Women's A Grade - Report by Torben Fink-Jensen

Essendon were playing the top of the table team, Richmond 17s. It was therefore a bad night to have only 8 available. Interestingly, Richmond only had 5 in the pool before another 5 girls materialised to make it 10.

We started off well with Phoebe turning her player on the 2nd attack to shoot home. But Richmond had some strong swimmers and swapping in their 3 reserves half way through gave them some extra verve, as they moved out to a 1-3 lead at the end of Q1.

At this point, questions were asked about where the 5 other girls had come from, and the feeling was that they were from Richmond's other side in A grade - AYC 16. This was basically admitted by their coach which if it turns out to be correct, is likely to result in at least one of the two teams disqualified for the night as you can't swap players between teams within the same grade. We all decided to keep playing and we will see how the WPV committee handle this.

This discovery seemed to rev up the Essendon players and have a detrimental effect on the Richmond players - they did pot the first goal for 1-4 but Essendon bagged the next 3 through Annie and Mietta to make it 4-4 and Richmond had a real match on their hands.

Richmond staged a good recovery in Q3, but Essendon were matching them goal for goal as the quarter ended 6-7. 

Q4 saw Essendon come close a few times but it wasn't to be and Richmond managed one final goal for a 6-8 win. A strong game by Essendon meaning a good chance to play them later in the tournament this time with both teams having the right players.

Essendon were defeated by the Richmond AYC 17s : 6 - 8 Goals : Annie 3, Phoebe 1, Alex 1, Mietta 1

Below : Our women's A Grade side in action this week (photos courtesy of Torben Fink-Jensen - see more on our FB page)

Women's B Grade : EssRed - Report by Lisa Murray-Segal

This week was a rude awakening for me, having had 5 weeks overseas on a leisurely holiday, flying in Saturday late afternoon, fronting up for work Monday morning and heading to MSAC Tues night. No time for jet lag. No surprise my form wasn't great, but I appreciated the bench of 3!

Facing Monash, who won last years WSL3 grade and currently sit 2nd on the B grade ladder, it was always going to be tough going. With speedy juniors onboard, our swim ups continued to be well contested, and we moved the ball up the pool quickly. We struggled setting up CF with Monash applying plenty of pressure. At times we crowded ourselves, or didn't see the best option to pass, but we kept the ball moving and tried to create some gaps. Our defence was a bit patchy, letting several players get through to the keeper on turnovers and other times brilliantly stealing the ball and ending their attack. We struggled for some consistency as the game went on. The bench was used well, and all players significantly contributed to some solid passages of play, only one of which resulted in a goal, but a great team effort with no one throwing in the towel...

Essendon Red were defeated by Monash : 1 - 15 Goals : Josie 1  

Below : Our women's B Grade Red side in action this week (photos courtesy of Torben Fink-Jensen)

Women's B Grade : EssBlack - Report by Sandra Mink-Grobbe

For the 1st time this comp we had a full squad of 10 which was amazing! Although it was a tough loss again, we really played well and the scoreline does not reflect our efforts. Great set up’s, lots of shots on goal and plenty of movement which finally resulted in a penalty which was put in the back of the net superbly. It is amazing to see how this team is growing, learning and adapting to the more experienced opposition. Everyone should be very proud of themselves – I certainly am proud of all of you!

Essendon Black were defeated by the NYP Dragons : 1 - 16  Goals : Madeleine 1

Below : Our women's B Grade Black side in action this week (photos courtesy of Torben Fink-Jensen, see more on our FB page)

Men's C Grade - No Report Received

Essendon were defeated by the Melbourne Collegian OTG Pups : 6 - 7 

Goals : TBC

Men's D Grade - Report by Bryan Wee

We almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. We realized they had one shooter but did not shut him down, especially in the last quarter. Lessons to be learnt. Good effort that was made to look poor because they had a strong keeper. We didn’t play smart enough polo but scraped the win. Good efforts from Tom and William. Rucus could be better in goals. Rohan plays like an 80s Hawthorn footballer too. He is desperate for another suspension. All in, lessons to be learnt but starting to understand ourselves better as a team. Some time to reflect - we have all the parts but let’s not end up a hot disappointment like the Carlton Blues #Rucus Cos we really struggled to kick goals

