Robert "Fats" Gronow

The Melbourne University Water Polo Club mourns the sad passing of Victorian water polo icon Robert “Fats” Gronow. Robert represented the University of Melbourne at a number of Intervarsity Championships and went on to make a major contribution to water polo as President of Victorian Water Polo and as a Board Member of Water Polo Australia.

Our condolences and thoughts are with his three children Christopher, Alexandra and Matthew, who like their father were all representatives of the Melbourne University Water Polo Club.

2013 Australian University Games Melbourne University Women's Team

The Australian University Games is the pinnacle of any university student’s athletic career, surpassing the likes of the World University Games thanks to the six days of fun loving turmoil, team bonding and character building that makes up the Australian University Games that was held in the Gold Coast this year.

Defined by its spectacular beaches, hinterland ranges, forests, waterways and vibrant communities, the Gold Coast is apparently an outstanding global city. Our players however didn’t experience any of these attractions during their stay, instead choosing to proudly represent the University of Melbourne in a week long water polo tournament.

Men’s Team Report

The men’s team were given a tough task from day one, with a rematch of last year’s Bronze medal game against the University of New South Wales (“UNSW”) to open their week of competition. Melbourne University held a strong lead for most of the game; however UNSW had a number of strong attacks which narrowed the margin late in the game. Despite these attempts by UNSW, the Melbourne University Men’s team stayed strong and defeated UNSW 10 goals to 7.

The following Men’s Division 1 Tournament game for the Melbourne University Men’s Team was held in the afternoon of the first day and presented the Melbourne University Team with yet another strong opponent – Sydney University. Last years AUG Men’s Water Polo Champions, and a constant force within the AUG Division 1 Men’s Competition, Sydney University came well prepared, however thanks to a number of quick goals being scored in the first half by Melbourne University, we were able to hold the lead until the final siren winning 8 goals to 5. A special mention must go out to Daniel Zanin who scored 3 superb goals, assisted by his team mates including Victorian Tigers National League Captain James Woods.

Day two of the Men’s Division 1 Tournament saw the men face off against a stacked team of World University Games team members in the University of Western Australia’s (“UWA”) Men’s Team. When we had thought we’d defeated two of the top teams in the competition, the men were in for a tough game. UWA’s outside shooters penetrated the cage repeatedly and we were defeated 11 goals to 6. UWA would go on to be 2013’s AUG Men’s Water Polo Champions.

The struggles continued in the afternoon against the University of Technology Sydney (“UTS”) Division 1 Men’s Team which came into the competition with a number of National League players. Solid defence held Melbourne University to just 3 goals for the game, leading to Melbourne University going down to UTS 8 goals to 3.

Day three of the Men’s Division 1 Tournament saw Melbourne University victorious once again in both their round games against the University of Newcastle (“NCLE”) and fellow Victorian’s Monash University. Given the results, Melbourne University were to have a rematch against UWA in the semi finals. This match was closer than the first; however UWA showed that they were here for the Gold medal, going through to the Gold Medal Final by defeating Melbourne University 8 goals to 5.

An upset in the other semi final saw Sydney University defeat UTS, leaving Melbourne with a tough task against UTS to win Bronze. Despite outside shots and outstanding individual efforts from Josh Barrington, Melbourne University went down 11 goals to 5.

With higher competition standards than last year, Melbourne deservedly finished 4th and higher than any other Victorian Universities. Congratulations to James Woods for being named in the Tournament’s Green and Gold Team, with special mention to Josh Barrington whose performance was outstanding all week.

Women’s Team Report

The opening game of the 2013 Australian University Games Division 1 Women’s Water Polo Tournament saw our Melbourne University Women’s team face fellow Victorians Monash University. In what is always a hard fought encounter, Ellie Stott proved that she would be a force to reckon with for the tournament and helping lead the Melbourne University Women’s Team to their first victory of the tournament in their first game defeating Monash University 6 goals to 2 in a stellar start to the competition.

