October 16, 2026
Bob Belle reunited with paramedic Greg Seiz and lifeguard Deb Seller at Kardinia Aquatic Centre. (Ivan Kemp)
Bob says thanks By Jena Carr Geelong’s Bob Belle is lucky to be alive after his heart stopped while swimming on two separate occasions. The 79-year-old reunited with the lifeguard and paramedics who saved his life twice at Kardinia Aquatic Centre to highlight the importance of early intervention in cardiac arrest during Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) Shocktober campaign. Mr Belle went into cardiac arrest once in 2023 and again in June this year, with his heart stopping while swimming at the aquatic centre during both incidents. “I’m unbelievably grateful to everyone
who’s been involved in my incidents,” he said. “In both cases, I can’t really recall a great deal about what happened after I jumped into the water as it all became a bit of a blur. “I can remember certain things being called out, like ‘hang in there, Bob’, and a bit about the ambulance, and the next thing I remember is being in hospital and getting resuscitated.” Lifeguard Deb Seller began the first steps of saving Mr Belle’s life during both incidents, starting CPR and delivering shocks from an automated external defibrillator (AED) before paramedics arrived. “He was going blue, and I knew he had a
big problem, so I thought, I’m not stuffing around doing breaths; I’m just starting compressions to get the blood to his brain,” she said. “When it happened again this year, I was just thinking, ‘I hope it’s not Bob’, and I was more worried the second time. “I know the rates of someone coming back after having a heart attack or a medical episode are very rare and the numbers are small, so to have Bob come back twice, I’m very grateful.” AV Senior Team Manager Greg Seiz was one of the paramedics who attended Mr Belle’s cardiac arrest in June this year. He said that every minute that a patient goes without CPR reduced the chance of
cardiac arrest survival by 10 per cent, and that early intervention was crucial. “Anyone can help save a life, so you don’t need to be healthcare-trained or a paramedic; everyday community members can assist as every minute matters,” he said. “When you’ve got trained lifeguards like Deb who are first-aid skilled with an AED on scene, you know when you arrive that we’re going to be able to give patients like Bob every chance of survival.” Twenty-one people suffer a cardiac arrest across the state every day, with only one in 10 surviving, according to AV. Visit ambulance.vic.gov.au/shocktober for more information.
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Liberal plan to boost CBD Moving the Moorabool Street bus interchange to Geelong Railway Station is among a raft of changes to the city’s CBD proposed by the state opposition if it wins November’s election. A Liberal government will commit $800,000 to remove the problematic Moorabool Street interchange and plans to bring Market Square Shopping Centre back to life by funding a business case for its redevelopment. The bus interchange has been a hotspot for antisocial behaviour and violent crime and a Liberal government would restore the streetscape and support a free City Circle
shuttle to ensure there is no disruption to the service. The City of Greater Geelong has prepared a draft masterplan to transform the Market Square site into a mixed-use precinct of housing, retail, hospitality and civic space. The shopping centre has seen a mass exodus of tennants in recent years, including Faull’s Shoes, which closed its doors in August after spending 17 years at Market Square. The business case was developed in partnership with the Victorian Planning Authority and will assess the options
for redeveloping Market Square and determine the costs, benefits, and jobs the project would deliver. “While Labor has allowed the heart of Geelong’s CBD to deteriorate, Jess Wilson and the Liberal team refuse to accept neglect as normal and decline as inevitable,” Shadow Minister for Local Government and Small Business Bev McArthur said. “This commitment is backed by strong support from local business groups, traders and the broader community, and it will give Geelong a credible plan to unlock significant private investment and restore
Geelong’s vibrancy.” “I’m out here speaking to locals everyday about what they need, and what matters most to them in their community,” Liberal candidate for Geelong Andy Pobjoy said. “This announcement proves that we are listening and taking action to clean up Geelong’s CBD.” “Geelong’s CBD is being choked by crime and empty shopfronts,” Shadow Minister for Planning David Southwick said. “Real change needs a real plan, and this plan will make Geelong a vibrant city with a beating heart once again.”
Queenscliffe Literary Festival’s Isabelle Tolhurst, Mauld Lamerque and Jacqui de Kievit (standing), Monica Clemow, Kirsty Wilson, Ginny Todd, Kez Fuller and Pauline Nunan. (Ivan Kemp) 578549 02
Literary festival enters 12th year By Jena Carr
Association of Bengalis in Geelong’s Durga Puja is free open to the whole community. (Supplied)
Coming together for Durga Pujad festival By Jena Carr A Bengali festival will bring community and cultures together in Geelong for a day of music, dance, and food. Association of Bengalis in Geelong (ABiG) will host the Hindu festival Durga Puja at Lara Hall on Saturday 17 October for a day of culture, diversity and togetherness. Cultural secretary Arnab Dasgupta said Durga Puja celebrates the victory of good over evil while worshiping Maa Durga, the supreme Hindu goddess of Shakti (cosmic energy).
“It brings together people from various communities and cultures with food, music and so on,” he said. “We would love people to come along and spend time with us to learn about our culture and traditions. “We really try to celebrate in a way that brings the community together, while highlighting what it means to have the triumph of good over evil.” Mr Dasgupta said that Durga Puja was not only an important cultural and spiritual celebration for ABiG, but also an opportunity to share their traditions with
the wider Greater Geelong community. “Everyone is welcome to come and celebrate Durga Puja with us and enjoy the amazing food and culture,” he said. “Through this celebration, we hope to bring people together, build meaningful connections, encourage greater cultural understanding and contribute to the rich multicultural character of our region.” The family-friendly event will run from 8am and is open to everyone across the Greater Geelong community, featuring traditional Durga Puja rituals alongside cultural activities.
Concrete staircase pillars to be removed from Eastern Beach Geelong council is removing two concrete pillars from a nearly century-old staircase after structural concerns were raised. The City of Greater Geelong has begun works to remove the pillars from the Eastern Beach Grand Staircase to ensure community safety. City Infrastructure executive director James Stirton said the staircase was built in 1929 and was nearly 100 years old. “In July, we notified the community of concerns around the Eastern Beach Grand Staircase...and we flagged the potential
removal of the two pillars most severely affected,” he said. “Following further analysis and discussions with Heritage Victoria, those pillars are now being removed due to structural concerns.” Mr Stirton said the staircase was one of Greater Geelong’s most loved landmarks, but that public safety remained a primary consideration. “The rest of the staircase is still safe to use for now, and temporary safety fencing will remain in place,” he said.
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“We are continuing to work with experts on the planning, detailed design, heritage requirements, and permit process for the renewal of the grand staircase.” Independent engineers found during inspections earlier this year that some parts of the original concrete along the staircase had deteriorated, despite regular maintenance. Inspections identified structural issues with some concrete pillars that support lights and handrails, and council will continue to monitor the staircase to ensure its future use.
Queenscliffe Literary Festival will kick off its 12th year this weekend, with an abundance of storytellers, authors and performers coming to the Bellarine. This year’s program features many events from Friday 16 October to 25 October, including panel discussions, author talks and literary activities. Festival manager Isabelle Tolhurst said an interactive session from Australian Children’s Laureate Andy Griffiths and a special concert from STELLA: A New Australian Musical were among the festival’s highlights. “This year we’re really thrilled to have two weekends full of authors, storytellers, politicians, and performers,” she said. “We’re also doing a Book Doof for the first time, which is silent reading or quiet activities with an ambient DJ. “So, there’s a really broad range of events, styles, mediums, themes, authors and storytellers that we’re thrilled to bring to the region. “There is something for everyone, and we encourage people to hone in on their curiosity and get involved in the Queenscliff Literary Festival for 2026.” Program director Elizabeth McCarthy said the festival is a celebration of community and sharing ideas. “It is a place to immerse yourself in stories and perspectives, discover something unexpected and perhaps see the world a little differently,” she said. “Festivals create space for different perspectives and remind us of the extraordinary power of stories to illuminate, challenge and bring us closer to one another.” Visit Queenscliffe Literary Festival’s website for more information and to secure tickets.
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Overdose deaths increase By Nick Wilson, AAP Greater Geelong emerged as the local government area with the highest number of fatal overdoses after the Coroners Court heard that 632 Victorians died from drug overdoses in 2025. Greater Geelong recorded 45 deaths over the year, overtaking Melbourne, which recorded 41 fatal overdoses, for the first time on record. The statewide findings revealed the 632 lives lost was the highest in the past decade for overdose deaths. It more than doubled the 291 road deaths in 2025, according to Transport Accident Commis-
sion figures, for the second year running. That Coroners Court report suggests regional support services, including harm reduction initiatives, are in dire need of greater funding, Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association interim chief executive Scott Drummond told AAP. It follows calls from Victorian Coroner Simon McGregor for a safe injecting room in the area following the overdose death of a woman in Geelong in 2025. The 33-year-old, referred to as BP in the coroner’s report in August, was found unresponsive in her St Albans Park bedroom with a cocktail of drugs in her system. Coroner McGregor said the woman
had a long history of drug use, including heroin, and that local harm reduction services were needed to combat rising heroin overdoses. “I am not the first Victorian Coroner to have raised these concerns,” he wrote in his findings. Mr Drummond argued Wednesday’s findings should be a “wake-up” call to policymakers, adding treatment providers had been calling out for support. Without an increase in harm-reduction services, including medically supervised injection rooms, and treatment places, overdose deaths will continue to climb, he said.
Work starts on pothole project
Jam for Refugees plays its final note By Jena Carr
Jam for Refugees is the brainchild of Dr Terry Norman, but the event is coming to an end after nine years. (Ivan Kemp) 583635 04
which could be easy to ignore...but there are a lot of people in Geelong who are working to help refugees.” The event will showcase performances from many Geelong musicians and include short talks from people working with refugees, along with contributions from
refugees and former refugees sharing their stories. Entry is by donation, with all funds raised going directly to the Combined Refugee Action Group of Geelong and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Work to fix potholes on roads across Greater Geelong and the Bellarine has begun and is on track to finish by June next year. The state government will target key roads across the south-west, including Princes Highway West, Hamilton Highway, Barwon Heads Road, Lower Duneed Road, and Foxhow Road. Member for Geelong Christine Couzens said works were ramping up to clean up Greater Geelong’s roadsides and fix 500,000 potholes. “More than 100,000 potholes are already fixed, and we’re doubling the length of road getting repairs,” she said. Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant said crews would repair roads, mow grass, remove rubbish and clean graffiti across the region. “We’re delivering record funding for our roads, so locals and visitors can travel safely across the Bellarine and throughout Victoria,” she said. Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney said more than 100,000 potholes have been repaired since 1 July and that people deserve safer roads. “These works are thanks to our record $1.4 billion investment in road maintenance,” she said. Minister for Roads and Road Safety Paul Hamer said crews would repair 6.8 million square metres of road at more than 1000 projects across the state. “Our road repair blitz is doubling the number of potholes filled and doubling the length of road repaired,” he said. Crews will also inspect thousands of bridges and maintain hundreds of traffic lights and electronic road signs, with more crews visible as the weather warms up.
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Jam for Refugees will celebrate its last-ever concert in Geelong this weekend, with the annual event wrapping up after nine years. All Saints Anglican Parish of Newtown and Geelong West will host the eight-anda-half-hour concert, made up of 30-minute sessions, from 11am on Saturday 17 October. Event organiser Dr Terry Norman said he felt like it was time to “call it quits” but encouraged everyone to come along to enjoy the event’s final year. “We don’t expect people to come along all day, so our saying is; come when you can and leave when you must,” he said. “Anyone who’s interested in music or wishes to support refugees is more than welcome to come along to the event and... people can look forward to a very highclass concert.” Dr Norman said the event aimed to raise money and build awareness of the challenges refugees face. “All we can do is just hope that in our little corner of the world, we can do something to alleviate the problems of some people,” he said. “The refugee problem is something
“I don’t want to be back having conversations on this topic next year when (annual overdose deaths are) approaching or over 700,” he said. The increase in overdose fatalities continues a decade-long trend, but the latest figures point to some changes in drug type, reasons for consumption and demographics. Relative to alcohol and pharmaceuticals, illicit substances are playing an increasingly large role in contributing to fatal overdoses in Victoria. Illegal drugs, notably heroin, methamphetamine and GHB, contributed to 66.9 per cent of overdose deaths in 2025.
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Call for more direct buses Almost two-thirds of respondents to a bus network survey said they were willing to walk further to a bus stop if it meant a more direct service to their destination. Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant announced the findings of a comprehensive review of the local bus networks, which captured feedback on how people currently use their local services and on future bus connections. The survey received 1668 responses from the Bellarine Peninsula with 61 per cent saying they were willing to walk a bit further for a direct service. Among the key findings were that residents want more-frequent bus ser-
vices and better connections with V/Line trains, ferries and Avalon Airport. The survey revealed that there was a growing need for improved coverage for new and growing estates, more services in communities with limited coverage, and more direct journeys across the network. The most popular routes requested to be included in the bus network were Drysdale to Ocean Grove, Torquay to Ocean Grove, Leopold to Waurn Ponds, and Charlemont to Waurn Ponds. The 2026/27 Victorian Budget funded a new cross-Bellarine bus service that connects Drysdale and Ocean Grove,
with planning now underway. The new route was developed to provide a more direct and convenient connection to jobs, education, shops and essential services without requiring passengers to travel via Geelong or Leopold. “We know how important it is for Bellarine residents to have transport options that work for them, whether they’re commuting, heading to school or running everyday errands,” Ms Marchant said. “We’re focused on delivering practical improvements that make bus travel a more convenient and accessible choice for the local community.” Survey respondents were split on
whether they preferred a direct service that takes longer or a faster journey that involved changing buses. Across the Geelong region, services to and from Armstrong Creek, Charlemont and Torquay have expanded, while a new seven-day service now connects Lara Station with Avalon Airport and surrounding employment precincts. The state government said it had redesigned or strengthened more than 144 bus networks across the state since the Bus Plan review and delivered more than 16,000 additional services every week. The full summary report is available at engage.vic.gov.au/geelong-bus
The Hercules was popular with spectators at the 2025 airshow. (Ivan Kemp)
Avalon airshow shifts to February Special Olympics athlete ambassador Kasey Thomson and Victoria Police Senior Constable Dee Kuchenmeister will participate in Geelong’s LETR Final Leg for Special Olympics. (Ivan Kemp) 584231 09
Shining a light on the Special Olympics By Jena Carr Police and Special Olympics athletes will come together to showcase inclusion and community support during a Geelong run. The Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR) will host a Final Leg for Special Olympics event in Geelong on Saturday 17 October. LETR partnership director Matt Volk is the team captain for the final eight series of torch runs around the country and said the Geelong event would feature a “beautiful route”. “Police officers, not just locally but
around the world, carry the Olympic-style torch, and it’s known as the Flame of Hope,” he said. “We’re starting at the Buoys Sculpture at Steam Packet Gardens and running along the water’s edge before ending up at Pavilion Geelong.” Mr Volk said he looked forward to Special Olympics Barwon athletes and police officers coming together in Geelong. “It’s an exciting opportunity to show the community what support, inclusion and encouragement looks like, and we just really want to showcase these athletes,” he said.
“We’ve got torch runners from across the country and New Zealand that are coming together in Geelong to take part in what is one of the biggest torch runs for the final leg series.” The Geelong event will occur ahead of this year’s Special Olympics Australia National Games in Melbourne from 19 to 23 October, which is held every four years. Visit vic.torchrun.org.au/events/geelong-2026-australian-national-games-final-leg for more information or to participate in Geelong’s LETR Final Leg for Special Olympics.