Essendon defeated Melbourne Surge Emerald : 9 - 8

Goals : Tom 2, Liam 2, Bryan 2, Hayden 1, SamB 1, Andrew 1

12&U Mixed : Essendon/DVE - Report by Rosi Russell

The under 12s team did a super fantastic job. They were a full team without any subs. They played really well and won a couple of their games. The ones they lost were apparently against higher graded teams but they didn't let them walk all over them. The final scores proved that. Well done team! You played so well. Clearly a love of the sport and team spirit got them there! 

Below : Essendon's Harvey, Nicholas and Reuben are joined by DVE players (photo courtesy of Penny Sullivan, DVE)

14&U Girls : Essendon/Wodonga/Northcote 

*These 2 reports came into me about the same time - so I didn't want to reject either one!

Report by Cathryn Prowse

Essendon were represented by Lucy, Maddie and Anja who joined forces with Wodonga and some Northcote Krackens to compete over the weekend. They were exceptionally supported by their coaches (including a super mum wearing a very little baby!) and fun was had all round, including some wild bombs off the dive boards!

Report by Manuel De Rivero

Great first experience for Madeleine, Anja and Lucy in a Tri-State competition. Joining the U14 Wodonga Dolphins team for the competition, the group could have not been more welcoming, supportive and well organised. It was an amazing group and enthusiastic and motivated kids.

The first game against Monash was a great win for the team coming back in the last quarter to snatch victory by one goal. 

The second game against the Albury Tigers was as tough as we were told it would be. The Wodonga team come up against the Tigers often in their local competition and they play to win! Even though the team lost the match, they kept some level of pressure on the team.

The third game of day 1 was against the Sandy Bay Sea Eagles from Tasmania. It was another hard fought loss, but the girls managed to keep the pressure to the first half of the game. They were starting to fatigue after a day of waterpolo in the sun and couldn’t quite match the Eagles intensity and shots at goal.

Sunday started with a game against Richmond in the morning and a final game against the Northside Stingrays, both games were a loss but it was great to see improvement of the team over the weekend. Madeleine was quick on attack and scored a number of goals with Lucy supporting the drive to the goals. Anja maintained consistent defensive pressure and was able to maintain pressure on her opponents and support the goalkeeper.

It was a great weekend and we are already looking forward to the 2027 competition!

Below : The Essendon girls (in black togs) with their TriStates team mates (photo courtesy of Sarah Little, Wodonga)

14&U Boys : Essendon/Footscray/DVE - Report by Natalie Meissner

Our boys played in a combo team with players from Footscray and DVE. The first 2 games against Sandy bay and Albury were tough, with the boys struggling to gel and manage the bigger kids, however we saw a massive improvement in the 3rd game against MC, where we really began to see the boys coming together and holding MC accountable. The 4th game, and our 4th for the day, saw more cohesion again, with the boys pushing back against an in form Northcote side. While we weren’t able to push them too hard on the scoreboard, the game was still competitive. Only one game on Sunday against Wodonga, who had also not won a game in the tournament, and had apparently the same goals for/against as we did. As predicted, this was our most competitive game of the tournament as well. Sadly we just couldn’t manage to pass them on the scoreboard, but we did manage to get more shots away than they did, so certainly applied pressure, eventually missing the win by only 2 (or 3?) goals.   

Well done to Jack and James who got right in there and fought hard against some really big kids, as well as Angus who had some great saves in goals. As much as loosing is tough, the weekend certainly gave us an opportunity to meet and play with different kids and coaches and learn plenty!

