winners) Kailani Jones, 17, for leadership in celebrating and promoting First Nations culture within her school community. Through her involvement in NAIDOC Week activities and cultural education initiatives, Kailani has helped foster greater understanding, connection and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Nazanin Husseini, 15, for commitment to cultural inclusion and community connection. Drawing on her own experiences, Nazanin has supported refugee and migrant families, shared her story to promote understanding and helped create a stronger sense of belonging for people from diverse backgrounds. Innovation Award Revant Pandey, 16, for an innovative approach to solving real-world challenges through technology. From developing practical technology solutions to supporting younger students through mentoring and tutoring, Revant combines technical excellence with a strong commitment to community impact. Inspiration Award Quinnie Westwood, 12, for resilience, determination and generosity. Despite significant health challenges, Quinnie has excelled in sport, represented Australia internationally and dedicated countless hours
All the winners from the Geelong Youth Awards presentation. (Lucinda Goodwin)
to fundraising, advocacy and supporting other young people and families facing difficult circumstances. Leadership Award (joint winners) Ella Bone, 19, for transforming a lived experience into powerful advocacy for young people in out-of-home care. Through leadership roles, community engagement and youth representation, Ella has helped shape services, amplify young voices and create positive change for vulnerable young people. Mehdi Mohammad Aref, 18, for outstanding leadership, volunteer service and commitment to supporting multicultural communities. Through interpreting, mentoring and community advocacy, Mehdi has helped newly arrived families build connections and thrive while promoting inclusion and belonging. Unsung Hero Award Jessica Missen, 21, for supporting oth-
ers through volunteering, mentoring and caring responsibilities. Whether delivering meals to families in need through Lasagna Love, mentoring university students or volunteering at major community events, Jessica consistently goes above and beyond to make a difference. Her quiet acts of kindness have had a significant impact across the Geelong community. Volunteer Award – working with young people Madeleine Lowe, 20, for an outstanding contribution to St John Ambulance Youth. Through mentoring, training and supporting young volunteers, Madeleine has helped countless young people develop first aid skills, confidence and leadership capabilities. Her dedication has fostered a welcoming and empowering environment for young people across the region. Special Recognition Awards Isabella Harvey, 17, for exceptional advocacy, leadership and commitment to youth participation. Through her involvement in Youth Parliament, the City’s Youth Council advisory committee and community initiatives, Isabella has championed young people’s voices and contributed to positive change across the region. Farzana Mohammad Aref, 19, for achievements in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), multicultural leadership and community service. An internationally recognised young leader, Farzana has dedicated her time to supporting refugee and migrant communities while inspiring others through advocacy, mentoring and education.
QUALITY CAR SERVICING All makes & models
North Geelong Secondary College assistant principal Brad Headlam has received a Schools Plus Teaching Award for the Be Bold Be Heard program. (Louisa Jones) 409493_13
Grove teacher receives national award By Jena Carr Ocean Grove’s Brad Headlam is being recognised for helping students across the region establish gender equity in their communities. The North Geelong Secondary College assistant principal was among 13 school teachers and leaders who travelled to Canberra this week to receive a Schools Plus Teaching Award. Mr Headlam received the award for creating the Be Bold Be Heard program, which provides female students the opportunity to speak out about issues that affect them while advocating for change. “I’m really proud of the program, and I think it’s worthy of that recognition, but when reflecting on my leadership, I’m a bit overwhelmed by it,” he said. “It is nice to be recognised for that work,
but there are a lot of people in and around the program that have been really supportive in helping me establish the program. “I hope that the students in this program get an experience where they are empowered to enact change for greater equity or at least get the feeling that there’s hope for that change. “Experiencing the empowerment of making change also enables them to be leaders in their own futures and take the reins on those changes hereafter.” The Schools Plus Teaching Awards were celebrated at Parliament House on 15 September, with Federal Education Minister Jason Clare recognising the recipients. Schools Plus Teaching Award winners received a $20,000 teaching fellowship, including $10,000 to undertake a high-impact school visit and a year of professional development.
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Teenage band on the rise Bellarine teenage popfunk band Maybe Later dropped their debut single, Waste My Time, last month. Jena Carr sat down with the band’s members to talk about how they came together and their experience releasing their first song. A Bellarine band of five secondary school students is making their way in the pop-funk scene, but they are more than just a high school band. Maybe Later is a teenage pop-funk band featuring guitarist Troy Stibbard, drummer Grace Taylor, Chloe Van Den Bosch on bass, Luke McTaggart on keys, and Heidi Bush’s powerful vocals. The band first came together in a Year 9 music class at Saint Ignatius College Geelong when they were grouped together by a teacher. “We just got put together and really enjoyed each other’s company, so we’ve been together ever since,” Chloe said. “It would be silly not to take what we have as a band and run with it, so even though we were not taking ourselves seriously at first, we decided that this was something we wanted to do,” Grace said. “Even though we started at school, we definitely want to branch away from that, and we’re really passionate about our music as we’ve worked really hard on it,” Heidi said. Now in Year 11, the band is building their presence in Geelong and Bellarine’s music scene after releasing their debut single Waste My Time on 28 August. “I remember bringing the piano chords – which can be heard in the beginning – to the band, and then everyone played their own bit, eventually forming the song,” Luke said. “There were lots of different versions of what the song was, and we played a lot of different gigs where it sounded different before it was finalised,” Grace said. “It’s not just this one genre (pop-funk) that we’re exploring, as we’re pulling music from all our different inspirations and exploring different types of music,” Troy said. “We didn’t want to walk into this and record covers, so we decided to put the time into our own song...and it just showed us that we actually can do this, and that it can be a reality,” Chloe said. “The song is about realising your worth and making sure that people really have respect for your time,” Heidi said. Before becoming the band they are today, each member has had their own unique journeys in discovering their love for music. For Grace, there has been no other instrument that has called to her like the drums have. “I want to be taken seriously like the blokes who play drums and...I love being a chick who plays drums,” she said. “I started playing the drums when I was eight, and it was mainly because I couldn’t stay still in class, so mum and dad decided that I needed to do something with my energy. “But then that turned into me tapping on the table in class because of drumming lessons, and then the older I got, I just started caring more about it. “My family has always been super supportive, and you don’t really see many fe-
Heidi Bush, Grace Taylor, Chloe Van Den Bosch, Troy Stibbard and Luke McTaggart. (Ivan Kemp) 578176 06
Troy Stibbard (Guitarist), left, Grace Taylor (Drums), Heidi Bush (Vocals), Luke McTaggart (Keys) and Chloe Van Den Bosch (Bass) form the band Maybe Later. (Ivan Kemp) 578176 10
male drummers either, so it’s something that I’m pretty proud of. “If we do gigs, I’ll get off stage, and a guy will come up to me and be like, ‘wow, you’re really good at drums’, like they’re surprised that I can hit the drums or something.” Chloe’s musical interests started in a different instrumental category before she landed on the bass strings. “I started music in year seven, and my first instrument was the trumpet,” she said. “It was the middle of year nine when one of the teachers said that they needed a bass player because not many people played it. “My brother plays bass, so I just figured
8 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
that I could pick it up, and I ended up falling in love with it.” As a kid, Luke was always singing, dancing and putting on a performance for his family, and that passion remains to this day. “I just love everything about music, and I never really stuck with a specific instrument. I even had an electric drum kit at one point, which must have been so annoying for my family,” he said. “My granny has always been really big on me being able to play the piano, as she thinks it’s one of the best things in the world, so I’ve been trying to keep that up. “I’ve tried piano lessons quite a few times, but it just doesn’t really work for me, so I taught myself, and I love how there are so many different styles that you can do with the piano.” Troy’s instrumental choices followed his interests in other great bands and musicians, but his guitar riffs speak for themselves. “My favourite thing about playing the guitar is being the centre of attention to be honest,” he laughed. “I’ve been pretty into music all my life, and in Year 4 I started the drums as I was listening to heaps of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, so I was drumming for a while. “I then got into Black Sabbath when I was in Year 7, so I had to pick up a guitar, and I’ve been in love with the guitar ever since.”
Heidi previously used movement to tell her musical story before she found love and strength in her vocals. “I was a dancer, and eventually my dance studio started a musical theatre program, so I started singing through that, but I never really got serious until Year 9,” she said. “I didn’t really think of bands and music as a thing you could do until I took up music in Year 9 and really loved singing. “I’m definitely not usually a pop singer, but the band has really helped me branch out into that area, and I just love everything about it.” Since the release of Waste My Time, Maybe Later has proven to be a serious band that expands far beyond the classroom. “If we’re able to build something bigger than just a single and eventually release an EP or an album, that’s our goal,” Grace said. “You don’t want to put out something just for the sake of putting out something; you want to put out something that you can be proud of,” Chloe said. “We’re really lucky that we get to come to this space as a band where we can be together and create really good music...and we are already working on another single,” Heidi said. Waste My Time is available on Spotify and Apple Music, and people can follow Maybe Later’s journey through their maybelater.music Instagram page.
Focus on Education New early learning centre will open soon in Highton
Oberon High School in Armstrong Creek. (Supplied)
‘Go One Better’ at Oberon Oberon High School is somewhere where aspiration, great results, high expectations and a student-centred approach come together. My name is Warren Dawson and as the new principal at Oberon, I have been impressed by the professional and supportive approach our staff take to lead and encourage students to achieve their very best. After relocating to Armstrong Creek approximately six years ago, we opened our new “state-of-the-art” campus. Students and families have a wide range of learning and program opportunities to choose from, personifying our school’s long and successful tradition. “Go One Better” is our school mantra, underscoring everything we strive to
achieve, and our talented staff, dedicated families, and terrific students support it. Our teaching and learning programs focus on building connections within classrooms, as well as across the school and wider community on the Bellarine and Surf Coast. Students are the centre of all decisionmaking across the school, and they are encouraged to explore their interests and passions. We look forward to building our community here at Oberon, and we welcome students and families to consider us when deciding your child’s high school education journey. Be sure to check us out at oberonhs.vic. edu.au for more information and to enquire about enrolments.
Nido Early School is preparing to open its doors at 240 Roslyn Road, bringing new early learning to Highton for children six weeks to school age*. The new early school is a place where children are encouraged to explore, discover and imagine. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, Nido’s approach views children as curious and capable learners, with a hundred different ways of expressing themselves. At the heart of Nido’s approach is professional educators who partner in each child’s development. Through taking the time to understand each child’s interests, strengths and individuality, children build confidence, develop a sense of belonging and become active participants in their own education. Thoughtfully designed for each age group, the environments will include a creative atelier art studio, natural outdoor playgrounds and classrooms that invite investigation, collaboration and imagination. These spaces encourage children to express ideas, solve problems and develop confidence through handson learning. Families who start with Nido Highton will join one of Australia’s leading early learning networks with a 99 percent success rate in Educational Program and Practice based on Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority ratings. Local families are invited to find
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Families who start with Nido Highton will join one of Australia’s leading early learning networks.
out more about Nido’s approach to early childhood education and the environments being created for children to grow, learn and belong. To enquire, visit nido.edu.au/highton or call (03) 4247 2902. *Subject to department approvals.
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR WANT YOUR EVENT LISTED? Community Calendar is made available free of charge to not-for-profit organisations to keep the public informed of special events and activities. Send item details to Geelong Independent Community Calendar, 1/47 Pakington Street, Geelong West, 3218, or email to editorial@geelongindependent.com.au. Deadline for copy and announcements is 5pm Tuesday. Due to the ever increasing entries coming in each week for our Community Calendar page, we have enough to fill almost three pages. This means your entry will not appear each week. We will do our best to rotate them fairly. If you have an existing entry that no longer operates, please let us know so we can remove it. Your patience and understanding is welcome for this FREE service. The calendar in its entirety with every entry is posted every Saturday at 9am at geelongindy.com.au
Geelong Coin Collectors
Barwon Football & Netball clubrooms, McDonald Reserve, Reynolds Road, Belmont, 10am. Sandra, 0427 348 260
Interactive workshops, Virginia Todd Hall, 9 Clarence Street, Geelong West, Friday 2 October, 9am-4pm. To support people aged 55-plus with workshops on currency collecting with a focus on the contributions of Indigenous people to Australia’s currency.
Global human rights organisation working to build a better world for women and girls. Meets first Wednesday monthly for dinner, 6pm. zontaclubgeelong@yahoo.com.au, 0411 628 361
Leopold Hall, 805-809 Bellarine Highway, Saturday 19 September, 7.30-10.30pm, $10 includes supper. Music: Ben. Bring a small plate to share. 0400 500 402
Geelong Prostate Cancer Support Group Meets last Friday of the month (except December), 10am-noon, Belmont Park Pavilion, 162 Barrabool Road, Belmont. Bill, 0414 524 155, info@geelongpsg.net
Music for preschoolers
Leopold Library Tuesdays 2pm: Digital drop in for basic tech needs. Free school holiday programs. All ages, all interests. 4201 0675, grlc.vic.gov.au
History talk Last Sunday of each month, 1.30-3pm, National Wool Museum. Gold coin donation. Topics usually relating to Greater Geelong. Facebook: Geelong Museum Association
Geelong ballroom dancing Bellarine Repair Cafe Volunteer repairers fix items such as clothes, toys, furniture, electrical goods and electronic items. Ocean Grove Neighbourhood House, 1 John Dory Drive, Ocean Grove, Sunday 20 September, 12.30-3.30pm. repaircafebellarine.org.au and 12.30pm third Monday of the month (excluding December) at Belmont Pavillion, 162 Barrabool Road, Belmont. Julie, 0438 270 549
Scrabble club Chatty Cafe Indulge in cake, coffee/tea and chat, South Barwon Community Centre, 33 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont. Open 2nd and 4th Monday each month, 10-11am, $5 donation. 5243 8388
Christ Church hall, corner Moorabool & McKillop Streets, 1pm Saturdays. Beginners to experts welcome. Sue, 0419 106 147, Pauline, 0429 829 773
Sing Australia Geelong Choir Social badminton Players wanted. Mondays 9.45am, Barwon Valley Activities Centre. Lynne, 5243 1275
Wednesdays 7.30-9.30pm at Senior Citizens Centre, 52 Thomson Street, Belmont. No auditions needed. Mary, 0419 278 456
Fatigue
Mindfulness & meditation U3A
Geelong ME/CFS Support Group (including fibromyalgia, long COVID and Lyme disease) meets first Tuesday of the month, 36 Saffron Street, Newtown, 1-3pm. geelonggroupcfsme@hotmail.com
9.30am and 12.30pm Wednesdays, Cobbin Farm, Grove Road, Grovedale. Jean, 5264 7484
Highton Seniors Carpet bowls, bingo, cards, taichi, line dancing, mahjong. Community Centre, 84 Barrabool Road, Highton. Elma, 0411 065 524
Australian Multicultural Support Services Social Support Groups for communities from different multicultural backgrounds for seniors over 65. Meals, activities and fun. White Eagle House, Breakwater, 10am-2.30pm Fridays. 9689 9170, amcservices.org.au, info@amcservices.org.au
Geelong Historical Society Inc. Guest speaker first Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm, Virginia Todd Hall, 9 Clarence Street, Geelong West. Harry, 0473 807 944, geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au
Stamps Geelong Philatelic Society Inc meets 7pm first Saturday of the month (excluding January) at Virginia Todd Community Hall, 9-15 Clarence Street, Geelong West,
Saturdays 7.30-10.15pm, corner Bayview Parade and Carey Street, Hamlyn Heights. Entry: $10. BYO drinks and a plate. 5278 9740, geelongballroomdc.com.au
Meets first Tuesday of each month at 8am, Eastern Hub (behind East Geelong Cemetery), followed by breakfast. Dinner event third Thursday of each month in Geelong. ajd53m@yahoo.com
Scribes Writers Group South Barwon Community Centre, Mondays 9.30am-noon. Welcoming new members to refine their skills. geelongscribeswriters@gmail.com, 5243 8388
Lara Community Market Run by Rotary Club of Lara District every second Sunday of the month at Lara RSL, 9am-1pm.
