User Profile

Ben Ridley

Special clash awaits

AND then there were two. Imperials and Wentworth are this year’s last two SFNL football teams standing and will battle it out this Saturday for the premiership flag. Both of these teams have been the best sides in the competition all...

10 Sep 2024

Opinion

Swallows have the DNA of champions

WHATEVER it is that the Irymple Football Netball Club has in its DNA, it should be found and bottled. While the Swallows have had strong success in netball over the past decade in most grades, the footy sides, in particular the senior team...

26 Aug 2024

Opinion

Who steps up in finals?

FINALS footy is finally here and to pick a favourite right now is no easy task. So let’s take a look at each side and see what they need to do to become premiers, and who in each team needs to fire to give their side the best...

18 Aug 2024

Analysis & Comment

Ridley: It’s not easy being green

DURING the past few weeks I have been speaking with a work colleague about his teenage son and how he had been enjoying his first season with the umpiring fraternity. His son is currently playing with the juniors at the Mildura Football...

01 Jul 2024

Analysis & Comment

Round of chances missed

JUST past the halfway mark of the season a few opportunities to separate from the pack were missed over the weekend, in particular by Mildura and Merbein. Coming into this time of the year, few would have been brave enough to have Imperials...

18 Jun 2024

Opinion

The name of the game

EACH generation has a group of players coming through that are instantly recognisable by their connection with the generation before them. The father-son or father-daughter combination are two I can imagine would stir emotions. For...

11 Jun 2024

Opinion

Interleague revival is all about pride and sacrifice

BEN RIDLEYWHAT is a destination club?Quite simply it is a club where players want to play and not leave, a club where players approach the club to go there and not the other way around, a club where players sacrifice more to stay rather than...

04 Jun 2024

Analysis & Comment

Two sides to breach story

VOLUNTEERS are the lifeblood of local football and netball clubs all across the country. This is why I completely understand the sentiment of Irymple’s disappointment last week with the ruling handed down by AFL Victoria from the audit of the...

20 May 2024

Opinion

Changing the flight path

BONZA going into voluntary administration during the week has more ramifications for local teams than just putting up with a few extra flights to get here. The main one being what do we now call the fly-in boys? QantasLink Boys and...

06 May 2024

Opinion

Protecting head must be priority

THE first few rounds of the season have already brought with them the new changes being implemented by the AFL at grassroots leve,l which also seems to have created some confusion with supporters. The main change this...

28 Apr 2024

Opinion

League riding high

WHAT a season we are having already and it’s only round 2. Wentworth beat Imps with a kick after the siren on what was a day to celebrate not only one of Imps’ champions but the region’s champions in Mick ‘Hungry’ Hogarth. Merbein pulled a Houdini...

22 Apr 2024

Opinion

Imperials, Eagles show strength

ROUND 1 is complete and Imperials sit on top of the ladder with two wins. Confused? Yep, me too. Following the standalone opener between Imperials and Robinvale Euston last weekend, there were plenty of follow-up...

15 Apr 2024