Moonee Valley's gone to the dogs

     

Above: Enjoying the view near the main grandstand at The Meadows before the weather turned - L-R Tom Janetzki, Hayden Rayner and Brayden McGregor.

A group of Moonee Valley players and supporters descended on The Meadows as part of Greyhound Racing Victoria's Dream Chasers Festival.
The weather for the November 8 event was equivalent to cricket washout territory, but it didn't dampen the enthusiasm for our group, camped under marquees and with gas heaters nearby.
We were at the Campbellfield facility through the Cheer a Chaser fundraiser, part of GRV's Dream Chasers Festival.
Our thanks to Greyhound Racing Victoria and to Sportsbet for their hospitality on the night, which provided free admission, the first drink and finger food all night.
Thanks also to their sponsorship which put $1000 in the Moonee Valley budget, and the opportunity to also win thousands more if our designated greyhounds won in the eight selected races - a string of seconds and thirds saw us come oh-so-close.
Our Jason Ripa participated in a series of cricket-related challenges run by former Australian One-Day and Twenty20 captain Aaron Finch, and won the first heat.
Jason was in line for the $5000 first prize, but a dodgy ball in the catching segment led to him being eliminated.
Moonee Valley thanks GRV and Sportsbet for putting on The Club Shout, and we're keen to participate again when next it rolls around.
*More pictures from the night - click HERE

DEBUT WITH

DAD

Moonee Valley Under 14s player Xavier Manson made his senior debut on October 18, playing alongside his father Brad.
Brad, who is a team official with Xavier's Under 14s, resumed his career with Moonee Valley after taking a season off.
At right: Xavier Manson made his senior debut for Moonee Valley, playing alongside father Brad.
Playing in our Fifths against Taylors Lakes, Brad came in at No. 5. He was hoping to bat with his son coming in at No. 6, but Brad went out before they could come together.
Both made five runs, and each hit a cracking four.
Xavier got some good time at the crease, being out in the middle for 10 overs while he got a good gauge of the pace of the wicket and a feel for batting for a longer spell than you get in the juniors.
Brad's return enabled him to add to the 14 games he had previously played at Moonee Valley, so we're looking for both to build their careers at our club.

    All the draft action at Moonee Valley

              

Above: Keen interest in the draft order: L-R Krish Kanchan, Monique and Hayden Rayner, Brayden McGregor (front), Ben Tarran and Max Jones.
There was intense interest around the draft table at our Ormond Park pavilion when we conducted our inaugural "player draft" fundraiser on October 18.
Thirteen Valley players, past players or consortiums each bought a team, and then put in bids to be as high up the draft order as they could.
Each team was able to draft four players, and the selections were lively as 52 players were snapped up from a far wider pool of available talent.
There was strong interest in our all-conquering Women's team, who have won four Premierships in the past five seasons - two players were chosen in the first round of the draft, and another two in the second round.
A fun night was had by all, and more importantly the event was a good boost to our budget.
Thanks to the principal organisers and participants on the night - Jack Newman, Dejan Gilevski and Tom Janetzki.
***For more photos and details of the teams, click HERE



