Sport
16 April, 2026
Big round one win for Bloods
TERANG Mortlake made a strong start to the Hampden league season, scoring a 73-point win over Camperdown in round one of the senior football competition.
The match was played under lights at the Leura Oval with a full slate of games in the 'Super Saturday' fixture.
“I thought we went over there with the right attitude and we came ready to play,” Bloods coach Lewy Taylor said.
The home team kicked three goals to one in the first quarter but that’s where their goal kicking stopped, held goalless by Terang Mortlake in the final three quarters.
“Playing at Camperdown is pretty tough, so we knew we had to be on our game, and I thought our first quarter was actually pretty good.
“We had hit most of our marks, there was a little bit of a breeze that Camperdown had, but I thought after that we controlled the game.”
Former Collingwood and Brisbane forward Jackson Paine made a strong debut for the Bloods, kicking four goals among his five marks and 14 disposals.
“It was good to have Jackson as well as the ‘Kain train’ (Will Kain), who is basically like a new recruit, both working in tandem up forward.
“I thought they worked well together, I think Will probably had five shots on goal as well, Painey was really good, he took some good marks and had nine tackles as well for a big guy which was fantastic.”
Captain Joe Arundell led the possession getters with 34, Taylor had 33 and Ryley Hutchins 30 with seven clearances.
“Ryley was good, he was able to hit the scoreboard and missed a few he probably would normally get.
“He’s had a great summer and he’s probably another one we have missed late the last couple of years in the season as well, so hopefully he stays injury free, but the way he has started, and some of the stuff we’ve been seeing in the pre-season, it’s exciting.”
Taylor had extra praise for Xavier Vickers, who in addition to his 26 disposals, laid an enormous 17 tackles, the most across the entire league for the round.
“Xav had a massive game, he really sets the tone for us and then he was able to hit the scoreboard as well.
“He’s pretty much got everything you want as a football player, his athleticism, speed and tackling, and he’s just tough as well, he’s really started the season well.”
In addition to Paine’s four goals, under 16 player Jesse Fowler kicked two goals.
“Jesse’s a silky player, he’s put a lot of work in over the preseason.
“He’s obviously played in the Rebels and done really well there; he’s ready for a good year, I don’t think he’ll be playing much 16s if any to be honest.”
With wins in the reserves and under 18s as well, Taylor said the whole club was up and about.
“It was a really good day for the club, Camperdown beat us last year in round one, and that was a pretty big motivator for us, to be honest, going all pre-season to start the season well, and we were able to do that.
“Now it’s on to Portland this week, so that’ll be a tough game but one we are looking forward to.”
The reserves match saw Terang Mortlake score an 8.9.57 to 7.4.46 win.
Matthew Baxter, Ryan Tanner and Darcy Abbott were best for the Bloods, with Tanner bagging six goals.
Terang Mortlake had a 50 point win in the under 18s, 8.16.64 to 1.8.14.
Hamish Molan, Jack Farrell and Zavier Fowler were best for the Bloods, with Mason Barr the only multiple goal kicker in the match with two.
Camperdown got the win in the under 16s, 9.6.60 to 3.4.22.
Hugh Kenna, Archie Curran and Arlo Herry were best for Terang Mortlake in the loss.
The home team also got the points in the under 14 football, 6.8.44 to 3.2.20.
Ollie Clarke, Liam Kenna and Harper Dillon were best in the loss, with goals coming from Braxton Sachs, Kenna and Nelson Sloane.
Camperdown had a 35 point win in the under 12 football, 7.8.50 to 2.3.15.
Hayden Clifford, Connor Jewell and Harry Keogh were best for Terang Mortlake, with Morgan Primmer and Harry Heffernan kicking a goal each.
HAMPDEN FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
SENIOR FOOTBALL
Camperdown v Terang Mortlake
Camperdown 3.5 (23) lost to Terang Mortlake 13.18 (96)
HAMPDEN FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
UNDER 18s FOOTBALL
Camperdown v Terang Mortlake
Camperdown 1.8 (14) lost to Terang Mortlake 8.16 (64)
HAMPDEN FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
UNDER 14s FOOTBALL
Camperdown v Terang Mortlake
Camperdown 6.8 (44) defeated Terang Mortlake 3.2 (20)
In the Open netball, Terang Mortlake made a big start to the season by defeating 2025 finalists Camperdown 42-40.