Geelong Amateur Radio Club Storrer Street Clubhouse, Geelong, Wednesdays 1.30-4pm, Fridays 6.30pm. Robert, 0438 409 979, vk3atl.org
Choir St Paul’s Choir rehearses Thursday 7.30pm and Sunday 9.30am for 10.30am service. Choral scholarships available. Occasional choir for those unable to make commitment to main choir. Tom Healey, 0451 960 768, healeytf@gmail.com
Bellydance classes Corio Bay Lions Club Meets first and third Thursday of each month 6.30pm. geelongcoriobay.vic@lions.org.au
Beginner level, new term commencing. New students welcome. Tuesdays 1.30pm, Life Activities Club, Belmont Park Pavillion, Belmont. Glenys, 0400 214 897
Alcoholics (and other addicts) For Christ 12 Steps Group
Geelong’s Soroptimist International
Meets Thursdays 7.30pm at Belmont-Highton Baptist Church, 43 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont. 0420 910 763
Service club for women and girls, every second Tuesday of the month from 6pm at Belmont RSL. 0455 835 691, geelong@siswp.com
Children’s play group
Geelong Sports & Game Fishing
For babies, toddlers, and preschoolers with parent/carer. Free play, story time, and music. Wednesdays 10-11.30am in school term, St John’s Highton, 269 Roslyn Road, Highton. office@stjohnshighton.org.au, 0433 191 890
Meets first and third Monday of the month at Belmont Park Pavilion, 7.30pm. John, 0409 234 307
Belmont Seniors Players wanted to play 500 each Monday 12.30pm. Belmont Senior Centre, 52 Thomson Street, Belmont. 5241 1776
Ocean Grove Library Lions Club of Geelong Breakfast Inc
Mondays 10.30-11.30am: preschool story time (during school term) Tuesdays 4-5pm: youth collective, ages 12-18 (during school term) Wednesdays 9.30-10am: toddler time (during school term) Thursdays 11.30-11.50am: baby time (all year) Thursdays 3.45-4.45pm: boardgame busters after school program (during school term) September school holiday program various times and days, catering to a range of ages
Geelong Anglers Club Meets fourth Wednesday of the month at 7.30pm, 9 Yuille Street, Geelong West. Monthly fishing competitions. Brian, 0417 190 092, Ian, 0470 114 787
Drysdale CWA Every second Tuesday at 1pm and crafts every fourth Tuesday at 11.30am of each month at Drysdale RSL Club. Jenny, 0452 258 333
Scottish dancing GOG Scottish Country Dance classes 7.30pm Tuesdays at Leopold Hill Hall, $5. No partner needed. Vicki, 0412 762 983, Barbara, 0419 511 781
Geelong Showgrounds Museum Museum open to the public on first Sunday of the month 10am-2pm (January and October excepted). Adults $10, students 13-18 $5, under 13 free. 5221 1707
Community kitchen Ballroom dancing Belmont Park Pavilion, Thursdays 2-4pm. Val, 5251 3529
Cards Wanted: card sharp partners to play the game of Bolivia on Thursday evenings. For venue email Ingrid. griddlepop@hotmail.com
Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from Belmont. Rides to suit all levels of fitness; e-bikes welcome. Rob, 0412 308 166
Zonta Club of Geelong
Ballroom dance
Mainly Music is a music and movement program for babies to preschoolers at St Albans-St Andrews Uniting Church, 276 Wilsons Road, Whittington, Tuesdays 10am during school terms. Rhonda, 0437 241 345
Bike riding
Kids’ church Group lessons for children aged 3-6, 7-10 and 10+, St Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, 171a Latrobe Terrace, Geelong, first Sunday of the month during school term, 10.30-11.30am. Suzie, 0402 963 855, Althea, 0403 005 449
Do you enjoy cooking or want to learn cooking and budgeting skills with a small group of like-minded people in your community? Are you interested in volunteering to facilitate a Community Kitchen? healthycommunities@barwonhealth.org. au
Geelong Scottish Dance Highland dance classes for all ages Wednesday from 4pm and Saturday from 10am at Western Heights Uniting Church Hall, St Herne Hill. Christine, 0468 311 788, facebook.com/GeelongScottishDance
Bingo Welcome mat Belmont Uniting Church every Friday from 10am-1pm. Games, lunch and friendship. Fay, 0409 361 414
Tuesdays 1-3pm, great grocery prizes plus $50 jackpot books, $2.50. Belmont Seniors Centre, 52 Thomson Street, Belmont. Frank, 5241 1776
OMNI
First steps in music
Older Men New Ideas men’s friendly informal chat group, South Barwon Community Centre, 33 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont, 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 10.30am. Allan, 0409 665 608
Babies, toddlers and preschoolers welcome with parent/carer. Thursdays Northern Bay College, Tallis, and Fridays at Northern Bay College, Peacock. Free if living in 3214 postcode, bookings essential. info@bluebirdfoundationinc.org.au
Geelong Dragon Boat Club Paddle at Barwon River. Training Wednesdays 5pm, Saturdays 9am. Free one-month trial. revolutionise.com.au/geelongdragons
Combined Probus Club of Highton Meets third Thursday of each month, South
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COMMUNITY
Campbell and Linda Hutchison.
Charlie McIntyre.
Neil Carter. Dean Perkins and Shea Farquhar.
Out and about on Little Malop St Independent photographer Ivan Kemp headed to Geelong’s Little Malop Street just before the weather turned nasty on Tuesday 15 September to see who was out and about. Lara Massiceti and Paul Votsaris.
Yan He .
Kate Stowell and Lily Seymour.
Jacqui and Margie.
Luke Maguire with his sons Henri, Marcel and Hugo.
Dane Hughan .
Rachael Keehan.
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Windfire will ignite By Matt Hewson Music lovers will be able to experience 10 days of the finest classical music the region and Australia has to offer when the 17th annual Windfire Festival launches this August. Running from Friday 2 to Sunday 11 October, Windfire features six ticketed concerts over the two weekends with free performances held daily at 5pm throughout the intervening week. Eight of the 11 concerts will be held at the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, with one concert each at St Paul’s Anglican Church and the Keith Humble Centre at Geelong College’s Newtown campus. As usual, the program brings renowned artists to Geelong while also featuring many outstanding local performers. One of those locals is acclaimed soprano Lee Abrahmsen, who, alongside French
pianist Kevin Tamanini, will present the music of Puccini, Strauss, Grainger and Wagner in their Legends, Lovers and Lieder concert. Born and raised in Geelong, Abrahmsen has sung more than 45 principal opera roles, worked with opera companies and symphony orchestras across the country and performed at prestigious venues in the UK, China and Japan. She has also won numerous accolades including the Herald Sun Aria, the Acclaim Awards Italian Fellowship Award and the Music & Opera Singers Trust Performance Prize. Abrahmsen said the Windfire Festival was an important event for Geelong’s music community. “There are not always a myriad of opportunities (for locals) to perform in Melbourne…so in a community like Geelong it’s really important to have opportunities
like this,” she said. She said she and Tamanini would aim to take listeners on a “highly emotive journey”. “We’ve put together a program that discovers the period of the late Romantic composers,” Abrahmsen said. “It was devoted to life, the inner life of people, so they would compose about longing and devotion, nature, memory… the hopes that shape us as humans. “I just love the human quality of the compositions from that period, and it speaks to me because I’m highly emotive in my nature as well.” Windfire Festival will also include performances by the Australian Chamber Choir, the AXES saxophone quartet and the Vocal Consort of the Australian Boys Choral Institute. Visit musicatthebasilica.org.au/music-festival for tickets and more information.
A magical journey of self-discovery By Matt Hewson
The cast of How a Sprite Found Its Colour: Leo Bell, Raegan Cavagnino, Sindi Renea, Erin McCloy, Ali Cruikshank (rear), Jo Curtis and Bronte MacDowell. (Ivan Kemp) 578788 05
and dance communities to be very accepting of all people and they have been very supportive though some harder times in years past,” she said.
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A new pantomime exploring ideas of identity, exploration and inclusion kicks off at the Bellarine Arts Centre next weekend. Created by Sindi Renea Leith and presented by Theatre 3triple2, How a Sprite Found Its Colour tells the tale of a young magical being seeking its own identity. The newly emerged sprite, like all their kind, begins colourless and must explore the world around them to see what colour fits them. Are they a slow-dancing blue sprite, a fast-running red or musical yellow? Try as they might to fit in, the sprite struggles to identify completely with any particular colour and must find the bravery to just be themselves. Featuring a cast drawn almost entirely from the disability and LBGTQI+ communities, Leith said the show’s major theme was inclusion. “I wanted to write a kids’ play that told the story of being able to find out who you are without having to feel like you need to fit social expectations of what you should be,” she said. Recently diagnosed with ADHD and autism herself, Leith said she hoped for a world where kids didn’t have to feel like they had to hide who they truly were. “I have found the Geelong theatre
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“I’d like for people in different communities and their families to be able to hopefully see the production and feel seen, supported and safe.”
The cast of Theatre of the Damned’s production of Ride the Cyclone. (Supplied)
Don’t miss this dark cult classic By Matt Hewson A unique cult-hit musical opens for Geelong audiences next weekend. Community theatre company Theatre of the Damned’s production of Ride the Cyclone starts its run of six shows at Belmont Performing Arts Centre on Friday 25 September. Premiering in British Columbia, Canada in 2009, Ride the Cyclone has grown from a small cabaret show to a global cult phenomenon thanks to viral growth via social media platforms. It tells the story of a group of Canadian high school choristers who die in a catastrophic roller coaster accident and awake to find themselves in strange limbo. There, mechanical fortune teller The Amazing Karnak gives them the chance to compete for a return to the land of the living. Despite its somewhat morbid premise, the show has been hailed as darkly funny, imaginative and a heartwarming celebration of life. Ride the Cyclone fits perfectly the brief of Theatre of the Damned’s co-founders Tony and Elise Dahl: to bring unique productions never seen before in Geelong to local audiences. Tony said audience members were in for a “really fun time” being entertained by a “scary good” cast. “We pride ourselves on the obscure and unusual shows we provide and the amazing talent who perform them for us, our team who work on them and our audiences who attend them,” he said. “We generally have Sunday rehearsals leading up to the show…but this Sunday we’re not even having a rehearsal because they’ve been ready now for about five weeks. “The amount of work they’re all putting in, it’s just amazing. We could open tomorrow.” Visit trybooking.com/DHEVA for tickets and more information on session times.
The Guide PICK OF THE WEEK GRANTCHESTER ABC TV, Saturday, 7.30pm
Crime-solving clergy may come and go (three vicars, in this case), but for 11 seasons, DI Geordie Keating (Robson Green) has been the mainstay of this gentle murder mystery. However, this is the final episode of Grantchester, and last week’s cliffhanger ending, which saw the detective shot and left fighting for life, feels genuinely perilous. While Geordie’s loved ones keep vigil by his bedside in hospital, Alphy (Rishi Nair) and DC Peters (Bradley Hall) track the shooter across Cambridgeshire countryside. It all brings Alphy’s ongoing crisis of faith to a head, as the reverend considers whether his future lies with the cloth. It’s a satisfying sendoff that stays true to the series.
Gotta have faith: Alphy (Rishi Nair) and Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) keep vigil for Geordie (Robson Green, inset).
FALLING ABC TV, Sunday, 9.55pm
Emotions run high in this thoughtful drama charting the forbidden love between a devoted Catholic nun (Keeley Hawes) and a young firebrand priest (Paapa Essiedu, pictured with Hawes). Written and created by Jack Thorne (Adolescence), it’s a slow-burn story that takes its time as the pair wrestle
with their feelings, their faith and the full consequences of their actions. Sunday’s finale opens with Anna (Hawes) embracing life outside the convent, having left everything she knows behind – not for David (Essiedu), but for herself. At the same time, David is trying to get on with his job and pretend his feelings don’t exist. With a little push from Francis (Adrian Scarborough), the pair are finally honest with each other.
THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY Nine, Wednesday, 10.15pm
From the desk of prolific TV producer Ryan Murphy (Glee, 9-1-1, American Horror Story), this anthology series studies crimes that caught the nation’s attention – and retells them in extravagant style. This deadly tale takes place in the world of fashion. Last week’s premiere opened with the 1997 murder of legendary Italian designer Gianni Versace (Édgar Ramírez) at his Miami mansion, before flashing back to 1990 to reveal the key players: Versace’s boyfriend Antonio (Ricky Martin, pictured right), his sister Donatella (Penélope Cruz, pictured above with Ramírez) and his killer, Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss). Fact and fiction meld as drama takes centre stage.
Friday, September 18 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6.00 News Breakfast. 9.00 News. 10.00 Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job. (R) 10.30 Take 5. (PG, R) 11.00 Back Roads. (R) 11.30 Austin. (PG, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Portrait Artist Of The Year. (PG, R) 1.45 The Cage. (Ml, R) 2.55 Grand Designs Transformations. (PG, R) 3.55 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGa) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (PG, R)
6am Morning Programs. 7.30 France 24 English News. 8.00 DD India News Hour. 9.10 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.10 Vintage Voltage. (R) 11.00 Wales: Land Of The Wild. (R) 12.00 WorldWatch. 1.55 DNA Family Secrets. (Ml, R) 3.00 Nula. 3.30 The Cook Up. (PG, R) 4.00 Who Do You Think You Are? (PGa, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 MOVIE: Glass Houses. (2020, Mads, R) Bree Turner, Aviva Mongillo. 3.00 The Chase. (R) 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 MOVIE: The Love Hunt. (2023, PGa, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) 5.00 [MELB] Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) 5.30 WIN News.
6.00 Ent. Tonight. (R) 6.30 Bold. (PG, R) 7.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 7.30 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Building The Dream. (R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PGs, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 Gardening Australia. Costa Georgiadis visits a huge anthurium collection. 8.20 Death Valley. (PGa) A walker is found dead on a mountain trail. 9.05 Portrait Artist Of The Year. (PG, R) Nine artists create celebrity portraits. 9.55 Spicks And Specks. (PGl, R) 10.25 ABC Late News. 10.40 Would I Lie To You? (PG, R) 11.15 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGa, R) 12.00 Rage New Music. (MA15+adhlnsv) 5.00 Rage. (PG)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 The Good Ship Murder. (Msv) 8.30 WWII With Tom Hanks. (Maw) Hideki Tojo asks the Japanese to sacrifice more. 10.10 SBS World News Late. 10.40 Spy/Master. (Mal) 11.35 Darkness: Those Who Kill. (Mav, R) 1.25 MOVIE: The Goldfinch. (2019, Madlv, R) 4.05 Along Ancient Tracks. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 AFL: Friday Night Countdown. A lead-up to the Friday night AFL match. 7.30 Football. AFL Finals. First preliminary final. 10.30 AFL Post-Game Show. Post-game discussion and interviews. 11.15 GetOn Extra. A look at the weekend’s best racing. 11.45 To Be Advised. 1.25 The Midwich Cuckoos. (MA15+av) Midwich makes a shocking discovery. 2.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Million Dollar Minute. (R) 5.00 NBC Today.
6.00 9News. 7.00 Rugby League. NRL Finals. First semi-final. 9.50 NRL Finals Footy Post-Match. Post-match coverage of the first semi-final, with analysis and news of the NRL finals series. 10.45 MOVIE: Lethal Weapon 2. (1989, Mlsv, R) Two cops try to bust drug smugglers. Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci. 1.00 Next Stop. (a, R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 Global Shop. (R) 5.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 5.30 Postcards. (PG, R)
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (R) 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 Love It Or List It Australia. (R) Andrew Winter helps James and Brendan. 8.40 Have You Been Paying Attention? (Malns, R) Celebrity panellists compete to see who can remember the most about events of the week. 9.40 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.40 Two And A Half Men. (PGs, R) 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 11.15 Gardening Australia Junior. 12.55pm Talking Tom Heroes. 1.20 PJ Masks. 1.50 Kangaroo Beach. 2.30 The Makery. 2.45 Gardening Australia Junior. 3.00 Play School. 3.35 Fizzy And Suds. 4.00 Andy’s Global Adventures. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.15 Octonauts. 5.50 PJ Masks Power Heroes. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 7.35 Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures. 8.00 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! 9.50 BattleBots. 10.35 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 10.30 Dinosaur. 11.05 Icons Unearthed: Tom Cruise. Noon DW The Day. 12.30 Jimmy Carr’s I Literally Just Told You. 2.20 Forged In Fire. 3.10 Stories From The Cities. 3.45 WorldWatch. 5.40 Inside The Huddle. 6.10 Over The Black Dot. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 Celebrity Jeopardy. 8.30 Original Gangsters With Sean Bean. 9.25 The Naked World. 10.20 Sex Actually. 11.15 The Americans. 12.10am The Old Man. 2.15 NHK World English News. 5.00 Al Jazeera News Hour.
