Historic win for Coly Blues

By Rowan Frazer and Carl Chirgwin

Jun 18, 2025

Brett Deledio at Coleambally on the weekend.

Brett Deledio talking to some of the Coly juniors.

Brett Deledio talking to the Coleambally juniors.

With the introduction of Brett Deledio on the field on Saturday thanks to the Carlton Draft program, the Coleambally Football Netball Club stepped up.

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While it wasn’t a complete performance on-field for Deledio, who became injured, his presence and the excitement surrounding the club’s anniversary, meant the club had a stellar weekend.

The Coleambally seniors achieved a sweep across football and netball.

The 38 year-old Deledio was selected with the second pick by Coleambally Football Netball Club, who were invited to be part of the 2025 Carlton Draft - an initiative by beer brand Carlton Draught which gives community footy clubs the chance to draft an ex-AFL legend.

Deledio unfortunately suffered a quadriceps injury less than 15 minutes into the seniors match against The Rock Yerong Creek, which Coleambally president Justin Buchanan said was always a possibility.

Deledio was positioned between the forward flank and forward pocket, with his first touch getting the opening shot on goal for Coleambally which went through for a behind, before pulling his quad leading out from full forward taking a mark, hand balling off the shot on goal which went through for a point.

This spelled the end of the match for Deledio.

The seniors still rallied to won their match, 92 to 84 on a packed reunion weekend at Coleambally.

Before the match, Deledio said while he had some nerves, he was keen to get on the field.

“The nerves don’t leave you and there’s an air of expectation, that’s for sure.”

“I’ll certainly get out there. I’ve been keeping up with how the boys have been doing.

“I played a couple of games for Tongala last year, and this is my first game going back since then.

“I should be okay in that sense. I aim to just help play a role.

“I’m not sure if I’ll rip it to shreds, but hopefully, I can use some of my football IQ.”

When speaking about getting involved in the Carlton Draft with Coleambally and country football, Deledio said “country footy is the lifeblood of the sport”.

“There’s a lot happening in the city, don’t get me wrong, but the young boys and girls learning to pick up a footy right across the country is really important.

“My memories of growing up as a country boy are at the footy club, and at training on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“It is really tooting the horn for the footy heartland.

“Footy means so much to the smaller communities such as Coleambally and for myself, having played around Kyabram and Tongala.

“Don’t underestimate the power of the community. A lot of farmers count on the footy club, and a lot of the work goes unheard about.

“Me going to play one game isn’t a lot, but hopefully, I can show some of what footy is about.

“The 60th reunion for Coly is big and its always good to remember the history but also celebrate the present as well.”

The game of football has changed a lot since Deledio was a junior more than two decades ago, he said.

“The exposure is the biggest thing. The media and journalists, every person is across social media, everyone’s got an opinion.

“It’s very easy to get caught up in that and difficult to escape it nowadays.

“In terms of the game, the overall speed of the game, a change in contested one-on-ones and more team defences.

While he wasn’t able to stay fit and firing the whole game, Deledio was able to impart some of his football experience, nous and wisdom across the whole club.

The day was Coly’s first whitewash of all senior games in more than a decade.

The Blues won all Farrer League games of netball and football.

The senior footballers also celebrated milestones for Dean Bennett with 50, Darcy Mader with 100 and Tom Clark with 200 senior games.

Results from the weekend are as follows.