Hall of Fame and Life Member of the South West Football League, John Sabourne, has passed away after dedicating much of his life to football in the South West, not only with the South West Football League but with Juniors as well.

Mr Sabourne was a foundation member of the Harvey Brunswick Junior Association past President prior to joining the Bunbury Association.  He was also the Secretary for five years, and President for two.  He coached numerous teams to three premierships and on top of all of that, he umpired as well.  He also served for ten years as the Tribunal Chairman for the Bunbury and Districts Junior Association.

In the formative years of the Harvey Bulls, John Sabourne was at the forefront, and a Life Member of numerous Associations, including the Bunbury and District Junior Association in 1976, Harvey Brunswick Junior Council in 1978, Harvey Brunswick Football Club in 1979 and to the SWFL Umpires Association in 1985.

In 1988, we was recognised by the WA Football Development Trust for his outstanding voluntary contribution to Western Australian Junior Football.

In 2014 he was awarded Club Person of the year at the Harvey Bulls Football Club, and in the same year, he was inducted into the SWFL Umpires Association Hall of Fame.

All of this occurred due to his dedication to Football which stems back to the 1950s.  Mr Sabourne was part of the committee that recommended to winding up of the Harvey Brunswick Football Association, to join the Collie – Bunbury League which became the South West National Football League.

He played Reserves for Harvey Brunswick in 1955 and 1956.  He Umpired in the SWFL between 1957 and 1964.  From 1969 to 1971 he served as Secretary of the Harvey Brunswick Football Club and served as a Club delegate for three years, where he was also a part of the SWFL Umpires Board and Match Committee.

On top of all of this, he had a hand in the design and construction of the Harvey Brunswick Club Rooms in 1974.  He also served the SWFL as a Ground Manager for a record 23 seasons from 1970 until 1992.  He also served on the Board of the Harvey Bulls Football Club for five years from 2011 until 2016.

Mr Sabourne was inducted into the SWFL Hall of Fame in 2015 and made a Life Member in 2018.

The SWFL offers its heart felt condolences to the Sabourne family.

All of the South West Football League Clubs have held their Presentation Nights and announced all of their club awards for 2023.

Premiership player Mitch Tenardi won the top award at Busselton, while Hayward Medalist Harley Sparks won Carey Parks Fairest and Best.

Bunbury Women’s Premiership player, Melinda Bobby took the honours, while former Nola Marino Medalist Katie-Jayne Grieve was Busselton’s award winner.  Two time Nola Marino Medalist Jessica Verbrugge was awarded the fairest and best for Donnybrook.

James Strano who won the Times Medal as fairest and best player in the Reserves competition, also took the Lions top honour in the Reserves.

Kye Wright who was part of Bunbury’s Premiership Colts team was announced as the winner of Bunbury’s Colts Medal.

Below is a full list of awards from each club as provided.

The Alcoa South West Women’s team have confirmed their status as Champions of Country Football, when they won the Rio Tinto Women’s Country Championship at Lane Group Stadium on Friday afternoon.

The win was set up in the first half with the South West kicking five goals, with Emma Faulkner kicking the first goal from the goal square.

Lacey Holdsworth converted a set shot soon after to give the South West a dream start, and when Daisy Rigby snapped the third goal the Kimberley were under enormous pressure.    Simon Narkle kicked the first goal for the Kimberley to reduce the margin, but Claire Brown immediately replied to stretch the margin again.  When Holdsworth snapped her second the South West held a commanding lead at half time.

Holdsworth kicked her third, before the Kimberley started the fight back, with the ball spending the final eighteen minutes almost exclusively in their forward half with goals to Amelia Sherry and Ellie Blackmore.

The final five minutes the South West defending strongly, and were jubilant when the final siren sounded, winners for the fourth consecutive year by 16 points.