6am Morning Programs. Noon House Of Wellness. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 2.00 The Great Australian Doorstep. 2.30 Weekender. 3.00 Malaysia Kitchen. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Better Homes. 5.00 Escape To The Country. 6.00 Bargain Hunt. 7.00 Better Homes. 8.30 Escape To The Country. 10.30 The Yorkshire Vet. 11.30 Escape To The Country. 12.30am Bargain Hunt. 1.30 The Great Australian Doorstep. 2.00 Harry’s Practice. 2.30 Medical Emergency. 3.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon The Dog House UK. 1.00 Poirot. 3.00 Rugby League. NRL. 2025 First semi-final. Canberra Raiders v Cronulla Sharks. Replay. 5.00 Rugby League. NRL. 2025 Second semi-final. Canterbury Bulldogs v Penrith Panthers. Replay. 7.00 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 Find My Country House Aust. 8.30 MOVIE: Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game Of Shadows. (2011, M) 11.00 Forensics: Catching The Killer. Midnight Antiques Roadshow. 12.30 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 6.30 Ridiculousness. 7.30 MasterChef Aust. 8.30 Ent. Tonight. 9.00 GCBC. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Lingo. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. (PGs, R) 9.30 Becker. (PG, R) 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping. 5.30 Joseph Prince.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Going Places. Noon MOVIE: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (2000, M) 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 4.30 Dreaming Big. 5.00 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 5.30 Nula. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Undiscovered Vistas. 7.30 MOVIE: Muppets From Space. (1999, PG) 9.15 MOVIE: Above The Rim. (1994, MA15+) 11.00 Nula. 11.30 Coniston Muster. Midnight Going Places. 2.00 On The Road. 3.00 Barunga Festival. 5.00 Bamay. 5.30 Late Programs.
6am Open The Wall. (2014, PGal, German) 6.40 What We Did On Our Holiday. (2014, PGa) 8.30 P’tang, Yang, Kipperbang. (1982, PGals) 10.00 We’re All Going To The World’s Fair. (2021, Mal) 11.35 Argo. (2012, Mlv) 1.55pm The Ipcress File. (1965, PGv) 3.55 Emu Runner. (2018, PGadlv) 5.40 Loophole. (1981, PGaln) 7.35 Arrowhead. (2015, Mav) 9.30 Crash. (1996, MA15+ansvw) 11.20 Triangle Of Sadness. (2022, Malsv) 2am Showgirls. (1995, MA15+ansv) 4.20 Birthday Girl. (2001, Mlsv)
6am Morning Programs. 7.30 Creek To Coast. 8.00 A Football Life. 9.00 NFL Tailgate. 10.00 NFL. Buffalo Bills v Detroit Lions. 1.30pm Pawn Stars. 2.00 The Force: BTL. 2.30 Kick Ons. 3.00 Timbersports. 3.30 Engineering Disasters. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Motorbike Cops. 8.30 MOVIE: Last Vegas. (2013, M) 10.45 MOVIE: Skyscraper. (2018, M) 12.50am Pawn Stars. 1.30 Motorbike Cops. 2.30 Sound FX: Best Of. 3.00 NFL. NFL. Replay.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 LEGO City Adventures. 8.30 Baywatch. 9.30 Addams Family. 10.30 Bewitched. 11.30 World’s Greatest Natural Wonders. 12.30pm Costa Concordia: Chronicle Of Disaster. 2.30 Baywatch. 3.30 Seinfeld. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Bewitched. 6.30 Baywatch. 7.30 TBA. 12.20am Love Island UK: All Stars. 1.15 Legacies. 2.10 Baywatch. 3.45 Explore. 4.00 Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures. 4.30 Hop. 4.50 LEGO City Adventures. 5.10 Wild Manes. 5.30 Beyblade Burst: Quad Drive.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 The Bold And The Beautiful. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. (PGv, R) 6.30 Bull. (PGa, R) 7.30 NCIS. (M, R) 10.20 Bull. (PGa, R) 11.15 JAG. (PGlv, R) 1.15am Home Shopping.
CONSUMER ADVICE (P) Pre-school (C) Children (PG) Parental Guidance Recommended (M) Mature Audiences (MA15+) Mature Audiences Only (AV15+) Extreme Adult Violence (R) Repeat (a) Adult themes (d) Drug references (h) Horror (s) Sex references (l) Language (m) Medical procedures (n) Nudity (v) Violence.
VIC
Friday, 18 September, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 13
Saturday, September 19 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 9.00 Rage. (PG) 10.30 Rage Vault Guest Programmer. (PG) 12.00 News. 12.30 Grantchester. (Mv, R) 1.15 Father Brown. (PGv, R) 2.00 Death Valley. (PGa, R) 2.50 Griff’s Great Australian Rail Trip. (R) 3.40 Take 5. (PG, R) 4.10 Tampa: The Turning Point. (Final, PG, R) 5.00 Aust Story. (R) 5.30 Landline. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 9.50 Car & Country Quest. (Premiere) 11.05 Wonders Of The World I Can’t See. (PGl, R) 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Cycling. Tour of Britain. Men’s. H’lights. 3.10 Going Places. (R) 3.40 I’ll Be Frank. (PGavw, R) 4.40 Loxton Basketball: 70 Years. (PGl) 5.35 War Trains. (PG)
6.00 NBC Today. 7.00 Weekend Sunrise. 10.00 The Morning Show: Weekend. (PG) 12.00 Horse Racing. Sydney Everest Carnival and Caulfield Underwood Stakes. 4.00 AFL Pre-Game Show. 4.30 Football. AFL Finals. Second preliminary final.
6.00 Getaway. (PG, R) 6.30 Destination WA. (PG, R) 7.00 Weekend Today. 10.00 Today Extra: Saturday. (PG) 12.00 Surfing Australia TV. 12.30 Drive Review. 1.00 Cybershack. (Return) 1.40 The Block. (PGl, R) 4.30 The Garden Gurus. 5.00 9News First At Five. 5.30 Getaway. (PG)
6am Morning Programs. 10.00 Freshly Picked. (R) 10.30 What’s Up Down Under. (PG) 11.30 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 12.00 Love It Or List It UK: Brilliant Builds. (PG, R) 1.00 Pooches At Play. (Final, PG) 1.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 2.00 Deal Or No Deal: Celebrity Jackpot. (PG, R) 3.00 The Finish Line. (R) 4.00 Lingo. (R) 5.00 News.
6.00 Kath & Kim. (PGals, R) Kim moves in with Kath. 6.25 Hard Quiz. (PGs, R) Presented by Tom Gleeson. 7.00 ABC News. Takes a look at the top stories of the day, including coverage of developing stories and events. 7.30 Grantchester. (Final, Mv) Geordie fights for his life. 8.20 Father Brown. (PGa, R) Lady Felicia invites a prestigious group of writers to Montague with hopes of getting her work published. 9.05 Midsomer Murders. (PG, R) The opening of a sculpture park in Angel’s Rise is marred by murder when art imitates death. 10.35 Falling. (Ml, R) David wrestles with his feelings. 11.20 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) Continuous music programming.
6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door. (Mal) Looks at the Salisbury poisonings. 9.00 The Airport Chaplain. (Ml, R) Two parentless kids show up at the airport. 10.05 Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey: Kate Langbroek In Jamaica. (PGad, R) 11.05 DNA Family Secrets. (PG, R) 12.15 Secrets Of Britain’s Historic Houses & Gardens. (R) 3.35 Mountain Vets. (Ma, R) 4.40 Bamay: Walpiri Country – Tanami Desert. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.15 Euronews. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
8.00 Seven News. 8.30 MOVIE: The Break-Up. (2006, Mls, R) Feeling underappreciated and neglected, an art dealer decides to break up with her partner and begin dating other people in an effort to make him jealous. Jennifer Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams. 10.45 Kings Of The Big Game: West Coast Eagles: When The West Was Won. (Ml) West Coast and Sydney deliver a Grand Final classic, with redemption, sacrifice and belief culminating in a premiership. 12.00 The Midwich Cuckoos. (MA15+av) The children enter the second phase of their development. 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 It’s Academic. (R) 5.00 House Of Wellness. (PG, R)
6.00 9News Saturday. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 Basketball. NBL. Round 1. Melbourne United v Adelaide 36ers. From John Cain Arena, Melbourne. 9.30 Basketball. NBL. Round 1. Perth Wildcats v South East Melbourne Phoenix. From RAC Arena, Perth. 11.30 MOVIE: Rocky Balboa. (2006, Mv, R) Rocky Balboa steps out of retirement. Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Milo Ventimiglia. 1.30 Next Stop. (a, R) 2.00 The Incredible Journey Presents. (PGa) 2.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.30 Global Shop. (R) Home shopping. 5.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 5.30 Helping Hands. (PG, R) A celebration of people and organisations.
6.30 Gogglebox Australia. (ls, R) TV fanatics open up their living rooms to reveal their reactions to popular and topical TV shows. 7.30 Selling Houses Australia. (PG) A widow must sell her half-finished church conversion so she can move to South Australia. 9.30 Love It Or List It: Brilliant Builds. (PG) Kirstie and Phil look back on their best small-space transformations, including knocking down walls in Windsor. 10.30 Watson. (Ma, R) Watson and the fellows fight to revive a 30-year-old woman after her heart inexplicably stops. 11.30 FBI. (Madv, R) Jubal and the team try to solve a kidnapping. 12.30 Home Shopping. (R) 5.00 Hour Of Power.
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 1.50pm Kangaroo Beach. 2.35 Fizzy And Suds. 3.00 Play School. 3.30 We’re Going On A Bear Hunt. 4.15 Stan & Gran. 5.20 Peter Rabbit. 5.45 Iron Man And His Awesome Friends. 6.25 Zog. 7.05 Do Not Watch This Show. 7.30 Teenage Boss: Next Level. 7.55 MOVIE: Spy Kids. (2001, PG) 9.20 The Lady Grace Mysteries. 9.45 Merlin. 10.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.05pm MOVIE: The Fifth Element. (1997, PG) 2.25 Fear Itself With Alex Lee. 2.40 If You Are The One. 3.45 WorldWatch. 5.45 Mastermind Aust. 6.45 Engineering By Catastrophe. 7.40 History’s Greatest Machines. 8.30 The Ozempic Effect: Beyond The Waistline. 9.30 Couples Therapy. 10.45 Icons Unearthed: Harrison Ford. 11.35 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 2pm Escape To The Country. 3.00 The Yorkshire Vet. 4.00 Horse Racing. Sydney Everest Carnival and Caulfield Underwood Stakes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bondi Vet. 7.30 The Yorkshire Vet. 8.30 Escape To The Chateau. 9.30 Escape To The Country. 10.30 World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys. 11.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Avengers. 1.00 TBA. 1.30 NRLW Wrap. 2.30 Rugby League. NRL Women’s Premiership Finals. First semi-final. 4.15 Rugby League. NRL Women’s Premiership Finals. Second semi-final. 6.00 Customs. 6.30 Poirot. 7.30 MOVIE: U.S. Marshals. (1998, M) 10.10 MOVIE: Cry Macho. (2021, M) 12.10am Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 7.30 Deal Or No Deal. 8.30 Bold. 11.00 Everyday Gourmet With Justine Schofield. 11.30 Becker. Noon Frasier. 1.00 Becker. (PG, R) 1.30 Frasier. (PGa, R) 2.30 Friends. (PG, R) 7.30 Two And A Half Men. (PGls, R) 11.00 Becker. (PG, R) 11.30 Frasier. 12.30am Home Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 1.35pm Undiscovered Vistas. 2.30 Over The Black Dot. 3.00 Black Magic. 4.05 MOVIE: The Darkside. (2013, PG) 5.45 Glen Thomas: Beyond The Walls. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 The Other Side. 7.30 Alone Australia. (Final) 8.40 MOVIE: Fright Night. (2011, MA15+) 10.30 Nat King Cole: Afraid Of The Dark. 12.10am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.50 Birthday Girl. (2001, Mlsv) 1.30pm Fallen Leaves. 3.00 The Movie Show. 3.30 What We Did On Our Holiday. (2014, PGa) 5.20 P’tang, Yang, Kipperbang. (1982, PGals) 6.50 Anne Of Green Gables. (2016, PGa) 8.30 Saving Private Ryan. (1998, MA15+v) 11.40 Sleeping Beauty. (2011, MA15+alnsv) 1.35am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.30pm Timbersports. 1.00 Blokesworld. 1.30 The Car Club. 2.00 Rides Down Under: Aussie Truckers. 3.00 Motor Racing. NDRC Top Doorslammer. Winternationals. 4.00 Frozen Gold. 5.00 Counting Cars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 8.00 AFL PostGame. 9.00 MOVIE: Ghostbusters: Afterlife. (2021, PG) 11.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Soccer. English Premier League. Sunderland v Arsenal. 1pm Tennis. Davis Cup. Qualifiers. World Group I. Aust v Poland. 6.00 Nanny. 6.30 Seinfeld. 7.30 MOVIE: Cool Runnings. (1993) 9.30 MOVIE: Yes Man. (2008, M) 11.35 Top 20 Funniest. 12.30am The Purge. 2.10 Baywatch. 4.40 Hop. 5.30 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 9.00 Reel Action. 9.30 Building The Dream. 12.30pm The Living Room. 2.30 JAG. 4.30 Reel Action. 5.00 Escape Fishing With ET. (Final) 5.30 JAG. (PGa, R) 7.30 NCIS. (M, R) 10.20 JAG. (PGal, R) 12.15am Home Shopping.
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Sunday, September 20 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Compass. (PG, R) 11.30 Praise. 12.00 News. 12.30 Landline. 1.30 Football. VFL. Grand Final. 2.20 Portrait Artist Of The Year. (PG, R) 3.10 Grand Designs: House Of The Year. (PG, R) 4.00 Creative Types. (PGv, R) 4.30 Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job. (R) 5.00 Take 5. (PGa, R) 5.30 Back Roads. (PG, R)
6am Morning Programs. 7.30 France 24 English News. 8.00 DD India News Hour. 9.05 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.00 Car & Country Quest. 11.10 Journey Of The Pelicans: An Outback Mystery. (R) 12.00 WorldWatch. 1.00 Speedweek. 3.00 Going Places. (PG, R) 4.00 The Story Of Irish Dance. (R) 5.35 War Trains. (PG)
6.00 NBC Today. 7.00 Weekend Sunrise. 10.00 Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 House Of Wellness. (PG, R) 1.00 Football. AFL Women’s. Essendon v Gold Coast Suns. 3.00 Football. AFL Women’s. St Kilda v West Coast. From RSEA Park, Melbourne. 5.00 Seven News At 5. 5.30 Border Security: Australia’s Front Line. (PG, R)
6.00 Hello SA. (PG, R) 6.30 A Current Affair. (R) 7.00 Weekend Today. 10.00 AFL Sunday Footy Show. (PG) 12.00 Wide World Of Sports. (PG) 1.00 GolfBarons. (R) 1.30 The Block. (PGl, R) 2.30 Rugby League. NRL Finals. Second semi-final.
6am Morning Programs. 9.00 Mixed Martial Arts. UFC 331 – Van v Pantoja 2. Prelims. 11.00 Food Trail: South Africa. (R) 11.30 GCBC. (R) 12.00 Good Food Everyday. (PGa, R) 12.30 Farm To Fork. (R) 1.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 1.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 2.00 Gogglebox Aust. (R) 3.00 The Finish Line. (R) 4.00 Lingo. (R) 5.00 News.
