They were the moments that defined local sport in our area.
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Premierships, singular moments of brilliance, and the stories that caught the imagine of many has made 2025 one of the more unique years to reflect.
But that’s what we have done, taking a trip down memory lane in what’s been a transformative 12 months.
Bears win A-grade flag
Shepparton didn’t just win its first A-grade netball flag in the Goulburn Valley League, it clenched it with both fists for 18 straight rounds and a full finals campaign and never let go.
The Bears’ mauling of Euroa in the 2025 grand final rubber-stamped what became obvious throughout the course of the year – Shepparton was a class above.
Undefeated all season, the only threat to its unblemished record a draw in round 18 with Seymour, as Kim Borger’s unit blazed past the Magpies and Lions in the finals before unleashing the perfect storm to be a 21-goal victor in the decider.
Borger scored 47 goals, but Sophie Harmer’s 14 goals and loads of assists culminated in a best-on-court display, as the Bears hoisted the A-grade trophy for the first time in its history.
Waaia secures maiden Haisman Shield
The 2024-25 Haisman Shield grand final was, in all essence, an epic.
Two days, 13 hours and 195 overs of cricket crescendoed with Waaia reaching Cricket Shepparton’s zenith for the first time, securing its maiden Haisman Shield premiership after a gruelling battle with Nagambie.
From Brenton Low’s screamer on the boundary to Kaleb Gilmour and Will Trower’s backs against the wall batting and Jesse Trower’s eight-wicket bowling blitzkrieg, the Bombers’ performance was a true team effort.
Nagambie proved a worthy adversary, but when Trower punched the winning runs through cover, it was hard to argue Waaia didn’t deserve it as a sea of red and black erupted in the stands.
It may have been the Bombers’ first, but we’d be shocked if it was the last.
Half Yours salutes for Melbourne Cup win
The race that stops a nation had extra significance for the tiny town of Undera this year.
As Half Yours greeted the judge in the Melbourne Cup, the ties to the hallowed race stretched all the way back to the Goulburn Valley through part-owner Neville Smith.
The former Undera footballer’s parents ran the town’s general store from the 1950s to the 1970s – and Smith made sure to pay homage to his old home town.
Ten days after Half Yours stormed past the post in the first, Smith pulled up to the Undera Hotel in a stretch limousine with the cup in tow, celebrating the victory with past and present members of the town.
Rest assured, the 2025 Melbourne Cup will live long in the minds of Undera locals for many years to come.
Bulls and Eagles win premierships
It’s been a golden era for Shepparton rugby.
Both the Shepparton Bulls and Shepparton Eagles rugby clubs completed the town’s union-league double, staking a claim as a powerhouse region of the local game.
The Bulls’ glorious run in the Rugby Victoria Championship Division continued against Southern Districts at Box Hill Rugby Club, lifting the shield for the third consecutive season.
A Kitione Seruisavou try and conversion with five minutes left in the game fired the Bulls to a game-winning 17-13 advantage, after tries to Taniela Veanaiafu and Ezrrah Waqalevu.
In the league edition, the Shepparton Eagles’ men and women’s teams came away with trophies.
Only two seasons into their re-emergence, the Eagles summited the Goulburn Murray premiership with an extra-time thriller in the men’s edition, a 23-22 win over Tumbarumba at Glenrowan.
Meanwhile, the women’s team saluted an undefeated season with an 18-8 win over Corowa in a result that made it a clean sweep of titles in Shepparton senior rugby.
Aaron Miller’s goal after the siren
Cometh the hour, cometh the Miller.
Lancaster and Murchison-Toolamba’s rivalry has bubbling away for years and, despite a heart-stopping grand final, it arguably didn’t have the climactic finish the pair had when it met a fortnight earlier in the semi-final.
In a low-scoring affair, the Wombats had held off the Grasshoppers for the majority of the clash, leading at all breaks, including an 18-point lead at three-quarter time.
But the eventual premiers would make a charge.
Aaron Miller kicked the first goal of the final term, but it would be one quickly forgotten about.
While the Wombats could only snag a behind in the last quarter, Murchison-Toolamba had seven scoring shots, but when Miller lined up a set shot inside 50 late in the fourth, Lancaster still led by three points.
