Sport
24 December, 2025
The final countdown: top five sports moments of 2025
Having gone through positions 25-6 in our previous four editions, we finally reveal our top five sporting moments of 2025.
The year 2025 was a standout for the Wimmera and Mallee regions, highlighted by exceptional sporting achievements on the state, national and global stages.
To capture these successes, Wimmera Mallee News sportswriters MACKENZIE BOOK, ZOEY ANDREWS and BEN FRASER compiled a comprehensive list of the year's most significant sporting moments.
Their individual votes were tallied to create the definitive top 25 list.
5: Minyip Murtoa win first WFNL women's football premiership
The inaugural Wimmera Football Netball League female football competition took place in 2025, launched with its opening game between Minyip Murtoa and Laharum at Murtoa Recreation Reserve.
The Demons won the first game and would dominate the remainder of the home-and-away season, reaching the grand final undefeated.
The grand final went back to where it all started at Murtoa Recreation Reserve, with Laharum and Minyip Murtoa facing off for a historic first women’s football premiership.
Having not been able to defeat the Demons prior, the Burras stepped up when it mattered most, winning the inaugural women’s premiership with a 28-15 scoreline, led by a best-on-ground performance by midfielder Ashlee Ison.
4: Rupanyup win first netball premiership
Having never won a Horsham District Football Netball League senior netball premiership, Rupanyup came agonisingly close in the 2024, going down 40-38 to Laharum in the A grade grand final.
But with the return of coach Georgia Hiscock, the addition of Holly Ross and the development of youngster Ilze Van Zyl, the Panthers were a powerhouse in the home-and-away season, losing just one game.
Rupanyup comfortably progressed to the grand final where they would take on Edenhope Apsley.
The Saints pushed Rupanyup all the way in the premiership battle, but the Panthers, with a best-on-court performance from Ilze Van Zyl, secured their first premiership with a 39-37 victory.
3: Ararat win third consecutive WFNL senior football premiership
Having won the 2023 and 2024 Wimmera Football Netball League senior football premierships, Ararat continued that momentum into the 2025 season, going undefeated in the home-and-away season.
The Rats’ dominance was demonstrated by them having an average winning margin of 84 points.
But a challenging finals series for the club, including a controversial semi-final loss to the Southern Mallee Thunder, put a potential threepeat in doubt.
After a close first half in the grand final against the Thunder, a dominant second half saw Ararat run away with a 91-38 victory.
Co-captain Tom Williamson led the side with a six-goal best-on-ground performance to help the Rats secure the premiership threepeat.
2: Minyip Murtoa Lachlan Jordan wins reserves' football grand final with an after-the-siren goal.
What’s better than winning a grand final?
Winning a grand final with an after-the-siren goal, which is exactly what Minyip Murtoa’s Lachlan Jordan managed to pull off in the Wimmera Football Netball League reserves football grand final.
Leading into the grand final, Ararat were unbeaten in 2025, while the Burras pulled off a stellar finals series to reach the big dance after finishing fifth in the home-and-away season.
The Burras continued their hot run into the grand final to lead at half-time, with both sides playing out a tense second half.
Jordan reminisced on the final moments on the game, taking an unexpected mark just before the siren.
“I thought we were pretty confident coming into the game, was a tough fight all day, and then last couple of seconds, they kicked it out on the full right in the pocket,” Jordan said.
“I thought Shevy [Xavier Shevlin] was actually going to take the kick – he is a left footer, swing around easily, snap it through – but it came across the other pocket and hit me.
“I heard the siren as I was on the ground and I thought to myself ‘Oh, why me? Why me?’ but coach Jake Leith had been talking about it all through the final series and through the year, to take your moment, and then all I could think of was ’This is my moment, take it'.”
At a tough angle, Jordan nailed the goal attempt, believing that if he had hit a behind the score would have been tied and the grand final would have proceeded into overtime.