A helping hand for our local volunteer emergency services Seven Bellarine Peninsula, six Surf Coast and two Geelong volunteer emergency services organisations will share in $31 million from the state government. CFA’s Corio Brigade will receive $2260 through the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program, alongside $11,589.17 for VICSES Geelong to help the organisations purchase operational equipment. Funding for Torquay’s services included $543,000 for the brigade’s vehicles and appliances, and $64,660 for VICSES’ vehicles, appliances, minor facility improvements and operational equipment. Torquay Surf Lifesaving Club received $88,202 for operational equipment and mi-
nor facility improvements, while Torquay Marine Rescue Service will receive $60,000 for vehicles, appliances and vessels. Funding will also be delivered to Jan Juc Surf Life Saving Club ($11,933) for operational equipment and Anglesea Surf Life Saving Club ($29,026) for minor facility improvements. Barwon Heads Fire Brigade will receive $26,700 to replace the station’s flooring, while Queenscliff Fire Brigade will receive $76,400 for a field command vehicle. Bellarine VICSES was allocated $3761 for defibrillators for two of its vehicles, and Barwon Heads 13th Beach Surf Lifesaving Club was given $69,766 for facility upgrade
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works. Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club will receive $84,959 for a CAN-AM ATV and required accessories, while Ocean Grove Coast Watch Radio and Marine Rescue Squad get $24,009 for a shed extension and carport. Queenscliff Coast Guard will be better equipped to navigate rough seas with $80,000 for a 10-metre Naiad Hardtop heavy-duty rigid inflatable boat. “I’m proud to support our local emergency services volunteers and the vital work they do to keep our communities safe,” said Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant.
Geelong will again host the Avalon Australian International Airshow in 2027, earlier than previous years to avoid clashing with Easter, the AFL season and the Formula One grand prix. The region has hosted Australia’s biggest airshow for more than 30 years and will be held from 23 to 28 February next year. The biennial Avalon Airshow is a major economic contributor to the region. Independent analysis of the 2025 event found it generated $31.85 million in direct economic impact for Geelong. City of Greater Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj made the announcement on Monday 12 October. “The Avalon Airshow is one of Geelong’s major events and we are proud to welcome it back to Avalon Airport every two years,” he said. “It is an event that puts Geelong on the world stage, bringing visitors, industry and investment to our region while providing opportunities for local businesses to benefit from the significant activity it generates.” Airshow organiser and AMDA Foundation chief executive Justin Giddings, said Geelong’s longstanding connection with the event was an important part of its success. “Avalon has been home to the airshow since 1992, and we know just how much Geelong and the broader region have to offer visitors,” he said. “The airshow brings hundreds of thousands of people to the region, and we want to encourage visitors to stay longer, explore further and experience the incredible restaurants, wineries, tourism attractions and regional destinations on our doorstep.” Next year participating businesses will be promoted through Avalon Airshow channels and more information can be found at airshow.com.au
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HMS Gheringhap to be removed
A crowd of more than 400 took part in Serenity in the Stadium at GMHBA Stadium. (Pam Hutchinson Photography)
Yoga mats at K-Park Footy boots were swapped for yoga mats at GMHBA Stadium on Sunday 11 October. More than 400 people covered the turf at for the third Serenity in the Stadium, a guided yoga, movement and mindfulness session held during Mental Health Month. Workplace teams, families and community members of all ages and abilities took part in the one-hour Read the Play event. Younger participants were also part of the morning, with more than 25 children joining the Geelong Venom Kids Hub.
The Wellbeing Zone was another highlight, with so many participants staying after yoga to enjoy time with friends, family and colleagues. Read the Play General Manager and event founder Michelle Gerdtz said the morning showed how much the event had become part of Geelong’s calendar. “Sunday was a really special morning,” she said. “Seeing hundreds of people side by side on the turf, from workplace teams to families and friends, all there for the same reason, is exactly what we hoped
Serenity in the Stadium would become when we started it in 2024. “Being active and feeling connected to others are two of the best things we can do for our wellbeing. We’re so grateful to our partners, our volunteers and everyone who rolled out a mat.” Every ticket purchased supported Read the Play and Active Geelong, funding youth mental health and movement across Geelong. Serenity in the Stadium is a Read the Play event, supported by Major Partner Plan Group.
A historical Geelong fishing boat will be removed from Western Beach and demolished due to safety concerns. City of Greater Geelong Council announced on Monday (12 October) that the HMS Gheringhap vessel located at Western Beach Boat Yards has reached the end of its practical life. Corporate Services executive director Troy Edwards said the vessel could no longer be safely retained in a public setting. “The HMS Gheringhap has deteriorated to a point where it now presents a serious public safety risk,” he said. “The vessel has sustained significant damage, has been subject to ongoing unauthorised access and break-ins, and has become a location for anti-social and illegal activity.” Mr Edwards said council’s responsibility was to ensure public spaces were safe for residents and visitors and that the structure presented a genuine risk of injury. “Based on the vessel’s condition and the risks it poses, the decision has been made to remove and demolish it,” he said. “This is not a decision that has been taken lightly; we recognise the vessel’s history and the interest some community members have in it.” Many water vessels were built at Western Beach over the years from the late 1920s, and HMS Gheringhap was one of the last fishing boats of its era. HMS Gheringhap was built at Western Beach in 1972 as a work boat and sank in the bay in 2018; it was salvaged and renovated, but it has since fallen into disrepair.
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Orienteering run races in An event that combines running, walking, and navigation is coming to Geelong in November. The inaugural Geelong City Race is an orienteering event that is very popular in Europe and participants will use a detailed, full-colour map to find a series of checkpoints, choosing their own route between each one. There is no marked course to follow and event organiser Andrew Turner said Geelong’s waterfront and parks are an ideal location. “Geelong is an ideal location because the waterfront, city centre and parklands are all close together, giving participants a variety of experiences in one event,” he said. “Orienteering is not just about speed; it’s equally about clever thinking. You can run or walk, compete against the clock or take a more relaxed approach. The choice of how to navigate the course, and at what pace, is
yours. “One of our goals is to create a great day out on the Australian orienteering calendar, while giving people who have never tried the sport an ideal opportunity to get involved. “Whether you’re a competitive runner, a family looking for an outdoor adventure or someone who enjoys walking and exploring, Geelong City Race offers a different way to experience the city.” There are six courses, ranging from 3km to 10km, and course planner Zoe Fleming said the waterfront, Eastern Park and the CBD’s streets and laneways were a major attraction. “A great City Race gives participants plenty of route options between control points. Interesting control locations and scenery also help make the experience memorable and unique to that city,” she said.
The inaugural Geelong City Race will take the city’s waterfront, parks and streets. (Andrew Turner)
Two additional events are planned for Saturday 21 November where participants can take a sprint orienteering course at Kardinia International College before heading to Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds cam-
pus for mountain bike orienteering. Geelong City Race is on Sunday 22 November. Entries are open, with course details and registration at geelongcityrace. com.au
Bouquets for Geelong florist Charlotte By Matt Hewson A local florist has finished 10th in the world at an international competition. Geelong’s Charlotte Follett, 21, followed up her national gold medal in Brisbane last year with the 10th place finish at the WorldSkills International Competition in Shanghai in late September. The first Australian floristry competitor to achieve a top 10 result at the finals for many years, Ms Follett was one of 16 who competed in the intense four-day event. Over the four days she accrued a final score of 696, just four points shy of the threshold for a Medallion of Excellence. Ms Follett said while not qualifying for a medallion was “heartbreaking”, she was thrilled with both her effort and her results. “I don’t think ‘proud’ covers it… missing out on the Medallion of Excellence was a little bit upsetting, but it doesn’t take away from the two years this experience has given me,” she said. She said the atmosphere at the international finals in Shanghai was almost overwhelming. “The crowds were huge…the visitor count to the centre was over half a million people,” she said. “They had a record for the opening ceremony, I saw some statistic saying they had over 50 million people watching it on TV. It was crazy, I’m glad I didn’t know that before I walked across the stage.” Ms Follett’s floristry journey began right here in Geelong when she undertook a school-based apprenticeship with Jacinta
Ocean Grove Soccer Club president Peter Wilkinson and son Freddy at the Devlins Road soccer precinct site. (supplied)
Government funding a must
WorldSkills International floristry finalist Charlotte Follett. (Ivan Kemp) 584081 06
Young, a former National Worldskills silver medallist. She thanked Ms Young and WorldSkills
mentor David Berger for their support and said her family and fiance had been her “biggest cheer squad”.
Free dental clinic promise if Labor wins November state election A re-elected Labor state government will open a free public dental clinic in Geelong. The government will invest $230 million to open 10 free clinics across the state with three in regional Victoria, including Geelong, if it wins November’s state election. The Geelong clinic will provide free check-ups and treatment for adults and children, including fillings, root canals and extractions with no appointment required. “A trip to the dentist shouldn’t cause
financial stress,” Member for Lara Ella George said. “Free dental care will mean one less worry for local families.” The government said the most urgent cases will be treated first at the clinic and its opening hours would be 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday. “Too many people in Geelong are putting off dental care because they can’t afford it,” Member for Geelong Christine
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Couzens said. “This clinic will help them get the treatment they need without worrying about the bill.” Member for Bellarine Alison Marchant said the clinic would benefit those living on the Bellarine Peninsula. “Regional families deserve care close to home,” she said. “This clinic will make it easier for people across the Bellarine to get free dental treatment.”
The City of Greater Geelong is calling on Victorian election candidates to help fund the Devlins Road soccer precinct at Ocean Grove. The City committed $8 million to the project with the federal government chipping in $5 million, but a further $5 million is needed. Ocean Grove Soccer Club (OGSC) currently plays and trains at the Shell Road facility, but would move to the new precinct at Devlins Road, next to Oakdene Oval. It would allow for a second Australian Rules football and cricket oval in place of the soccer pitches, complementing the one already at Shell Road’s Ray Menzies Oval. Council said works on Devlins Road Active Open Space could begin in the coming months if the funding shortfall was achieved. The City wants whoever wins November’s state election to make up the shortfall, and for candidates to pledge their support. “Devlins Road is a transformational project for Ocean Grove and the broader Bellarine Peninsula community and it can’t wait,” Connewarre Ward councillor Elise Wilkinson said. “Completing the reserve in one coordinated build is the most efficient and cost-effective approach. It will save money, reduce disruption and deliver a far better outcome for the community.” “We’re really excited for the next chapter of the Ocean Grove Soccer Club at Devlins Road, with construction getting closer,” OGSC president Peter Wilkinson said. “Our club continues to experience strong participation growth, and our current facilities are operating beyond capacity. We know this new precinct will be a gamechanger for current players and generations to come.”
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Show time in Geelong By Jena Carr The country is coming to the city once again as the Royal Geelong Show returns for four action-packed days. Family activities, entertainment and animals will fill the Geelong Showgrounds from 15 to 18 October, with many people expected to attend during the event’s run. President Tom McCann said this year’s show would be bigger and better with new competitions and a great selection of pavilions, livestock and arena attractions.
“We’ve got a lot of livestock exhibitions coming in, so we’re bringing the country to the city once again,” he said. “We have the shearing competition that’s been revitalised, so we’ve painted a beautiful mural on our sheep shed and the shearing’s going to be very much the centre of it. “On Friday and Saturday night, we’re having our fireworks after our fabulous evening arena show, so I urge everyone to come along and watch.” A volunteer community-based organi-
sation manages the Royal Geelong Show, and Mr McCann said he was thankful to everyone for supporting the event. “We’ve got fantastic weather coming as well, so come and enjoy the day,” he said. “Being a volunteer-based organisation, we’ve had a heap of volunteers come out to put this on, so I’d love to show support for our volunteers that have all come together.” Visit the Royal Geelong Show’s website for more information and to secure tickets.
Jess and Ashlin Brown with children Oli and Kai at last year’s Geelong Show. (Ivan Kemp) 365913_08
Kimberley Bell with her daughter Willow. (Ivan Kemp) 459074_04
Greater Geelong community members can support kids living with a heart condition during an upcoming fundraising walk. HeartKids will host a Two Feet & A Heartbeat event at Connewarre Memorial Hall on Sunday 18 October to raise awareness of childhood-onset heart disease. Geelong mum Kimberley Bell’s daughter Willow was born at 33 weeks and six days after developing a dangerous abnormal heart rhythm. “While waiting for surgery to be planned, Willow went into cardiac arrest at home at five months old, and we resuscitated her while waiting for the ambulance to arrive,” she said. “After her open-heart surgery, she suffered a life-threatening complication called disseminated intravascular coagulation, but thanks to her fantastic medical team, Willow overcame this complication and recovered well.” Willow is now four years old, and Ms Bell said she was grateful for the HeartKids’ support. “Openly sharing our stories and the trauma of our journeys brings us all together and builds a bond that you cannot even explain,” she said. “HeartKids introduced themselves to us when we were on the ward with Willow after she was born, and they provided us with a friendly face, support and information.” HeartKids chief executive Samantha Glastonbury said that more than 6700 people across the country joined last year’s Two Feet & A Heartbeat initiative. “Every step honours a heart story, and every heartbeat reminds us why we walk,” she said. Visit heartkids.org.au/event/vic-geelong for more information or to sign up for Greater Geelong’s Two Feet & A Heartbeat walk.
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V/Line reroute demanded City of Greater Geelong and Wyndham City councils want the Warrnambool to Southern Cross V/Line train service to reroute through Werribee The two councils have written to Minister for Public Transport Vicki Ward calling for the immediate trial, which would connect two of Victoria’s fastest-growing municipalities. The current service follows the same route as the Waurn Ponds to Southern Cross trains that travel via Wyndham Vale, Tarneit, Deer Park and Sunshine. The Geelong and Warrnambool lines previously travelled via Werribee, but were
replaced with the new route in 2015 as part of the state government’s push to separate regional and metropolitan trains. The tracks between Little River and Werribee remain active for freight and are maintained, meaning the trial would be making use of existing rail infrastructure, rolling stock and crews. “This proposal is a practical first step towards better connecting two rapidly growing communities,” Greater Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj said. “We know the long-term case for reconnecting Geelong and Werribee is strong, but our communities shouldn’t have to wait
years to start seeing the benefits. “This trial makes use of the infrastructure and services we already have, while giving us an opportunity to demonstrate what a direct connection could mean for commuters. “Better connections between Geelong and Melbourne’s west mean better access to jobs, education, healthcare, economic and social opportunities. That’s something worth acting on now.” A direct Geelong-Werribee service would improve access to jobs, education, healthcare, Avalon Airport and other key destinations for communities across Greater Geelong and Wyndham, both councils said.
“This trial is a simple way to test the demand for a direct link between our two growing regions,” Wyndham City mayor Mia Shaw said. “Listening to our residents, this is something that is desperately needed and would reopen an important connection for work, learning, visiting loved ones and travel. “We’re not asking for a new railway. We’re asking to use infrastructure and services that already exist, collect the evidence and see what works. “This is a low-cost, practical opportunity to reconnect two communities that have a strong case for being better connected.”
Graham Mulroney (third from the right) with Lions Club’s Alan Daw, left, John Menzies, Warren Halnon, Mary Mulroney, Philip Scambler, President Lyn Jenkins, Neil Rankcom, Norm Buckley and John Claringbold. (Supplied)
Half a century of community support Nepali Pathashala Geelong’s Saroj Pandey holding Sanvi, Bhuban Timalsina and Navin Singh (rear), Sirjana Adhikari holding Aayu, Neha Silwal, Agyat Luitel and Jesal Krishna Bhusal welcome the Geelong community to the Dashain Festival. (Ivan Kemp) 584226 07
Immerse yourself in the Dashain Festival By Jena Carr People can celebrate culture and strengthen community during a free Nepali event in Geelong. Community-based educational group Nepali Pathashala Geelong will host a vibrant evening of cultural traditions, lively music and captivating performances during the Dashain Festival on Sunday 18 October. Event coordinator Aagyat Luitel said Dashain is a 15-day Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal and across Nepali-speaking communities, and celebrates the triumph
of good over evil. “Our community will be celebrating our culture during the festival, while reaching out to people in Geelong to share our culture,” he said. “It is one of the biggest festivals for the Nepali Hindu people and the events that we have will be totally hosted by the kids from our pathasala (school).” Mr Luitel said the Geelong community were welcome to come along to the festival to make memories, celebrate heritage and support unity. “The essence of the festival is about
strengthening the community and coming together to support each other,” he said. “Recently, we had some really bad floods back home that saddened lots of Nepali people, and so the festival is a way to bring families together with the Geelong community.” Dashain typically occurs in October or November and aligns with the lunar Bikram Sambat calendar (Nepal’s official lunisolar calendar). The Dashain Festival will be held at Meli’s Poa Banyul Community Hub in Mount Duneed from 5pm and is open to everyone.