In their second game of the Women’s Division 1 Tournament, Melbourne University came head to head with last year’s National Champions, Sydney University. Leading into half time Melbourne University were playing well until Sydney University decided to take their best player out of the goals and put her in the field. Once again Ellie Stott showed the Sydney University girls how to play water polo and American recruit goalkeeper Jessie “OJ” Sinkula snapped up the attempts at goal from the Sydney University Australian representative players. After a strong second half by Sydney University, Melbourne University went down 9 goals to 4 in one of the closest fought games against Sydney in many years.

Day two of the Women’s Division 1 Tournament saw Melbourne University narrowly defeat University of Western Australia’s (“UWA”) Women’s Team 4 goals to 2. Jessie “OJ” Sinkula was again outstanding in the goals, keeping the opposition to only 2 goals for the entire game, aided by a strong team defence.

The games to follow put our Women’s team up against two strong teams from Macquarie University and the University of Technology Sydney (“UTS”). Unfortunately our women’s team were defeated in both games with a margin no greater than four goals – a real testimony to the teams strong press defence and continuously threatening offence.

Melbourne University finished the Women’s Division 1 Tournament games on a high, comfortably defeating the University of Newcastle (“NCLE”) and putting the Melbourne University Women’s Team in the position to defeat the University of New South Wales (“UNSW”) and grab a spot in the semi-finals. UNSW however, with their four National League players, decided they belonged in the semi finals, pulling away to secure the win and their spot in the semi’s 11 goals to 6. Ellie Stott was once again the shining light for Melbourne University Women’s team scoring all six goals.

The 5th and 6th play off was a battle against UWA. The tight game earlier in the week was repeated with neither team wanting to fall further down the ladder for the final placing. Melbourne fought hard the entire game, but were fatigued from the weeks on and off field performances and UWA were victorious 5 goals to 4.

Congratulations go to Ellie “Dream Girl” Stott who was named in the Tournament’s Green and Gold team. Each player in the women’s team stepped up to create a fantastic team who no one could underestimate. The girls also improved on last year’s 9th place with their 6th place final standing.

Special thanks to Team Manager Matthew Keen for organising another flawless Uni Games. Without Matt’s many hours put in to the organisation of both teams these games would not have been such a success.

Furthermore, The University of Melbourne won the Overall National Champions title to top off a fantastic week of water polo and the continuation of MUPolo games traditions.

The Melbourne University Water Polo Club Women’s State League 2 team are scheduled to play Footscray at 8:45pm in the MSAC Outdoor Pool 2 for round 3 of the 2013 Water Polo Victoria WSL2 State Championship Competition

What better way to celebrate the end of the 2013 Water Polo Victoria Winter Competition (and the end of the Semester 1 exam period) then getting your team mates back together and creating a trivia team to dominate at the MUPolo Trivia Night!

Come on down to Honey Bar and Restaurant at 7pm on Wednesday the 26th of June 2013 for a fun and social trivia night with players and club members of the Melbourne University Water Polo Club!

Food Deals:
$12 Burgers, Parmas and Fish & Chips
$15 Ribs, Wings and Rings

Drink Deals:
$5 Spirits, Wines and Coronas

The 2013 Water Polo Victoria Winter Competition is scheduled to commence on Tuesday the 16th of April 2013 and will run for 9 rounds with finals schedule for the last week of June as outlined in the table below:

The Men’s & Women’s team will play on the following evenings between the time of 6:30pm and 9:30pm:

• Tuesday – WSL1, WSL2, WSL3
• Wednesday – MSL1, MSL2, MSL4
• Thursday – MSL1, MSL2, MSL3, MSL5

Team entries are due shortly and the Melbourne University Water Polo Club will endeavour to enter teams in the Women’s State League 1, 2 & 3 competitions as well as the Men’s State League 2, 3, 4 & 5 competitions (pending player interest).

To indicate your interest in the 2013 WPV Winter Competition please complete the Player Interest Form and we will endeavour to place you in your desired team.