6.00 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 Portrait Artist Of The Year. (PG) Nine artists create celebrity portraits. 8.20 Grand Designs: House Of The Year. Kevin McCloud explores houses that transport their owners on holiday every day in House of the Year. 9.10 The Cage. (M) Gary enlists Matty’s services in a casino scheme. 9.55 Falling. (Final, M) Anna and David both try to find a fresh start. 10.40 Grantchester. (Final, M, R) 11.30 Father Brown. (PG, R) 12.15 Rage. (MA15+dhlnsv) 2.00 The Cook And The Chef. (R) 2.30 Midsomer Murders. (PG, R) 4.00 Antiques Roadshow. (PG, R) 5.00 Insiders. (R)
6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Roman Empire By Train With Alice Roberts. (Premiere, Mans) 8.25 Ancient Superstructures: Pierrefonds Castle. (Return, PGv) 9.25 Castle Secrets: Escape From Colditz, Art Asylum, Death Not Dishonour. (Mav, R) 10.20 Secret Lebanon: The Treasures Of Byblos. (R) 11.20 Secrets Of Britain’s Historic Houses & Gardens. (R) 2.50 Mountain Vets. (Ma, R) 3.55 Along Ancient Tracks. (Mn, R) 4.45 Bamay. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.15 Euronews. 5.30 PBS News Horizons.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 The Voice. (PG) 9.00 7NEWS Spotlight. Focuses on major breaking news events and long-form investigations of national significance. 10.00 My Roommate, My Murderer: Death Of Stephanie Hansen. (Mav) Looks at the murder of Stephanie Hansen. 11.00 24 Hours In Police Custody: Body In The Grass. (Malv, R) 12.30 Curfew. (MA15+av) 1.30 Harry’s Practice. (R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 3.00 NFL. Week 2. 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News Sunday. 7.00 The Block. (PGl) 8.40 60 Minutes. Current affairs program, investigating, analysing and uncovering the issues affecting all Australians. 9.40 9News Late. 10.10 The First 48: Along Came A Killer. (MA15+av) 11.10 Murder In The 21st: Dead End. (Mv) 12.00 I Survived A Crime. (MA15+lv) 12.30 Tycoons Down Under: Hard Times. (PGa, R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 Destination WA. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 10 News+. Hosted by Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace. 7.00 Gogglebox Australia. TV fanatics open up their living rooms to reveal their reactions to popular and topical TV shows. 8.00 Watson. (Mm) Watson is sued for wrongful life by a long-term patient suffering from VACTERL association. 9.00 FBI. (Mav) After Maggie’s sister goes missing, the team begins an all-out search to recover her. However, when Maggie discovers Erin was kidnapped by a sinister figure from her past, she must save her. 12.00 10 News+. (R) Hosted by Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace. 12.30 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 2.30pm The Makery. 2.45 Fizzy And Suds. 3.00 Play School. 3.30 The Gruffalo. 3.55 Talking Tom Heroes. 4.30 Little J And Big Cuz. 4.50 Gardening Australia Junior. 5.20 Peppa Pig. 5.50 Iron Man And His Awesome Friends. 6.25 Zog. 7.05 Do Not Watch This Show. 7.30 MOVIE: Paddington. (2014) 9.00 Animal Park. 10.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.55pm MOVIE: The Year Of Living Dangerously. (1982, M) 3.00 Race For The Planet. 4.00 Stories From The Cities. 4.30 WorldWatch. 5.50 Bermuda Triangle: Into Cursed Waters. 6.40 Abandoned Engineering. 8.30 The Dropout. 10.30 The UnXplained. 12.10am Secrets Of Penthouse. 1.50 Generation Sext. 2.55 NHK World English News. 5.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Escape To The Country. 12.30pm Harry’s Practice. 1.00 Medical Emergency. 1.30 Malaysia Kitchen. 2.00 Better Homes. 2.55 The Yorkshire Vet. 3.55 My Greek Odyssey. 4.55 World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys. 5.55 Escape To The Country. 6.55 Vicar Of Dibley. 8.30 Vera. 10.30 Genius: Picasso. 11.30 Vicar Of Dibley. 1.05am Better Homes. 2.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 NRL Sunday Footy Show. 1pm Tennis. Davis Cup. Qualifiers. World Group I. Aust v Poland. 7.00 Keeping Up Appearances. 7.30 Clarkson’s Farm. 8.30 Fawlty Towers. 9.50 Blackadder II. 11.10 Cold Case. 12.10am Poirot. 1.10 Creflo. 1.40 MOVIE: Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde. (1972, M) 3.40 MOVIE: Family Life. (1971, M) 5.50 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 7.30 Deal Or No Deal. 9.30 Lingo. 11.30 Becker. Noon Frasier. 1.00 Becker. (PG, R) 1.30 Frasier. (PGa, R) 2.30 Friends. (PG, R) 7.30 Two And A Half Men. (PGs, R) 10.30 Becker. (PG, R) 11.00 Frasier. (PGa, R) Midnight Home Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 2.35pm Football. Big Rivers Football League. Women’s. Grand final. Ngukurr v Eastside. Replay. 4.00 Stompem Ground 2022: Karajarri Dancers. 4.20 Nat King Cole: Afraid Of The Dark. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Undiscovered Vistas. 7.30 Extraordinary Animals. 8.30 The Ground We Won. 10.10 MOVIE: Point Break. (1991, M) 12.15am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.40pm Arrowhead. (2015, Mav) 2.35 Loophole. (1981, PGaln) 4.30 Boychoir. (2014, PGav) 6.25 Jane Eyre. (1970, PGa) 8.30 The Grand Budapest Hotel. (2014) 10.25 Late Night. (2019, Mls) 12.20am A Good Person. (2023, MA15+ad) 2.40 Sleeping Beauty. (2011, MA15+alnsv) 4.35 The Movie Show. 5.10 Jane Eyre. (1970, PGa)
6am Morning Programs. Noon The Fishing Show By AFN. 1.00 Fishing Addiction. 2.00 Red’s Fishing Adventures. 2.30 Al McGlashan’s Fish’n With Mates. 3.00 Air Crash Inv. 4.00 Frozen Gold. 5.00 Counting Cars. 6.00 Border Security: Int. 7.00 Border Security. 8.30 MOVIE: Jurassic World. (2015, M) 11.00 MOVIE: The Thing. (1982, MA15+) 1.20am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 2.30pm LEGO Masters Aust Vs World. 3.30 Motorcycle Racing. MXGP of Aust. 4.30 My Way. 4.45 The Toys That Built The World. 5.15 Cards And Collectables Australia. 5.45 MOVIE: Doctor Dolittle. (1998, PG) 7.30 MOVIE: Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. (2008, PG) 9.25 MOVIE: Wonder Woman. (2017, M) 12.10am Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 7.30 Leading The Way. 8.00 All 4 Adventure. 9.00 Roads Less Travelled. 9.30 On The Fly. 10.00 Building The Dream. 11.00 Escape Fishing. 11.30 Building The Dream. 12.30pm What’s Up Down Under. 1.30 Buy To Build. 2.00 JAG. 4.00 Pooches At Play. 4.30 Bondi Rescue. 5.00 I Fish. 5.30 JAG. 7.30 NCIS. 10.20 Fire Country. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
14 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
SECTION
REMIERS
12902586-CV38-26
G 29 DEFEATED ELSEA 24
District Football Netball League sincerely thanks all its valued sponsors for roughout the 2026 season and congratulates our 12 member clubs on their contribution to another successful year.
Friday, 18 September, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 15
SECTION
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
2026
PR
EAST GEELONG 8 WERRIBEE CEN
The Geelong and Dist their support throug
Major Partners
16 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
Official Partners
REMIERS
12902582-RV38-26
8.11.59 DEFEATED ENTRALS 8.10.58
District Football Netball League sincerely thanks all its valued sponsors for roughout the 2026 season and congratulates our 12 member clubs on their contribution to another successful year.
Friday, 18 September, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 17
SECTION
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
2026 PRE
EAST GEELONG WINCHEL
The Geelong and Dist their support throug
Major Partners
18 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
Official Partners
Monday, September 21 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 10.45 Father Brown. (PGa, R) 11.30 Stuff The British Stole. (M, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Landline. (R) 2.00 Back Roads. (R) 2.30 Home Delivery. (PG, R) 3.00 Grand Designs Transformations. (R) 3.55 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGv, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 DD India News Hour. 9.15 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.15 Vintage Voltage. (R) 11.10 Wales: Land Of The Wild. (PGa, R) 12.10 WorldWatch. 2.00 Human Forever. (PGa) 3.30 The Cook Up. (R) 4.00 Who Do You Think You Are? (PG, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Beat The Chasers UK. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.30 Find My Country House Australia. (PG, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 7.30 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Gogglebox Aust. (R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PGs, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Australian Story. Australians tell personal stories. 8.30 Four Corners. Investigative journalism program. 9.20 Media Watch. (PG) Presented by Linton Besser. 9.35 Planet America. A look at American politics. 10.05 Foreign Correspondent. (R) 10.40 ABC Late News. 10.55 The Business. (R) 11.10 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mav, R) 11.55 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 12.40 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 2.35 Gardening Australia. (R) 3.40 Love Your Garden. (R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) Presented by Marc Fennell. 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 Bill Bailey’s Vietnam Adventure. (PG, R) Bill Bailey arrives in Sa Pa. 8.30 24 Hours In Emergency: Hanging On. (M) At Queen’s Medical Centre, doctors scan an 11-year-old for brain bleeds after he is hit by a car. 9.25 Alone Australia Reunion. (M, R) The cast reunites for the first time since they were dropped into the extreme and wild terrain of Sápmi. 10.35 SBS World News Late. 11.05 Black Sands. (Return, MA15+s) 1.00 Fargo. (Malv, R) 2.45 Mountain Vets. (Ma, R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PGav) Mackenzie keeps a heartbreaking secret. 7.30 AFL Brownlow Medal: Red Carpet. (PG) Coverage of the red carpet arrivals featuring AFL players and their partners. 8.00 AFL Brownlow Medal. An awards event featuring the announcement of the winner of the league’s Brownlow Medal. 11.00 The Agenda Setters: Rugby League. An expert panel tackles the biggest rugby league topics. 12.00 Transplant. (MA15+a, R) An incident at work destabilises Bash. 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 The Block. (PGl) 8.45 Australian Crime Stories: The Investigators: Murders Most Wicked. (Mv, R) Detectives Paul Watson and Grant Gilbert discuss their investigation into the murder of an elderly couple. 9.45 9News Late. 10.15 Outback Opal Hunters. (PGl) 11.15 100% Footy. (Mal) 12.05 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.00 Hello SA. (PG) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PG) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 Deal Or No Deal: Celebrity Jackpot. (PGdls, R) Comedian Tom Gleeson hits the podium for the chance to win $250,000 for his charity Feel the Magic. 8.40 Have You Been Paying Attention? (Malns) Celebrity panellists compete to see who can remember the most about events of the week. 9.40 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.40 Two And A Half Men. (Ms, R) Alan has to meet with the school principal. 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 2.45pm Gardening Australia Junior. 3.00 Play School. 3.25 Wiggle. 4.00 Andy’s Global Adventures. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.15 Octonauts. 5.50 PJ Masks Power Heroes. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Secrets Of The Zoo. 9.30 Hard Quiz Kids. 10.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon France 24 English News. 12.30 Jimmy Carr’s I Literally Just Told You. 2.20 Leguizamo Does America. 3.15 Over The Black Dot. 3.45 WorldWatch. 5.45 Alone Belgium. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 8.30 Scrabble. 9.20 Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey. 10.30 The Airport Chaplain. 11.40 The Americans. 12.35am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Better Homes. 1.00 My Greek Odyssey. 2.00 Weekender. 2.30 Auction Squad. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Doc Martin. 8.30 A Touch Of Frost. 10.10 Escape To The Country. 11.10 Bargain Hunt. 12.10am Doc Martin. 1.10 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Wild Moments. 1.00 Agatha Christie’s Marple. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.30 MOVIE: Carry On Screaming! (1966, PG) 5.30 Poirot. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 Death In Paradise. 8.40 The Brokenwood Mysteries. 10.40 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.40 Poirot. 12.40am Antiques Roadshow. 1.10 Creflo. 1.40 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 9.00 GCBC. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Lingo. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 2pm Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 4.30 Dreaming Big. 5.00 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 5.30 The 77 Percent. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Undiscovered Vistas. 7.30 Who Do You Think You Are? 8.30 Living Black. 9.05 Buffalo Legends. 10.00 MOVIE: The Hurricane. (1999, MA15+) 12.35am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Late Night. (2019, Mls) 1.25pm Anne Of Green Gables. (2016, PGa) 3.05 The Bridge On The River Kwai. (1957, PGav) 6.05 The Silver Brumby. (1993, PG) 7.50 Gravity. (2013, Mal) 9.30 Hammarskjöld: Fight For Peace. (2023, MA15+v, Swedish, English, French) 11.35 Doppelganger. (2023, MA15+s, Polish) 1.50am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 1.30pm Rides Down Under: Aussie Truckers. 2.30 Motor Racing. Supercars Support Races. Porsche Carrera Cup Aust. H’lights. 3.30 Counting Cars. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Aussie Gold Hunters. 9.30 Gem Hunters Down Under. 10.30 Outback Opal Hunters. 11.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 World’s Greatest Natural Wonders. 12.30pm LEGO Masters Bricktacular. 3.30 Baywatch. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Bewitched. 6.30 NBL: Overtime. 7.30 Seinfeld. 8.30 MOVIE: Law Abiding Citizen. (2009, MA15+) 10.45 NBL: Overtime. 11.45 Seinfeld. 12.45am Love Island UK: All Stars. 1.45 Legacies. 2.35 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (M, R) 10.20 Bull. (PGa, R) 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
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Tuesday, September 22 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 11.05 Tampa: The Turning Point. (Final, PG, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Grantchester. (Final, Mv, R) 1.55 Back Roads. (PG, R) 2.25 Home Delivery. (PG, R) 2.55 Grand Designs Transformations. (R) 3.55 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGv, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 DD India News Hour. 9.10 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.10 Vintage Voltage. (R) 11.00 Wales: Land Of The Wild. (R) 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Ticketyboo. (PGa, R) 3.35 The Cook Up. (R) 4.05 Paris Hotel De Ville: A Masterpiece. (R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Bridge Of Lies: Celebrity Specials. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.15 Explore TV. (R) 1.45 My Way. (R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Deal Or No Deal: Celebrity Jackpot. (PGdls, R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PGs, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Foreign Correspondent. 8.30 The Tony Blair Story: Who Are You? (Premiere, Ml) 9.25 I Was Actually There. (MA15+l, R) 9.55 Take 5 With Zan Rowe. (PGa, R) 10.25 ABC Late News. 10.40 The Business. (R) 10.55 Four Corners. (R) 11.40 Media Watch. (PG, R) 12.00 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mav, R) 12.45 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.30 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 2.40 Gardening Australia. (R) 3.40 Love Your Garden. (R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey: Tony Armstrong In Ireland. (Final, PGa) 8.30 Insight. 9.30 Dateline: Liberia – Dumped By America. 10.00 SBS World News Late. 10.30 The Point. (R) 11.30 Mussolini: Son Of The Century. (MA15+v) 12.35 Atlantic Crossing. (PGa, R) 2.40 The Doll Factory. (Mlsv, R) 4.30 Bamay. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. Cash runs from his problems. 7.30 First Dates Australia. (PGal) Singles go on a blind first date. 8.30 The Agenda Setters. An expert panel tackles the biggest AFL topics. 9.30 House Of Wellness. (PG) A team of industry experts, media personalities and wellness advocates shares insights and experiences to highlight living well. 10.30 Kylie Vs Bee Gees. (PG, R) 11.30 Happy’s Place. (PGal) 12.00 The Path. (MA15+adlv) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 The Block. (PGl) 8.40 Footy Classified. (Ml) Footy experts tackle the AFL’s big issues. 9.40 Players. (Ml) A look at all the AFL news. 10.40 9News Late. 11.10 The Essex Millionaire Murders. (Mdlv, R) 12.10 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.05 GolfBarons. (R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Let’s Eat With George. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PG) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 Sydney Harbour Cops. (PGad) Police intercept a suspected drug-smuggling trawler and search submerged cars for a missing woman. 8.30 The Cheap Seats. (Mal) Presenters Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald take a look at the week that was. 9.30 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.30 Two And A Half Men. (PGs, R) Charlie becomes impotent. 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 2.45pm Gardening Australia Junior. 3.00 Play School. 3.25 Wiggle. 4.00 Andy’s Global Adventures. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.15 Octonauts. 5.50 PJ Masks Power Heroes. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Secrets Of The Zoo. 9.30 Kids Baking C’ship. 10.10 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon DW The Day. 12.30 Jimmy Carr’s I Literally Just Told You. 2.20 Leguizamo Does America. 3.15 Inside The Huddle. 3.50 WorldWatch. 5.45 Alone Belgium. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 8.30 Tim Burton: Monsters Within. 9.30 MOVIE: Ed Wood. (1994) 11.50 The Americans. 12.40am Brassic. 3.25 NHK World English News. 5.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Better Homes. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 2.00 Creek To Coast. 2.30 House Of Wellness. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Call The Midwife. 8.45 Inspector Morse. 11.05 Escape To The Country. 12.05am Bargain Hunt. 1.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Wild Moments. 1.00 Agatha Christie’s Marple. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.30 MOVIE: The Halfway House. (1944, PG) 5.30 Poirot. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 New Tricks. 8.40 Agatha Christie’s Marple. 10.40 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.40 Poirot. 12.40am Antiques Roadshow. 1.10 Creflo. 1.40 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 9.00 GCBC. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Lingo. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 2pm Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 4.30 Dreaming Big. 5.00 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 5.30 Indian Country Today News. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Undiscovered Vistas. 7.30 The Point. 8.00 The First Inventors. 8.50 MOVIE: Soul Food. (1997, MA15+) 10.55 MOVIE: Senses Of Cinema. (2022, M) 12.40am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.15 The Grand Budapest Hotel. (2014) 1.10pm The Great Dictator. (1940, PG) 3.30 Jane Eyre. (1970, PGa) 5.35 Go! (2020, PGalv) 7.30 How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies. (2024, PGal, Thai) 9.55 The Fourth Protocol. (1987, Msv) 12.10am Freud’s Last Session. (2023, Mas) 2.10 Hamburger Hill. (1987, MA15+lv) 4.10 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.30pm Tougher In Alaska. 1.30 Aussie Gold Hunters. 3.30 Gem Hunters Down Under. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Outback Truckers. 8.30 Outback Wreckers. 9.30 Outback Truckers. 10.30 Heavy Tow Truckers Down Under. 11.30 Big Rig Bounty Hunters. 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Surfing Aust. Noon Talking Honey. 12.15 MOVIE: Harry And Meghan: A Royal Romance. (2018, PG) 2.20 NBL: Overtime. 3.30 Seinfeld. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Bewitched. 6.30 Baywatch. 7.30 Seinfeld. 8.30 MOVIE: Rush Hour 2. (2001, M) 10.25 Seinfeld. 11.25 Jane The Virgin. 12.15am Love Island UK: All Stars. 1.15 Legacies. 2.05 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (M, R) 10.20 Bull. (PGav, R) 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
