Jamie Parsons
Ivanhoe Roosters will celebrate the rare occasion of having both their men’s and women’s sides in the Proten Cup Grand Final for the second straight year.
Their women’s side, dubbed the ‘Hens’, will compete for the fourth year in succession, while the Roosters will enter their fourth Grand Final in five years. They are yet to taste success in either grade, but Saturday marks their best chance at their home ground, Sahara Oval.
Ivanhoe have hosted the Grand Final once before, in 2019, before the women’s competition was established. The premiers that day, Goolgowi Rabbitohs, will be their opponents this time around. With the Grand Final rarely appearing in Ivanhoe during the Group 17 days due to the distance required, this may very well be the Roosters first appearance in a home Grand Final.
They only appeared in Group 17 first grade deciders twice on record, in 1959 against Hay and 1987 against Hillston. Their one victory came in the 1976 reserve grade Grand Final, against Goolgowi, while they also finished runners-up in 1978 against Weethalle. 50 years later they get the opportunity to repeat that one premiership effort.
The 1976 side will be celebrated on Saturday, with descendants of the old side still playing in 2026. Long-time Ivanhoe president Mark Huntly will play his final game in a Grand Final at home in a tribute to his late father Terry Huntly, who played in the 1976 Grand Final.
Mark has played every season since the Roosters returned in 2018 and worked tirelessly to get the club back on the field. Along with the presidency, he has captained the Roosters on several occasions, joined the Proten Cup Board of Directors for numerous seasons, and has been selected for the Proten Cup representative side in 2018-19 and 2026.
Several other players have been through the ups and downs for the Roosters, including Thomas Lee, an inaugural 2018 Roosters player and now the women’s co-coach. Playing every season, he is now rewarded with two Grand Finals in one day.
Also from the 2018 side is current co-coach Jonno Hart, who also coached the women’s team in their first year and for several seasons afterwards. The Hens have been unfortunate victims of the Barellan Rams all-conquering threepeat, and been on the wrong end of the scoreline for three deciders in a row, but with a new team and with having been undefeated in 2026, one more effort could cap off an amazing season.
The Rabbitohs are no stranger to success, winning seven Group 17 First Grade premierships (1965-66, 1977, 1985, 1992 and 2004-05), and winning the second Proten Cup premiership in 2019 in an undefeated season. But they haven’t appeared in a Grand Final since 2021, after dominating the early seasons they missed the finals in 2022, and 2024-25.
Through those lean years a few committed players have carried them through, turning up each week to keep the club going, not least of which are twins Henry and Ollie Taylor, now in their sixth season at the club. The two have been the standout players in recent years, playing all over the park, volunteering off the field and even backing up for other clubs when short.
Former coach Ben Marks has returned to the field this season for the first time in nine years and his return is well deserved after coaching the club in 2024-25 often short on players. Returning every season from the 2019 side is Justin Armstrong, who has become one of the Rabbitohs’ most loyal clubman, having a hand in everything off the field including administration work, scorer’s desk duty and LeagueSafe trainer for the women’s side.
Also returning from 2019 is former president Alex Brown, who recently celebrated 50 games for the club, props Anthony Star and Jake Melvin, and halves Brad Turner and Danny Graham. Founder of the competition, Geoff Hale, will be there doing as much as he always has, after being crowned the first life member of the competition last season.
Rankins Springs Dragons are the final club to appear on Grand Final day, with their women’s side making their first decider since 2021 in the 100th year of the club’s history.
The Dragons have had an up-and-down year, with the men’s team losing three close games to just miss out on the finals. The girls side pulled off a big 16-0 victory over Goolgowi in the Preliminary Final, a great result after turning up to several games short of players.
A core squad of players have kept the ‘Dragonettes’ going over the past five seasons, after finishing last in 2023, moving up to a Minor Semi-final in 2024, a Preliminary Final in 2025 and now a Grand Final. They are a great example of a young team sticking together and building, with co-coaches Brooke Streat and Luke Tuckett leading the way. Brooke along with current treasurer Tash Tuckett, Cathy Soligo, Natalie Gibbs, Georgia West, Keejana Zhang-MacKellar and Shae MacKellar have been at the club every year since 2022, with only Natalie and Keejana remaining from the Grand Final side in 2021.
Click here for the Proten Cup Grand Final.
