Family Day update by Grunta
The 2026 Eastern Warriors Family Day (also known as Scorer/Goal Umpire/Water Runner Recruitment Day took place on Saturday afternoon and Jez Bunn could not have been happier with the weather.
It was encouraging to see a big turnout including plenty of new members, some kids, a coupla dogs and 16 umpires! It looked like the umpire bus on the way to the MCG broke down outside Edinburgh Reserve and we were the benefactors. Or maybe word got out about the Warriors ill discipline and reinforcements were brought in.
Seriously, thanks to Johnny Huang and the Australian Defence Force we were treated to a full complement of field umpires, boundary and goal umpires for our Mens and Womens intraclub games. Also special mention for Glenn who came from Gippsland a specialist goal umpire to do our game.
After a slow start and a rocket from Willo about getting fair dinkum, teams were split into Black and Gold like the Temu alternative to AFL players. With 13 a side there was plenty of room on the field, and no line markings meant a bit of confusion in the middle that 27 umpires battled to sort out.
But away we went and the Black team quickly established dominance with speedy transitions down the wing. A few father-sons sprinkled in with the old farts with James, Kaine and Aston taking the field. However, the young bucks clashed accidentally in the first few minutes of the game, and newly-appointed 50s co-coach Kaine Johnston came off the field significantly worse for wear. Update on Kaine later.
New player Mick Farah got amongst the goals early, kicking three in the first half as a livewire forward. My highlight of the day though was when I got a free for a push in the back (totally legit), and Mick (who I went to school with) started yapping about how soft I was, so one of the 47 umpires paid a 50 for abuse!! Got to love having 64 umpires in an intraclub praccy match!
At half time the score was 8.3.51 Black to 2.10.22 Gold. As Prez Gez of the Gold team pointed out, we had more scoring shots, so we were in it. After half time, magnets (and teams) were reshuffled and the game started to even up, leading into a final quarter thriller with Gold coming hard to almost clinch victory with the ball locked into the forward half for the last few minutes, but unable to hit the scoreboard, with Black sealing the win.
The Captain Mako Fish’n’Chips Captain’s Moment was Black captain Jeff, who has been in fine form this pre-season, sneaking forward to snag what proved to be the winning goal.
And the Big Mamma’s Pizza Play of the Day went to Clint who, as the only person at the Warriors capable of leaving the ground, soared high for a screamer to get the Blacks out of trouble. Special mention for Harley making a Warriors comeback in Gold and kicking a pearler of a snap from the boundary line that Eddie Betts would have been proud of.
The game was played in great spirit with no mouthing off at the umpires. I guess it helps when there are three umpires for every player and they are trained to shoot you.
The good news is there was only one injury from the hitout, but the bad news is it was a serious one. Kaine suffered a fracture to the face and we all wish him the very best for his recovery. Thinking of you mate!
Following the Mens, the Women played their intraclub to possibly the loudest crowd they’ve had, and put on an excellent show of non-contact, hard-running footy in the sun, with a few spills, lots of smiles and plenty of goals to keep the umpires busy. With five teams in the league this year, the Warriors women will get to test their skills against plenty of new players this season, an excellent endorsement of the non-contact format largely pioneered by the Warriors.
The canteen was humming and huge thanks to all who helped, particularly Flea, Claudia, Gez and Blake plus Marko for stocking up.
It was great to have so many on hand to watch and play the games and enjoy Family Day, including three generations with the Farahs bringing their kids and their parents (and we found out Mick’s mother-in-law is Renata’s cousin – small world at Edinburgh Reserve).
Jumper presentations have been deferred until selection night at training. To close out the day, we invited young Kingston Farah to draw the raffle and what do you know? He won two out of the three prizes and the other went to Flea of course. The Eastern Warriors Integrity Unit hasn’t been this busy since Bomber’s footy tipping scam of 2025.
Thanks to everyone who came and contributed to a great vibe, especially the 173 umpires. Go Warriors!