Portarlington officially acknowledged as a heart safe town Portarlington and Indented Head are officially Heart Safe Communities, empowering community members to take life-saving action. The acknowledgment followed a 12-month program run by Ambulance Victoria (AV) and the Heart Foundation that teaches community members simple skills to save a life. AV Research and Evaluation director Dr Ziad Nehme said people were taught to recognise cardiac arrest, give CPR, and use an automated external defibrillator (AED). “The Heart Safe Communities pro-
gram shows Victorians that anyone can help save a life by following three simple steps,” he said. “Call Triple Zero (000), push hard and fast on the centre of the chest to give CPR and shock using an AED to attempt to restart the heart. “Bystander intervention has the biggest impact on cardiac arrest survival, so it’s encouraging to see more people equipped with the confidence and skills to take action while paramedics are on their way.” Two hundred and fifty-five Portarlington and Indented Head community
8 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
members are trained in heart safe skills, with 23 AEDs registered across the region. Heart Foundation Victoria general manager Chris Enright said initiatives like the Heart Safe Communities program empowered people to take action. “This partnership helps ensure more Victorian communities have the life-saving tools and training they need to act fast in an emergency,” she said. Victoria has the second-highest cardiac arrest survival rate in the world, according to Ambulance Victoria, with more than 4300 community members trained to Call, Push, Shock statewide.
By Jena Carr Graham Mulroney has been awarded a prestigious Lions award for over half a century of community service in Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. The Lions Club of Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads member and former president received the Melvin Jones Diamond Lapel Pin for his 53 years of community support. Mr Mulroney said “it was a big surprise” to receive the award that honoured Lions founder Melvin Jones and that it was “very much appreciated”. “The way I look at this is that the achievements made in Lions are achieved by teams and groups working together,” he said. “So, it’s just nice to be recognised as being a member of a team that’s achieved some great things.” Mr Mulroney first joined Lions in 1974 and has participated in many community projects, including contributions to Bushfire Relief following the 2009 Victorian bushfires, which earned him an Australian Government Award. “When I first joined, I was very young and still in my 20s, so it was a wonderful training ground because every member of the Lions Club was given a job,” he said. “It’s a very rewarding thing to do; to be able to achieve things that you couldn’t achieve just by yourself, but as a team of people who are like-minded and interested in making a difference. “You get far more out of it than you put in, plus you make a big difference...and it’s an opportunity to work with others to make a difference.”
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Carers play a big role in supporting others, but many report feeling lonely, with a Torquay woman highlighting the importance of looking after carers. This week marks National Carers Week (11-17 October) and aims to recognise the more than 750,000 people providing unpaid support across the country. Torquay’s Faye Thamm, 78, has spent most of her life looking after people, including family members and friends, and said it was important for carers to look after themselves. “I’ve been a carer all through my life, and I’ve been burnt out numerous times because I didn’t have boundaries, so that was a real problem,” she said. “If I can’t look after myself, I’m not capable of looking after anybody else, so I have a better balance, but it’s taken me many years to learn that. “You’re continually giving, and when you’re giving like that, people don’t always appreciate you as much as they should, or they can take you for granted, so of course you burn out.” Ms Thamm said it was important to recognise carers’ efforts and everyone deserved to be listened to. “I can’t stop learning, and I’m always open to change, as I think that’s what keeps you healthy and well,” she said. “You’ve got to be able to go with the flow, take the knocks and stop to analyse and process them and not just bury stuff. “The most important thing that I learned is that if somebody talks to you, just listen to them because that’s all people need is someone to listen to them.” Carers Victoria chief executive Judith Abbott said small acts of kindness made a
Faye Thamm understands the importance of boundaries and self care after looking after others for most of her life. (Ivan Kemp) 584522 06
big difference for the carer community. “Their contribution is invaluable, yet many carers tell us they often feel invisible in their caring role,” she said. “People providing unpaid support are the backbone of communities across Victoria, helping family members, friends and neighbours every day. “National Carers Week is a chance for all Victorians to show they care, whether that’s checking in on a friend, sharing a
cup of tea, offering practical help or simply saying thank you. “This week is a chance for all of us, including governments, organisations, employers and neighbours, to recognise carers and ensure they have the resources, respect and support they deserve.” Last year’s Carer Wellbeing Survey found that 42.7 per cent of carers reported feeling lonely often or always, highlighting that the need for connection remained significant.
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Annie Gardner, Trish Taylor, Joy Craig and Kath Kerr with west highland terriers Banshee, Scarper and Jinty during last year’s St George’s Flower Show. (Ivan Kemp) 510153_03
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By Jena Carr Floral scents and colours will fill Queenscliff this weekend with the return of St George’s Flower Show. St George’s Old School Hall will host a dog show, a flower show competition, Devonshire tea, exhibits and stalls on Saturday 17 October. Show coordinator Trish Taylor said the event offered something for everyone and encouraged community connection in a relaxed and fun environment. “Kids will be able to paint a flowerpot, and they will then get a packet of seeds to take home,” she said. “The other thing that we’re doing, which we only did for the first time last year, is selling fresh flowers out of the garden. “Last year’s event went really well, and
we were lucky with the weather, and the forecast looks very good for this weekend, so the weather makes all the difference.” The event will also feature a sausage sizzle, artisan stalls, a market stall spinning wheel and children’s activities from 9am to 2pm. “The other good thing is that the literary festival is on at the same time, so that will bring new people into the town to experience our event,” Ms Taylor said. “The local community and people seem to be really looking forward to the event from what I’ve heard, so...it’s good to know that people want to come along.” The St George’s Flower Show returned to Queenscliff in 2023 after being discontinued in the 1970s and has continued to grow and appeal to community members across the region.
ENTERTAINMENT WITH MATT HEWSON
Eben’s rise a long journey Eben Rojter is a seasoned performer, but his road to comedy has been a long and winding one. As an actor, Rojter was a recipient of the Ian Potter Cultural Trust grant for significant emerging artists, launched his own independent theatre company Thorny Devil Theatre and performed as a member of acclaimed international ensemble Ward Studio Company. But it took until 2026 for him to embrace a long-held desire to pursue stand-up comedy, the roots of which go all the way back to childhood. “I’ve got a much bigger brother, and when I was quite young it was very easy for him to offend me, get me (worked up),” Rojter said. “However, one of the things about having an old man who’s Polish is he’s got a bit of a sense of humour, so I developed a
quick tongue when I was pretty young. “I found that was a pretty good way to respond to an older brother or other kids at school when they wanted to bully me.” But despite a life of performance, that desire lay dormant until Rojter was faced with a significant life decision. Having pursued a career in education planning, in 2025 he was offered an ongoing management position just after he and his partner discovered they were expecting their first child. “I was weighing it up…and I thought, I’m going to turn 40 next year, but I would love to do a solo show before I’m 40,” he said. “So I knocked back the job and decided to register for the (Melbourne International) Comedy Festival and write a show.” Four months later, Rojter completed a successful two-week run at the Grace Darling as part of the festival, marking a
seamless entry into the world of stand-up. “It’s a storytelling show…I would say I’ve led a relatively interesting life and come from a bit of a unique background,” he said. “I’m trying to weave in fun and silliness, there’s a little bit of audience interaction… It’s about escapism, the joyful things in life and a bit of a playful look at life in general.” Eben Rojter’s show The Scribbler is at The Geelong Club on 24 October as part of the Geelong Comedy Festival. Visit geelongcomedyfestival.com.au for tickets and more information.
Eben Rojter brings his first stand-up show The Scribbler to Geelong Comedy Festival. (Supplied)
Chamber ensemble offers one trio, two experiences One of Geelong’s favourite chamber ensembles returns to the city for two concerts this October and November. Trio Anima Mundi will perform alongside Geelong Symphony Orchestra at Costa Hall on Saturday 24 October to present Beethoven Revealed, a powerful program exploring the works of one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, including the master’s extraordinary Triple Concerto. The Melbourne-based trio – pianist Kenji Fujimura, violinist Robhelle Ughetti and cellist Noella Yan – will return for The Gypsy, their third 2026 series concert at Keith
Trio Anima Mundi: Kenji Fujimura, Noella Yan and Rochelle Ughetti. (Supplied)
Humble Centre on Sunday 15 November, which will showcase energetic piano trios
from Haydn, Martinu and Babajanian. While both feature the internationally acclaimed ensemble, the two concerts will provide concertgoers with very different musical experiences, Yan said. “They will be very different performances…the repertoire in itself is so different, the setting is so different,” she said. “There are not many triple concertos with orchestra, so to see that is actually quite an experience. An orchestral concert always has a very exciting feel to it. “And then, the magic of chamber music is always about people really being able to connect on a much more intimate level…it’s
very much a relational thing with the other musicians.” Since its inception in 2008, Trio Anima Mundi has had a special relationship with Geelong; for nearly two decades the ensemble has held annual three-concert series here. “It’s one of my highlights, I have to say… we really do love our Geelong audience,” Yan said. “We’ve had audience members who have been with us since the day the trio started performing here. It’s a really lovely community.” Visit trioanimamundi.com/calendar for tickets and more information.
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Cycling to support sick kids Geelong’s Robert Freeman is raising vital funds for kids with childhood brain conditions through the Ride for the Kids cycling challenge. He sat down with Jena Carr to speak about the month-long challenge, as well as his own experience of having a brain injury.
A
fter surviving cancer and a stroke, Robert Freeman is using his love of cycling to support kids living with brain disorders. The 71-year-old Geelong man spent most of his professional life supporting kids, including those with brain conditions, but never suspected that he would suffer a similar condition. It all started on 10 July when, during the night following a routine surgery in the morning, Robert began not feeling well, couldn’t communicate and was struggling to remember basic information like where he lived and his name. “I had surgery on my hip in the morning and felt okay, but hours after the surgery I had a stroke,” he said. “Since then, I have had some issues with one of my hands, which is ongoing, so I’ve got no sense of temperature, hot or cold, with that hand. “My speech initially was really impacted, and I was really struggling to get words together, and it’s a work in progress, so I’ve come a long way. “I had to go through the process of having speech therapy, which is ongoing, and physio, not just for the hip but for the brain as well.” Doctors later determined that Robert’s stroke was the result of a blood clot in his brain and had not been caused by the surgery he had earlier in the day. “They (doctors) don’t know where the clot came from, but it broke into two and went to two different places in my brain,” he said. “I’m very lucky, because some people have strokes and they can lose their vision or they can’t walk properly, but...the coordination side of things and the speech seem to be the two major issues for me. “My speech is coming back, but I do have to pause with certain words, so the speech therapist has done a bit of work on helping me with that, and my coordination is a lot better. “My doctor has also told me to make sure that I have some rest time during the day, as one of the issues with brain injuries is that you need to switch off and let the brain have a rest.” Just seven years before suffering his stroke, Robert was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019 while living in England. “When I was in the United Kingdom, doctors decided on brachytherapy (a type of internal radiation therapy) because it had fewer side effects,” he said. “So, they actually put radioactive seeds into the prostate, which was supposed to kill the cancer, but it didn’t work. “Then COVID-19 hit, so we came back to Australia where a doctor monitored the cancer before we eventually decided to have the prostate removed in April 2021.” Robert is participating in Ride for the Kids this month and will ride his bike to help raise money and awareness for kids with childhood brain conditions. He has raised more than $350 as of 10am on 15 October through the cycling initiative for Brainwave Australia to continue supporting families experiencing childhood brain disorders across the country. “Cycling has always been one of my passions, so I’m trying to ride 600 kilometres for the month,” he said. “The charity does a lot of work to help families; they have camps for the kids, and they help them in hospital.
Robert Freeman with his wife Louise. (Pictures: Ivan Kemp) 583522 02
Robert Freeman has survived prostate cancer and a stroke. 583522 06
“I saw the initiative and thought that it would be a really good thing for me to do for the kids, but also to help my own recuperation.” Robert said that his stroke experience further opened his eyes to some of the difficulties caused by childhood brain conditions and the impact it has on families. “That hit home to me about the challenges that young children go through and for their families,” he said. “I was a teacher for 35 years and worked at Newcomb Secondary College, so I have dealt with many young children, including some who had conditions that were impacting their brains. “Having a child is hard work at any time, but when you’ve got a child that’s going through those difficulties, it’s really hard for the families. “I can only imagine what some of these young children must be going through,
12 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
and there’s such a range of brain traumas as well, so it’s not just one thing; it can be a whole range of things.” Robert’s wife Louise said the pair were grateful to the regional medical professionals involved in Robert’s cancer and stroke journey. “When Rob gets out on his bike, he’s as free as a bird and having a wonderful time,” she said. “Rob had his prostate removed and didn’t need any further treatment, which is just remarkable, and the medical professionals have been really helpful in his stroke recovery.” Louise said it was important for families of loved ones living with brain conditions, or other medical issues, to be patient. “To see kids who go through medical trauma in their childhood, it’s just so hard,” she said. “It’s important for families to recognise that it takes time for their loved one to
recover and learn how to live with a brain condition, so it is important to be patient, calm and understanding.” Brainwave Australia chief executive Paul Bird said that every kilometre ridden and dollar raised by people like Robert through Ride for the Kids helped more kids and families impacted by childhood brain conditions. “Many families are counting on us for support, and we hope you will all ride with us for the kids with brain injury,” he said. “We are thrilled to be holding this event and hope to bring together every Australian for an important cause such as ours.” Ten children in Australia are diagnosed with a neurological condition every day, leading to 3000 families each year whose lives are changed forever. Visit rideforthekids.org.au/fundraisers/ robertfreeman/ride-for-the-kids-2026 for more information and to support Robert’s fundraising efforts.
LYNLEY ABC TV, Saturday, 8.30pm
PICK OF THE WEEK
An aristocratic inspector (Leo Suter) partners with a working-class sergeant (Sofia Barclay, pictured with Suter) to tackle complex murder cases in this intelligent police procedural. Based on the crime novels by Elizabeth George, it’s a fresh spin on the characters who first appeared on-screen in the popular BBC drama The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. After solving their first case together in last week’s premiere, detectives Lynley and Havers are assigned to investigate the disappearance of a young real estate agent connected to an old classmate of Lynley’s, Helen Clyde (Niamh Walsh). Fans of the inspector will know who she becomes in the future – tune in to see how it all unfolds. TINA ARENA: UNRAVEL ME Seven, Sunday, 7pm
Just eight years old when she made her television debut as a contestant on Young Talent Time in 1976, incomparable vocalist Tina Arena (pictured) is celebrating 50 years in the music industry with this intimate and honest documentary. Arena reflects on her life in two separate, interwoven interviews – one as Tina, the star, and one as her private self: the woman her family still calls Pina. From a traditional Italian upbringing in suburban Melbourne to achieving ’90s pop perfection and finding success performing in Europe, Arena and those closest to her – sisters Nancy and Silvana, her late mentor Johnny Young and admirers including Céline Dion and Jessica Mauboy – recount an incredible career.
SAM PANG TONIGHT 10, Monday, 8.40pm
When Sam Pang Tonight landed on the box in March 2025, the tonight-show format had been absent from Aussie screens for over a decade, and despite host Sam Pang’s undeniable charm, it seemed like a risky bet for Network 10. It’s a gamble that has well and truly paid off: just over 18 months later, the show is a ratings hit and Pang is a Gold Logie winner. Now, the most popular personality on Australian television returns for a third season of this star-studded success story. Pang is sticking to the winning formula for this eightepisode excursion, with a witty weekly monologue, candid celebrity interviews, and the ever-chaotic Wheel of Segments back in the mix.
Golden age: Sam Pang Tonight returns for a third season on Monday; inset, Pang with season two guests Rachel Griffiths, Sam Campbell and Russell Crowe.
Friday, October 16 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6.00 News Breakfast. 9.00 ABC News Mornings. 10.00 Believe In Magic: The Mother Of All Cons. (Ml, R) 11.00 Austin. (PG, R) 12.00 ABC News At Noon. 1.00 Recipe Of The Year. (R) 2.40 You Can’t Ask That. (PGl, R) 3.00 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGv, R) 3.45 Grand Designs Australia. (R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 DD India News Hour. 9.10 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.10 China On Stage. (R) 11.10 Canal Boat Diaries. 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 The Giza Pyramid: Reaching For The Stars. (PG, R) 3.00 Nula. 3.30 The Cook Up. (R) 4.00 Secrets Of Britain’s Historic Houses & Gardens. (PGa, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 MOVIE: Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery. (2023, Mav, R) Alison Sweeney. 3.00 The Chase. (R) 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 Chefs Ahoy. (R) 1.00 1 Euro House. (PG, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) 5.00 [MELB] Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) 5.30 WIN News.
