By Ryan Long.
A Grand Final appearance in the club's return year to the Senior Women's competition, while the Senior Men's side weren't able to capitalise off a quick start to the year.
Senior Men’s
Ladder Position: 8th (5-13, 72.37%)
Best and Fairest: Ben White
Leading Goalkicker: Bryce Galvin
Summary:
Despite some early season promise, Bayswater were well off the finals mark by season’s end.
After a 3-1 start which saw Bayswater knock off the reigning premiers at Walker Park, the Waters would manage just two wins from their next 14 games, finishing in eighth position on the Division One ladder.
The side remained very competitive throughout stages of seasons, pushing contending sides such as Park Orchards and Montrose, but just came up short, unable to maintain steady consistency.
At the end of the season, the club parted ways with Senior Coach Marc Hardy.
Key Players:
With a resume that keeps growing, Ben White took out yet another club best and fairest for the Bayswater side. A very impressive average of 29.6 disposals per game in 2024, 532 disposals for the season, only Mooroolbark’s Kane Noonan had more in Division One.
The Runner up in Bayswater’s senior best and fairest was Paul Haasbroek, one of the side’s most reliable players. His defensive work was a clear highlight this season, averaging 7.7 tackles per game. 119 effective tackles for the season, the third most of any player in Division One.
Tim Castricum improved his game again in 2024, performing well in the club’s best and fairest. Castricum had a great season in the ruck, averaging 43 hitouts per game.
Leading the goal-kicking for Bayswater, Bryce Galvin finished with 37 goals, surpassing 400 career goals.
Best Win: Round Four – Bayswater 13.9 87 def. Mitcham 12.7 79 @Walker Park
Certainly, the side’s most impressive win this season, eight-point winners over the Tigers, moving Bayswater to 3-1.
For the majority of the game, Bayswater trailed, five points at Quarter Time, seven points at Half Time and with a few minutes remaining in the final quarter, they still trailed. The Tigers lined up with a set shot inside 50 to put the game to bed but a smother on the mark kept the game alive as Bayswater kicked the final two goals of the game to run out eight-point winners.
Lachlan Kruger was the star of the show, with five goals for Bayswater including one of the key last-quarter clutch goals to lead Bayswater to the win.
Ben White finished with 31 disposals for the afternoon, 16 contested possessions, 11 clearances and 110 Ranking Points.
Off-Season Focus:
A look ahead to next season, the club announced in October that Luke Harris had been appointed Senior Coach of the Bayswater side. Some fantastic experiences across several roles include being a Senior Assistant at the Frankston Bombers and part of the coaching team at St Kilda FC Academy.
The list is still quite young across so there’s plenty of opportunity for development across the board.
They’ll be tested in their opening month with massive games to start the season against Montrose, Boronia and Park Orchards before they face Norwood who were relegated from the Premier Division.
Senior Women’s
Ladder Position: 4th (8-5, 186.06%)
Best and Fairest: Jenna White
Leading Goalkicker: Carla Barics (13 Goals)
Summary:
One of the great stories of the 2024 EFNL season, is the return of Bayswater’s Senior Women’s program.
The Waters fielded a Senior Women’s side that competed in Division Four this season.
In just their first year back in the competition, they won eight games during the Home and Away season before going on what was a phenomenal finals run.
With Match Ratio coming into play, Bayswater’s finals chances came down to the last round of the season. The Basin pulling off an upset over Warrandyte guaranteed a fourth-spot finish for the Bayswater side.
A great finals run started with a 24-point win over Fairpark before a seven-point win over Wantirna South in the Preliminary Final booked their spot in the Division Four Grand Final. Although they just came up short on the day, it was a fantastic performance from the young group, playing off against Ferntree Gully who were the dominant side of the 2024 season.
Key Players:
Adding her own legacy to the family’s name at Bayswater, Jenna White won the club’s best and fairest. The star midfielder moved to Bayswater from Aquinas and was a key reason for the club’s immediate success in their return to the Senior Women’s competition.
Carla Barics in just seven games, kicked a total of 13 goals, including one in the Grand Final and a haul of seven against Upper Ferntree Gully.
Another reliable goalkicker for the side was Katie Cameron, with 12 goals for the season, listed in the best ten times and finished the year as the Runner Up in Bayswater’s Best and Fairest.
Zoe Lynch was another of the side’s clear standouts, also one of the greatest contributors across the finals series.
Ella Smith was awarded the Senior Women’s Best in Finals award with three impressive performances against Fairpark, Wantirna South and Ferntree Gully.
Best Win: Preliminary Final – Bayswater 4.5 29 def. Wantirna South 3.4 22 @H.E Parker Reserve
After beating the Lions in the first week of the Division Four finals series, Bayswater had their sights set on a Preliminary Final at H.E Parker Reserve.
Having lost to the Devils twice during the Home and Away season at home, Bayswater entered the final as big underdogs.
A tight contest throughout the day saw Bayswater come from behind at the final change, kicking the final two goals of the game to win by seven points. It was Zoe Lynch who finished with two clutch goals including the match-winner as the club locked in a Grand Final appearance.
Off-Season Focus:
Matt Chapman continues next season as the Senior Women’s Head Coach. Chapman has been a key reason for the success of the side and the development of the Senior Women’s program.
Having such a successful season, there’s no reason why Bayswater can’t repeat this in 2025 and reach another Grand Final.
Netball
Bayswater Gold (Division Two): 5th (8-4-1, 119.12%)
Bayswater Black (Division Eight): 5th(5-8, 92.20%)
Bayswater Green (Division Twelve): 8th (1-12, 50.37%)
After joining the Netball competition in 2023, Bayswater had three sides compete in the 2024 New Balance Netball comp.
On top of the Winter competition, Bayswater took out one of the four premierships in the Inaugural Summer Netball competition. Bayswater won the Division Four premiership, defeating Ringwood by 15 goals in the Grand Final at Pinks Reserve.
Bayswater Gold was the club’s top side that competed in Division Two this year, only just missing out on a finals spot. The side finished on the same amount of wins as both Glen Waverley and Vermont who faced off in the Semi Final. Ava Van Leemput was impressive for Bayswater Gold, taking out the side’s MVP award. Taylah Werner led the goal shooting with 174 Goals for the season, an incredible achievement having played just seven games.
Bayswater Black in Division Eight also finished fifth, just one win behind Upper Ferntree Gully in fourth. Caitlin Dooley scored 130 Goals from six games and took out the club’s MVP award for Bayswater Black.
Bayswater Green rounded up the winter comp for the club, competing in Division Twelve. Emily Preston finished as Bayswater Green’s MVP in 2024.