Eltham Rugby Union Football Club

JUNIOR PRESENTATION DAY

Season done on the field — now let’s celebrate it properly.

Awards and trophies for every team. Participation medals for our Get Into Rugby and U8s–U10s players. And the free team photo for every registered player.

📅 Saturday 10 October
⏰ Afternoon — time to be confirmed
📍 The clubrooms, Bridge Street

Keep an eye on your team’s WhatsApp group for the start time.

Every family welcome.

See you there. 🖤💛

SENIORS’ AWARDS 2026

Six awards. Six well-earned names.

🏉 Best Forward — Luc Gavillucci
🏉 Best Back — Aidan Smith
🏉 Players’ Player — Ari Su’a
🏉 Most Promising Player — Gianni Teoh
🏉 Coaches’ Award — Reuben Stanley
🏉 Most Valuable Player — Eliah James

Special mention to Ari — the Players’ Player is voted by the playing group, and there’s no award that means more than the one your teammates give you.

Congratulations to all six, and to every player who pulled on the jumper in 2026.

🖤💛

GRAND FINAL | U14s

Northern/Shepparton/Eltham 12 – Power House 35

Wind, rain and a home crowd — and our U14s went at it anyway. Try-saving tackles from Eli, Josh and Chayton. A full-pitch runaway try to Donovan. Eli over the line in the second half and converting his own.

Not the result they wanted, but a huge season and a Grand Final earned.

Report by Alana. 🖤💛

GRAND FINAL | U12s

Eltham 27 – Kiwi Hawthorn/Maroondah/Melbourne 29

A howling wind, five tries each, and two points in it.

Roman scored in the first minute — and that was the only time all day we were in front. From there it was one long chase into the gale.

Level at 22 all with minutes to go. They scored again. And Max still went over for his third — a hat-trick in a Grand Final, and the last try of the match — to bring it back to two.

Tries: Max (3), Roman (2). Conversion: Orin.

Second in Victoria, and two points from the lot. That's the story.

Thank you to everyone who made the trip. 🖤💛

🏆 One Massive Day for Eltham Rugby

Saturday is the biggest day this club has had in a long time. Two Grand Finals in the morning, and the whole club back at Bridge Street in the afternoon. Here is how it runs.

🌅 MORNING — Powerhouse Rugby Club

🏉 U12s, 9:30am kick off
Eltham v Kiwi Hawthorn/Maroondah

🏉 U14Bs, 11:00am kick off
Northern/Shepparton/Eltham v Powerhouse

Two things to sort before you leave home:

🚗 Parking will be a nightmare. Leave early. Nobody wants to be sprinting from the car park onto the field.
🪪 Bring ID. Rugby Victoria may run spot checks on the day.

🌆 EVENING — Bridge Street

🏆 Seniors' Presentation Night, from 6pm
🎟️ $20 a head, dinner and player awards
🔗 https://eltham.rugby/products/event-tickets/

Awards, stories, and the season put to bed properly. Please book online so we know how many plates to have ready.

Chase silverware in the morning, raise a glass in the evening. That is a good Saturday.

Bring the family, bring the neighbours, bring the noise. Let's go Eltham! 🖤💛

MATCH REPORT | U18s | Semi Final | Brimbank Bucks/Eltham 30 v Endeavour Hills 34

Four points. That is all that separated our U18s from a Grand Final.

Endeavour Hills 34 Brimbank Bucks/Eltham 30.

Endeavour Hills came into Saturday undefeated. What followed was, in the words of coach Russ Hurdle, the best game he has been involved with. Brilliant attack, crunching defence, and a pace that left everyone watching exhausted.

Endeavour Hills scored six tries to our four. It finished four points, and that is down to Ben, who kicked two conversions and two penalties to keep us in touch every single time they threatened to pull away.

Sione crossed twice. Elijah and David got the others.

Just as Endeavour Hills looked to be running away with it, our boys lifted. Two tries in the final five minutes brought them back within four. Another couple of minutes and who knows.

🏉 Tries: Sione (2), Elijah, David
🥅 Goals: Ben (2 con, 2 pen)

Every player, including everyone off the bench, gave one hundred percent. Both sides played hard and played with real respect for each other, and a special mention to the referee who had an excellent day.

This merged team with Brimbank has been a genuine success story, and that is down to the players, the coaches and the parents from both clubs who made it work. We will go around again next year.