6.00 Ent. Tonight. (R) 6.30 Bold. (PG, R) 7.00 Deal Or No Deal. (R) 7.30 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Ent. Tonight. (R) 10.30 The Celebrity Traitors UK. (PGa, R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.25 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 Gardening Australia. Advice for the home gardener. 8.20 Death Valley. (Final, PGa) John and Janie unravel a mystery at a school reunion. 9.05 Recipe Of The Year. (R) Home cooks from across Australia compete with recipes that tell their stories. 9.55 Class Clowns. (PGs, R) 10.30 Crime Night! (M, R) 11.00 ABC Late News. 11.15 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mav, R) 12.05 Rage New Music. (MA15+dhlnsv) 5.00 Rage. (PG)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Hotel Portofino. (Mav) 8.35 Millionaire Superyacht: Why Ships Sink. 9.45 Queens That Changed The World. 10.40 SBS World News Late. 11.10 Helsinki Syndrome. (Premiere, Malsv) 12.10 Darkness: Those Who Kill. (Malv, R) 1.55 Wisting. (Malv, R) 3.40 Prince’s Master Crafters Next Generation. (R) 4.35 Bamay. (R) 5.00 WorldWatch.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Rugby League. World Cup. Group Stage. Pool B & C. Samoa v France. From CommBank Stadium, Sydney. 7.45 Rugby League. Women’s World Cup. Group Stage. Pool A. Australia v Samoa. From CommBank Stadium, Sydney. 10.00 Rugby League World Cup Post-Game. 10.20 To Be Advised. 12.00 GetOn Extra. 12.30 Jamestown. (MA15+av, R) 1.30 Harry’s Practice. (R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 House Of Wellness. (PG, R) 5.00 NBC Today.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 Chateau DIY: Australia. Peter and Linda restore their riverside steps. 8.30 MOVIE: Olympus Has Fallen. (2013, MA15+lv, R) A former agent must save the White House. Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart. 10.50 See No Evil: She’s Fake. (Ma, R) 11.50 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 12.40 Pointless. (PG, R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 Global Shop. (R) 5.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 5.30 Postcards. (PG, R)
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PGls, R) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 A-League Pre-Game. Pre-game coverage of the A-League match. 8.10 Soccer. A-League Men. Round 1. Sydney FC v Western Sydney Wanderers. From Allianz Stadium, Sydney. 10.30 10’s Late News. Coverage of news, sport and weather. 11.30 Have You Been Paying Attention? (Final, Malns, R) Hosted by Tom Gleisner. 12.30 Two And A Half Men. (PGls, R) 1.30 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 9.00 Play School. 10.25 BeddyByes. 11.05 Fizzy And Suds. 11.40 Iron Man And His Awesome Friends. 12.55pm Talking Tom Heroes. 1.20 PJ Masks Power Heroes. 1.50 Kangaroo Beach. 2.30 Monster Makes. 3.00 Play School. 4.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.25 Octonauts. 5.50 Super Monsters. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 7.35 TBA. 9.50 BattleBots. 10.35 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 10.00 France 24 English News. 10.30 Ten Year Old Tom. 11.05 Icons Unearthed: Marvel. 11.55 DW The Day. 12.25pm Hudson & Rex. 2.15 Gymnastics. Artistic World Challenge Cup. H’lights. 3.50 WorldWatch. 5.50 The Mega-Brands That Built The World. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 Celebrity Jeopardy. 8.30 The Godfather Of St Petersburg. 9.35 The Naked World. 10.30 Into. 11.15 Bound: Japanese Bondage. 12.25am Brassic. 2.15 NHK World English News. 5.00 Al Jazeera News Hour.
6am Morning Programs. Noon House Of Wellness. 1.00 Ports To Paradise. 2.00 Escape To The Country. 3.00 A Moveable Feast. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Better Homes. 5.00 Escape To The Country. 6.00 Bargain Hunt. 7.00 Better Homes. 8.00 Escape To The Country. 10.00 The Yorkshire Vet. 11.00 Escape To The Country. Midnight Bargain Hunt. 1.00 Our Town. 2.00 Harry’s Practice. 2.30 Medical Emergency. 3.00 Better Homes. 5.00 Fresh TV. 5.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Yorkshire Auction House. 1.00 The Chelsea Detective. 3.05 Antiques Roadshow. 3.35 MOVIE: We Joined The Navy. (1962) 5.30 Yorkshire Auction House. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 Taronga: Who’s Who In The Zoo. 8.30 MOVIE: You’ve Got Mail. (1998, PG) 10.55 Forensics: Catching The Killer. 11.55 Antiques Downunder. 12.25am Antiques Roadshow. 1.00 Creflo. 1.30 MOVIE: We Joined The Navy. (1962) 3.25 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 7.30 MasterChef Aust. 8.30 Ent. Tonight. 9.00 GCBC. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Shaun Micallef’s Parents’ Evening. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. (PG, R) 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping. 5.30 Joseph Prince.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 7.45 Bushwhacked! 8.10 Thalu. 8.40 The Magic Canoe. 9.05 Spartakus. 9.40 Fresh Fairytales. 10.00 Ocean Parks. 11.00 Going Places. Noon Sing About This Country. 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 5.00 Amplify. 5.30 Nula. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Ocean Parks. 7.30 MOVIE: Where The Wild Things Are. (2009, PG) 9.25 MOVIE: Masterminds. (2016, M) 11.05 Nula. 11.35 Bamay. Midnight Going Places. 1.00 Murder In Big Horn. 2.00 On The Road. 5.00 Bamay.
6am Forever Enthralled. (2008, PG, Mandarin) 7.40 The Shooting. (1966, PGalv) 9.15 Porco Rosso. (1992, PGav) 10.55 Discovering Film. 11.55 Butcher’s Crossing. (2022, Malsv) 1.55pm Capricorn One. (1977, PGalv) 4.10 Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger. (2024, PGa) 6.35 Meek’s Cutoff. (2010, PGav) 8.30 Unforgiven. (1992, Malsv, R) 10.55 The Assassination Of Jesse James. (2007, MA15+v) 1.50am Rendition. (2007, MA15+av) 4.00 UnIndian. (2015, Ms)
6am Morning Programs. 9.00 Pawn Stars. 10.00 NFL Tailgate. 11.00 NFL. Denver Broncos v Seattle Seahawks. 2.30pm Rugby League. World Cup. Group Stage. Pool A. Aust v NZ. Replay. 5.00 Rugby League World Cup Pre-Game. 5.30 Rugby League. World Cup. Group Stage. Pool B & C. Samoa v France. 7.00 Football. AFL Women’s. Melbourne v Richmond. 9.15 MOVIE: As Good As It Gets. (1997, M) 12.10am Pawn Stars. 1.30 Outback Pilots. 2.30 Sound FX: Best Of. 3.00 NFL. NFL. Replay.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 World’s Greatest Man Made Wonders. 12.30pm Rugby Heaven. 1.30 Motor Racing. Formula E C’ship. Berlin ePrix. 2.40 Baywatch. 3.40 Big Bang. 4.40 Addams Family. 5.40 Seinfeld. 6.40 Baywatch. 7.30 MOVIE: Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian. (2009, PG) 9.40 MOVIE: Wrath Of The Titans. (2012, M) 11.40 Top 20 Funniest. 12.40am Love Island UK: All Stars. 2.50 Parental Guidance. 3.45 My Way. 4.00 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 The Bold And The Beautiful. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. (PG, R) 6.30 Bull. (PGa, R) 7.30 NCIS. (Mav, R) 10.20 Bull. (PGa, R) 11.15 JAG. (PGlm, R) 1.15am Home Shopping.
CONSUMER ADVICE (P) Pre-school (C) Children (PG) Parental Guidance Recommended (M) Mature Audiences (MA15+) Mature Audiences Only (AV15+) Extreme Adult Violence (R) Repeat (a) Adult themes (d) Drug references (h) Horror (s) Sex references (l) Language (m) Medical procedures (n) Nudity (v) Violence.
VIC
Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 13
Saturday, October 17 SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 10.30 Rage Vault Guest Programmer. (PG) 12.00 News. 12.30 Beyond Paradise. (PGa, R) 1.30 Death Valley. (Final, PGa, R) 2.15 You Can’t Ask That. (Ml, R) 2.35 Grand Designs: House Of The Year. (PG) 3.25 Boyer Lecture 2026: Sam Roggeveen. 4.05 Islands Of The Atlantic. (R) 4.55 Aust Story. (R) 5.25 Landline. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 9.05 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.05 Ageless Gardens. (R) 11.05 Icons Of Auto. (PGav) 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Cycling. UCI World Tour. Il Lombardia. H’lights. 3.00 Soccer. Aust C’ship. Sutherland Sharks FC v South Melbourne FC. 5.05 Going Places. (R) 5.35 WWII Women On The Frontline. (PGa, R)
6.00 NBC Today. News and current affairs. 7.00 Weekend Sunrise. The latest news, sport and weather. 10.00 The Morning Show: Weekend. (PG) Highlights from the past week. 12.00 Horse Racing. Caulfield Cup. From Caulfield, Melbourne. Everest Day. From Royal Randwick, Sydney.
6.00 Getaway. (PG, R) 6.30 ACA. (R) 7.00 Weekend Today. 10.00 Today Extra: Saturday. (PG) 11.45 Rugby Union. Women’s Global Series. Aust v Scotland. 2.00 Rugby Sevens. Men’s International Sevens. Aust v Fiji. 2.25 Rugby Sevens. Women’s International Sevens. Aust v NZ. 3.00 Rugby Union. Bledisloe Cup. Aust v NZ.
6am Morning Programs. 7.30 Escape Fishing. (R) 8.00 I Fish. (R) 8.30 Camper Deals. (R) 9.00 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 9.30 The Finish Line. (R) 10.30 Shaun Micallef’s Parents’ Evening. (PGdls, R) 11.30 Surf Life Saving. Coolangatta Gold. 3.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 3.30 Food Trail: South Africa. 4.00 Lingo. (R) 5.00 News.
6.00 Kath & Kim. (PGals, R) Kim plays it cool with Brett. 6.25 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) Presented by Tom Gleeson. 7.00 ABC News. A look at the top stories of the day. 7.30 Beyond Paradise. (PGa) A local chocolatier falls under suspicion when three customers are poisoned after sampling her confections. 8.30 Lynley. (Mav) Lynley and Havers are assigned to a missing person’s case of a young estate agent. 10.00 Darby And Joan. (PG, R) When Jack helps recover some stolen guns, he and Joan learn there is more to the robbery than it first appeared. 10.45 The Forsytes. (R) Soames dreams of fatherhood. 11.35 Rage. (MA15+dhlnsv) Continuous music programming.
6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Royals And Their Gardens: Hampton Court Palace. (Premiere, PGa) 8.30 The Langham: Britain’s First Grand Hotel. (PG) 9.25 The Jury: Skeleton In The Garden: Buried Secrets. (Mal, R) 10.25 Cumbria: The Lakes & The Coast. (R) 11.15 The Silence. (Malv, R) 1.20 MOVIE: Rewards For The Tribe. (2023, Ml, R) 3.00 Prince’s Master Crafters Next Generation. (R) 3.55 Stasi: A State Against Its People. (PGal, R) 4.55 Destination Flavour China Bitesize. (R) 5.15 Euronews. 5.30 WorldWatch.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Border Security: Australia’s Front Line. (PG, R) Two men come to the attention of officials when they are caught trying to avoid inspection of their suitcases. A couple from China do not want to pay the fine for all of their prohibited food items. 7.30 Rugby League. World Cup. Group Stage. Pool B & C. England v Tonga. From HBF Park, Perth. 10.00 Telethon 2026. (PG) Coverage of Telethon 2026 from RAC Arena, Perth.
6.00 9News Saturday. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 MOVIE: Elvis. (2022, Mal, R) The life of Elvis Presley, from his childhood to becoming a rock and movie star in the 1950s. Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge. 10.35 MOVIE: Misery. (1990, Mlv, R) A novelist is involved in a car crash. Kathy Bates, James Caan, Richard Farnsworth. 12.35 Wild Cards. (Mv, R) Max poses as a singer. 1.30 Next Stop. (R) Takes a look at desirable travel destinations. 2.00 The Incredible Journey Presents. (PGa) 2.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.30 Global Shop. (R) 5.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 5.30 Helping Hands. (PGa, R)
6.30 Gogglebox Australia. (R) TV fanatics open up their living rooms to reveal their reactions to popular and topical TV shows. 7.30 Selling Houses Australia. (PG) Sarah and Tom, squeezed by rising interest rates, must offload a rundown bus renovation gone wrong. 9.30 Love It Or List It: Brilliant Builds. (PG) Kirstie and Phil look back on two renovations that didn’t compromise on character. 10.30 The Graham Norton Show. (Mlv, R) Graham Norton chats with Sylvester Stallone. 11.30 FBI: International. (Mv, R) The FBI fly team works to clean up the pieces left behind after an explosion rocks headquarters. 12.30 Home Shopping. (R) 5.00 Hour Of Power.
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 10.05 Tiddler. 10.25 Children’s Programs. 3.30pm Peter Rabbit. 4.10 Little J And Big Cuz. 4.25 Football Fantastics. (Premiere) 5.20 PJ Masks. 5.45 Iron Man And His Awesome Friends. 6.25 Zog. 7.05 Do Not Watch This Show. 7.30 Hard Quiz Kids. 7.55 Kids Baking C’ship. 8.40 Gladiators UK. 9.40 Merlin. 10.20 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.10pm MOVIE: Chiliheads. (2021, M) 1.35 Great Australian Concerts: Hoodoo Gurus. 2.40 If You Are The One. 3.50 WorldWatch. 5.50 Mastermind Aust. 6.50 History’s Greatest Machines. 8.30 MOVIE: Angel Has Fallen. (2019) 10.40 Interview With The Vampire. 12.55am Brassic. 2.45 NHK World English News. 5.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 GetOn Extra. Noon Auction Squad. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 3.00 The Yorkshire Vet. 4.00 Escape To The Country. 5.00 Bondi Vet. 6.00 The Yorkshire Vet. 7.00 Football. AFL Women’s. West Coast v Geelong. 9.15 Escape To The Chateau. 10.15 Escape To The Country. 11.15 Railroad Australia. 12.15am Auction Squad. 1.15 Our Town. 2.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 1.30pm Gen Well. 2.00 Next Stop. 2.30 MOVIE: Wherever She Goes. (1951) 4.00 MOVIE: Doctor Zhivago. (1965, PG) 7.30 MOVIE: Father Of The Bride Part II. (1995) 9.35 MOVIE: Mermaids. (1990, PG) 11.50 Memory Lane. 1.10am MOVIE: Death Is A Woman. (1966, M) 2.50 MOVIE: Jules Verne’s Rocket To The Moon. (1967) 5.20 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 7.30 Deal Or No Deal. 8.30 Bold. 11.00 Everyday Gourmet With Justine Schofield. 11.30 Becker. Noon Frasier. 1.00 Becker. (PG, R) 1.30 Frasier. (PGa, R) 2.30 Friends. (PG, R) 7.30 Two And A Half Men. (PGs, R) 11.00 Becker. (PG, R) 11.30 Frasier. 12.30am Home Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 11.45 MOVIE: The Saltwater Story. (2018, PG) 1pm Nula. 1.30 My Survival As An Aboriginal. 2.30 Ocean Parks. 3.20 MOVIE: Jedda. (1955, PG) 4.55 Waiting For Harry. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 The Other Side. 7.30 Pro Bull Riding USA: World Team Series. 8.30 MOVIE: Late Night With The Devil. (2023, MA15+) 10.15 Mowanjum 2024. 12.05am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.20pm The Dead Don’t Hurt. (2023, Danish, English, French, Spanish) 2.45 The Shooting. (1966, PGalv) 4.20 A Canterbury Tale. (1944) 6.35 Charro! (1969, PGv) 8.30 Body Of Lies. (2008, MA15+av) 10.55 Nymphomaniac: Vol 1. (2013, MA15+alns) 1.05am The Nature Of Love. (2023, MA15+as, French) 3.05 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 3pm Rugby League. World Cup. Group Stage. Pool B & C. Papua New Guinea v Lebanon. 5.15 Rugby League. Women’s World Cup. Group Stage. Pool A. England v Wales. 7.30 MOVIE: Happy Gilmore. (1996, PG) 9.30 Storage Wars. 10.00 Rugby League World Cup Post-Game. 10.30 MOVIE: Nobody. (2021, MA15+) 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Ice Hockey. NHL. Colorado Avalanche v Pittsburgh Penguins. 2.40 NBL: Overtime. 4.00 Cards And Collectables Australia. 4.30 The Dog House UK. 5.30 Basketball. NBL. South East Melbourne Phoenix v Cairns Taipans. 7.30 Basketball. NBL. Sydney Kings v Wildcats. 9.30 TBA. 11.30 Top 20 Funniest. 12.25am Evil. 2.05 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 9.00 Reel Action. 9.30 Building The Dream. 12.30pm The Living Room. 2.30 JAG. 4.30 Reel Action. 5.00 Bondi Rescue. (PGal, R) 5.30 JAG. (PGa, R) 7.30 NCIS. (Mav, R) 8.30 FBI: Most Wanted. (Masv, R) 10.20 JAG. (PGav, R) 12.15am Home Shopping.