Below : the combined 14 boys team with players from Essendon, Footscray and DVE (photos courtesy of Hayden Woods & Ange Vlahos)

16&U Girls : Essendon/Geelong - Report by Kate Simnett

The Essendon - Geelong U16 girls team learnt a lot at the recent TriState comp in Geelong. 

They played five games over the weekend the with following results :

8:1 to the Pool Pirates 

11:1 to Albury 

13:2 to Richmond 

10:3 to Wodonga 

6:1 to the Honey Badgers

Whilst the scores look pretty brutal they held their own admirably in the pool against some fierce and experienced competitors. The improvements in everyone’s game was marked & all the girls should feel very proud of how resilient they were.

Below : The "Highlighters" team (photo courtesy of Craig Parnell, Geelong)

16&U Boys : Northcote (Ashton) - Report by Jamie Kirby

Ashton was the sole Essendon representative on the Northcote Krakens team, linking up with some familiar faces from both Northcote and Monash. Early start on Saturday, with an 8:30am game against the powerful Richmond team. 

The atmosphere on Saturday was fantastic, with the crowd getting involved and the temperature perfect for a carnival. An overcast morning made watching/playing outdoors great, although the sun was blinding by the afternoon! Our matches were well spaced, so players came and went (with many commuting back to Melbourne that night given our schedule). Sunday was abuzz with excitement, with places to be decided. The forecast weather caused uncertainty around the fixture - however we only had light rain until the last quarter of our last game, where all spectators got drenched!

Richmond dominated game 1, but confidence remained high. Next was a great contest against Albury's Pool Pirates - a much bigger team than ours, however we matched them for the majority of the match, with small lapses in the first and third quarters leading to a 5-9 loss. Game 3 was against Geelong/MC - this was a spirited contest that even had the neutrals invested! We got away to an early lead, Geelong clawed back to level. The game was tense in the last quarter, level for significant periods, until a goal with 2 seconds remaining gave us a 6-5 win. A great finish for the day. 

Our last pool game on Sunday morning was against Tasmania's Honey Badgers - we put up a good contest, but ultimately they were too big, strong and physical for our boys. 4th place in our pool meaning we played Tasmania's Sandy Bay for the 7th place playoff. The game was fierce, physical, contested and fast, with their defence on top. In the end we were worn down by their defence and the pouring rain, finishing 8th place for the tournament. A great tournament overall, and great development for Ashton against some strong fierce players. 

Below : Ashton in action on the weekend with Northcote (photos courtesy of Northcote Team Photographer)

16&U Boys : DVE Aquatic (Jack) - Report by Ilona Elmore

There are definitely two tiers in water polo in Victoria at the moment — and then there are the country kids. DVE (including Jack from Essendon) went to Geelong with clear intent: quality game time before the Australian Youth Championships in Brisbane in April.

They were placed in Pool A , essentially Division 1. This was proper contest water polo: physical, fast, and unforgiving. When DVE were even slightly off — drifting from structure, not fully committing to the game plan, the bigger bodies exposed it quickly. At that level, you don’t get away with mistakes.

The first game was a heartbreaker, a close loss with a goal conceded in the final seconds.Then the country kids from Wagga Wagga turned up in game two. Tough, disciplined, and relentless. A draw later that day showed grit.Then a convincing loss to a well-drilled MC side highlighted the standard required.

But Sunday afternoon said the most. The 17–0 response against the MC/Geelong side wasn’t just a win — it was a statement. It showed composure. It showed adjustment. It showed that when DVE stick to structure and play their brand, they belong in Tier 1 conversations.

There were lessons across the weekend — about physicality, discipline, and execution under pressure. And that’s exactly what this trip was for.

If the goal was preparation, exposure to Tier 1 intensity, and clarity ahead of Brisbane — mission accomplished. And if Sunday was any indication, they absolutely want to be genuine contenders

Below : Jack in action on the weekend with the DVE Aquatic team (photos courtesy of DVE Aquatic)