Friday, 18 September, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 19
Wednesday, September 23 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 10.45 Foreign Correspondent. (R) 11.20 Back Roads. (PG, R) 12.00 News. 12.30 Press Club. 1.35 Media Watch. (PG, R) 2.00 Back Roads. (R) 2.30 Home Delivery. (PG, R) 3.00 Grand Designs Transformations. (PG, R) 3.55 Murdoch Mysteries. (PG, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 DD India News Hour. 9.10 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.10 Vintage Voltage. (PGl, R) 11.05 Canal Boat Diaries. (Return) 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Dateline. (R) 2.30 Insight. (R) 3.35 The Cook Up. (R) 4.05 Eye Of The Game. 4.20 Driven By Belief. 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Bridge Of Lies: Celebrity Specials. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. (R) 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.00 Ski Rescue Down Under. (PGa, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Sydney Harbour Cops. (PGad, R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.25 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Hard Quiz. (PGa) Tom Gleeson welcomes back four retirees. 8.30 Spicks And Specks. (Final, PGl) Hosted by comedian Adam Hills. 9.00 Small Town Scandal. (Madv, R) Toby goes legitimate to clear his dad’s name. 9.50 Planet America. (R) 10.20 ABC Late News. 10.35 The Business. (R) 10.55 The Cage. (Ml, R) 11.40 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mv, R) 12.25 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.15 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 2.40 Gardening Australia. (R) 3.40 Love Your Garden. (R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) Presented by Marc Fennell. 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 Marilyn And The Mob. Charts Marilyn Monroe’s relationship with crime figures. 9.30 Apollo Has Fallen. A brutal attack prevents Zara from gathering critical information in London. 10.25 SBS World News Late. 10.55 The Old Man. (Return, Mlv) Dan and Harold try to rescue a kidnapped Emily. 11.50 A Body That Works. (Ml, R) 3.05 Mountain Vets. (PG, R) 4.10 Bamay: Tasmania Northwest Pt 2. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PGa) David and Amelia’s relationship blossoms. 7.30 The 1% Club UK. (PGl, R) Hosted by Lee Mack. 8.30 Dennis Cometti: Centimetre Perfect. (PGalv) Looks at the extraordinary career and unforgettable world of the late sports commentator Dennis Cometti. 10.45 Unfiltered. (PG) Hamish McLachlan chats with Tom Stewart. 11.15 Stumble. (PGal) Courteney makes a hard decision. 11.45 Happy’s Place. (PGal) 12.15 The Fear Index. (MA15+asv) 1.15 Harry’s Practice. (R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 The Block. (PGl) Design decisions cause partners to despair. 8.45 To Be Advised. 9.45 9News Late. 10.15 The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (MA15+alvv) Andrew Cunanan arrives in Miami. 11.15 The Essex Millionaire Murders. (Mdv, R) 12.05 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.00 Next Stop. (R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 Gogglebox Australia. (R) TV fanatics open up their living rooms to reveal their reactions to popular and topical TV shows. 8.30 Boston Blue. (Mv) Sean and Jonah go undercover to track down a dangerous new threat affecting Boston’s young adults. 9.30 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.30 The Cheap Seats. (Mal, R) Presented by Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald. 11.30 Two And A Half Men. (PGs, R) Jake joins ballet class. 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 2.45pm Gardening Australia Junior. 3.00 Play School. 3.25 Wiggle. 4.00 Andy’s Global Adventures. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.15 Octonauts. 5.50 PJ Masks Power Heroes. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Secrets Of The Zoo. 9.30 The Piano. 10.20 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon DW The Day. 12.30 Jimmy Carr’s I Literally Just Told You. 2.20 Leguizamo Does America. 3.10 12 Dishes In 12 Hours. 3.45 WorldWatch. 5.45 Alone Belgium. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 8.30 Precious Metal: A Love Story. 9.25 Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. 10.20 Ramy. 11.20 The Americans. 12.10am Brassic. 2.55 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Better Homes. 1.00 The Amazing Homemakers. 2.00 Weekender. 2.30 House Calls To The Rescue. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Heartbeat. 8.45 Foyle’s War. 10.55 Escape To The Country. 11.55 Bargain Hunt. 1am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Wild Moments. 1.00 Agatha Christie’s Marple. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.30 MOVIE: The Passionate Stranger. (1957, PG) 5.30 Poirot. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 As Time Goes By. 8.40 Midsomer Murders. 10.40 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.40 Poirot. 12.40am Antiques Roadshow. 1.10 Creflo. 1.40 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 9.00 GCBC. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Lingo. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 2pm Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 4.30 Dreaming Big. 5.00 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 5.30 News. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Undiscovered Vistas. 7.30 Friday Night Thunder. 8.30 Pro Bull Riding: USA. 9.30 Over The Black Dot. 10.00 Inside The Huddle. 10.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.35pm A Private Function. (1984, Ms) 2.15 The Silver Brumby. (1993, PG) 4.00 Selkie. (2000, PG) 5.40 The Return Of The Soldier. (1982, PGalsv) 7.35 Casablanca. (1942, PGav) 9.30 Molly’s Game. (2017, Madlv) 12.05am One Cut Of The Dead. (2017, MA15+vw, Japanese) 1.55 Mad Heidi. (2022, MA15+avw) 3.35 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.30pm Tougher In Alaska. 1.30 Outback Truckers. 2.30 Heavy Tow Truckers Down Under. 3.30 Engineering Disasters. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Highway Patrol. 8.30 The Force: BTL. 9.30 Caught On Dashcam. 10.30 World’s Wildest Police Videos. 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Surfing Aust. Noon Parental Guidance. 2.30 Baywatch. 3.30 Seinfeld. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Bewitched. 6.30 Baywatch. (Return) 7.30 Seinfeld. 8.30 MOVIE: The Meg. (2018, M) 10.45 Seinfeld. 11.45 Jane The Virgin. 12.35am Love Island UK: All Stars. 1.30 Legacies. 2.20 Parental Guidance. 3.30 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (M, R) 10.20 Bull. (PGa, R) 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
We
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Thursday, September 24 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 10.30 Spicks And Specks. (Final, PGl, R) 11.00 Small Town Scandal. (Madv, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Falling. (Final, Ml, R) 2.00 Back Roads. (R) 2.30 Home Delivery. (PG, R) 2.55 Grand Designs Transformations. (R) 3.55 Frankie Drake. (PG, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 9.15 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.15 Vintage Voltage. (PGl, R) 11.10 Canal Boat Diaries. 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey. (Final, PGa, R) 3.00 The Cook Up. (R) 3.30 The Crusaders: Fortresses Of Faith. (PG, R) 4.35 Plating Locally. (R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Time Is Money. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. (R) 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.15 Getaway. (PG, R) 1.45 My Way. (R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Building The Dream. (R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.25 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Back Roads: Bicheno, Tasmania. 8.30 Take 5 With Zan Rowe: Lainey Wilson. (PGa) Lainey Wilson shares five songs. 9.00 Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job. 9.30 The Cage. (Ml, R) 10.15 ABC Late News. 10.30 The Business. (R) 10.50 Death Valley. (PGa, R) 11.35 Frankie Drake Mysteries. (Mv, R) 12.20 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.10 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 2.40 Gardening Australia. (R) 3.40 Love Your Garden. (R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 Hollywood Crime Story. (Mdv) 8.30 9/11: One Day In America: I’m Coming For You, Brother. (Ma, R) First responders wonder how anyone could still be alive. 9.25 Say Nothing. (Final, MA15+lv) 10.20 SBS World News Late. 10.50 Reyka. (MA15+asv) 11.50 Prisoner. (MA15+av, R) 2.10 Mountain Vets. (PG, R) 4.25 Bamay: Murrumbidgee River – Madi Madi, Dadi Dadi And Nganguruku Country. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PGa) A familiar face returns to Summer Bay. 8.30 The Front Bar. (Ml) Sam Pang, Mick Molloy and Andy Maher take a lighter look at all things AFL in the lead up to the AFL Grand Final. 10.00 Hear The Mighty Roar: Brisbane Lions: Immortality. (Ml) Brisbane tries to win a third consecutive premiership. 11.25 Kick Ons. A preview of the upcoming AFL matches. 12.00 Mr Robot. (MA15+adlsv, R) 1.00 Harry’s Practice. (R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 Footy Show Grand Final: My Room Telethon. (PG) Hosted by Eddie McGuire. 9.30 MOVIE: I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not. (2025, MA15+aadl, R) A look at the life and career of Chevy Chase. Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd. 11.30 9News Late. 12.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.00 Cybershack. (TB, R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 The Dog House Australia. (PGa, R) Joe and Ashlea need a dog to tire out their sons. 8.30 NCIS: Sydney. (Mmv) The team investigates the suspicious death of a US Naval officer who’d just learned he was going to be a father, leading to the discovery of a scandalous secret. 9.30 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.30 Two And A Half Men. (Ms, R) 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 3.25pm Wiggle. 4.00 Andy’s Global Adventures. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.15 Octonauts. 5.50 PJ Masks. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Secrets Of The Zoo. 9.25 Teenage Boss: Next Level. 9.55 72 Cutest Animals. 10.25 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.55 DW The Day. 12.25pm Jimmy Carr’s I Literally Just Told You. 2.15 Stories From The Cities. 2.45 Insight. 3.50 WorldWatch. 5.45 Alone Belgium. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 8.30 Secrets Declassified. 9.20 Alone. 11.30 The Americans. 12.25am The Old Man. 2.20 NHK World English News. 5.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Better Homes. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 2.00 Malaysia Kitchen. 2.30 The Aussie Property Flippers. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Father Brown. 8.30 Shetland. 11.10 Genius: Einstein. 12.10am Bargain Hunt. 1.10 Father Brown. 2.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon As Time Goes By. 1.00 Agatha Christie’s Marple. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.30 MOVIE: Spring And Port Wine. (1970, PG) 5.30 Poirot. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 The Dog House UK. 8.30 Poirot. 10.30 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.30 Poirot. 12.30am Antiques Roadshow. 1.00 Creflo. 1.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Lingo. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Cheap Seats. 11.00 Frasier. Midnight Ridiculousness. 12.30 Ent. Tonight. 1.00 Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping. 5.30 Late Programs.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. Noon Pro Bull Riding: USA. 1.00 Over The Black Dot. 1.30 Inside The Huddle. 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 5.00 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 5.30 Te Ao With Moana. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Undiscovered Vistas. 7.30 Going Places. 8.30 Rabbit Fall. (Premiere) 9.00 MOVIE: Seven Samurai. (1954, PG) 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.25 How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies. (2024, PGal, Thai) 1.50pm Born To Dance. (2015, PGa) 3.40 Go! (2020, PGalv) 5.35 Gurrumul. (2017, PGa) 7.30 Escape From Alcatraz. (1979, Mav) 9.35 Eye In The Sky. (2015, Malv) 11.30 Suffragette. (2015, Malv) 1.30am Eager Bodies. (2003, MA15+s, French) 3.20 Molly’s Game. (2017, Madlv) 5.55 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.30pm Tougher In Alaska. 1.30 Highway Patrol. 2.30 The Force: BTL. 3.30 Engineering Disasters. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.00 Football. AFL Women’s. Geelong v Hawthorn. 9.15 MOVIE: The Woman King. (2022, M) Midnight Storage Wars. 12.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.40 World’s Greatest Natural Wonders. 12.40pm Cards And Collectables Australia. 1.10 Snackmasters. 2.40 Baywatch. 3.40 Seinfeld. 4.40 Addams Family. 5.40 Bewitched. 6.40 Baywatch. 7.30 Seinfeld. 8.30 TBA. 10.30 Seinfeld. 11.30 Rugby Heaven. 12.30am Love Island UK: All Stars. 1.30 Legacies. 2.20 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (Mv, R) 8.30 Law & Order: SVU. (Madv, R) 10.20 Bull. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
20 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
NEWS
Sharing Surf Coast voices Surf Coast community members can share memories and experiences and express what home means to them in a new storytelling project. Creative writing workshops will be held across the region this month and next month to collect spoken and written reflections from residents for the Voices from Home project. Spoken word artist Megan J Riedl will guide the workshops and said she was looking forward to the community sharing their stories. “People may think they aren’t creative or
don’t have a story to tell, but all submissions are welcome,” she said. “Even a few sentences will become part of this bigger project that will capture a sense of community and place. “It’s so interesting for me to look for themes, commonalities between individual people’s stories and piece together a sense of place. “It’s my privilege to be gifted people’s stories and to be able to craft an image of their community that can be reflected to them.” Workshops will be held at Winchelsea
Shire Hall on Saturday 19 September from 11am, Deans Marsh Community Hall and Cottage on 4 October from 1pm, and Torquay Community House on 17 October from 11am. Surf Coast Shire Council deputy mayor Tony Phelps said Voices from Home was a council creative initiative, with everyone welcome to participate. “People can contribute written submissions or leave voicemail responses via the website, and I am really looking forward to immersing in the final presentations,” he said. “Maybe you have
a story to tell or just one line of memory to contribute; they’ll all come together to create a richly textured word picture as part of this meaningful storytelling project.” Contributions received during the workshops will come together in a live community performance curated and led by Ms Riedl. Eight emerging local artists can also participate in a one-day masterclass to develop material presented live during the Voices from Home community performance in November. Visit surfcoast.vic.gov.au/ VoicesfromHome for more information.
Contract let for St Leonards pier The new St Leonards Pier has reached another milestone with a contractor appointed to deliver its construction. Minister for Ports and Freight Melissa Horne announced Simpsons Construction to deliver the new pier with works to begin in early 2027 and be delivered by the end of next year. The current pier will remain open over the peak summer period, including Sirens Kiosk. The new pier will include wheelchair accessible fishing locations, curved seating that overlooks the bay and a low landing with stairs that provide easy access to the water. “St Leonards Pier is an iconic part of our community, and the announcement of the contractor marks a major milestone in delivering a new pier,” Member for
Bellarine Alison Marchant said. “This project has been shaped by valuable input from the community and will ensure locals and visitors can enjoy this much-loved destination for decades to come.” Demolition of the existing pier and construction of the new pier will occur concurrently where possible to minimise construction time. Two of Victoria’s award-winning piers, at Altona and St Kilda, have been built by Simpsons Construction. “We’re getting on with building a new St Leonards Pier, with the lead contractor appointed to deliver this important project,” Minister Horne said. St Leonards Pier will remain open for the summer before construction begins on a new facility. (Rebecca Hosking)
Portarlington took out third place in the Small Tourism Town category at Australia’s Top Tourism Town Awards.
The Bellarine Peninsula town of Portarlington took out third place in the Small Tourism Town category at Australia’s Top Tourism Town Awards in Canberra this week. The national recognition follows the town’s first prize at the Victorian Top Tourism Town Awards in August. That win secured a place in the national finals alongside top-performing tourism towns from across Australia. The award was for Portarlington’s outstanding tourism experiences, welcoming community, stunning bay views, acclaimed food and wine offering, and the strong collaboration between local businesses, volunteers and industry. Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine executive director Tracy Carter said the award highlighted the collective efforts of the people and businesses of Portarlington. “After winning gold at the state level, we are thrilled that Portarlington has also
been recognised at the national level,” she said. “This is such a fantastic achievement for Portarlington and for our region. “National recognition like this reinforces Portarlington’s growing reputation as one of Australia’s standout coastal destinations and shines a spotlight on the incredible experiences available across the region.” The Whitsundays town of Airlie Beach won first prize while Gulgong, NSW, was runner-up. Portarlington edged out Tasmania’s Deloraine and WA’s Jurien Bay for third. Presented by the Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC), Australia’s Top Tourism Town Awards recognise destinations across three categories: Tourism Town (population 5000 and above), Small Tourism Town (population 1500 to 5000) and Tiny Tourism Town (population under 1500). Across the bay, Portsea was named the top tiny town in the country.
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Port is a top tourism town
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ADVERTISERS PLEASE NOTE Anyone advertising a puppy, dog, kitten or cat in Victoria for sale or re-homing will need a source number from the Pet Exchange Register and a microchip identification number. It is now an offence to advertise unless the source number and microchip identification number is included in the advertisement or notice. For further information, call 136 186 or visit animalwelfare.vic.gov.au
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9-LETTER WORD Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may only be used once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural nouns ending in 's'.