Proud of you, boys. Now, on to the Bendigo 7s. 🖤💛

U14B SEMI FINAL | GRAND FINAL BOUND! 🏉🔥

The Northern/Eltham/Shepparton U14 boys headed to Deer Park for their semi-final, taking on ladder leaders Harlequins with a spot in the Grand Final on the line.

Harlequins struck first, scoring an early converted try from an intercept. Our boys didn't let their heads drop, responding with some huge defensive hits from Joshua and Eli before winger Paletuatoa crossed for our first try.

From there, the boys really put their foot down. Chayton added another try, with Eli slotting a long-range conversion. Strong defensive work from the forwards, some bone-crunching tackles and quality turnovers kept Harlequins under pressure.

Halfback Jonny was delivering quick ball from the ruck, creating plenty of opportunities in attack. Three more converted tries from Axerxes, Donovan and Eli saw the boys head into half-time with a commanding 33–7 lead.

Harlequins came out firing after the break and threw everything at our boys, scoring consecutive tries. Even when reduced to 12 players following yellow cards, the boys showed incredible composure and determination, continuing to fight their way through.

Further tries to Tanyn, Axerxes and Donovan sealed the victory and secured the boys' place in the Grand Final!

🏆 FINAL SCORE: Northern/Shepparton/Eltham 50 – 33 Harlequins

What an incredible effort from the entire team to defeat the ladder leaders and earn their spot in the big dance. The boys have worked hard all season, and now they have one final challenge ahead.

🔥 GRAND FINAL
📅 Saturday 5 September, 11:00am kick off
📍 Powerhouse Rugby Club
🏉 Northern/Shepparton/Eltham v Powerhouse

One more game. One more push. Let's get behind the boys and bring home the trophy! 🏆🖤💛

MATCH REPORT | U12s | Semi Final | Eltham 33 v Northern 14 🏉

Eltham 33 Northern 14. The U12s are going to a Grand Final.

Max had been back from injury for thirty seconds when he took a quick pass to the left and ran forty metres to score. He scored again at seven minutes. And again at eleven. Three tries inside the opening eleven minutes of a semi final.

By the time Eltham led 19-0 the pattern was set. Roman, Josh and Malachi were putting their bodies on the line, Harvey and Ethan were in absolutely everything, and Hunter and Caleb were making life miserable for the Northern forwards.

Northern hit back either side of the break to close it to 19-14, and suddenly it was a contest. Caleb produced a big run on the wing, Artie took on a tackle from a bloke clearly twice his size, and Orin read the Northern line for an interception that stopped the momentum cold.

Then came the passage that won it. Northern spent three minutes crashing wave after wave onto the Eltham line and not a single drop got through. Artie and Nas combined for some enormous tackles. Fraser chased down a certain try. Max ran it back to safety, Eltham turned it over, and Max was gone again for his fourth.

Harvey finished it off, cleaning up a loose kick and running it in from the thirty, with Orin landing the conversion from the sideline. Magic.

🏉 Tries: Max (4), Harvey
🥅 Conversions: Orin (4)
🏆 Grill'd Player of the Match: Artie

Huge congratulations to the coaches, and to every family who stood in the cold at Brimbank and made noise.

One more game. 📅 Saturday 5 September, 9:30am, Powerhouse Rugby Club, v Kiwi Hawthorn/Maroondah

Let's go Eltham! 🖤💛

🚧 Bridge Street Field Closes From Today

Fencing goes up at Bridge Street today, Tuesday 1 September. It is the first step in the ground redevelopment, and it means we lose access to the ground for quite some time.

What that means right now:

🏉 U12s Grand Final training moves to Eltham High this week.
🏉 Tim is asking whether other sessions can run there too, including the Bendigo 7s squads.
🏉 Off season training and touch will need a new home. We are actively looking at options and will let you know as soon as arrangements are confirmed.

✅ The clubrooms stay open. Saturday's Presentation Night is going ahead as planned.

This one has been a long time coming. It has taken years of persistent advocacy from our committee, and it is backed by the fundraising this club does year after year. Eltham has committed $50,000 of our own money to the work.

A sincere thank you to Nillumbik Shire Council for their support in finally getting us across the line. For a small volunteer run club, this is a genuine milestone.

There is no pretending the next few months will be convenient. But this is the work that gives our juniors and seniors a proper surface to play on, after a season of shifting home games to other clubs.

We are not going into hibernation. We will keep finding ways to train and stay connected over the summer, and we will share those as they come together. Keep an eye on your team WhatsApp group while things settle.

Thanks for your patience. 🖤💛