MATCH CENTRE
South West 5.0.30  6.0.36
Kimberley 1.1.7  3.2.20

Goals: South West – Lacey Holdsworth 3, Claire Brown 1, Daisy Rigby 1, Emma Faulkner 1.  Kimberley – Ellie Blackmore 1, Simone Narkle 1, Amelia Sherry 1.
Best:  South West – Trinity Brown, Kaitlin Eades, Maddy Obal, Lacey Holdsworth.
Ground:  Lane Group Stadium
Umpires:  Michael Hearne, Talen Guthrie
Reports:  Nil
Crowd: 500 Approx
Best on Ground in Grand Final:  Trinity Brown (SWFL)
Betti Medal for Best SWFL in Carnival:  Trinity Brown
All-Stars:  Kaitlin Eades, Daisy Rigby, Jessica Verbruggem Trinity Brown, Max Jetta

The Alcoa South West Women’s team have made the Rio Tinto Country Championship Grand Final, after recording a big win over Great Southern at Lane Group Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Needing to win big to elevate their percentage above Great Northern or Kimberley, the South West did all they could by keeping their opponents scoreless, while at the same time on another venue, the other two teams in the pool were hard at it, with Kimberley winning, knocking Great Northern out of finals contention, and reducing their percentage enough that South West moved to second.

It was a tale of two halves for the South West with Lacey Holdsworth dominating the first half, while Daisy Rigby dominated the second half in front of goals.

Holdsworth kicked two long range goals in the first half which saw South West lead 24-0, before Rigby kicked two set shot goals in the second half to consolidate the score and the percentage.

In very warm conditions, the South West ran out the match well, with Shelby Foster and Kirryn Williams playing good games.

The Grand Final will be played at 4.00pm

MATCH CENTRE
South West  4.0.24  7.4.46
Great Southern 0.0.0  0.0.0

Goals:  South West – Daisy Rigby 3, Lacey Holdsworth 2, Tia Holt 1, Emma Faulkner 1.
Best:  South West – Shelby Foster, Kirryn Williams, Maddy Obal, Daisy Rigby, Gemma Wharton.  Great Southern – Kathryn Slattery, Sophie Coates, Laura Cinanni, Abbigail-Louise Ballard.
Ground:  Lane Group Stadium
Crowd:  400 approx

Great Northern have defeated the Alcoa SWFL Women’s team by three points at Lane Group Stadium on Thursday afternoon, in a high quality contest.

Scores were locked at a goal a piece at half time in a low scoring contest, which saw both sides having periods of ascendancy, with the Great Northern side attacking relentlessly in the back end of the first half, but the SWFL team withstood the pressure.

The second half started well for the SWFL with Georgia Kowald winning the ruck knock, which very quickly found its way to Daisy Rigby who goaled, putting the South West back in front.  Rigby would kick another, but the Great Northern were not done with, with Tessa Daly putting the Midwest side in front with two minutes to play.

The South West weren’t able to get the crucial clearance and the ball lived inside the Great Northern’s attacking zone for the final two minutes, and in doing so becoming the first side to ever beat the SWFL at the Country Championships.

The Great Northern head Division One, with two wins and will play second placed Kimberley in the final pool game on Friday.  South West will need to win by a big margin to replicate the large percentages those teams have when they play Great Southern at 1.00pm.  A Great Northern win, along with a South West win will see the SWFL through to the Grand Final.  If Kimberley win, percentage will determine who plays in the Grand Final.

MATCH CENTRE
Great Northern 1.2.8  3.5.23
South West FL 1.2.8  3.2.20

Goals:  Great Northern – Tessa Daly 2, Lexi Chapman 1.  South West – Daisy Rigby 2, Lacey Holdsworth 1.
Best:  Great Northern – Gemma Dix, Taylah Broadhurst, jasmine johansen, Jessica Giudice-Nairn.  South West – Jessica Verbrugge, Daisy Rigby, Gemma Wharton, Georgia Kowald
Ground:  Lane Group Stadium
Crowd: 300 approx

Photos courtesy of Sharyn Newlands and Shane Horner