GRFNL Round 9 Preview

There is plenty of action to preview in Round 9 of the Golden Rivers, however, first, we would like to highlight some facts surrounding our annual Pride Round.

Statistically speaking, there are likely to be individuals at every club who are impacted by prejudice and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ communities, so we are asking clubs to come together and spread a positive message of acceptance and inclusion throughout our diverse sporting landscape.

The Central Murray and Golden Rivers Leagues believe that, as a community, we should celebrate diversity and inclusion. We are proud to support the LGBTQIA+ community, by bringing awareness to the issues facing our local groups.

Everyone should feel and welcome to play the sport they love and, at our clubs and within the Leagues, we should not discriminate.

Why should you care about celebrating inclusion and acceptance in this year’s Pride Round?

The AIDS Council of NSW 58% of people in the Australian Sporting Sector believe that more effort should be put into the LGBTQIA+ inclusion in sport. This is, in part, due to increasing experiences, and observations of, homophobia, discrimination, exclusion and prejudices within sporting clubs.

Research has demonstrated that a disproportionate number of LGBTQIA+ communities experience poorer mental health outcomes and have higher risk of suicidal behaviours than their peers. These health outcomes are directly related to experiences of stigma, prejudice, discrimination and abuse on the basis of being LGBTQIA+.

• LGBTQIA+ young people aged 16 to 27 are five times more likely to have attempted suicide in their lifetime.
• LGBTQIA+ people are two and a half times more likely to have been diagnosed or treated for a mental health condition in the past 12 months.
• LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to experience and be diagnosed with depression, specifically: LGBTI people are nearly six times more likely; Transgender and gender diverse people aged 14 to 25 are over seven times more likely; Transgender and gender diverse people aged 18 and over are five and a half times more likely; People with an intersex variation are over twice as likely.
• LGBTQIA+ people are more likely to experience and be diagnosed with anxiety, specifically, LGBTI people are over three times as likely to report having an anxiety-related condition.
• LGBTQIA+ people aged 18 and over scored a mean K10 (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale)¬ score of 24.3, indicating high levels of psychological distress, compared to the general public mean of 14.5, indicating much lower levels of psychological distress.

Some further reading or helpful resources are available here for anyone who is interested in learning more:

Snapshot Of Mental Health And Suicide Preventation - https://bit.ly/3BYjLSj

ReachOut Australia - https://au.reachout.com/articles/lgbtqi-support-services

Rainbow Network - https://www.rainbownetwork.com.au/resources

Minus18 - https://www.minus18.org.au/

headspace - https://headspace.org.au/headspace-centres/swan-hill/

LEAGUE’S TOP TWO MEET AT MOULAMEIN

TOP teams Ultima and Moulamein meet as the second half of the home-and-away series in the Golden Rivers FNL senior footy season kicks off this Saturday.

Moulamein has home-ground advantage as second takes on first.

Clubs took a rest for a league general bye on the King’s Birthday holiday weekend.

The Swans will be determined to end Ultima’s unbeaten streak of eight matches.

When these clubs met in round five it was the Kangaroos who dominated to score a 112-50 victory at Ultima.

Before the break, Moulamein scored a 72-58 win at Hay.

Best for the Swans that day were Will Gibson, Cody Storm, Eddy Schifferle and Luke Shannon.

A Moulamein attack that includes Andy Silva, Daniel Aarsman, Khy Stovell and Blake Azzopardi will test the Roos all match.

Ultima was given a score in the round eight match at Macorna but found a way to record an 85-70 victory.

In-form players for the Kangaroos include Caillum Brady, Luke Doolan, Darcy Farrell and Kyle Symons.

Others to watch for Ultima include Mitch and Tyler Makepeace, Jayden Kiel, Thomas Bull and Luke Doolan.

Hay takes on Wandella.

In round five the Hay Lions clawed their way to a 56-48 win on Wandella’s ground.

Key players for Hay include ruckman James Moran, rover Fergus Cattanach, Brad Pocock and Joel Crocker in defence, Dom Booth in the centre, Ken Jubb and Declan Watson in attack.

The Bombers from Wandella will be fired up after a 67-71 loss to Murrabit in round eight.

Wandella will look for big games from the likes of Russell Rich in the centre, Adam Ward, Jayden Crellin, Shannon Burton, Ryan Lancaster and Jarred Schiltz.

After breaking its winless run, Murrabit is back home to take on Macorna.

The previous meeting between these clubs ended in an 85-point win for Macorna at home.

The inclusion of Sydney Swans great Josh Kennedy through the Carlton Draft played a big part in Murrabit beating Wandella.

Best in a long-awaited for the Blues included Dustin Blake, Michael Crossett, Sean Gillen and Nathan O’Toole.

Murrabit still has former Brisbane Lions and Essendon forward Damian Cupido leading the attack.

Best for Macorna in their clash with Ultima were Nick Ingleton, Grady Smith, Toby and Sam Whinfield.

The Tigers’ line-up to face the Blues includes Alex Ingleton, Lachlan Ritchie, Alex Kirby, Jack Featherby and Wayne Mitrovic.