Around The Leagues: Bailey Bennett’s surprise return home, familiar face back on the whistle & Uppers on show

The Advertiser brings you Around The Leagues, taking a look at football stories of players and personalities from the Great Southern, Ongerup and Upper Great Southern regions. Timmy’s back on the whistle Albany’s Tim Edmunds made a welcome return to the footy field, pulling his green shirt out of the closet and dusting off the whistle last weekend. Edmunds, who spent several years umpiring league games in the Great Southern, had moved to Perth for work and drifted out of the umpire ranks. However, working with former AFL umpire Dean Margetts and a casual conversation about getting back into it led Edmunds to Cunderdin. It was there he umpired a league game in the Avon Football Association between Cunderdin and Northam Railways. Edmunds had not umpired a game since the 2019 grand final in the GSFL but said he loved being back and running around. “It was a great experience umpiring with Dean; he’s obviously umpired at the highest level, so he gives great feedback but most importantly it’s really enjoyable running around with him,” Edmunds told ATL. Margetts, the WAFL and WAFLW umpiring operations manager at the WAFC, has spent the past few years umpiring at various leagues around WA and spent a weekend in the Great Southern last year. This weekend is the WA Football Commission’s Umpire Appreciation Round across the State. Tenacious Tiger back home … temporarily Talented midfielder Bailey Bennett is back home in Albany but not for good. Bennett was a surprise inclusion for Railways in their clash with archrivals Royals in round three of the Great Southern Football League on Saturday. A Claremont-listed player, Bennett played three WAFL reserves games earlier this season but is home in Albany doing a practical work placement. He played on a season permit and was one of the Tigers’ best performers on their home deck in the big win over the Lions. A renowned tackler and smart ball user, Bennett is expected to play a couple more games in yellow-and-black before heading back to Perth to re-join Claremont for the rest of 2023. The Tigers are unbeaten after three games and face their biggest test this Saturday against Albany in a replay of last year’s grand final. Bennett will lock horns with former Claremont teammate and now Shark Jack Beeck, who has played two games for the Sharks this season. Uppers’ strong presence at Souths The Upper Great Southern has fantastic representation at WAFL club South Fremantle. In the league team last weekend, Tom Blechynden (Brookton-Pingelly) and Jarrod Salmeri (Boddington) took to the field and this week’s team could other faces from the region. George Wessels (Boddington) and Nathan Spooner (Wagin) appeared set to be brought into the league side for their clash with East Perth, while Jarrad Doney (Kukerin-Dumbleyung) was brilliant in the reserves last week. Jack Hilder (Narrogin) and Jack Blechynden (Brookton-Pingelly) also played reserves for the Bulldogs last week. Hailing from the Uppers region in the Bulldogs colts team last week was Tom Kilpatrick (Narrogin), Edward Graham (Narrogin) and Anton Hanson (Narrogin). History awaits for grand finalists There is plenty on the line in Friday night’s Great Southern Football League Women’s grand final. Royals and Albany will square off at Retravision Stadium for the premiership cup. The Lions are the hot favourites, having won all 10 games in the regular season and last week’s semifinal. They enter the decider trying to become the first team in GSFLW history to win three premierships and add to their success in 2019 and 2021. The Sharks, on the other hand, have never played in a women’s grand final and will be chasing a big upset to claim their first title. The two sides will do battle from 6.45pm. Railways midfielder Laura Cinanni was duly rewarded for her brilliant season by being named the GSFLW fairest and best player last week. Cinanni was outstanding across the regular season and finished on 20 votes, to be a runaway winner ahead of teammate Ksharna Coyne (13 votes). The talented 24-year-old is the brother of ex-Narrogin and Royals ball winner Adrian Cinanni. Claremont colts on fire It has been a wonderful start for Claremont in the WAFL colts competition. They are unbeaten after four games and boast a great crop of talented young stars, a few who look destined to go to the next level. Amongst that talent is a small group of Great Southern footballers, trying their best to impress. Railways and Royals product Ryley Valli has played every game so far this season and is averaging 15.8 disposals and 4.25 tackles per game and has kicked two goals. Royals forward Ryan Lazar broke into the team last week for his first game and looked far from out of place. Lazar booted two goals to go with 12 touches in a lively display as the Tigers beat East Perth by 21 points. Mt Barker’s Seb Ballard was an emergency last week and was again named as part of an extended interchange when teams dropped for this Saturday’s clash with Swan Districts. Ballard appears close to playing his first game of the season, while Railways junior Mohit Jaggi is the other Great Southern player on the list and is working his way back from injury in the Perth Football League. Hammer time for Curtin Wesley Wagin’s Kyle Hamersley is having a big impact for his new club Curtin Uni Wesley in the Perth Football League. Curtin Uni Wesley are one of six clubs with a 3-1 record after four games in the A-grade division. Hamersley played four years at South Fremantle in the WAFL before returning home to Wagin in 2021. Last year the ball magnet went back to the WAFL, where he played 17 league games for East Perth. Hamersley finds himself in the PFL this year and kicked two vital goals in their 30-point win over Mt Lawley last Saturday. Albany pair Harry Crane and Carden Taylor are his teammates, along with former South Fremantle duo Blayne Wilson and Corey Dell’Olio. Got a footy story from our region to share? Email cameron.newbold@albanyadvertiser.com