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5 LETTERS ABACK AFTER ALIBI ALIGN AVERT BARDS BARNS CARGO COMMA DRESS DRIVE EAVES EDGES ENSUE ERRED EVADE EVENT HABIT HEATH HOIST HORSE
4 LETTERS ANTS AVOS BALD CEDE CITY FART HILT HISS OPTS STAY TOSS VASE WINS WOOS
ante, attune, eaten, exeat, extant, extent, EXTENUATE, neat, next, tauten, teat, tenet, tent, text, tune
HOSTS IGLOO IRATE LEVEE LOINS LOSER MATTE OLIVE OMEGA OPENS OPERA OTHER PIANO PROBE RAVEN RINGS ROSES SLUSH START STRUM SWEET TAUNT
TEARS TEASE TENET TENTS THESE TONES TOTEM
7 LETTERS ESTATES HANDLER LEOTARD ONGOING RESTORE VENEERS
6 LETTERS ESKIES POODLE ROTORS STEREO
8 LETTERS DREAMERS ENTRUSTS SALESMAN SHINGLED
18-09-26
No. 414 Insert the missing letters to make 10 words – five reading across the grid and five reading down.
QUICK QUIZ
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In which state or territory is the town of Kerang?
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What is the official language of Senegal?
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Mason, carpenter and digger are all types of which animal?
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What popular Australian spread is made from a by-product of beer manufacturing?
Which author wrote The Runaway Jury and The Street Lawyer?
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What is the largest desert in Australia?
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Romance languages are those descending from what language of Ancient Rome?
NOTE: more than one solution may be possible
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3 LETTERS ADO APE AVO BET DOT EGO ERA GEE GNU GOO IDS INN IRE LAW NAG OPT RED REV RID SEC SET SHE TIE VET
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Bare skin (coll) (4) Big classical music ensemble (9) Partner; colleague (9) Public auctions (5) French resort town (7) Musician,– Urban (5) Gracefully (9) Young horse (4) Planned (9) Natural disaster (9) Elusively (9) A Jewish language (7) Become liable to (5) Pushes (5) Unusual (4) Surrender (4)
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Floating marker (4) Rundown (10) Components (7) Crossed strips structure (7) Mirrors (8) State of Brazil (5) Location (4) Vexation (10) Hard rock music (5,5) Umpteen (4) Removed moisture (5) Intrepid (8) Bolting (7) Retinue (7) County town of Dorset (10) Wood heap for burning (4)
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No. 307
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FINA was the former name of the international governing body for which sport?
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Lisa McCune (pictured) won four consecutive Gold Logies from 1997 to 2000 for her role in what show?
10 Which NRL team won their first premiership in 1992? ANSWERS: 1. Victoria 2. Bee 3. Vegemite 4. Swimming 5. Blue Heelers 6. French 7. John Grisham 8. Great Victoria Desert 9. Latin 10. Brisbane Broncos
To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.
QUICK CROSSWORD
T H E S E O T H E R T O T E M E A V E S P I A N O O P E R A T E N T S S T A R T A B A C K I D S D R E S S S E T R I D S L U S H C E D E S T E R E O E S T A T E S E R A B A L D F A R T I R A T E A V O C I T Y S H I N G L E D R E S T O R E O N G O I N G W I N S G E E D R E A M E R S A V O S A N T S S T R U M N A G L E O T A R D H I L T O P E N S P O O D L E H O R S E V E T R E V E G O O M E G A O L I V E A L I B I T O N E S B A R N S R A V E N E N S U E S W E E T H O S T S
No. 307
B U O Y R A M S H A C K L E R F S A N E L U F A C T O R S L A T T I C E H A O E I T G F R E F L E C T S B A H I A S I E N H A R A S S M E N T S I T E R T V V L C H E A V Y M E T A L M A N Y I L S E D R I E D U N A F R A I D U N D R N A V C L O C K I N G C O R T E G E U S E H E L D E P Y R E D O R C H E S T E R
SUDOKU
Friday, 18 September, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 23
MOTOR
Hilux is no longer low rent By Chris Riley, Marque Motoring The latest and ninth generation Toyota Hilux arrived late last year. Just like Toyota’s other models it is available with a hybrid powertrain, but not just any old hybrid – this one’s a diesel hybrid. That’s a step in the right direction as is the fully electric version which is now available, soon to be joined by a hydrogen-powered fuel cell model – we kid you not. The world is changing and the Hilux is changing along with it. It has to or die. Our test vehicle, the 4x4 SR double cab 48-volt mild hybrid, sits at the heart of the range, one up from the entry level Workmate – but still surprisingly swish. The SR is aimed primarily at tradies, fleet buyers and families who want a no-nonsense dual cab that still scrubs up reasonably well after hours. It’s the spec that has to do it all: carry tools during the week, tow on the weekend and occasionally play family wagon.
Styling Hilux is available in five grades and 16 variations, not as many as the old days, but more than enough. They include cab-chassis or pick-up configurations, 4x2 or 4x4 drivelines, and single, extra and double-cab body styles. Prices kick off from $33,990 for the 4x2 Workmate single cab-chassis with a manual transmission, but more than double by the time you reach the top. The 4x2 double cab Workmate with an auto is priced from $47,990 and the 4x2 SR double cab pick-up from $52,990. It’s followed by the 4x4 grades, including Workmate, SR, SR5, Rogue and Rugged X – the latter priced at $71,990. A further step up is the fully-electric Hilux BEV, priced from $76,490. The hybrid kicks in with SR cab-chassis from $57,990, followed closely by our test vehicle, the SR double cab pick-up 48V at $59,490 with an auto. Premium paint adds $675; the premium interior pack adds $2500. Bear in mind on-road costs must be added to these figures. Equipment is pitched to suit its working brief without feeling too vinyl. SR is differentiated on the outside by 17-inch alloy wheels, silver painted lower front bumper, black painted door handles, side mirrors and hood moulding, LED front fog lights, side steps, locking rear tailgate and a choice of six exterior colours. Owners of double cab automatic versions can also choose to change their 17-inch alloy wheels to steel wheels if they prefer. Inside, there’s manual aircon, while the SR adds greater front-seat bolstering and high-grade fabric upholstery, leather-accented shift knob and steering wheel, a 300W inverter, and smart entry and start. A simple 7.0-inch digital instrument panel delivers clear, easy to read info – but obviously lacks the bells and whistles of higher grades. Hilux is covered by Toyota’s standard five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty, with the possibility of extended coverage on the drivetrain if you stick to dealer servicing. Service is due every six months, not 12 months, and although services are capped at $395 per visit – that’s two visits or $790 per year. The cap comes off after five years.
Infotainment A new free-standing 12.3-inch touchscreen is standard across the range, offering a better interface, greater resolution, enhanced voice recognition, AM/FM and DAB+ digital radio and compatibility with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto,
With a largish 80-litre tank, fuel consumption with this version is a claimed 7.2L/100km. We were getting 9.3L/100km after about 330km of mixed driving. On the road, the SR remains very much a ute, more truck than car. WorkMate and SR grades retain a heavy-duty suspension tune designed for carrying loads or towing Unladen, the leaf-spring rear suspension is firm, and on choppy backroads the ride can border on harsh, particularly over sharp bumps and corrugations. With a few hundred kilos in the tray it settles down noticeably, riding with more composure and reminding you that it has been tuned to work best when working. The front end uses a more sophisticated setup that keeps steering feel and body control respectable for a ladder-frame vehicle. Steering weight is well judged: RATINGS light enough for easy parking and Looks: 7.5 city work, yet with enough heft on Performance: 7 the highway to feel stable. It’s not brimming with feedback, Safety: 7.5 but it’s predictable and consistent. Thirst: 7 Body roll is controlled, and Practicality: 8 although the Hilux will never be mistaken for a sporty SUV, it can Comfort: 7 be hustled along a country road Tech: 7 Toyota Hilux SR dual cab utility doubles down on what has made the nameplate a fixture without feeling wayward. Value: 7.5 in Australia. (Pictures: Supplied) Brakes are strong and Overall: 7.3 confidence-inspiring, though as with any heavy vehicle you still with wireless charging and eight-speaker look rather than a ‘show truck’ vibe. The front end is broad and upright, with need to allow for stopping distances when audio system. There’s cloud-based navigation across a simple grille treatment and practical towing or fully loaded. the range, with four USB-C ports and two headlights. It’s off-road, where the Hilux SR really Our test vehicle was fitted with an earns its stripes. 12 volt sockets in this model. But read the fine print because access to optional bullbar that incorporates a light Ground clearance, approach and some features expires unless you take out a bar and serves to enhance the tough visage. departure angles and underbody protection There’s less chrome than the SR5 and are all tuned for serious work. subscription. more hard-wearing plastic where you’d Low-range gearing, hill-descent control, expect it to get knocked around. a proper rear diff lock and sensible Safety In dual cab form it’s a sizeable vehicle, traction-control calibration give it the tools Hilux carries a five-star safety rating. Extra safety equipment on SR includes tyre stretching more than five metres in length, to climb, descend and crawl through the pressure monitoring and a panoramic view but with no larger footprint than the main kind of tracks that would stop a soft-roader monitor, while 4x4 automatic grades bring competition. dead. Getting in and out is easy enough for most additional off-road capability with a locking The suspension offers good wheel travel rear differential, Multi Terrain Select and adults, helped by side steps, though shorter and keeps tyres in contact with the ground passengers will still notice the height. downhill assist control. more often than not, which is exactly what Once aboard, you’re greeted by a cabin you want when things get gnarly. SR customers are also able to remotely lock and unlock their vehicle through the that is more site office than lounge room, Noise levels are acceptable rather than with seats trimmed in a hard-wearing plush. myToyota Connect app. fabric. The diesel clatter is obvious on cold start Hard plastics dominate, but they and under hard throttle, but it fades into the Engines/transmissions Under the bonnet sits Toyota’s 2.8-litre feel robust rather than cheap, and the background at cruising speeds. switchgear is logically arranged. four-cylinder turbo-diesel. Wind and tyre noise are well contained Everything is where you’d expect it and for a vehicle of this type, though you’re In its current tune it produces around 150kW, with torque output depending on can be operated with gloved hands, which always aware you’re in a commercial-based the transmission – manuals get a little less, is exactly what many buyers want. ute rather than a luxury SUV. Front seats in the SR have evolved beyond autos a bit more, up to about 500Nm. In the mild-hybrid, a 48-volt system the flat perches of old, with more bolstering Summing up adds a small motor-generator and compact and better thigh support – but they’re still a The Hilux SR dual cab utility is not trying to snug fit with little elbow room. battery. be the most glamorous or hi-tech ute in the The driving position is upright and car park. This doesn’t turn the Hilux into a full hybrid, but it can assist the engine briefly at commanding, with good forward vision Instead, it doubles down on what has low revs, smooth restarts and capture a bit and large mirrors that help when towing or made the nameplate a fixture in Australia: reversing into tight spots. of energy under braking. durability, capability and a sense that it will The rear bench is adequate for shorter cop punishment without complaint. Drive is sent either to the rear wheels (in 4x2s) or through a part-time 4WD system trips and a better fit for kids, though the In that sense it’s better than the sum of its backrest is fairly upright and the base a parts, because the combination of engine, with high and low ranges. A rear differential lock is available on 4x4 little short, reminding you this is still a chassis, safety electronics and dealer commercial vehicle at heart. SRs and key for serious off-road use. backing delivers low-drama ownership that Missing are rear air vents. The gearbox is a six-speed manual or many buyers prize above all else. Out the back, the tub accepts standard six-speed automatic, both well proven. Toyota has clearly chosen to prioritise pallets and typical worksite loads, but toughness, towing and off-road ability over there’s no liner or cover. luxury-grade comfort and cutting-edge Driving However, tie-down points, a damped interiors. The big news with the SR is V-Active technology and that starts with this version, tailgate and easy step-up access make And, for a large slice of the market even though it doesn’t wear a hybrid badge. loading reasonably straightforward. that trade-off still makes perfect sense, SR has a braked tow capacity of 3500kg including tradies, farmers, fleets and It’s a 48-volt mild hybrid system that consists of an 8.5kW/65Nm electric motor and accepts a payload of 1125kg (that figure anyone who regularly loads up or ventures generator, lithium-ion battery and DC/DC is surprisingly difficult to find). off-road. Performance is modest rather than converter. While rivals such as the Ford Ranger, It is designed to provide smoother exciting: you’re looking at roughly Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50 and Mitsubishi stop-start functionality while also mid-teens 0-100km/h times when loaded Triton have lifted their game, the Hilux SR providing improved driving feel when up, a bit quicker when unladen. remains a default choice for buyers who But this engine is more about pulling value proven hardware and a huge dealer accelerating from standstill. The latest Hilux SR has a tough, functional power than sprint times. network over the very latest platform.
24 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
SPORT
Finals fever is in the air Just two weeks remain in the local netball season with the Geelong & District League now done for 2026 with East Geelong prevailing in A Grade. GEELONG & DISTRICT NETBALL LEAGUE Grand finals St Albans Reserve, Saturday 12 September A Grade: East Geelong 29 def Winchelsea 24. Best: East Geelong - Maddie Solly, Alicia Kelton, Stephanie Boyce. Winchelsea - Liv Barber, Maddison McKiernan, Katrina Filice. B Grade: Inverleigh 27 def Werribee Centrals 22. Best: Inverleigh - Vanessa Finley-McDonald, Melissa Whyte, Bailey Ryan. Werribee Centrals - Ruby Bouffler, Lara Robinson, Erin Robinson. C Grade: North Geelong 31 def East Geelong 26. Best: North Geelong - Daria Beck, Brooke Mallia, Sarah Fitzsimmons. East Geelong - Dakota Ferguson, Jade Telfer, Amanda Borgia. D Grade: Inverleigh 48 def Thomson 37. Best: Inverleigh - Lauren Fossey, Demi Holmes, Tiegan Lagalle. Thomson -
Mackenzie Gorham, Teena Mifsud, Naomi Baker. E Grade: North Geelong 33 def East Geelong 28. Best: North Geelong - Danielle Mosher, Shelbi Wilson, Jessie Williams. East Geelong - Brooke O’Leary, Georgie Arnold, Kellyanne Sheahan. 19 & Under: East Geelong 36 def Bannockburn 30. Best: East Geelong Frankie Willson, Sylvie Jarvis, Mikayla Ferguson. Bannockburn - Lacey Penning, Ashley Carson, Charlotte Scanlon. 17 & Under: Bannockburn 32 def East Geelong 19. Best: Bannockburn - Pippa Brennan, Marli Levy, Ashley Carson. East Geelong - Maya Carlon, Dakota Ferguson, Samara Craig. 15 & Under: Bannockburn 19 def Inverleigh 18. Best: Bannockburn Amelia Dudesin, Tara McClelland, Chloe Chapman. Inverleigh - Paige Mawson, Matilda Meek, Lowla Pettigrew. 13 & Under: Bannockburn 35 def Belmont Lions 15. Best: Bannockburn - Kailee Maaka, Maddy McClelland, Zayli Witney. Belmont Lions - Varko Gavin, Frankie Bensted, Grace Hepworth.
GEELONG NETBALL LEAGUE Preliminary finals West Oval, Geelong West, Saturday 19 September A Grade: St Joseph’s vs South Barwon, 2.30pm B Grade: St Mary’s vs South Barwon, 1pm C Grade: St Mary’s vs South Barwon, 11.45am D Grade: St Joseph’s vs South Barwon, 10.40am E Grade: Newtown & Chilwell vs South Barwon, 2pm 19 & Under: Bell Park vs Lara, 11.45am 17 & Under Division 1: Bell Park vs Geelong West Giants, 10.40am 17 & Under Division 2: Bell Park vs St Joseph’s, 1pm 15 & Under Division 1: South Barwon vs Newtown & Chilwell, 9.35am 15 & Under Division 2: Bell Park vs South Barwon, 9.35am 13 & Under Division 1: St Mary’s vs Colac, 8.30am 13 & Under Division 2: St Mary’s vs St Joseph’s, 8.30am
McGregor 2, W. Bennett, R. Long, O. Ryan. Ocean Grove - J. De Jong 2, J. Lehmann 2, M. Saltalamacchia, J. Vose, N. Perus, Z. Casamento. Best: Newtown & Chilwell - A. Hecht, Z. McGregor, W. Hibble, R. Long, L. Hart, A. Penning. Ocean Grove - B. Hateley, J. Vose, M. Saltalamacchia, H. Stephenson, R. Tolley, J. Punchard.