“It was a really, really great start to the year for us, we were stoked with the win,” new Terang Mortlake Open netball coach Aimee Moloney said.
“We’ve got a pretty new look side this year compared to last year and a lot of youth and juniors coming through, we knew that Camperdown also had quite a young side so we were hoping that we might have matched up okay against them, so we were stoked to come away with the win.”
Terang Mortlake made a fast start in ordinary conditions, leading by seven goals at quarter time.
“We’ve been working on a lot at training and pre-season, but we really had to change up the way we were playing just based on the conditions.
“It was quite wet and slippery in the wind, so we changed it up and went a more shorter front option rather than go on the long fast game, which I think both teams would’ve had to do in the end, it seemed to work well, even though it felt a little bit crowded at times.”
Camperdown scored 11 goals to six in the last quarter to get close but ultimately fell short.
“We had three really strong quarters and then our last, we sort of dropped off a little bit, we possibly got a little bit tired and they put quite a lot of pressure on us as well.
“But I was really happy to be able to hang on for a win when it came down to it, that pressure at the end and especially with having such a young side was great.”
Terang Mortlake handed Open debuts to two 15 year-olds in Madelyn Clarke and McKenzie Dillon.
“McKenzie came on at half-time into wing defence and played the second half there.
“Madeline come on and played wing attack, she’s quite fit and agile and she just gave us another option down in attack when we needed her in there.”
Recruit Alice Tanner, who played as goal keeper, was best for Terang Mortlake in the win.
“Alice has come back to play at the Bloods this year, she last played in 2021, we sort of just locked her in maybe three or four weeks ago.
“So she was a last minute recruit and she was fantastic on the weekend, I thought she did a great job in nullifying Nell Mitchell in the goals, who can be very dominant, so she had a great game.”
Lyla Grundy led the scorers with 29 goals, and was also named in the best with sister Ava.
“Lyla was fantastic, she had a great game, she just moved really well.
“She held really strong, the movement from her and Jacqui (Arundell) was terrific and Ava Grundy fed her really well.”
The Terang Mortlake netballers won all four senior games, pleasing the Open coach.
“It was really great, we had a really positive day with all the senior sides.
“There’s quite a lot of new faces and lots of youth across the four grades, so I think all the other coaches were really stoked with how things went.”
The division one netball went the Bloods way 38-25.
Holly Fowler shot 22 goals, with Maddison Chesshire scoring 16 in the win.
That pair and Claudia Lee were best for Terang Mortlake.
The division two game saw Terang Mortlake score a 30-28 win.
Ava Nolan led the way with 23 goals and was named in the best alongside Ava Conheady and Hannah Burke.
The Bloods made it a clean sweep of the senior netball with a 21-20 victory in division three.
Sema Meric, Harriet Place and Tess Harris were best in the win.
Terang Mortlake had a 42-18 win in the 17 and under netball.
Lyla Grundy shot 32 goals, with Maddison Wallace, Lila Bennett and Tayla Bell best.
The 17 and under reserves saw a 34-18 win to Terang Mortlake.
Violet Dillon, Kara Bell and Lucia Clarke were best, with Dillon shooting 18 goals and Tahnee Sachs 16 in the win.
The 15 and under game saw Camperdown score a 40-20 win.
Sadie Baker, Zoe Hill and Chloe Bouchier were best for the Bloods, with Bouchier scoring 17 goals.
In the 15 and under reserves netball, Terang Mortlake had a 26-18 win.
Poppy Moloney scored 16 goals and was named best alongside Beth Heffernan and Isabella Robertson.
The 13 and under game saw a 27-19 win to the Bloods.
Matilda Conheady, Daisy Dillon and Imogen Barr were best, with Barr and Annabelle Blackford scoring 13 goals each.
Terang Mortlake's 13 and under reserves team registered a 27-15 win.
Layla Thornton, Charlotte Boshier and Summer Davis were best for the junior Bloods, with Boshier shooting 16 goals.
HAMPDEN FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
OPEN NETBALL
Camperdown v Terang Mortlake
Camperdown 40 lost to Terang Mortlake 42
HAMPDEN FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
17 AND UNDER NETBALL
Camperdown v Terang Mortlake
Cameprdown 18 lost to Terang Mortlake 42
