Australian Football

Newcomb

Despite its formidable recent record, the Newcomb Power Football Club commenced the 2008 season harbouring genuine fears over its short term survival prospects. Required by the league to field teams each week at both senior and reserve grade level, the Power’s vastly reduced playing stocks rendered this extremely problematical, and arguably presented an even greater challenge to the club than its three recent senior grand finals.

Two of those grand finals - against Torquay in 2005 and Ocean Grove two years later - were won, with Torquay snatching a narrow triumph in the intervening match. The Power’s 2007 flag was their sixth, making them the Bellarine Football League’s third most successful club.

Newcomb was a member of the BFL from the start, but the team took a while to find its feet. Known at the time as the Dinosaurs, they first reached a grand final in 1979, but lost to Leopold by 9 points. This proved to be the first of four successive grand final appearances, with those of 1980 and 1981 against Portarlington and 1982 against Torquay producing victories.

Newcomb’s next flag-deciding match in 1986 was one to forget as an unbeaten Torquay surged to a record breaking 111 point win. Two years later amends were made with a hard fought 14.7 (91) to 11.12 (78) grand final defeat of Drysdale.

Over the past decade or so the Power's fortunes have nosedived with wins almost as scarce as hen's teeth. In 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016 they lost all 18 matches contested for the year. The 2017 season was only marginally better as it yielded just a solitary win plus a draw, which nevertheless was good enough to avoid the wooden spoon by one place. They returned to what is worryingly becoming their customary position of last in 2018 when they only managed a couple of wins from 18 matches.