Around the grounds East Geelong claimed a double in the Geelong & District Football Netball League grand finals, while the Bellarine League has its grand finals this weekend and the Geelong League enters preliminary finals stage. GEELONG & DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE Grand finals St Albans Reserve, Saturday 12 September Seniors East Geelong 2.3(15), 5.5(35), 6.9(45), 8.11(59) Werribee Centrals 3.5(23), 5.8(38), 8.8(56), 8.10(58) Goals: East Geelong - S. Purdy 2, A. Steele 2, Z. Smith, C. Ezard, J. Ollis, B. Mulvahil. Werribee Centrals - C. Saliba 2, K. Kur, B. Houlihan, C. Linehan-Cunningham, B. Linehan-Cunningham, B. Carlton, D. Chesterman. Best: East Geelong - A. Steele, J. Fanning, B. Crombie, S. Purdy, W. Hough, B. Flintoff. Werribee Centrals - C. Linehan-Cunningham, D. Chesterman, T. Camilleri, M. Murdock, J. Sutton, H. Kilby. Reserves Belmont Lions 5.3(33), 8.4(52), 11.10(76), 14.14(98) Bell Post Hill 1.1(7), 3.1(19), 4.3(27), 6.5(41) Goals: Belmont Lions - S. Jones 5, J. Stapleton 2, B. Trevorrow 2, D. Evans, L. MacDonald, J. Reeves. Bell Post Hill - T. Edwards 2, W. Vassilou, T. Stone, L. Meyrich, N. Bartolo. Best: Belmont Lions - S. Jones, J. Reeves, B. Trevorrow, C. Steel, B. Vermeulen, A. Hann. Bell Post Hill - Sam Harmer, L. Verschur, H. Martin, T. Edwards, W. Vassiliou, H. McIntyre. Under 18 Division 3 Modewarre 1.3(9), 5.6(36), 6.10(46), 9.13(67) Ocean Grove 2.0(12), 2.1(13), 5.2(32), 5.2(32) Goals: Modewarre - N. Simpson 2, J. Chislett 2, S. McCartney, C. Thomas, A. Smart, D. Parigi. Ocean Grove - X. Kiddle 2, C. Cowley, C. Rae, M. McKnight. Best: Ocean Grove - L. Staehr, X. Kiddle, S. Anstis, N. Brooks, J. Anderson, B. Greenfield.
BELLARINE NETBALL LEAGUE Grand finals Grinter Reserve, Newcomb, Saturday 19 September A Grade: Geelong Amateur vs Ocean Grove, 3.15pm B Grade: Torquay vs Queenscliff, 1.05pm C Grade: Ocean Grove vs Portarlington, 11.45am D Grade: Torquay vs Barwon Heads, 10.30am E Grade: Torquay vs Geelong Amateur, 2.05pm 19 & Under: Drysdale vs Portarlington, 10.30am 17 & Under Division 1: Torquay vs Portarlington, 9.15am 17 & Under Division 2: Geelong Amateur vs Drysdale, 1.05pm 15 & Under Division 1: Torquay vs Geelong Amateur, 11.45am 15 & Under Division 2: Torquay vs Surf Coast, 8am 13 & Under Division 1: Ocean Grove vs Drysdale, 9.15am 13 & Under Division 2: Ocean Grove vs Geelong Amateur, 8am
East Geelong’s football and netball teams celebrate their premierships together. (Ivan Kemp) 576679 08
BELLARINE FOOTBALL LEAGUE Preliminary finals Grinter Reserve, Newcomb, Saturday 12 September Seniors Queenscliff 1.4(10), 4.7(31), 7.13(55), 14.14(98) Geelong Amateur 2.5(17), 2.11(23), 3.14(32), 7.16(58) Goals: Queenscliff - J. Monahan 3, J. Hedley 3, M. Annandale 2, S. Bowtell 2, C. Durran 2, M. Waight, K. Keenan. Geelong Amateur - C. Green 5, M. Day, F. Seignior. Reserves Modewarre 1.0(6), 3.1(19), 4.3(27), 6.7(43) Torquay 1.1(7), 2.3(15), 2.7(19), 4.11(35) Goals: Modewarre - B. Scott 3, D. Waldron 2, W. Koopman. Torquay - M. McGrath 2, L. Edwards, H. Goode. Best: Modewarre - F. Royal, A. Knight, F. Joseph, B. Scott, L. Bath, J. Johnstone. Torquay - C. Williamson, C. Emmerson, B. Ainsworth, Z. Spargo, J. Ward, H. Ford. Under 18 Division 2 Torquay 1.1(7), 2.6(18), 4.9(33), 8.11(59) North Shore 2.2(14), 3.2(20), 5.3(33), 6.4(40) Goals: Torquay - H. Nelson 2, L. Irvine 2, K. Bajada, A. Maddalena, C. Boswell, W. Ansell. North Shore - T. Blitz 3, C. Cain, C. Johns, K. Rochow. Best: Torquay - W. Ansell, C. Boswell, H. Nelson, J. Mahar, L. Shepherd, K. Bajada. North Shore - A. Dando, T. Blitz, C. Johns, N. Bewley, T. Beckley, B. Keating. Grand finals Grinter Reserve, Newcomb, Saturday 19 September Seniors: Torquay vs Queenscliff, 2.10pm Reserves: Queenscliff vs Modewarre, 11.30am
Under 18 Division 2: Leopold vs Torquay, 9.15am GEELONG FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2nd semi-finals West Oval, Geelong West, Saturday 12 September Seniors St Mary’s 4.2(26), 9.3(57), 10.6(66), 11.11(77) South Barwon 2.2(14), 4.4(28), 7.6(48), 8.9(57) Goals: St Mary’s - S. Bourke 5, P. Dowling 2, E. Wales 2, B. Ham, L. Peck. South Barwon - M. Caldow 2, L. Noble 2, L. Elzinga 2, T. White, H. Sinnott. Best: St Mary’s - S. Bourke, C. Sprague, K. Rayner, H. McMahon, H. Bourke, J. Garner. South Barwon - T. Burke, T. White, J. Hallam, B. Kellett, L. Page, F. Fort. Reserves South Barwon 1.2(8), 5.7(37), 8.8(56), 9.10(64) St Mary’s 2.3(15), 3.6(24), 4.8(32), 7.9(51) Goals: South Barwon - H. Cunningham 2, C. Hughes 2, B. Starkie 2, J. Broughton, A. Vickery, P. Bourke. St Mary’s - T. Keast, S. Hosking, H. Cook, J. Robertson, H. Segrave, R. Wagenknecht, Z. Rogers. Best: South Barwon - P. Bourke, C. Hughes, A. Vickery, C. Meadows, L. Middleton, H. Cunningham. St Mary’s - H. Cook, N. Biggs, H. McMahon, N. Saunders, F. Gilmour, J. Robertson. Under 18 Division 1 Newtown & Chilwell 4.1(25), 8.3(51), 11.6(72), 13.7(85) Ocean Grove 1.1(7), 4.2(26), 5.3(33), 8.5(53) Goals: Newtown & Chilwell - T. Caracella 3, A. Penning 3, J. Thompson 2, Z.
1st semi-finals West Oval, Geelong West, Sunday 13 September Seniors Bell Park 4.5(49), 4.5(29), 7.10(52), 8.11(59) Newtown & Chilwell 0.1(1), 1.5(11), 1.7(13), 2.14(26) Goals: Bell Park - E. Hollard 2, O. Hicks, F. Marris, T. Pidgeon, Z. Lamb, R. McWaters, M. Mahady. Newtown & Chilwell - M. Dodos, C. Fopiani. Best: Bell Park - I. Wareham, Z. Lamb, O. Bridgewater, F. Marris, R. McWaters, T. Norton. Newtown & Chilwell - N. Caracella, B. Hocking, N. Harris, N. Jephson, B. Sutterby, C. Karpala. Reserves Newtown & Chilwell 1.2(8), 2.8(20), 2.11(23), 5.14(44) St Albans 1.1(7), 1.3(9), 5.7(37), 5.9(39) Goals: Newtown & Chilwell - C. Field 2, O. Stephens, R. Diamond, L. Norsworthy. St Albans - N. Sinkinson, S. Ryan, A. Evans, L. Willcox, K. Parish. Best: Newtown & Chilwell - O. Maddalena, R. Orr, C. Field, H. Codd, B. Bruce, A. Souflas. St Albans - D. Barbary, Z. Larkins, R. Somers, E. Hobbs, L. Willcox, M. Keck. Under 18 Division 1 St Mary’s 1.0(6), 4.3(27), 4.6(30), 6.6(42) Torquay 4.3(27), 4.3(27), 5.5(35), 5.9(39) Goals: St Mary’s - C. Peake 2, K. Horrobin, K. Charman, J. Tatterson, F. Bensted. Torquay - G. O’Dwyer, F. Cumming, A. Warburton, J. Kelly, C. Hamilton. Best: St Mary’s - D. Conte, M. Sleep, H. Buckby, F. Bent, H. Meehan, M. Pummeroy. Torquay - A. Baulch, W. Pryor, C. Costelloe, J. Kelly, C. Fitzgerald, W. Skabla. Preliminary finals West Oval, Geelong West, Saturday 19 September Seniors: South Barwon vs Bell Park, 2.10pm Reserves: St Mary’s vs Newtown & Chilwell, 11.45am Under 18 Division 1: Ocean Grove vs St Mary’s, 9.45am
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Geelong tennis triumph Five schoolgirls from Geelong Lawn Tennis Club defeated Kooyong’s No 2 team in the Tennis Victoria Grade 7 Grand Final at Altona. The team of Georgina Palmateer, Tahnee Sanim, Ava Gleeson, Esme Laherty and Saskia Harendarz topped the ladder with nine wins, one loss and one draw, then won two straight finals. Three rubbers were won from a set down in 10-point deciders. Palmateer came back from 1-6 to win 106, Laherty recovered from 1-6 to win 10-8
while captain Sanim and Gleeson lost the first set of the No 1 doubles and fought back to win 10-8. The girls, aged 13 to 17, train across multiple Geelong tennis clubs, playing year round in Pennant and junior tournaments and ranking events. Sanim, 14, won the No 2 singles 6-1, 7-5 before her doubles and Gleeson won the No 3 singles 6-1, 6-2. “We love this game and we wanted to see how good we could be,” Sanim said. “Every one of us played finals. That was
the rule. Everyone in our team plays a role – and together we built a winning team, even when the game is looking tough. “When one of us dropped a set, four of us were on the fence yelling. Nobody wins alone here. “Kooyong were great competitors. Beating a club like that is huge for five kids from Geelong.” Ava Gleeson, Esme Laherty, Georgina Palmateer, Saskia Harendarz and Tahnee Sanim won the Tennis Victoria Grade 7 grand final. (Supplied)
Golfers converge on the Bellarine
Newcomb’s Logan Wagener is the 2026 Les Ash Medallist.
Wagener, Winch crowned BFNL’s best By Justin Flynn As predicted, Newcomb star Logan Wagener won this year’s Bellarine Football League Les Ash Medal while first-year Geelong Amateur goaler Bec Winch took out the A Grade netball award. A multiple premiership player with Leopold, Wagener crossed to Grinter Reserve this season and was a raging favourite going into the count, averaging 37 disposals per game. Wagener won with 31 votes, seven ahead of Torquay’s Tynan Smith, who was also tipped to poll well. He also took out the Coaches Player of the Year award. Barwon Heads midfielder Damian McMahon polled 25 votes, but was ineligible. Ammos century goalkicker Sam Lloyd polled 23 votes. Geelong Amateur youngster Archer Hanegraaf took home the Rising Star award. Two-time Colac premiership star Winch has had a huge impact on Ammos’ unbeaten season and won the A Grade medal on 20 votes from Ocean Grove gun Zanna Punshon on 28. Versatile Torquay goaler and midcourter Ariana Luamanu was third on 24 votes, two ahead of teammate Kiralee Collings.
Punshon won the Coaches Player of the Year while Drysdale goaler Isla Cuddy is this year’s Rising Star, alternating between 19 & Under and A Grade and scoring 956 goals from 1101 attempts under the ring. Modewarre’s Avery Knight won the reserves footy Don Cole Medal from Torquay’s Chad Grossman. Geelong Amateur’s Meg Patterson was the B Grade netball winner from dual runners-up Millie O’Shea (Queenscliff) and Elenoar Van Dyk (Torquay). Ammos’ Kellie Gibbons took out the C Grade medal from equal runners-up Courtney Betts (Newcomb) and Sharni Thebes (Modewarre). Charlotte Bland (Queenscliff) won the D Grade award from Hannah Rounds (Modewarre) while Alicia Gangell (Torquay) won E Grade with Lorelle Chapman (Portarlington) and Eden Holdsworth (Geelong Amateur) tied in second place.
Teams of the Year Backs: Kyle Polley (Barwon Heads), Ben McNamara (captain, Torquay), Morgan Fenton (Modewarre) Half-backs: Luke Preece (Drysdale), Daniel Weigl (Geelong Amateur), Noah
26 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
McGregor-Dawson (Anglesea) Centres: Jaydo Wright (Queenscliff), Nick Rippon (Queenscliff), Damian McMahon (Barwon Heads) Half-forwards: Jordan Monahan (Queenscliff), Tom Webster (Newcomb), Tynan Smith (Torquay) Forwards: Sam Lloyd (Geelong Amateur), Ayden Gras (Anglesea), Izaac Grant (Queenscliff) Followers: Scott Greenhough (Portarlington), Logan Wagener (Newcomb), Matthew Boag (Torquay) Interchange: Lachie Kidd (Queenscliff), Jack Jenkins (Drysdale), Jordan Keras (Anglesea), Caleb Whitley (Queenscliff) Coach: Heath Jamieson (Queenscliff) Netball Goalers: Bec Winch (Geelong Amateur), Eliza Oxley (Geelong Amateur), Zanna Punshon (Ocean Grove), Midcourters: Georgia Duncan (captain, Geelong Amateur), Alex Booker (Queenscliff), Kaitlyn Sheringham (Geelong Amateur), Georgia Ryan (Ocean Grove) Defenders: Bridget Witham (Torquay), Amanda O’Malley (Ocean Grove), Keisha Guilmartin (Geelong Amateur) Coach: Guy McCleish (Portarlington)
The third Victorian Hickory Shaft Championships attracted 45 golfers from four states to Barwon Heads and Queenscliff Golf Clubs on 12 and 13 September. The Golf Society of Australia event began with a historians forum at Queenscliff, hosted by Doug Turek. Club president Brad Teal shared Queenscliff’s story, Barry Leithhead spoke about the value of golf history, and Andrew Baker contributed his research into the game’s early beginnings in Queenscliff. The action then moved to the Canadian foursomes on the Saturday and individual championships on Sunday. John Kelly and Kim Hastie won the gross foursomes event with 85, on a countback from Peter Shaw and Justin Ryan. Toby Cumming and John Trevorrow took the nett honours with 75.875. Axedale Golf Club’s Lex Johnstone won the men’s championship on Sunday with 77, three shots ahead of John Kelly. Manly’s Suzanne Brown won the women’s championship with 89, ahead of Barwon Heads Golf Club’s Anna Jamieson on 93. The men’s nett was won by Christian Lale-Demoz (62) from Peter Whittall (64) and Kim Hastie (75) took out the women’s from Ruth Nguyen (80). The Al Howard Trophy was won by the New South Wales team representing Australian Golf Heritage Society. Golf Society of Australia began with a hickory golf day in 1983 and works to preserve and share Australia’s golfing story through its collection work, historians’ forums, guest speakers, The Long Game and opportunities to get out and play. Anyone interested in the society or trying hickory golf can email hickory@ golfsocietyaust.com, or join the society’s Facebook page.
The Saturday group at Queenscliff Golf Club beside Swan Bay during the 2026 Victorian Hickory Shaft Championships weekend.
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Eagles rock finals wins By Justin Flynn It would be pretty safe to say that Saturday night at the Richmond Oval clubrooms was big. Hours earlier East Geelong had won the GDFNL senior footy and A Grade netball premierships and the celebrations were about to last well into the night and into the morning and for a couple of days after. For Eagles’ coach Ned Aulsebrook, it was huge. Speaking with a hoarse voice on Tuesday, he had just orchestrated redemption for last year’s losing grand final to North Geelong. “Saturday night was pretty special,” he said. “The club was packed and then to have the girls win as well. It was pretty cool. “A lot of fun with a lot of people and it was just good to see everyone in there.” The Eagles looked gone halfway through the final term against Werribee Centrals, down by 13 points in a low-scoring game and not looking like scoring a goal, let alone at least two to get back into the contest. Two goals from nowhere and with the scores tied, enter Andrew Steele, who somehow found space on the half-forward line in a dreadfully congested final term. He got to around 25 metres out and 19 times out of 20, he would stroll into goal and kick truly. But the kick went wide for a behind, however East was a point up with 31 minutes gone. The siren sounded soon after the kick-in and so began the celebrations. “I’ve watched that a few times,” Aulsebrook said. “But once he (Steele) gets out the back, he’s pretty hard to catch. So I knew we were probably in safe hands. “I actually thought there was two or three minutes left. I didn’t expect the siren to go straight after. “I was cursing him for missing, not kicking the goal, but then also (thinking) how do we save this game? “We’re one point up now, but the siren went pretty quickly after and it’s obviously a pretty special moment.” Steele was judged best afield and booted two goals and five behinds, none more important than the one to put his side 8.11(59) to 8.10(58) up. “They have found different ways to win across the last six weeks,” Aulsebrook said. “Really proud of our 22 on Saturday to find a way to win.”
