Ts take senior men’s title for first time since 1999

For the eighth time and for the first time since 1999, Old Trinity are senior men’s premiers, taking out the Premier B flag over Caulfield Grammarians on Saturday afternoon.

In what was otherwise a close and entertaining game of football, the Ts’ premiership quarter came early, a seven-goal-to-two second term setting the two sides apart and flipping a three-point quarter time Ts lead to a 35-point half time advantage.

Only six goals were kicked after half time – the Fields would kick five of them – but it wasn’t enough to knock the green and gold from its perch.

To break the 26-year drought, the Ts returned to the scene of the crime on Saturday afternoon; Trevor Barker Beach Oval, the site of last year’s preliminary final defeat at the hands of De La Salle. Another football team would’ve struggled to march back into September following that heartbreaking loss, which saw De La promoted and forced Old Trinity to wait. But Donald McDonald and his side are made of sterner stuff.

“After last year it was so disappointing to get that close,” McDonald said on Monday.

“There’s no guarantees, B Grade is getting tighter. I really wanted us to get up to Premier … when we missed that opportunity I thought we might have to go back to square one again.

“But to everyone’s credit, they all jumped back on board. And we’ve got it.”

Round Seven’s thumping defeat of Fitzroy saw Old Trinity punch into the top two, a lofty position on the ladder in which they resided for the remainder of the home-and-away season, swapping first place with Old Ivanhoe week-to-week. Their 14-4 record through the regular season matched the Hoers, who went into September minor premiers with a slightly superior percentage.

A more accurate indicator of success though were games in Round Nine and Round 17 where the Hoers and Ts played off – on both occasions, it was McDonald’s men who took the four points. On second semi-final day it was the Ts over Old Ivanhoe for a third time, their miserly defence holding stoutly into the Preston City Oval breeze. They held the Hoers goalless in the last, winning their way to the Grand Final and therefore earning promotion to William Buck Premier for 2026.

The Ts enjoyed the week off, in which the Fields shocked the competition and sent minor premiers Old Ivanhoe packing in straight sets. With a 1-1 home-and-away record against Paul Satterley’s team – and with that loss coming in Round 18 – there was reason to believe the Premier B Grand Final would be befitting of the occasion.

In front of a boisterous crowd in Sandringham, the first quarter entertained. Tom Williams and Julian Dobosz started brightly for the Fields with a first-term goal apiece, Dobosz continuing to threaten out of full forward and Williams happy to snap up the crumbs left in his wake.

But in the ruck, the Harry Thompson and Boston Dowling partnership had been firmly established. A six-to-zero skew to the Ts in the centre clearance column the Ts was indicative of what was to come.

“That second quarter was the perfect storm for us,” explained McDonald.

“We’d only had Harry (Thompson), Dom (Payman), Boston (Dowling) and Hugh (Beasley) play together in those last three games. And because of the wind in those first two games, it just wasn’t working with Hugh and Dom (in the forward line) – they were alright in isolation, playing one-out, but playing together they really battled, because they both play a similar sort of role.

“Especially early on, (Caulfield defender Oscar) Roberts was sagging off our high half-forwards and intercepting really well. So we said ‘we’re got to soak them up’, and roll the dice and put all three of them in the forward line with Harry Thompson in the ruck.”

With 21 clearances to eight and 19 inside 50s to nine, the Ts went to work in the middle, Christos Manoussakis and Hugo McGlashan the destroyers when the ball hit the deck. Hugh Beasley and Dom Payman kicked respective majors after marking deep inside 50 to put a small gap on the Fields early in the quarter. A goal-apiece lull in the middle part of the quarter – then, four Ts goals in six minutes: Louis Davidson, Dowling, McGlashan and Jack Jenkins in a flurry to finish the quarter.

“Their talls were amazing,” said Fields coach Satterley when assessing the game.

“I think we’ve shown that our players have shown they can play over and above their size and weight division all year. I think all of our defenders were giving away five-to-ten kilos on their direct opponents. In contested footy – an area we’d been really good at – Old Trinity really matched it in that space, and they stifled our run and ability to get into open space and test them.”