12904397-RV40-26
ABC TV (2)
Sunday, October 18 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6.00 Rage. (PG) 7.00 Wknd Brekky. 9.00 Insiders. 10.00 Offsiders. 10.30 World This Week. (R) 11.00 Compass. (R) 11.30 Praise. (R) 12.00 News. 12.30 Landline. 1.30 Gardening Aust. (R) 2.15 Recipe Of The Year. (R) 3.25 Long Lost Family: The Unknown Soldiers. (PG, R) 4.30 Joanna Lumley’s Danube. (R) 5.15 Grand Designs New Zealand. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 9.05 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.05 It’s A Beautiful World. (Premiere, PG) 10.35 Ageless Gardens. (R) 11.05 Icons Of Auto. 12.00 WorldWatch. 1.00 Speedweek. 3.00 Gymnastics. Artistic World Challenge Cup. H’lights. 5.00 Going Places. (R) 5.35 WWII Women On The Frontline. (PGa, R)
6.00 Telethon 2026. (PG) 7.00 Weekend Sunrise. 10.00 Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 House Of Wellness. (PG, R) 1.00 Rugby League World Cup Pre-Game. 1.30 Rugby League. Women’s World Cup. Group Stage. Pool B. NZ v Fiji. 3.30 Rugby League. World Cup. Group Stage. Pool A. Fiji v Cook Islands.
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Cross Court. 11.30 Fishing Aust. (R) 12.00 A Golf Club Somewhere. (PGl) 12.30 Drive TV. 1.00 Tasman Trails. (R) 2.00 Planet Earth III. (PGa, R) 3.00 1 Euro House. (PG, R) 4.00 Ready Vet Go: The Vet Ambulance Service. (Premiere, PGm) 4.30 Explore TV. (R) 5.00 News. 5.30 Postcards. (PG)
6am Morning Programs. 9.30 GCBC. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Well Traveller. (PG, R) 11.00 Intrepid Adventures. (R) 11.30 Deal Or No Deal. (R) 12.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 12.30 Building The Dream. (R) 1.30 Exploring Off The Grid. 2.00 Gogglebox Aust. (R) 3.00 The Finish Line. (R) 4.00 Lingo. (R) 5.00 News.
6.00 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 7.00 ABC News. A look at the top stories of the day. 7.30 Recipe Of The Year. The cooks make recipes passed down in their families. 8.20 Dustfall. (Mal) Tig and Remi must deal with a potential murder as well as a sexual assault. 9.15 The Forsytes. (PG) As pressures mount, Soames longs for an heir. 10.00 Lynley. (Mav, R) Lynley and Havers look into a missing person’s case. 11.30 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 2.45 Dr Ann’s Secret Lives. (R) 3.15 Darby And Joan. (PG, R) 4.00 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.00 Insiders. (R)
6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Roman Empire By Train With Alice Roberts. 8.25 Ancient Superstructures: Aachen Cathedral. (PG) Looks at Germany’s Aachen Cathedral. 9.25 Cleopatra: Cracking The Enigma. (PGa, R) 10.30 Royal Autopsy: Henry IV – The Usurper. (Ma, R) 11.25 Royal Crisis: Countdown To Abdication: The Secret Scandal. (PGa, R) 2.25 The Burnt Half. (Mal, R) 3.50 Legacy List With Matt Paxton. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.15 Euronews. 5.30 PBS News Horizons.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Tina Arena: Unravel Me. (PGal) Profiles the life of Tina Arena. 9.00 7NEWS Spotlight. Focuses on major breaking news events and long-form investigations of national significance. 10.00 The Girl Who Caught A Killer. (MA15+av, R) Rachael Watts shares her extraordinary journey. 11.15 24 Hours In Police Custody: The Kane Line. (MA15+ad, R) 12.15 Pure Genius. (Ma, R) 1.15 Harry’s Practice. (R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 3.30 Million Dollar Minute. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News Sunday. 7.00 The Block. (PGl) 8.40 60 Minutes. Current affairs program, investigating, analysing and uncovering the issues affecting all Australians. 9.40 9News Late. 10.10 Scrublands: Silver. (Mlnssv) Martin investigates Jasper’s murder. 11.10 The First 48: Bad Driver. (MA15+av) 12.00 Australia’s Top Ten Of Everything. (PG, R) 1.00 A Golf Club Somewhere. (PGl, R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 Destination WA. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 10 News+. Hosted by Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace. 7.00 Gogglebox Australia. Opinionated viewers discuss TV shows. 8.00 The Graham Norton Show. Graham Norton chats with John Malkovich. 9.00 Shaun Micallef’s Parents’ Evening. (PGdls, R) Comedy quiz show in which Amanda Keller, Brett Blake and Abbie Chatfield team up with their lesser-known parent or child. 10.00 FBI: International. (Mv, R) The FBI fly team heads to Monaco. 12.00 10 News+. (R) Hosted by Denham Hitchcock and Amelia Brace. 12.30 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 4.45pm Gardening Australia Junior. 5.15 Peppa Pig. 5.50 Iron Man And His Awesome Friends. 6.25 Zog. 7.05 Do Not Watch This Show. 7.30 Little Lunch. 7.45 Crookhaven. 8.30 Are You Afraid Of The Dark? 9.10 Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory. 9.55 MythBusters “There’s Your Problem!”. 10.20 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Motorcycle Racing. FIM Superbike World C’ship. Estoril Round. 1.05 Inside The Cult Of The Jesus Army. 2.15 Jeopardy! 4.20 WorldWatch. 5.45 Icons Unearthed: The Lord Of The Rings. 6.40 Abandoned Engineering. 8.30 Fleishman Is In Trouble. (Premiere) 10.25 The UnXplained. 12.10am MOVIE: Flags Of Our Fathers. (2006, MA15+) 2.35 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon House Calls To The Rescue. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 2.00 South Aussie With Cosi. 2.30 Better Homes. 3.30 Railroad Australia. 4.30 The Yorkshire Vet. 5.30 My Greek Odyssey. 6.30 Escape To The Country. 7.30 Vicar Of Dibley. 8.30 Vera. 10.30 Genius: Picasso. 11.30 Vicar Of Dibley. 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 MOVIE: Miss Robin Hood. (1952) 1.05pm MOVIE: Nicholas Nickleby. (1947) 3.20 MOVIE: The Story Of Gilbert And Sullivan. (1953) 5.30 Midsomer Murders. 7.30 Clarkson’s Farm. 8.40 Fawlty Towers. 10.00 Blackadder Goes Forth. 11.20 Cold Case. 12.20am Avengers. 1.20 Creflo. 1.50 Midsomer Murders. 3.50 MOVIE: Nicholas Nickleby. (1947)
6am Shopping. 7.30 Deal Or No Deal. 9.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Becker. Noon Frasier. 1.00 Becker. 1.30 Frasier. (PGa, R) 2.30 Friends. (PG, R) 7.30 Two And A Half Men. (Ms, R) 10.30 Becker. (PG, R) 11.00 Frasier. (PGa, R) Midnight Home Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 2pm Football. West Kimberley Football League. Men’s. Grand Final. Replay. 3.40 Bamay. 3.55 Mowanjum 2024. 5.50 Bamay. 6.30 The Big Dry. 7.20 Our Medicine. 8.30 Ablaze. 10.00 MOVIE: Malcolm X. (1992, MA15+) 1.35am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Unforgiven. (1992, Malsv) 2.25 A River Runs Through It. (1992, PGaln) 4.40 Through Rocks And Clouds. (2024, PGa) 6.15 Lucky You. (2007, PGav) 8.30 The Convert. (2023, MA15+v) 10.40 Hamburger Hill. (1987, MA15+lv) 12.40am I Am Zlatan. (2021, Mlv) 2.35 Body Of Lies. (2008, MA15+av) 5.00 Dean Spanley. (2008, PG)
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Hook, Line And Sinker. Noon Red’s Fishing Adventures. 12.30 Football. AFLW. Collingwood v Sydney. 2.30 Al McGlashan’s Fish’n With Mates. 3.00 Football. AFLW. Essendon v North Melbourne. 5.00 Counting Cars. 6.00 Border Security: Int. 7.00 Cricket. Women’s T20. Aust v NZ. 10.30 MOVIE: Contraband. (2012, MA15+) 12.45am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 1pm Basketball. WNBL. Sydney v Adelaide. 3.00 The Reserve. 4.10 Seinfeld. 4.40 TBA. 7.30 MOVIE: The Matrix Reloaded. (2003, M) 10.15 TBA. 12.35am Bel-Air. 1.30 Adelaide Equestrian Festival. 2.30 Soccer. English Premier League. Liverpool v Manchester City. Replay. 4.30 LEGO City Adventures. 4.50 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 7.30 Leading The Way. 8.00 All 4 Adventure. 9.00 Navigating The World. 10.00 Australia By Design: Architecture. 10.30 Building The Dream. 12.30pm What’s Up Down Under. 1.30 Camper Deals. 2.00 Living Room. 3.00 JAG. 5.00 I Fish. 5.30 JAG. 7.30 NCIS. 10.20 Fire Country. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
14 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
Monday, October 19 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6.00 News Breakfast. 9.00 News. 10.00 Lynley. (Mav, R) 11.30 Stuff The British Stole. (PG, R) 12.00 ABC News At Noon. 1.00 Landline. (R) 2.00 Back Roads. (PG, R) 2.25 You Can’t Ask That. (Mal, R) 3.00 Murdoch Mysteries. (PG, R) 3.45 Grand Designs Australia. (PG, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 11.40 Language Of Light. (Ma, R) 12.10 WorldWatch. 2.00 Close Encounters With Levison Wood. (Mal, R) 2.55 Weekend Escapes. (R) 3.30 The Cook Up. (R) 4.00 Secrets Of Britain’s Historic Houses & Gardens. (R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Beat The Chasers UK. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.30 Getaway. (PG, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.00 [MELB] Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 7.30 Everyday Gourmet. (R) 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Gogglebox Aust. (R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Australian Story. 8.30 Four Corners. Investigative journalism program. 9.20 Media Watch. (PG) Presented by Linton Besser. 9.35 Planet America. 10.10 The State Of Man. (Mal, R) 10.55 ABC Late News. 11.10 The Business. (R) 11.30 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mav, R) 12.15 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.00 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 3.30 Dr Karl’s How Things Work: Toilet Paper. (R) 4.00 Creative Types With Virginia Trioli: Trent Dalton. (Ml, R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 Big Fat Quiz Best Bits: Ultimate Chaos. Hosted by Jimmy Carr. 8.30 24 Hours In Emergency: Playing Detective. (Ma) A 22-year-old is rushed to Queen’s Medical Centre after collapsing while running. 9.30 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown. (Mals, R) Hosted by Jimmy Carr. 10.20 SBS World News Late. 10.50 Icebreaker. (Premiere, Mal) 12.40 Something Undone. (Mal, R) 3.00 Inside Oxford Street. (Ml, R) 4.40 Bamay: Murrumbidgee River – Wiradjuri And Ngarigo Country. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PGa) 7.30 My Kitchen Rules. (PGl) The gatecrashers shake up the competition. 9.10 The Rookie. (Mav) Grey and Garza continue to work with Monica despite their misgivings. 10.10 The Agenda Setters: Rugby League. An expert panel tackles the biggest rugby league topics. 11.10 Family Guy. (Return, Mds) 11.40 American Dad! (Return, Ms) The Smiths throw a pool party. 12.10 It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. (Return, Mls) 12.40 Transplant. (MA15+a, R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 The Block. (PGl) A team has a tense conversation with their landscaper. 8.40 Australian Crime Stories: The Investigators: Uncovering Evil. (Madsv, R) Looks at one of Australia’s most dangerous predators. 9.40 9News Late. 10.10 Outback Opal Hunters. (PGl) 11.10 Pretty Hard Cases. (Mav, R) 12.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.00 Hello SA. (PG) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PG) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 Shaun Micallef’s Parents’ Evening. (PGls) Scott O’Halloran, Gai Waterhouse and Dave Thornton team up with their lesser-known parent or child. 8.40 Sam Pang Tonight. (Return, Mals) A weekly tonight show hosted by Sam Pang, featuring a monologue roasting the news of the week. 9.40 10’s Late News. Coverage of news, sport and weather. 10.40 Australian True Crime With Meshel Laurie: Peter Breen – Never To Be Released? (Ma) Peter Breen discusses harsh no-parole laws. 11.40 Two And A Half Men. (Ms, R) 1.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 3pm Play School. 3.30 Wiggle And Learn. 4.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.25 Octonauts. 5.50 Super Monsters. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 6.45 HexVets And Magic Pets. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Animal Park. 9.30 Hard Quiz Kids. 9.55 Merlin. 10.45 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.55 France 24 English News. 12.25pm Hudson & Rex. 2.15 National Indigenous Fashion Awards. 3.40 WorldWatch. 5.40 Living Next Door To Putin. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 8.30 Scrabble. 9.20 Icons Unearthed: Quentin Tarantino. 10.15 MOVIE: Full Metal Jacket. (1987, MA15+) 12.20am Brassic. 2.00 NHK World English News. 5.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 1pm My Greek Odyssey. 2.00 Weekender. 2.30 Auction Squad. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Doc Martin. 8.30 A Touch Of Frost. 10.45 Escape To The Country. 11.45 Bargain Hunt. 12.45am Doc Martin. 2.00 Harry’s Practice. 2.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Yorkshire Auction House. 1.00 Fawlty Towers. 2.20 Blackadder Goes Forth. 3.40 MOVIE: Tommy The Toreador. (1959) 5.30 Yorkshire Auction House. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 Death In Paradise. 8.40 The Brokenwood Mysteries. 10.40 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.40 Death In Paradise. 12.40am Antiques Roadshow. 1.10 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Ridiculousness. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 12.10pm Ablaze. 1.40 Glen Thomas: Beyond The Walls. 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 5.00 Amplify. 5.30 The 77 Percent. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 The Big Dry. 7.30 Who Do You Think You Are? 8.30 Living Black. 9.30 Blown Away. 10.40 MOVIE: Lady In The Water. (2006, PG) 12.35am Going Places. 1.35 Bamay. 2.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.25pm Baghdad Messi. (2023, Mlv, Arabic) 2.00 Where Angels Fear To Tread. (1991, PGa) 4.05 Charro! (1969, PGv) 6.00 Walkabout To Hollywood. (1980, PGaw) 7.00 The Taste Of Things. (2023, PGan, French) 9.30 A Good Person. (2023, MA15+ad) 11.50 Servant Or Slave. (2016, Ma) 1am Post Coitum, Animal Triste. (1997, Malsv, French) 2.50 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 2.30pm Motor Racing. Supercars Support Races. Dunlop Series. Bathurst 1000. H’lights. 3.30 Motor Racing. Supercars Support Races. Carrera Cup. Bathurst 1000. H’lights. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Aussie Gold Hunters. 9.30 Gem Hunters Down Under. 10.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Seinfeld. Noon World’s Greatest Man Made Wonders. 1.00 My Way. 1.15 MOVIE: You’ve Got Mail. (1998, PG) 3.40 Baywatch. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Seinfeld. 6.30 NBL: Overtime. 7.30 Big Bang. 8.30 Seinfeld. 9.30 TBA. 11.30 NBL: Overtime. 12.30am Joe Vs. Carole. (Premiere) 1.25 The Summit. 3.10 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 Gold Wars Downunder. 2.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (Mav, R) 10.20 Bull. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
We
Local News 12466496-DL43-20