But making the moment more special was that the scoreboard was incorrect and a behind would have gifted Ararat the win.
“When we were presented our medals, that’s when I found out the score was wrong,” Jordan said.
“I thought we had won by five points at the time but it was only three in the end.”
1: Saints' undefeated netball season
Following a great 2024 season, the Horsham Saints fell to Horsham in last year’s Wimmera Football Netball League grand final.
But the Saints came back stronger than ever in 2025, going unbeaten through the home-and-away season to enter the finals in top position.
Asked how the team bounced back from 2024, Saints captain Ashlee Grace said a longer offseason helped to refresh the players.
“After losing last year we had a full reset and pushed preseason later,” Grace said.
“It gave everyone a good break, just to be able to be refreshed and have that time with friends and family.
“Then when we got back into netball it was head down and let’s get going pretty quick.”
Coming in as coach for 2025, Vernetta Taylor said that she wanted to add different elements to the already talented team.
“As the new coach coming in I just wanted to bring something a little bit different to what they had been doing,” Taylor said.
“Obviously they were a very, very successful team for a very long time so I was trying to bring in a bit more structure, set plays, systems.
“We looked a bit more deeply into reviewing our games and what didn’t work and what we could have done better and I think that improved us a lot in the season,” Grace added.
Despite the Saints being the standout team in the competition, the coach said 2025 still posed some obstacles.
“We definitely weren’t without our challenges this season,” Taylor said.
“On paper it looked great, but we did have challenges.
“We lost our starting goalkeeper: she fell pregnant and has just had a beautiful baby girl.
“We also had another player move overseas midseason, we had injuries, we had player unavailability, and Jorja [Clode] quite regularly was only able to play half a game because of her Bendigo Striker commitments so we had to manage her workload.”
The Saints then put the demons of 2024 behind them in the grand final against Horsham.
Off to a 21-8 lead by the first break, the Saints controlled the whole game before finishing undefeated premiers with an 80-43 victory.
Taylor said the team capped off a great year with a stellar grand final performance.
“I was hopeful that we were going to come out victors and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome, to be honest,” Taylor said.
“From the first whistle we were on; there was no stopping us.
“I just remember at one point putting down my notebook and going ‘I'm just going to watch this game' because it was beautiful.”
Full list
1 Saints undefeated netball season
2 Lachlan Jordan wins reserves' football grand final with an after-the-siren goal
3 Ararat's WFNL senior football threepeat
4 Rupanyup winning first HDFNL senior netball premiership
5 Minyip Murtoa win first WFNL women's football premiership
6 Shaun Bruce reaches 350 NBL games
7 Micah Livingstone & Levi Munyard with national championship with Vic Country
8 Harrow-balmoral HDFNL senior football threepeat
9 Chloe Bibby named Spanish National League MVP, signs to WNBA
10 Kelly Miller wins Ironman Cairns, finishes 4th at world championship
11 Yanac wins 10th straight hockey premiership
12 Lilly Weir finishes 13th at Teenage CrossFit Games
13 Minyip Murtoa wins AFL Community Club of the Year
14 Southern Mallee Thunder defeat Ararat in semi-final
15 Cody Bryan goal after the siren denies Demons first win of season
16 Noradjuha Quantong ends Harrow Balmoral's 42-game winning streak
17 Dimboola prevail in double overtime against Stawell
18 Linda Meech wins fifth Neville Wilson Medal as Country Racing Victoria’s Jockey of the Year
19 Georgia Foster wins Little Athletics Australian U15 national 200m gold, 4x10mm relay
20 Edward Jones, Remi Bailey head to National Gymnastics championships
21 Peter Smith, 66, crowned 2024 Wimmera Sports Star of the Year
22 Kara Johnson first female to reach 500 games at Volleyball Horsham
23 Pimpinio under 17s football wins fourth straight premiership
24 Homers claims back-to-back HCA premierships
25 Laharum's Chase Whelan, 15, kicks six goals on debut