Women’s Bathers = $80

If you would like a pair please fill out the online order form here.

We will confirm your order and forward an invoice to you once your order has been placed.

This year the MUPolo Pub Golf Tournament will be held on Friday the 25th of May with the round officially teeing off at 7:30pm at the Queensberry Hotel and kicking well onto the evening. So dig out your golfing attire and warm up your drinking arm for what is sure to be a great night!

List of pubs we will be visiting and times:

1. 7:30pm Queensberry Hotel
2. 8:20pm Prince Alfred Hotel
3. 9:30pm The Clyde Hotel
4. 10:50pm Pugg Mahones

And so you are fully prepared to the evening make sure you have a read over the Rules:

1. Each player must choose & consume ONE drink in each pub/club/hotel. Points are only scored for this ONE drink (except where penalties apply).
2. The winner shall be the player with the LEAST NUMBER OF POINTS at the end of the ninth hole.
3. Drinking is considered finishing a drink in one, two, or three, etc. swallows. A drink involves placing the glass to your mouth, tipping, & swallowing. You may not place the glass to your mouth & stop the tipping or swallowing motion – that’s cheating. See penalties below.
4. A referee is appointed for each game. The referee is timekeeper, judge, & the final decision-maker in all disputes. The referees’ decision is final.
5. Competitors are allowed 30 minutes to complete each hole. Failure to complete your drink in this time is covered in the penalties below. Should time be running out the referee may further limit the time allowed at each hole.
6. Each player is responsible for maintaining their own scorecard. At the start of the match competitors are allocated partners with whom they will play the round. It is each player’s responsibility to ensure their partner’s score is correctly kept. In addition, at each hole players must declare their score to the referee who is responsible for maintaining the leader board. Fudging yours or your partner’s scorecards is cheating – penalties will be strictly enforced.
7. All points are scored based on full strength (4.5 – 5.5 %) & full sized 550ml beers/ciders.

We will be meeting at the Queensberry from 6:30pm for dinner, with tee off at 7:30pm. Hope to see you all there!

Check out the facebook event page for more information!

1. Ben Rees
2. Ben Yeo
3. Brett Laing
4. Courtney Date
5. David Danne
6. David Hallamore
7. Matthew Keen
8. Nathan Wawryk
9. Rainer Anderson (G)
10. Scott Modra

MSL2 Blacks

1. Alastair Keen
2. Alex Morse
3. Ben Zanin
4. Charles Hopkins
5. James Kiel
6. Michael Zippel
7. Nick Roffey
8. Ryan Morath (G)
9. Ryan Tan
10. Tom Scodellaro
11. William Gorman
12. Yianni Katiforis

MSL4 Blues

1. Alex Gibson
2. Alex Neal
3. Brian Adamson (G)
4. David Gibson
5. David Kellam
6. Hayden Burch
7. Hugh Wilson
8. Johan Ahlberg
9. Luke Southwell
10. Ian Stapleton

MSL4 Blacks

1. Andrew Lanarus
2. Ioannis Polygenis
3. Ken-Leon Yap
4. Khong Fwu Chin
5. Mark Hoffman
6. Mazen Nuwayhid
7. Myles Baiden Assan (G)
8. Nathan Stanley
9. Oliver Taylor
10. Will Colman

WSL2

1. Aimee Bradley
2. Briony Fowler
3. Clare O’Donnel
4. Jess Clark
5. Kat Moran
6. Kate Walker
7. Kate Bowring
8. Lara Thompson
9. Mhairi Roberts
10. Sarah Mander
11. Thao Phan

WSL3

1. Amy Van Stekelenberg
2. Alice D’Arcy
3. Alison Morin
4. Charlotte Anderson
5. Christin Quirk
6. Emma Smith
7. Hannah Kennish
8. Jenny Chen
9. Iris Marginean
10. Lisa Hulthén
11. Max Bergh
12. Renee O’Connor

Please note that these team lists have been chosen by a number of senior players from within the club, and the teams are in no way set and will most likely change as the season progresses.