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Tuesday, October 20 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6.00 News Breakfast. 9.00 News. 10.00 Aust Story. (R) 10.30 Planet America. (R) 11.00 The State Of Man. (Mal, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 Beyond Paradise. (PGa, R) 2.00 Back Roads. (R) 2.25 You Can’t Ask That. (Mals, R) 3.00 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGv, R) 3.45 Grand Designs Australia. (R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 10.15 My Dream Green Home. (R) 11.05 Canal Boat Diaries. 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Close Encounters With Levison Wood. (Mal, R) 2.55 Weekend Escapes. (R) 3.30 The Cook Up. (R) 4.00 Secrets Of Britain’s Historic Houses & Gardens. (PGad, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Bridge Of Lies: Celebrity Specials. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.00 Space Invaders. (PGa, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.00 [MELB] Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Shaun Micallef’s Parents’ Evening. (PGls, R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 The State Of Man. (Mals) 8.50 Believe In Magic: The Mother Of All Cons. (Ml) 9.50 Grand Designs New Zealand. (R) 10.45 ABC Late News. 11.00 The Business. (R) 11.15 Four Corners. (R) 12.05 Media Watch. (PG, R) 12.20 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mav, R) 1.05 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.55 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 3.30 Dr Karl’s How Things Work. (R) 4.00 Creative Types With Virginia Trioli. (PG, R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.30 Who Do You Think You Are? Ross Kemp. 8.40 Norwegian Odyssey. (Premiere) Lorraine Kelly explores Norway. 9.35 Sandi Toksvig’s Woodland Restoration. (Ml, R) 10.30 SBS World News Late. 11.00 Mussolini: Son Of The Century. (MA15+v) 12.10 A Body That Works. (Ma, R) 2.20 Inside Oxford Street. (PGa, R) 4.00 Seeds: Planting Hope Through Education. (PG, R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PGa) Eden’s falling apart without Cash. 7.30 My Kitchen Rules. (PG) The competition heads to Sydney as hipster mates Harrison and Oliver hope to impress. 9.05 Off The Grid With Colin And Manu. (PG) Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel head to Akaroa, where they swim with dolphins. 10.05 The Amazing Race. (PG) Hosted by Phil Keoghan. 11.35 Happy’s Place. (PGl) 12.05 The Path. (MA15+adlv) 2.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 The Block. (PGl) 8.40 1 Euro House. (PG) Half the house must be demolished. 9.40 Topknotz: Wild On Water. (Ml) 10.40 9News Late. 11.10 The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. (MA15+alvv) 12.10 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.05 Cross Court. (R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 The Garden Gurus. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG) 7.30 Sydney Harbour Cops. Police patrol dangerous waters from Botany Bay to Coffs Harbour, searching for a missing fisherman. 8.30 The Cheap Seats. (Mal) Presenters Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald take a look at the week that was. 9.30 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.30 Two And A Half Men. (Ms, R) Charlie’s house becomes a crime scene. 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 3pm Play School. 3.30 Wiggle And Learn. 4.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.25 Octonauts. 5.50 Super Monsters. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 6.45 HexVets And Magic Pets. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Animal Park. 9.30 Kids Baking C’ship. 10.10 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon DW The Day. 12.30 A League Of Their Own Road Trip: SE Asia. 2.20 The Grudge. 3.35 WorldWatch. 5.35 Secret World Of Autistic Women And Girls. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 8.30 MOVIE: Death Proof. (2007, MA15+) 10.35 MOVIE: The Lincoln Lawyer. (2011) 12.45am Brassic. 2.25 NHK World English News. 5.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon My Kitchen Rules. 2.00 Creek To Coast. 2.30 House Of Wellness. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Call The Midwife. 8.30 Inspector Morse. 10.30 Escape To The Country. 11.30 Call The Midwife. 12.30am Bargain Hunt. 1.30 The Real Seachange. 2.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Yorkshire Auction House. 1.00 The Brokenwood Mysteries. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.35 MOVIE: The Divided Heart. (1954, PG) 5.30 Yorkshire Auction House. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 New Tricks. 8.40 Grantchester. 9.50 Wong & Winchester. 10.50 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.50 New Tricks. 1am Creflo. 1.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Ridiculousness. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. Noon Sons Of Namatjira. 12.55 Exile And The Kingdom. 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 5.00 Amplify. 5.25 Indian Country Today News. 5.55 Bamay. 6.35 The Big Dry. 7.30 Cold Justice. 8.05 Finding Family. 8.35 MOVIE: Lantana. (2001, M) 10.45 Karla Grant Presents. 11.15 Prison Songs. 12.10am Going Places. 1.05 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.10pm Girl America. (2024, Malsv, Czech) 2.15 Through Rocks And Clouds. (2024, PGa) 3.50 Shin Ultraman. (2022, PGv, Japanese, English, Russian) 5.55 And God Created Woman. (1956, PGalnsv, French) 7.35 Down With Love. (2003, Mas) 9.30 The Royal Hotel. (2023, MA15+l) 11.10 Aftersun. (2022, Mals) 1.05am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.30pm Mt Hutt Rescue. 1.30 Gem Hunters Down Under. 2.30 Aussie Gold Hunters. 3.30 Mighty Planes. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.00 Cricket. Women’s T20. Aust v NZ. 10.30 Heavy Tow Truckers Down Under. 11.30 Big Rig Bounty Hunters. 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 Seinfeld. Noon MOVIE: Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine. (2015, M) 2.35 NBL: Overtime. 3.40 Big Bang. 4.40 Addams Family. 5.40 Seinfeld. 6.40 Baywatch. 7.30 Big Bang. 8.30 Seinfeld. 9.30 TBA. 11.30 Big Bang. 11.55 Jane The Virgin. 12.45am The Girl From Plainville. 1.40 Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars. 3.10 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 Gold Wars Downunder. 2.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (M, R) 10.20 Bull. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 15
Wednesday, October 21 SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6.00 News Breakfast. 9.00 News. 10.00 Four Corners. (R) 10.45 Dr Karl’s How Things Work. (R) 12.00 News. 12.30 Press Club. 1.35 Media Watch. (PG, R) 1.55 Back Roads. (R) 2.25 You Can’t Ask That. (Mal, R) 3.00 Murdoch Mysteries. (PGv, R) 3.45 Grand Designs Australia. (PG, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 10.15 My Dream Green Home. (R) 11.05 Canal Boat Diaries. 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 Close Encounters With Levison Wood. (Mal, R) 2.55 Weekend Escapes. (R) 3.30 The Cook Up. (R) 4.00 Secrets Of Britain’s Historic Houses & Gardens. (PG, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Bridge Of Lies: Celebrity Specials. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. (R) 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.00 Topknotz: Wild On Water. (Ml, R) 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 11.00 Sydney Harbour Cops. (R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Hard Quiz. (PGa) 8.30 Class Clowns. (PGs) The teams build vehicles. 9.00 Crime Night! (PG) Hosted by Julia Zemiro. 9.30 Small Prophets. (Ml, R) 10.05 Planet America. (R) 10.35 ABC Late News. 10.50 The Business. (R) 11.10 Dustfall. (Mal, R) 12.00 Murdoch Mysteries. (Mav, R) 12.45 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.35 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 3.30 Dr Karl’s How Things Work. (R) 4.00 Creative Types With Virginia Trioli. (Ms, R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 Bill Bailey’s Korea. (PG) Bill Bailey visits Busan, a major port and trade hub, and home to one of the busiest fish markets in the land. 8.30 Killing Sherlock With Lucy Worsley: Doctor And Detective. (PGad, R) Lucy Worsley explores the character of Sherlock Holmes. 9.30 Apollo Has Fallen. (MA15+av) Rachel pleads for her family with Yuri. 10.20 SBS World News Late. 10.50 The Old Man. (Mlv) 11.40 Classified. (Msv, R) 2.10 Inside Oxford Street. (PGa, R) 3.50 Legacy List With Matt Paxton. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PGa) 7.30 The 1% Club UK. (PG, R) Hosted by Lee Mack. 8.30 A Taste For Murder. (Malv) Joe and Lara suspect murder when a diver drowns on a routine dive. Angelica suspects that Daniele is dealing in drugs. 9.30 House Of Wellness. (PG) A team of industry experts, media personalities and wellness advocates shares insights and experiences to highlight living well. 10.30 Chicago Fire. (Return, Mav) 11.30 Happy’s Place. (PGa) 12.00 Riviera. (MA15+adlsv, R) 2.00 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 The Block. (PGl) Front yard landscaping is taking its toll on teams. 8.45 Chefs Ahoy. Vincent Lim and veggie queen Alice Zaslavsky sail to Busan aboard Diamond Princess. 9.45 9News Late. 10.15 Airport Security: USA. (Mad, R) A mail centre intercepts drugs in the warehouse. 11.15 Sight Unseen. (Mav) 12.05 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 1.00 Drive TV. (R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (R) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 The Celebrity Traitors UK. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman. 8.55 Boston Blue. (Mv) When a college basketball star is threatened, Danny and Lena race to protect them while solving a murder. Jonah struggles with anger over his father’s death. Personal risks rise for the team. 9.55 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.55 The Cheap Seats. (Mal, R) Presenters Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald take a look at the week that was. 12.00 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 2.30pm Monster Makes. 3.00 Play School. 3.30 Wiggle And Learn. 4.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.25 Octonauts. 5.50 Super Monsters. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Animal Park. 9.30 The Piano. 10.25 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.55 DW The Day. 12.25pm A League Of Their Own Road Trip: SE Asia. 2.15 The Grudge. 3.15 Lion Dancers: The Crane And The Lion. 3.40 WorldWatch. 5.40 MH370: The Lost Flight. 6.40 Jeopardy! 7.35 8 Out Of 10 Cats. 9.20 Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. 10.15 Ramy. 11.15 MOVIE: Goodfellas. (1990, MA15+) 1.55am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Better Homes. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 2.00 A Moveable Feast. 2.30 House Calls To The Rescue. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Heartbeat. 8.45 Foyle’s War. 10.55 Escape To The Country. 11.55 Bargain Hunt. 1am The Real Seachange. 1.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 My Favorite Martian. Noon Yorkshire Auction House. 1.00 New Tricks. 2.00 Grantchester. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.30 Explore. 3.45 MOVIE: Carry On Constable. (1960) 5.30 Yorkshire Auction House. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 As Time Goes By. 8.40 Midsomer Murders. 10.40 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.40 As Time Goes By. 12.40am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 9.30 Farm To Fork. 10.00 Bold. 10.30 Deal Or No Deal. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Ridiculousness. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Frasier. 11.00 Ridiculousness. 11.30 Ent. Tonight. Midnight Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. 1.35pm Stompem Ground 2022: Footprince. 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 5.00 Amplify. 5.30 News. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Wild, Smart And Deadly. 7.30 Friday Night Thunder. 8.30 Pro Bull Riding: USA. 9.30 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 10.00 MOVIE: James And Isey. (2021, M) 11.35 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.50 Servant Or Slave. (2016, Ma) 1pm Post Coitum, Animal Triste. (1997, Malsv, French) 2.50 Tony Takitani. (2004, PGa, Japanese) 4.20 Love And Friendship. (2016, PGa) 6.00 The Unknown Country. (2022, PGa) 7.35 Stay. (2005, Malv) 9.30 Harry Brown. (2009, MA15+dlsv) 11.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.30pm Mt Hutt Rescue. 1.30 Heavy Tow Truckers Down Under. 2.30 Outback Truckers. 3.30 Mighty Planes. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.30 Highway Patrol. 8.30 The Force: BTL. 9.30 Caught On Dashcam. 10.30 World’s Wildest Police Videos. 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 World’s Greatest Journeys. 12.30pm Conquering Skin Cancer. 1.30 Parental Guidance. 2.40 Baywatch. 3.30 Big Bang. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Seinfeld. 6.30 Baywatch. 7.30 Big Bang. 8.30 Seinfeld. 9.30 TBA. Midnight Jane The Virgin. 12.50 Escaping Polygamy. (Return) 1.45 Parental Guidance. 2.50 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 Gold Wars Downunder. 2.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. (Mv, R) 10.20 Bull. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
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Thursday, October 22 ABC TV (2)
SBS (3)
SEVEN (6, 7)
NINE (8, 9)
TEN (5, 10)
6am Morning Programs. 10.30 Class Clowns. (PGs, R) 10.55 Crime Night! (PG, R) 11.30 Small Prophets. (Ml, R) 12.00 News. 1.00 The Forsytes. (PG, R) 1.55 Back Roads. (R) 2.25 You Can’t Ask That. (Madl, R) 2.55 Frankie Drake. (PG, R) 3.40 Grand Designs Aust. (PG, R) 4.40 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 5.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R)
6am Morning Programs. 9.15 For The Love Of Dogs. (PGa, R) 10.15 My Dream Green Home. (R) 11.10 Canal Boat Diaries. 12.00 WorldWatch. 2.00 The Cambridgeshire Crucifixion. (PG, R) 3.05 Weekend Escapes. (R) 3.40 The Cook Up. (R) 4.10 Britain’s Most Beautiful Road. (PGa, R) 5.05 Jeopardy! 5.30 Letters And Numbers. (R)
6.00 Sunrise. 9.00 The Morning Show. (PG) 12.00 Seven’s National News At Noon. 1.00 Time Is Money. (R) 2.00 Bridge Of Lies. (R) 3.00 The Chase. (R) 4.00 Seven News At 4. 5.00 The Chase Australia.
6.00 Today. 9.00 Today Extra. (PG) 11.30 9News Morning. 12.00 The Block. (PGl, R) 1.15 Explore TV. (R) 1.45 My Way. 2.00 Pointless. (PG, R) 3.00 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 4.00 9News Afternoon. 4.30 Tipping Point Australia. (PG, R) 5.30 WIN News.
6am Morning Programs. 8.00 Lingo. (R) 9.00 The Finish Line. (R) 10.00 Farm To Fork. (R) 10.30 Ent. Tonight. (R) 10.50 Taskmaster Australia. (PGals, R) 12.00 Everyday Gourmet. 12.30 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) 1.00 News. 2.00 Deal Or No Deal. (PG, R) 2.30 The Finish Line. (R) 3.30 Lingo. (R) 4.30 Bold. (PG) 5.00 News.
6.30 Hard Quiz. (PG, R) 7.00 ABC News. 7.30 7.30. 8.00 Grand Designs New Zealand. 8.45 Joanna Lumley’s Danube. (PG, R) 9.35 Dustfall. (Mal, R) Tig and Remi work on two cases at the same time. 10.35 ABC Late News. 10.50 The Business. (R) 11.05 Death Valley. (Final, PGa, R) 11.50 Frankie Drake Mysteries. (PGav, R) 12.35 Long Lost Family. (PG, R) 1.25 Rage. (MA15+adhlnsv) 3.30 Dr Karl’s How Things Work. (R) 4.00 Creative Types With Virginia Trioli: Warwick Thornton. (Ml, R) 4.30 Antiques Roadshow. (R) 5.30 7.30. (R)
6.00 Mastermind Australia. (R) 6.30 SBS World News. 7.35 Tucci In Italy. (PG) Stanley Tucci explores Italy’s northernmost region. 8.25 Inside Sydney Fish Market. (PG) The new market finally opens, where huge crowds try out its restaurants, loading docks and high-tech systems. 9.25 Blue Lights. (M) Gerry’s murder trial begins. 10.30 SBS World News Late. 11.00 Cry Wolf. (Mal) 11.55 Babylon Berlin. (MA15+av, R) 2.40 Inside Oxford Street. (PG, R) 4.20 Auction. (R) 5.00 NHK World English News Morning. 5.30 ANC Philippines The World Tonight.