10-WICKET VICTORIES - WE PULL OUT

TWO ON THE TROT

Ten wicket victories don't come along very often - but Moonee Valley pulled off two in two days as we had our first weekend's play in the 2025/26 season, with our Fourths and Fifths leading the charge.
First off our Fifths, playing on the eastern oval at home on October 11, chased down the Flemington Colts tally without losing a wicket.
At left: The Sevensons had a lot to celebrate in the massive 10-wicket win in the Fourths ( L-R) Luke with two catches as keeper, Paul with an unbeaten century and Jeremy 59no.
Then the next day our Fourths, playing Youlden Parkville at their McAlister oval in Parkville, repeated the dose - passing a challenging target without a blemish.
Wise old heads around the Valley couldn't recall a previous time when we had achieved this rare feat twice in one weekend.
In the President's Shield (NWMCA) game, Flemington Colts amassed 9/180 off their 35 overs, with the screws tightened on them by Bede Gannon's 5/39.
We then came out blasting, with Life Members Mark Gauci (70no) and Geoff McKeown (64no) setting the base before retiring and giving the honor of bringing the game home to young guns Aksha Perera and Oliver McKeown with 16 overs to spare.
The Sunday turf game in Mercantile's D Grade followed a similar pattern, with Youlden Parkville all out for 191 with six balls to go in the 45-over innings.
We got off to a flier with father/son combination Paul and Jeremy Sevenson putting on a 171 run opening partnership before Paul retired on 103.
On top of Jeremy's 59no, his younger brother Luke also made a significant contribution to the match, taking two catches as the wicketkeeper.
Sunday also saw our Thirds open their account after being promoted to A Reserve Sunday, beating CUCC Kings 157 to 108.
And not to be overshadowed, our Women's team celebrated their elevation to the top grade of the NWMCA competition with a comprehensive win over Youlden Parkville, 4/146 to 5/79.

If the cap fits......

The debuts of four new Moonee Valley players in our First Eleven were made extra special this year, with cap presentations by significant people.
The four played their first games against Kingsville for the October 11 Round 2 fixture, after the first week of the VTCA season was called off.
At right: Hayden Rayner (left) and Terry Nagle.
First Eleven Cap No. 290 was presented to Hayden Rayner by Terry "Tex" Nagle, a four-time Premiership Moonee Valley legend from our glory era of the 1980s and early 1990s.
At left: Jaspreet Bhatti (left) and Amit Chaudhary.
Cap No. 291 was presented to Jaspreet Bhatti by Amit Chaudhary, a two-time Club Champion who made the 12 in Moonee Valley's Team of the Half Century. Jaspreet played with Amit at Haig Fawkner.
Cap No. 292 was presented to Ashen Fernando by Joshua Gorry, a hero in our 2019/20 First Eleven premiership. Josh played at Maribyrnong Park St Marys with Ashen, but returned to the Valley this year and brought him across.
At right: Ashen Fernando (left) and Joshua Gorry.
Cap No. 293 was presented to Ben Tarran by our coach Brayden McGregor, who was well aware of his capabilities and brought him to Moonee Valley from a Grand Final team with Nagambie.
At left: Ben Tarran (left) and Brayden McGregor.
All four debutants played a role in the match v Kingsville, but we were unable to close out the game after posting 7/183 from our 40 overs. They passed us with 2.3 overs to go.
The cap presentations are an innovation introduced after Life Member Gary Irons and more recently club President Charlie Walker went through the records to identify every player who had pulled on the whites in our First Eleven over our 54-year history.
The list, which is featured in our Wisden, makes for interesting and compelling reading - from the one-game players to those who have made their mark on our club over decades.

*CRICKET - STILL VACANCIES IN ALL

TEAMS 

Moonee Valley Cricket Club is always keen to talk to potential new players, and there are vacancies in all teams - our Saturday and Sunday turf teams, our Saturday men's hard-wicket team, our Sunday women's team and junior teams at all levels.
Anyone interested in joining Moonee Valley can phone senior coach Brayden McGregor on 0429 559 797, junior co-ordinator Paul Sevenson on 0407 556 950 or President Charlie Walker on 0411 705 381. Anyone wanting information can also email us at [email protected]

Main Club contact details:

* Charlie Walker - President 0411 705 381; 9370 1802
* Allan Cumming - Treasurer 0438 380 990
* Sarah Fenn - Secretary 0438 141 179
* Mark Gauci - Vice President 0457 778 335 
* Paul Sevenson - Junior Co-ordinator - 0407 556 950   

Emails: [email protected]
        [email protected] 

For more contacts, see " Office bearers & Officials " under "Club News & Info" at the top of the page

Last updated : November 9, 2025.
For more of our history, including our Premierships, click HERE