East Geelong coach Ned Aulsebrook and captain John McIntyre celebrate with the premiership cup. (Ivan Kemp) 576679 01
During that frantic last quarter, Connor Linehan-Cunningham was doing everything he could to thwart East Geelong’s charge. His intercept marking in defence was causing a massive problem. However, Aulsebrook said his coaching panel chose not to address the issue directly, but to switch play to the far side of St Albans Reserve. “I think it was more that we managed to get the ball out on the other side of the ground a little bit more,” he said. “We opened the game up a little bit, just trying to attack at all costs. “But it wasn’t something we spoke about, about shutting him down. He did have an exceptional game.
“It was probably just the way we moved the footy a little more urgently.” Aulsebrook revealed that captain John McIntyre and assistant coach Jake McLean were no certainties to play, even on Thursday night. “John was not as much of a risk just because of the way he plays,” he said. “He’s not as explosive. “Whereas Dingo (McLean), his whole game is running, sprinting off halfback. And he was probably a little bit more of a risk. “He was close to missing. Thursday night we still weren’t sure. “He’s an assistant coach, so he was sitting in the selection meeting and he was a bit
nervous, I think.” And while premierships are the pinnacle, Aulsebrook said there was one moment that stood out during the entire season. “The thing I love about coaching is the small moments and outside of the weekends, there were lots of those across the year,” he said. “But one that stands out is Harris Monahan, he kicked his first goal. We were at Geelong West and Houghy (Will Hough) kicked 10 and then we managed to get Monnas in the forward line and try and get him a goal and when he got it, little moments like that just make it so worthwhile.”
Strong bond the key to flag success for gritty East Geelong By Justin Flynn While East Geelong got to celebrate what every player from every club at every level craves – a premiership – it was the friendships and camaraderie that rewarded coach Justine Radford the most this season. The new-look Eagles welcomed in three Under 19 players to the squad while retaining the experienced Steph Boyce, Claudia Cook, Shannon Pietsch and Jenelle Baker. It paid off with a pulsating 29 to 24 win against a gallant Winchelsea in the grand final. Radford said a strong bond off the court was just as important as her team’s performances on it. “They spent a lot of time gelling outside of training and outside of game time, and they’re just really good friends,” she said. “Not only within A Grade, but the whole club. It speaks of the culture at the club and to me, that’s the most rewarding part. “They hang out, they do strength and
conditioning training with one of the other A Grade girls who runs that. “A couple of the girls come to my house on a Friday night for spaghetti and meatballs. There’s genuine friendships and the girls are just so lovely and inclusive. “There is a big spread of ages. I think 16 is our youngest all the way through to 41 in that A Grade side. Friendships just flourished in that team and it’s beautiful to see.” While the Eagles led for most of the grand final, Winchelsea hit back several times and showed real character. “Winchelsea threw a lot at us and they have great players, credit to them,” Radford said. “But our girls just dug deep and every time they put a few goals on, we just pushed ahead again.” When it was put to Radford that her side was “gritty” in its resolve, she agreed. It is not a glamorous word, but grand finals are rarely won on talent alone. “You used the term ‘gritty’ and that’s a term that I’ve been using with these girls for
East Geelong coach Justine Radford and captain Maddie Solly celebrate with the premiership cup. (Ivan Kemp) 576677 02
the last few seasons,” she said. “They are gritty players and they knew coming into that game that it was going to be challenging. We had lost twice to them throughout the season and the message going into the grand final was that they need
to be brave and confident and lock down in defence. “But ‘gritty’ is definitely the word that I would be using and I feel like they were just determined to win that one.” The day was extra special for Frankie Willson, Sylvie Jarvis, Mikayla Ferguson, who all played in the Eagles’ 19 & Under premiership and then got court time in the A Grade flag. The 19s are coached by Maddie Solly, who was judged best on court in the A Grade game. Solly, a teacher at North Geelong Secondary College, is now a premiership captain in just her second season at the club. “Maddie’s a beautiful soul and she just brings something so strong to the club,” Radford said. “She had an immediate impact as a captain. And Steph Boyce was captain previous to that – she’s fabulous as well. “Maddie bought some of the strategies she probably uses at school on how to get the team working together just to bring the fun and the joy into netball.”
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Maddison McKiernan flies to take a strong grab.
East Geelong celebrates with the premiership cup. 576677
Grace Pullen finds space to take a pass inside the circle.
Bella Pearse accepts a pass while under pressure from Meg Royal.
Katrina Filice scored eight goals for Winchelsea in the second half.
Shannon Pietsch scored 11 goals for East.
Claudia Cook looks forward to pass.
Maggie Lind drives into the forward court.
Ebony Berg takes a shot on goal.
Jenelle Baker races out of defence.
East Geelong nets a flag East Geelong brushed aside the disappointment of last year’s losing Geelong & District Netball League grand final by claiming this year’s flag against Winchelsea on Saturday 12 September. Independent photographer Ivan Kemp took these pictures from St Albans Reserve.
Maddie Solly with the premiership cup and the best player in the final award.
28 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
Alicia Kelton accepts a pass at the top of the circle.
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Ben Mulvahil takes a strong mark in defence.
Andrew Steele kicks the behind that put East Geelong a point up with seconds remaining. 576679
East Geelong celebrates the win.
Matthew Kasparian punches the ball clear.
Connor Linehan-Cunningham marks strongly as he did all game. Will Hough finds some space as he tries to evade a tackle.
Kur Kur takes a screamer in the goal square and then goes back and kicks a goal after the siren to put Centrals 11 points up at the last break.
Darcy Martin celebrates as the siren sounds.
Jeremy Ollis and Blake Taylor collide.
Bradley Carlton is tackled as he kicks.
Eagles fly high in thriller East Geelong won a dramatic Geelong & District Football League premiership on Saturday 12 September, defeating Werribee Centrals by one point. Independent photographer Ivan Kemp was at St Albans Reserve to capture the lastquarter drama.
East Geelong captain John McIntyre celebrates with his family.
Austin Mulvahil dives to take a mark.
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Can netball history repeat? By Justin Flynn Ocean Grove captain Georgia Ryan believes her team has what it takes to cause an upset against Geelong Amateur in the grand final, but regardless of the result she cannot remember having more fun playing netball. Coach Mel Holmes has said multiple times this season that this group is the most enjoyable to be around and Ryan agrees. There is still a premiership to be won, but the Grubbers won’t change just because it is the most important match of the season. “Our mindset stays the same,” Ryan said. “It’s a really exciting time of year. We love this time of year (and) we play our best netball. We get around each other and everyone is just so excited. It’s such a fun time of year to be a part of. “She (Holmes) is our coach but she’s our friend too. We love having her around the club and we have definitely had the most fun this year. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a team that can talk so much.” For the fifth consecutive year, it is an Ammos vs Grove decider and a four-peat awaits the underdogs if they can cause an upset. The Grubbers have only just recently been able to field their strongest side after a season interrupted by unavailability and injury. “I don’t think our mindset’s changed game to game,” Ryan said. “We just play 100 percent, we always back each other up, going hard for every ball. “We know that every team we come up against is going to be hard at it as well, especially Ammos, who have been in the grand final the last how many years now. “Our game plan is always the same – just lots of grit, lots of determination and really back each other up. “I think we’ve found our mark come the end of the season, which is really nice as we’ve had a few ins and outs. “We’ve got some new additions to the team this year and we’re really excited.”
Ocean Grove coach Mel Holmes.
Geelong Amateur co-captains Georgia Duncan and Keisha Guilmartin and Ocean Grove skipper Georgia Ryan with the Dow Cup at 13th Beach this week. (Ivan Kemp) 577374 06
Ocean Grove will need to improve though. They learned some harsh lessons from a 12-goal semi-final loss to Ammos.
“I think a lot of it was to do with our own game,” Ryan said. “We learned that we needed to play for
each other a little bit more and come out hard and firing a little bit earlier. It took us a while to get going. “We just have to switch on from the getgo. We can’t really give them any easy balls or an easy start because they will really take advantage of it.” The psychological demons from the past three grand finals will still be lingering in some of the Ammos’ players. “You always have mental scars when you lose games,” Ryan said. “We all play to have fun with our friends and do something on the weekend to have a social outing, but we all like to win at the end of the day. “Definitely there would be some scars there. We’ve still got scars from five years ago when we lost against them, but it doesn’t take away from the game.” Ryan knows that her team cannot afford to give Geelong Amateur a head start and that they must be switched on from the opening pass for a full 60 minutes. “A really strong start for us is most important to just stick with it and grind it out,” she said. “It’s going to be a tough game, so we just have to do the one percenters and back each other up and go hard at every contest.”
Ammos are ready for another crack at premiership glory By Justin Flynn Geelong Amateur’s new-look side won’t carry the scars of the previous three grand final losses to Ocean Grove when they take to the court on Saturday, according to co-captain Keisha Guilmartin. Once again Ammos find themselves as heavy favourites going into the decider and, once again, for the fifth time in a row in fact, they play Grove. History will show that while Ammos won in 2022, the Grubbers would then go on to a historic three-peat, but only a handful of players, including Guilmartin, remain this time around. “There’s no PTSD for those newbies,” she said. “And I think this year is a very different feel for that reason. We’ve got a lot of new blood in the team who haven’t experienced a grand final against Ocean Grove. “I think it’s just creating such a positive atmosphere for us – just taking away from thinking about that coming into this week’s grand final.” Guilmartin’s co-captain Georgia Duncan is also one of the handful to play in the last three losing grand finals. The star midcourter sees the game as a wonderful opportunity to be premiers and champions rather than feeling extra pressure to extend a 19-game winning streak. The closest they have come to a loss this season was a one-goal win against Torquay in round 17. “I think we acknowledge the pressure is
Isabella Baker adds a point of difference to the Ammos’ side.
Eliza Oxley has been a key player in Geelong Amateur’s goal circle this season. (Ivan Kemp)
there,” she said. “There’s always pressure associated with going undefeated throughout the home and away season. “I think we’re exactly where we want to be. If you have the option to be undefeated at the end of the year, I think everyone would select that option. “It’s a privilege to be in a spot where you’re experiencing pressure because you’ve won all your games.” Geelong Amateur couldn’t have been more impressive in its 12-goal semi-final win against Grove.
30 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026
“We went into that game knowing what we needed to do,” Guilmartin said. “We just executed it according to what we’d practiced and planned, and probably knowing that we still had plenty left in the tank and didn’t really need to switch gears in that game. “(It was) pretty seamless, so I think we just keep doing what we’re doing.” A new-look attack in Eliza Oxley and Bec Winch, who won the A Grade league best and fairest during the week, has added a different dimension to Ammos’ goal-scoring prowess this season.
“Completely fresh faces at the goal ring with both Liz and Bec, and also Bell (Isabella Baker) as well, so all our three goalers are new,” Guilmartin said. “All three of them bring such a different game and a really exciting game. Bec’s probably one of the best netballers to watch. She’s just absolutely unreal.” One of the biggest obstacles standing in Ammos’ way on Saturday is gun Ocean Grove goaler Zanna Punshon, who finished runner-up to Winch in the vote count this week. But Duncan knows not to underestimate the entire team. “Zanna is one of their key players; there’s no denying that,” she said. “But then they have got key players all down the court in Georgia (Ryan) and Amanda (O’Malley), so there’s absolutely no way that we don’t respect Ocean Grove. “The history is there, and there’s no denying that we need to play our best and bring our best to beat Ocean Grove. There’s no complacency whatsoever in our preparation. We know our best is good enough, but we know we’ve got to do that.”
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Tigers are primed to win By Justin Flynn Torquay defender Ben McNamara knows he will have his hands full with Queenscliff’s star-studded forward line in the Bellarine Football League grand final on Saturday, but it’s a challenge he is looking forward to. Both teams possess the scoring power needed to win the premiership, but are also strong defensively. McNamara, who shares the captaincy with James Darke, said the game wouldn’t be won or lost at either end of the ground, though. “I would hate to play on our forwards as well as Queensliff’s forwards,” he said. “I think footy today is such an offensive game. It really becomes a shootout. It’s whatever team can defend that shootout the most. “But in saying that, Queenscliff’s got a pretty good backline as well. So I think it will just be the most complete team on the day, offence, defence, and the mids go to work and battle each other.” Torquay coach Dom Gleeson has a wonderful ability to get the most out of his players each season and again has his charges primed at the right time. “He’s been at the club I think 12 years now, so he does worry about getting the same message across,” McNamara said. “But he does sort of reinvent himself almost week to week, if not year to year. He does get the best out of you. He’s really engaged in the playing group. “I think the old school coaches that are barking orders don’t really work anymore and Dom’s on your side and every player knows that. “And I think you feel comfortable running out for a coach that you know is going to back you in.” The Tigers are no stranger to big finals, and grand finals. Roughly half their side on Saturday will have tasted premiership success before. McNamara said knowing what to expect will be an advantage, but also said the Coutas’ youthful exuberance couldn’t be underestimated. “It’s nice having been there and I think
Hugh Trigg has had an excellent season for the Tigers.
being comfortable in that pressure environment, but also young teams thrive on pressure,” he said. “Queenscliff are a really good unit. While they might not have had their finals experience, they’ve got guys like (Nick) Rippon, some good players in there and senior players that will lead them. “It helps, but I think it is what it is on the
day.” While tradition means Torquay’s captain wears the No 5 in honour of late club great Rodger Boak, McNamara said he would gladly hand over the jumper if it meant Rodger’s son Travis Boak was able to play. The Port Adelaide 387-gamer played eight games this season before an ACL injury ended his campaign in round 18.
“He’s played a big role in the group,” McNamara said. “(The) football fairytale would be that he runs out with us on Saturday, but unfortunately that’s not to be. “The relationship I have with Trav and (mother) Chikki…I hope that I’ll wear the five and wear it proud for them and for what Rodger means to the club.”
Queenscliff dares to dream of a premiership flag in 2026 By Justin Flynn Queenscliff’s straight sets exit from last year’s Bellarine Football League finals just may have been the catalyst for bigger things in 2026. The Coutas were battered by Torquay in the 2025 qualifying final by 105 points and then a resurgent Anglesea took care of business in the first semi-final by 42 on its way to a premiership. Captain Caleb Whiteley said while it was disappointing, it left the group knowing that finals footy is a step up from a home and away game. “Very disappointed to go out the way that we did last year,” he said. “So the boys wanted to really push it this year and see how far we could really take it. And that stings going out in straight sets, so it really was a driving factor this year.” Queenscliff was active during the offseason, adding Jaydo Wright, Sam Kalbfell, Nick Rippon, Billy Jones and Trent Thompson to the list and all have contributed heavily. Missing, however, will be Jordy McIvor-Clark, who did a Grade 2 hamstring in the preliminary final, while goalkicking ace Izaak Grant will remain under an injury cloud with a troublesome groin. Queenscliff has been somewhat of a Jekyll and Hyde team this season, although that may be unfair given the minor premiers
Torquay co-captain Ben McNamara and Queescliff skipper Caleb Whitley with the Dow Cup at 13th Beach. (Ivan Kemp) 577374 02
have performed brilliantly. In several games this season, the Coutas have struggled to hit the scoreboard for lengthy periods only to flick the switch and pile on multiple goals just when it needed to happen. In a way the fact that the afterburners
can be turned on at any time is reassuring. Jordan Monahan (66 goals), Grant (51), Sol Bowtell (27), Kai Keenan (24) and Rippon (23) form a dangerous avenue towards goal. “It does give us a lot of reassurance, but you never really want to be in that position to start with,” Whiteley said.
“I think we’ve just tried to work on not putting ourselves in that spot, but also knowing that if we need to we can put the foot down a little bit and have that next gear. “It’s just not trying to get into that position to start with.” Queenscliff’s opponent this Saturday, Torquay, had the better of the second semi-final match-up and the 31-point margin probably flattered the minor premiers to an extent. “It was a pretty tough day down there, conditions-wise, and we just took out of it (that) they played the conditions a fair bit better than we did,” Whiteley said. “They were able to move the ball and a few older heads were able to read the game a little bit better and know when to slow it down a little bit more and take some stoppage time and keep it locked in a pocket and little things like that. “We really didn’t do that well, but we’ll take a few things away from that game and hopefully we’ll be able to do it this weekend.” With its reserves side also competing for silverware, Whiteley said the Borough community was right behind the club. “It’s huge, it’s really big (and) there’s already so much red, white and blue up in the town all the way through,” he said. “Everyone’s getting behind it. It’s a full community affair down there.”
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32 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 18 September, 2026