6.00 Seven News. 7.00 Home And Away. (PG) 8.30 Glenn And Mick’s Celebrity Intervention. (Malns, R) Glenn Robbins and Mick Molloy surprise guest Dr Chris Brown with some home truths. 9.40 Unbelievable Moments Caught On Camera. (PGa) Footage of headline-grabbing moments captured on camera by members of the public. 10.40 Renters. (Return, PGal) 11.10 Gatecrashers. 12.10 Vampire Academy. (MA15+hv) 2.30 Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 NBC Today. 5.00 Sunrise Early News. 5.30 Sunrise.
6.00 9News. 7.00 A Current Affair. 7.30 RBT. (Md) Follows the activities of police units. 8.30 Paramedics. (Mdm) A drug user puts paramedics in danger. 9.30 RPA. (PGm, R) A mother is diagnosed with cancer. 10.30 9News Late. 11.00 Chicago Med. (MA15+amv) 11.50 Tipping Point. (PG, R) 12.40 Pointless. (PG, R) 1.30 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 2.30 Global Shop. (R) 3.00 TV Shop: Home Shopping. (R) 4.00 Skippy The Bush Kangaroo. (R) 4.30 A Current Affair. (R) 5.00 Today Early News. 5.30 Today.
6.30 Deal Or No Deal. (R) Hosted by Grant Denyer. 7.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. (PG, R) Hosted by Rebecca Gibney. 7.30 The Celebrity Traitors UK. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman. 8.55 NCIS: Sydney. (Final, Mdv) A Marine linked to Mackey’s ill-fated rescue mission in Afghanistan is found dead. 9.50 10’s Late News. Comprehensive coverage of local, national and international news, as well as the latest sport and weather. 10.50 Sports Tonight: The Weekly Kick-Off. A panel discusses Australian soccer news. 11.20 Two And A Half Men. (PGals, R) 12.30 Home Shopping. (R)
ABC FAMILY (22)
SBS2 (31)
7TWO (62, 72)
9GEM (81, 92)
10 COMEDY (52, 11)
6am Children’s Programs. 2.30pm Monster Makes. 3.00 Play School. 3.30 Wiggle And Learn. 4.05 Gardening Australia Junior. 4.30 SuperKitties. 5.25 Octonauts. 5.50 Super Monsters. 6.05 Spidey And His Amazing Friends. 7.05 Batwheels. 7.35 Ninjago. 8.00 Young Sheldon. 8.25 Young Sheldon. 8.45 Animal Park. 9.30 72 Cutest Animals. 9.55 Merlin. 10.40 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Patriot Brains. 11.55 DW The Day. 12.25pm A League Of Their Own Road Trip: SE Asia. 2.25 Insight. 3.30 WorldWatch. 5.30 MH370: The Lost Flight. 6.30 Jeopardy! 7.30 Soccer. Aust C’ship. Lions FC v Preston Lions FC. 9.30 Alone. 11.15 Big Zuu Goes To Mecca. 12.25am The Patient. 2.45 NHK World English News. 5.00 Al Jazeera News Hour.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Better Homes. 1.00 Escape To The Country. 2.00 South Aussie With Cosi. 2.30 The Aussie Property Flippers. 3.30 Harry’s Practice. 4.00 Medical Emergency. 4.30 Better Homes. 5.30 Escape To The Country. 6.30 Bargain Hunt. 7.30 Father Brown. 8.30 Shetland. 11.00 Escape To The Country. Midnight Father Brown. 1.00 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. Noon Yorkshire Auction House. 1.00 Midsomer Murders. 3.00 Antiques Roadshow. 3.30 Explore. 3.45 MOVIE: Crooks Anonymous. (1962) 5.30 Yorkshire Auction House. 6.30 Antiques Roadshow. 7.30 Shakespeare And Hathaway. 8.30 The Chelsea Detective. 10.30 Rizzoli & Isles. 11.30 Shakespeare And Hathaway. 12.30am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.00 Millionaire Hot Seat. 11.30 Ridiculousness. 12.30pm Becker. 1.00 Friends. 3.00 Frasier. 4.00 Everyday Gourmet. 4.30 Becker. 5.00 Frasier. 6.00 Friends. 8.00 Two And A Half Men. 9.30 Becker. 10.00 Cheap Seats. 11.00 Frasier. Midnight Ridiculousness. 12.30 Ent. Tonight. 1.00 Shopping. 2.30 Bold. 3.30 Shopping. 5.30 Late Programs.
NITV (34)
SBS WORLD MOVIES (32)
7MATE (64, 73)
9GO! (82, 93)
10 DRAMA (53, 12)
6am Morning Programs. Noon Pro Bull Riding: USA. 1.00 Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready. 1.30 Destiny In Alice. 2.00 Kriol Kitchen. 2.30 The Cook Up. 3.00 Jarjums. 5.00 Amplify. 5.30 Te Ao With Moana. 6.00 Bamay. 6.40 Wild, Smart And Deadly. 7.30 Going Places. 8.30 Rabbit Fall. 9.00 MOVIE: Queen Of The Damned. (2002, MA15+) 10.45 Song Of Rapa Nui. 12.05am Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 12.20pm Down With Love. (2003, Mas) 2.15 Lassie: A New Adventure. (2023, PG, German) 3.55 Delfin. (2019, PGa, Spanish) 5.35 The Big Steal. (1990, PGls) 7.30 The 355. (2022, Malv) 9.45 The Gunman. (2015, MA15+v) 11.55 Another End. (2024, Maln) 2.05am Empty Nets. (2023, Mavw, Persian) 4.05 One Of A Kind. (2023, Mlvw)
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 American Pickers. 12.30pm Mt Hutt Rescue. 1.30 Caught On Dashcam. 2.30 The Force: BTL. 3.00 Talking W. 3.30 Mighty Planes. 4.30 American Resto. 5.00 Storage Wars. 5.30 American Pickers. 6.30 Pawn Stars. 7.00 Cricket. Women’s T20. Aust v NZ. 10.30 MOVIE: xXx. (2002, M) 1am Storage Wars. 1.30 Pawn Stars. 2.30 Late Programs.
6am Morning Programs. 11.30 World’s Greatest Journeys. 12.30pm Cards And Collectables Australia. 1.00 Snackmasters. 2.30 Baywatch. 3.30 Big Bang. 4.30 Addams Family. 5.30 Seinfeld. 6.30 Baywatch. 7.30 Big Bang. 8.30 Seinfeld. 9.30 TBA. 11.30 Big Bang. Midnight Jane The Virgin. 12.50 Escaping Polygamy. 1.45 Psychic Kids. 2.35 Late Programs.
6am Shopping. 8.00 Days Of Our Lives. 8.45 The Young And The Restless. 9.30 Living Room. 10.30 Building The Dream. 11.30 Bold. Noon Days Of Our Lives. 12.45 The Young And The Restless. 1.30 Gold Wars Downunder. 2.30 JAG. 3.30 Bull. 4.30 JAG. 6.30 Bull. 7.30 NCIS. 8.30 Law & Order: SVU. (Mas, R) 10.20 Bull. 11.15 JAG. 1.15am Shopping.
16 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
NEWS
Tuesday fun at the beach Independent photographer Ivan Kemp went to Ocean Grove main beach on Tuesday 13 October to see who was out and about.
Amanda Rawlins and Shaun Kempton.
Peter Butcher.
Peter Kennedy with Bonty and Jongy. 583881
Jess Morrison and Carolin Neave.
Shannon Hopwood.
Emily Yates, Philippa Taylor and Phil King.
Renjo and Vanessa Morillo from the Philippines.
Kim Baker.
Lucy, Dylan and Max from Newcomb Secondary College.
Aylah and Sophie from Newcomb Secondary College.
Hannah, Olivia and Rick.
Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 17
COMMUNITY
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
COMMUNITY CALENDAR WANT YOUR EVENT LISTED? Community Calendar is made available free of charge to not-for-profit organisations to keep the public informed of special events and activities. Send item details to Geelong Independent Community Calendar, 1/47 Pakington Street, Geelong West, 3218, or email to editorial@geelongindependent.com.au. Deadline for copy and announcements is 5pm Tuesday. Due to the ever increasing entries coming in each week for our Community Calendar page, we have enough to fill almost three pages. This means your entry will not appear each week. We will do our best to rotate them fairly. If you have an existing entry that no longer operates, please let us know so we can remove it. Your patience and understanding is welcome for this FREE service. The calendar in its entirety with every entry is posted every Saturday at 9am at geelongindy.com.au
Book clearance
term, St John’s Highton, 269 Roslyn Road, Highton. office@stjohnshighton.org.au, 0433 191 890
St Bernard’s fiction book clearance with more than 4000 novels, Clairvaux School Hall, Reynolds Road, Belmont, Sunday 18 October, 8am-noon. 0409 969 648
Belmont Seniors Players wanted to play 500 each Monday 12.30pm. Belmont Senior Centre, 52 Thomson Street, Belmont. 5241 1776
Oktoberfest Beer, food, music by Heinz und Larry with yodelling by Chelsea. Austrian Club Geelong. 240 Plantation Road, Corio, Sunday 25 October, noon-5pm. Irmela, 0435 995 200
Ocean Grove Library
Ballroom dance Leopold Hall, 805-809 Bellarine Highway, Saturday 17 October, 7.30-10.30pm, $10. Music: Ben. Bring a small plate. 0400 500 402
Hamlyn Heights Combined Probus Meets second Thursday of the month, 10am, 200 McCurdy Road, Fyansford. Noel, 0425 706 339
Scottish dancing GOG Scottish Country Dance classes 7.30pm Tuesdays at Leopold Hill Hall, $5. No partner needed. Vicki, 0412 762 983, Barbara, 0419 511 781
Esoteric coffee meetups For mature 18+ interested in the supernatural/occult paranormal experiences tarot cards, Anton La Vey, NDE, for fortnightly/coffee and chat catch-ups in northern Geelong/Geelong area. Bookings limited. Text name/details, 0400 542 522
Geelong Central Probus Third Friday of the month, 9.45am, Grovedale Hotel. geelcentprob@gmail.com
Newcomb Probus Third Wednesday of each month, 10am, East Geelong Uniting Church, corner Boundary & Ormond Roads. Gary, 0407 320 735
Music for preschoolers Mainly Music is a music and movement program for babies to preschoolers at St Albans-St Andrews Uniting Church, 276 Wilsons Road, Whittington, Tuesdays 10am during school terms. Rhonda, 0437 241 345
Leopold Library Tuesdays 2pm: Digital drop in for basic tech needs. Free school holiday programs. All ages, all interests. 4201 0675, grlc.vic.gov.au
Community kitchen Australian Multicultural Support Services Social Support Groups for communities from different multicultural backgrounds for seniors over 65. Meals, activities and fun. White Eagle House, Breakwater, 10am-2.30pm Fridays. 9689 9170, amcservices.org.au, info@amcservices.org.au Wanted: card sharp partners to play the game of Bolivia on Thursday evenings. For venue email Ingrid. griddlepop@hotmail.com
Geelong Historical Society Inc. Guest speaker first Wednesday of the month, 7.30pm, Virginia Todd Hall, 9 Clarence Street, Geelong West. Harry, 0473 807 944, geelonghistoricalsociety.org.au
Stamps Geelong Philatelic Society Inc meets 7pm first Saturday of the month (excluding January) at Virginia Todd Community Hall, 9-15 Clarence Street, Geelong West, and 12.30pm third Monday of the month (excluding December) at Belmont Pavillion, 162 Barrabool Road, Belmont. Julie, 0438 270 549
Last Sunday of each month, 1.30-3pm, National Wool Museum. Gold coin donation. Topics usually relating to Greater Geelong. Facebook: Geelong Museum Association
Christ Church hall, corner Moorabool & McKillop Streets, 1pm Saturdays. Beginners to experts welcome. Sue, 0419 106 147, Pauline, 0429 829 773
Chatty Cafe
Sing Australia Geelong Choir
Indulge in cake, coffee/tea and chat, South Barwon Community Centre, 33 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont. Open 2nd and 4th Monday each month, 10-11am, $5 donation. 5243 8388
Wednesdays 7.30-9.30pm at Senior Citizens Centre, 52 Thomson Street, Belmont. No auditions needed. Mary, 0419 278 456
Mindfulness & meditation U3A Social badminton Players wanted. Mondays 9.45am, Barwon Valley Activities Centre. Lynne, 5243 1275
9.30am and 12.30pm Wednesdays, Cobbin Farm, Grove Road, Grovedale. Jean, 5264 7484
Lions Club of Geelong Breakfast Inc Fatigue
Scribes Writers Group
Ballroom dancing
Do you enjoy cooking or want to learn cooking and budgeting skills with a small group of like-minded people in your community? Are you interested in volunteering to facilitate a Community Kitchen? healthycommunities@barwonhealth.org. au
Belmont Park Pavilion, Thursdays 2-4pm. Val, 5251 3529
Welcome mat
South Barwon Community Centre, Mondays 9.30am-noon. Welcoming new members to refine their skills. geelongscribeswriters@gmail.com, 5243 8388
Cards
Scrabble club History talk
Tuesday 27 October, 2-3pm: Upcycling in the garden Mondays 10.30-11.30am: Preschool Story Time (during school term) Tuesdays 4-5pm: Youth Collective - ages 12-18 (during school term) Wednesdays 9.30-10am: Toddler Time (during school term) Thursdays 11.30-11.50am: Baby Time (all year) Thursdays 3.45-4.45pm: after school program (during school term)
Geelong ME/CFS Support Group (including fibromyalgia, long COVID and Lyme disease) meets first Tuesday of the month, 36 Saffron Street, Newtown, 1-3pm. geelonggroupcfsme@hotmail.com
Meets first Tuesday of each month at 8am, Eastern Hub (behind East Geelong Cemetery), followed by breakfast. Dinner event third Thursday of each month in Geelong. ajd53m@yahoo.com
Highton Seniors
Geelong Dragon Boat Club
Carpet bowls, bingo, cards, taichi, line dancing, mahjong. Community Centre, 84 Barrabool Road, Highton. Elma, 0411 065 524
Paddle at Barwon River. Training Wednesdays 5pm, Saturdays 9am. Free one-month trial. revolutionise.com.au/geelongdragons
18 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
Kids’ church Group lessons for children aged 3-6, 7-10 and 10+, St Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, 171a Latrobe Terrace, Geelong, first Sunday of the month during school term, 10.30-11.30am. Suzie, 0402 963 855, Althea, 0403 005 449
Combined Probus Club of Highton Meets third Thursday of each month, South Barwon Football & Netball clubrooms, McDonald Reserve, Reynolds Road, Belmont, 10am. Sandra, 0427 348 260
Zonta Club of Geelong Global human rights organisation working to build a better world for women and girls. Meets first Wednesday monthly for dinner, 6pm. zontaclubgeelong@yahoo.com.au, 0411 628 361
Geelong Prostate Cancer Support Group Meets last Friday of the month (except December), 10am-noon, Belmont Park Pavilion, 162 Barrabool Road, Belmont. Bill, 0414 524 155, info@geelongpsg.net
Geelong ballroom dancing Saturdays 7.30-10.15pm, corner Bayview Parade and Carey Street, Hamlyn Heights. Entry: $10. BYO drinks and a plate. 5278 9740, geelongballroomdc.com.au
Belmont Uniting Church every Friday from 10am-1pm. Games, lunch and friendship. Fay, 0409 361 414
OMNI Older Men New Ideas men’s friendly informal chat group, South Barwon Community Centre, 33 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont, 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 10.30am. Allan, 0409 665 608
Bike riding Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from Belmont. Rides to suit all levels of fitness; e-bikes welcome. Rob, 0412 308 166
Lara Community Market Second Sunday of the month at Lara RSL, 9am-1pm.