The six-goal advantage was significant. The Ts had made the most of the breeze, and had good form into the wind fresh in mind from their last outing against the Hoers. But there was a third term momentum shift – Donald McDonald would later highlight some lapses in composure and focus, his players turning and bombing blindly inside fifty, rather than taking their time. This was the impetus for the Fields’ forward momentum, employing their potent intercept defence and driving the football up the ground.

“We were a bit like we were in the second quarter against Old Ivanhoe – we just lost our way a bit. I don’t know if subconsciously, (the players) look at the scoreboard, they’re six goals up, they just lose their focus a bit … we just didn’t play it smart,” McDonald said.

Back came the Fields with a three-goals-to-none third term, but a 17-point deficit at the final break looked tricky to overcome. Satterley would later point to a lack of scoreboard pressure as critical – so often this year have the Fields come rattling back late but on this occasion, their starting point was too far back.

From the ruck to start the final term, Boston Dowling took the ball, stepped, and snapped truly to re-establish a 21-point lead. It was his third goal, and the Ts last for the game – the Fields would kick two final quarter goals, but they didn’t come until time-on. The final siren sounded on a 12.11 (83) to 10.11 (71) Grand Final win for Old Trinity, promotion to WIlliam Buck Premier sealed with the best possible result.

“It was a really good reward for them all. A lot of those boys have been training since November – and that’s good, because if you’re going to Premier, you’ve got to do the same. They really made the effort to get fit, and they got the rewards. They did the work,” said McDonald.

“The two-week bye, I didn’t think we handled it that well. Aside from that, I couldn’t fault them. For them and their families … just fantastic for all of them to experience the thrill of winning a Grand Final.”

With 24 disposals, 18 contested possessions, five intercept marks and 61 hitouts, Thompson was named Old Trintiy’s best – Manoussakis (33 disposals, 18 clearances and 14 tackles) and Dowling (17 disposals, 18 hitouts and three goals) rounded out the top three Ts players.

With 12 marks and 19 disposals Charlie Eerhard finished his season once again as the Fields’ best, Dobosz, Williams and Connor Cooke finishing with two goals apiece.

Paul Satterley’s first year in charge of the Fields has been a bountiful one. From near-relegation in 2024 to promotion in 2025, the Fields have found some excellent young talent and should be able to mix it with William Buck Premier in 2026.

“Incredibly proud of the entire squad, to give us a chance to compete in a Grand Final. I think it’s been an outstanding year … I think we’ve probably exceeded our expectations at the start of the year to some degree,” Satterley said.

“The closer we got, the more I learned about (the players) and their capabilities … with every week I felt our scope was there. If you’d said to me, ‘the outcome will be a Grand Fina; and you’ll be within two goals,’ I would’ve taken that.

Satterley is aware the Fields will need to recruit well for their trip back to top flight, and the groundwork is already underway at Caulfield. There’s a healthy, young group of players that have blossomed in 2025 – Satterley will look to complement them with some older, experienced bodies in 2026.

“The profile of our list is really exciting. I think we’ve had a great year in B Grade with, for the most part, a young group of boys … Hamish McInerney, Charlie Eerhard, Hughie McKenzie, this is pretty much all their first seasons.”

With eight-from-nine wins at their Glen Huntly Park home there’s a level of confidence; with a penchant for last-quarter, come-from-behind wins there’s a level of resilience. Both traits will be required in 2026.

“We’re just excited to be tested at another level, and we deserve our spot to go up.”

Like Satterley, Donald McDonald has experienced the rigours of top flight recently, as Old Scotch’s football director earlier in the decade, and knows the steps his team will need to take to compete.

“The good thing about top flight … you want to have guys that are aspirational, to play the best footy they can,” he said.

“I’ll never stand in their way if they want to go to the VFL, because they’re just making themselves better – and that’s what the competition is … that’s part of the attraction”.

When asked of his own reaction to the win, McDonald’s reaction was typical:

“For me? It was nice! It was probably just relief. It was good for all the coaches and the staff, they were all really excited. For me, I just felt like ‘oh well, at least I’ve done my job,’” he laughed.