Then, the siren sounded.
With all the pressure of a grand final berth stacked on the small forward’s shoulders, Miller rose to the occasion, and with ice in his veins, drilled the Sherrin through the big sticks to send the green and gold on their way to the decider, before he was swamped by teammates and supporters.
It doesn’t get any more clutch than that.
The Year of the Tiger
There’s something remarkable about a rank outsider getting it done on the grand stage.
Even more so when two teams do it and share the same nickname.
Within the space of seven days in September, Katamatite and Cobram defied the odds to hoist the respective Picola District and Murray Football League trophies and deliver ultimate Tiger delight.
Katamatite upended Waaia’s three-peat dreams, stunning the favourite by 21 points and completing a fairytale homecoming for ex-AFL star Tom Clurey.
A week later, Cobram punished an inaccurate Congupna to finish an 8.6 (54) to 5.21 (51) victor, snapping The Road’s 33-game winning streak and securing its first senior flag since 1998.
If only Rochester and Rushworth could’ve added to the triumphant Tiger theme ...
Bombers fly to the GVL summit
After six years Goulburn Valley League powerhouse Kyabram was back where it belonged.
The Bombers put the heartache of the 2023 grand final defeat behind them in stunning fashion, defeating a gallant Rochester by 29 points at Deakin Reserve.
A third-quarter flurry of goals from Tom Holman and influential performances from Wilf Cox medallist Mick Mattingly and Victoria Country Medal winner Kaine Herbert handed Kyabram its first senior flag since 2019 and 16th overall in the GVL.
The flag came after a season where the Bombers dropped only two games for the entire year and confirmed the club’s status as arguably the league’s most successful of the 21st century.
Shepparton United grand final win/GV Suns finals
United they stood.
The Bendigo Amateur Soccer League men’s division one title race came down to a Shepparton derby between United and South, and at Bendigo’s Beischer Park the battle for the Super Cup was fierce.
United’s Hassan Alhilfi opened the scoring in the 28th minute, before Riki Koyanagi doubled the Blues’ advantage closing in on half-time.
Jaxan McDonald stole a goal back for South, but there was no denying United’s 2-1 win, which after also claiming the League Cup earlier in the season completed the BASL double.
Meanwhile, the Goulburn Valley Suns went from near-relegation one season to fighting for promotion the next, with a roller-coaster Victorian Premier League 2 campaign finishing in the semi-finals.
The Suns showed they’ll be a team to watch in 2026 despite a 2-1 loss to Brunswick Juventus, the Orangemen set to be a tough prospect for their opposition.
Riley Onley gets drafted
It was a moment that took days to come to fruition, but no-one in the Goulburn Valley would have been as nervous as Riley Onley, until he got the message just after 3pm on a Friday afternoon that his AFL dreams had come true.
Onley was the only product from the Goulburn Valley, let alone Shepparton, to realise his AFL fantasy, but after sliding from a projected second round selection to the rookie draft, Onley had to endure Wednesday and Thursday draft nights in November, before his name was called out with the last possible draft haul.
With the third pick of the AFL Rookie Draft, Melbourne selected the Shepparton United export to begin a professional footballing career, making Onley the first Shepparton selection since his close mates Jack and Matt Whitlock were picked up in 2024.
Whitlock twins do as twins do
In classic twin fashion, Jack and Matt Whitlock couldn’t help but share the limelight with one another this year as they both kicked their first career AFL goals in the same round.
Towards the close of Port Adelaide and North Melbourne’s 2025 campaigns, the Whitlock boys were provided with their second and third carer games respectively in round 23.
Jack Whitlock sailed a set shot from the cusp of the arc through the middle of the Marvel Stadium goals to kick his first major of the big time – but he wasn’t done there.
The 200cm teenager kicked another two goals before the final siren to have three to his name as the Power fell short to Carlton.
The next day, Matt Whitlock was injected into the action in Tasmania early after Cameron Zurhaar was subbed out of the game with an injury.
Despite battling a spirited Tigers outfit, the Roos cruised to an eight-goal victory, with Whitlock crumbing a ball out the back of a pack in the fourth quarter, waltzing into the goal square to kick his own first major in the AFL.