Geelong Amateur Radio Club Storrer Street Clubhouse, Geelong, Wednesdays 1.30-4pm, Fridays 6.30pm. Robert, 0438 409 979, vk3atl.org
Choir St Paul’s Choir rehearses Thursday 7.30pm and Sunday 9.30am for 10.30am service. Choral scholarships available. Occasional choir for those unable to make commitment to main choir. Tom Healey, 0451 960 768, healeytf@gmail.com
Bellydance classes Corio Bay Lions Club Meets first and third Thursday of each month 6.30pm. geelongcoriobay.vic@lions.org.au
Beginner level, new term commencing. New students welcome. Tuesdays 1.30pm, Life Activities Club, Belmont Park Pavillion, Belmont. Glenys, 0400 214 897
Alcoholics (and other addicts) For Christ 12 Steps Group
Geelong’s Soroptimist International
Meets Thursdays 7.30pm at Belmont-Highton Baptist Church, 43 Mt Pleasant Road, Belmont. 0420 910 763
Service club for women and girls, every second Tuesday of the month from 6pm at Belmont RSL. 0455 835 691, geelong@siswp.com
Children’s play group
Geelong Sports & Game Fishing
For babies, toddlers, and preschoolers with parent/carer. Free play, story time, and music. Wednesdays 10-11.30am in school
Meets first and third Monday of the month at Belmont Park Pavilion, 7.30pm. John, 0409 234 307
GEELONGINDY.COM.AU
NEWS
Leandro Bordenowski.
Andrew Watt with Oreo. 583880
Jenny Batholomaeus, Helen Tischler and Sally Mattner.
Out and about on Monday Independent photographer Ivan Kemp went to Geelong’s waterfront on Monday 12 October to see who was out and about.
Diana Hoffmann.
Mekah Morrissy out for a run.
Honey Manubah. Julia Gore.
Elly Delaney with her children Leni and Nash.
Terry Pamvouxoglou.
Sophia Chipman with Indie.
Bronwyn Sizer and Marie Van.
Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 19
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9-LETTER WORD Using the nine letters in the grid, how many words of four letters or more can you list? The centre letter must be included and each letter may only be used once. No colloquial or foreign words. No capitalised nouns, apostrophes or plural nouns ending in 's'.
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No. 418 Insert the missing letters to make 10 words – five reading across the grid and five reading down. NOTE: more than one solution may be possible
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emir, lien, lime, limner, line, liner, lire, lyre, merlin, mien, mile, miler, miller, milliner, MILLINERY, mine, miner, mire, myelin, rein, rely, rile, rime, yell
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Volume (4) Helper (9) Conical tent (5) Revenge (11) Backside (3) Falls on the US-Canadian border (7) Sound (5) Obstinate (10) Great playwright (11) In peril (10) Tradesperson (9) Pariah (7) Citified (5) Combine (5) Frozen flakes (4) Deity (3)
QUICK QUIZ
No. 311
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5 LETTERS ABATE ALONE ALTAR ALTER APRIL AROMA ATONE AWARE BACON BASTE BROOM CHEEP CLING CLOCK COLIC COVET CURES EATER EERIE ERASE GENII
ICIER IDEAL INCUR LARVA LOOSE MELTS OATHS PANDA PETAL PLEAS PORTS PRICE REALS RENTS RHINO RURAL SEARS SEEDS SLITS SNOWY SPARS SPATS
SPECK TAINT TELLS TEMPO TILDE TOKEN WRENS
7 LETTERS BLATANT FERTILE FORELEG PANCAKE STIMULI TOTALLY
6 LETTERS CRAFTY OTTERS PIGEON ROASTS
8 LETTERS ALLOCATE HONOURED HYGIENIC LOADABLE
16-10-26
1 What colour is amethyst? 2 How many cards are in a standard deck of cards, excluding jokers? 3 True or false: in Greek mythology, Cupid is the god of love? 4 Which arm on the Statue of Liberty is raised to hold up a torch?
7 Which Marvel superhero does Tom Holland (pictured) play? 8 Name the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. 9 In the solar system, which is the fifth planet from the sun? 10 Which country is the movie Slumdog Millionaire set in?
5 What kind of animal is Stuart Little? 6 How many wings does a ladybug have?
ANSWERS: 1. Purple 2. 52 3. False, Eros is 4. Right 5. Mouse 6. Four 7. Spider-Man 8. Harper Lee 9. Jupiter 10. India
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Agricultural aid (7) Under (7) Ancient Middle East (11) Biological blueprint (1,1,1) Too (2,4) Times of the year (7) Close (4) Island nation east of Mozambique (10) Permitted (10) Stern (4) Chowhound (7) Very poor person (6) Chest bone (3) Mountainous Islamic country (11) Gave away (7) Hair above the eye (7)
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To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: each of the nine vertical columns, each of the nine horizontal rows and each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes. Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box.
QUICK CROSSWORD
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Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 21
MOTOR
Crosstrek a worthy option By Alistair Kennedy, Marque Motoring RATINGS
Crosstrek is the smallest model in the Subaru SUV range. Previously branded as the XV it sits below the mid-sized Forester and larger Outback. In between are the Solterra and Trailseeker, both of which are EV only, as is the sportier Uncharted hatchback. Crosstrek competes against vehicles such as MG ZS, Mitsubishi ASX, Kia Seltos and Mazda CX-30. Five Crosstrek variants are offered: 2.0L, 2.0R, 2.0S (petrol), plus Hybrid L and Hybrid S, with prices ranging from $34,990 to $45,090 plus on-road costs. Our test was in the top-spec Hybrid S. As with all Australian Subaru models, except for the Toyota re-badged BRZ coupe, Crosstrek comes with all-wheel drive. LED headlights, plus cornering lights, improve visibility at night and add to power savings, while LED rear combination lamps feature a sharp 3-D C-shape. Rear-view mirrors are smaller, improving aerodynamics and present a less obstructive view. All Crosstrek variants come with dusk-sensing LED headlights, roof rails and power-folding door mirrors. Crosstrek 2.0R, 2.0S and Hybrid S also get LED daytime running lights with the top-spec 2.0L and Hybrid L featuring bulb type DRLs.
Looks: 8/10 Performance: 7/10 Safety: 9/10 Thirst: 7/10 Practicality: 8/10 Comfort: 8/10 Tech: 8/10 Value: 7/10
Styling While the general appearance of the Crosstrek is a carry-over from the XV, the bonnet and radiator grille have been updated. Use of lightweight aluminium for the bonnet contributes to improved pedestrian protection with a softer head impact zone, while aluminium front fenders save 2kg and optimises weight distribution all round. While the grille retains the signature hexagonal shape, it’s now larger with an aggressively styled honeycomb design.
Interior The cabin of the Crosstrek Hybrid S has a real premium feel, which it should, given that it will cost close to $50,000 on the road. It’s light and spacious with a friendly soft-touch material on the dashboard and steering wheel. The front seats are comfortable and supportive with eight-way power adjustment and lumbar support for the driver in the R and S models. There’s good leg, head and shoulder room, although the centre-rear seat position is best suited to young children as expected in a relatively small vehicle. Boot space in the Crosstrek hybrid is a reasonable 315 litres although it doesn’t come with a spare wheel of any sort. Instead, it relies on a puncture repair kit, a feature likely to deter those who may be considering using the car’s AWD and 220mm ground clearance to take it off-road. Petrol-only models do get a space-saver spare which reduces the boot capacity to 290 litres.
Engines/transmissions Petrol-only Crosstrek variants are powered by the latest version of Subaru’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder horizontally-opposed (Boxer) engine, delivering maximum power of 115kW at 6000 rpm and top torque of 196Nm at 4000 revs. The same engine in the hybrid models get slightly less power (110 kW at 5800 rpm) but the same torque figure. The mild hybrid electric motor adds 12.3kW of power and 66Nm of torque and is self-charging, capturing kinetic energy through regenerative braking and coasting. The electric motor is placed near the
Subaru Crosstrek is a relatively conservative vehicle designed for couples or small families with all the latest in safety features. (Pictures: Supplied)
vehicle’s centre of gravity, while the battery and other components are positioned above the rear axle, providing balanced front/rear vehicle weight distribution. Drive from the e-Boxer engine is sent to the all-wheel drive system through a CVT automatic with seven-steps for manual override.
Safety Although it’s yet to undergo ANCAP testing the outgoing XV scored a maximum five stars and with a comprehensive range of safety features the same rating is likely for Crosstrek. Standard features in all variants include nine airbags, blind spot monitoring, front side radar, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert, rear parking sensors, reversing camera, reverse automatic braking, driver inattention warning, tyre pressure monitoring and Isofix child seat anchor points. R and S variants add front and side view monitors, high beam assist and a 360-degree camera. Standard across the range is Subaru’s EyeSight Driver Assist system which includes adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, numerous lane control and pre-collision alerts and braking assist features, speed sign recognition and speed limiter. The two hybrid models also come with a pedestrian alert system.
Infotainment Crosstrek combines an 11.6-inch infotainment touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard with a 4.2-inch Multi-Information Display (MID) in front of the driver.
22 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
The central screen is in portrait mode. It has large buttons and fonts and is within easy reach of the driver. There are physical knobs for the audio system and, although the climate controls are on the touchscreen they can be adjusted with a minimum of distraction. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity are standard across the range. The nine-speaker Harman Kardon audio system provided excellent sound reproduction. It’s standard in the two S variants with the lower-spec models getting a more basic six-speaker system. Likewise, embedded satellite navigation is only available with the top-spec S petrol and hybrids. All models get USB-A and USB-C ports in the front console and there are also USB charge ports in the R and S. A wireless Qi smartphone charger is standard.
Driving Unlike most other hybrids which start silently and smoothly under battery power, the Crosstrek Hybrid’s engine kicks in immediately, taking away much of the appeal of the EV component. That means missing out on the instant torque that’s such an appealing feature of electric vehicles. On the plus side the engine will shut down when the vehicle is coasting or in slow-moving traffic and run solely on battery power. The e-Boxer logic adjusts the power split between petrol and electric to match driving conditions. It automatically changes between three modes: Motor Assist EV driving; Motor Assist electric (EV) + petrol engine driving and engine-only
driving. The lower centre of gravity and greater rigidity provides excellent driving dynamics, both on and off the bitumen. When cornering, there is little evidence of body roll and it doesn’t get fazed by rapid changes in direction. The electric power steering is well-weighted and provides plenty of feel on both bitumen and loose surfaces. The steering wheel is both reach and tilt adjustable. Crosstrek’s 220mm ground clearance is regarded by many as being the minimum for a genuine off-road vehicle. You wouldn’t call it a genuine 4WD in appearance, but under its station wagon body it’s close to being one.
Summing up XV was a consistent seller for Subaru throughout its decade on the market. There’s no reason why the more-sensibly named Crosstrek won’t continue that trend. It’s a relatively conservative vehicle designed for couples or small families with all the latest in safety features. While its ground clearance and all-wheel drive means that it can cope with moderate off-road conditions. Subaru is at pains to describe Crosstrek Hybrid as a ‘mild’ hybrid and it falls a fair bit short of the sub-5.0L/100km fuel consumption figures that we’re used to from Toyota hybrids such as the similar-sized Corolla Cross. On the combined urban/highway cycle, Crosstrek hybrid uses a claimed 6.5L/100km compared to 7.2L/100km for the petrol model, making it hard to justify the $3600 surcharge. At the same time performance is hampered by the hybrid’s extra weight.
SPORT
Giles stuns with eight-for S. Kelly 2/38) def Geelong West 134 (J. Alsop 50, J. Lewis 2/13, N. Burke 2/19, H. Finch 2/21)
After a washout last Saturday, local cricket finally began on Saturday 10 October. In GCA1 matches, Grovedale gun Jack Wrigglesworth (107) and Highton leg-spinner Fionn Neeson (5/45) began the season with a bang. Lethbridge’s Sam Giles took an astonishing 8/18 in GCA3 and that will take some beating for the best figures in all grades this season. GEELONG CRICKET ASSOCIATION Division 1 St Joseph’s 4/248 (J. Casey 69no, A. Casey 64, J. Bye 51) def Grovedale 8/246 (J. Wrigglesworth 107, J. Petty 39no) St Peters 187 (W. Ford 77, S. Coutts 3/50) def South Barwon 151 (K. Bienefelt 48, J. Sorgiovanni 2/21, J. Trewin 2/22) Highton 4/207 (B. Somers 93no, J. Gillard 46) def Lara 9/203 (J. Ash 39, R. Sodomaco 36, F. Neeson 5/45) East Belmont 9/190 (J. Lidgett 89no, S. O’Neill 30, A. Cranny 3/22, T. Hay 2/32) def North Geelong 137 (J. Garner 4/41, L. Molyneux 3/13) Division 2 Torquay 3/153 (D. Donaldson 43no, T.
Billy Ford made a polished 77 for St Peters against South Barwon in the season opener. (Ivan Kemp)
Kassis 39no, J. Macpherson 34) def Waurn Ponds Deakin 8/149 (J. Davies 34no, G. Singh 3/17, A. Russell 2/13, D. Donaldson 2/19) Bell Post Hill 4/90 (R. Burke 27, H. O’Leary 2/13) def Geelong City 86 (J. Grozdanovski 3/11, K. Talati 3/18, J. Warrington 2/12) Bell Park 9/211 (T. Jackson 64, H. Cox 41, K. Duncan 31, B. Horne 4/37) def Leopold 206 (Z. Mevissen 40, J. Vallelonga 37, R. Plumridge 33, T. Kelly 4/33) Newtown & Chilwell 4/135 (H. Finch 77no,
Jason Borg has a few warm-up balls to Matt High.
Division 3 Little River 165 (J. Walker 67, A. Spengler 50, X. Dew 5/28, J. Walsh 4/21) def Thomson 122 (H. Coulson 50, M. Richmond 3/22) Marshall 3/166 (P. Lang 59, L. Cameron 35no) def Corio 9/162 (T. Laurie 50, W. Skene 3/29, J. Dubbeldam 2/14, L. Vaughan 2/20) Lethbridge 8/225 (R. Perkins 55, S. Giles 50, S. Dillon 35, E. Skene 5/47) def Alexander Thomson 31 (S. Giles 8/18) Bannockburn 7/228 (T. Weber 80, D. Grozdanovski 3/35) def Murgheboluc 99 (J. Jervies 3/20, L. Osborne 3/28) Division 4 Surf Coast 5/250 (M. Cook 92no, R. Dawes 38, G. Singh 34, A. Singh 31) def Manifold Heights 200 (M. Pratt 92, N. Pratt 32, B. Lieschke 3/40, B. Robinson 3/47) Newcomb & District 0/102 (A. Quarrell 57no, H. Nield 37no) def Teesdale 98 (D. Harrison 4/12, B. Miles 3/10, C. Egan 2/11) Modewarre 105 (R. Mallon 3/32) def St Albans/Breakwater 70 J. O’Hanlon 3/14)
BELLARINE PENINSULA CRICKET ASSOCIATION A1 Grade Queenscliff 3/179 (H. Illingworth 91no, M. Farrell 47no) def Winchelsea 3/178 (J. Groves 72no, T. Bandara 51, L. Philp 2/14) Barrabool 4/130 (L. Clift 59no, K. Eskrigge 2/25) def Anglesea 9/127 (S. Umbers 34, J. Fisher 3/24) Jan Juc 5/148 (T. Kearney 81no, N. Hyden 30, J. Kelly 3/34) def Drysdale 9/147 (D. Ford 35, H. Harris 6/43) Armstrong Creek 4/158 (C. Mulgrew 82, B. Norgrove 51, J. Ponsford 2/22) def Barwon Heads 8/157 (A. Santilli 56, D. Maclean 2/11) A2 Grade Ocean Grove 7/206 (S. Fankhauser 45, E. Baran 45, P. McKenna 37, C. Snookes 30, J. George 3/37) def Inverleigh 8/197 (D. Peel 56, W. Collins 49, D. Midolo 37, P. McKenna 2/14) Collendina 9/168 (B. Ricardo 96no, K. Burns 3/39) def St Leonards 8/167 (N. Hallam 82no, C. Day 42, Z. Muir 3/9, J. de Jong 3/39) Newcomb 1/163 (S. Chahal 98no) def Wallington 9/161 (J. Brady 36, S. Burluraux 36, B. Conboy 2/23)
Ben Norgrove made a valuable 51 for Armstrong Creek.
Titans impress in round 1 Armstrong Creek was impressive in a six-wicket win against reigning premier Barwon Heads in the BPCA season opener on Saturday 10 October. Justin Flynn went to Armstrong Creek Sports Precinct to take these pictures.
Clay Mulgrew watches Jason Borg field in gully.
Sam O’Brien and Murphy Moulton celebrate Barwon Heads’ first wicket.
Clay Mulgrew lofts the ball over mid-wicket for a boundary.
Clay Mulgrew asserted his authority on the run chase.
James Ponsford in action.
Ben Norgrove made a valuable 51 for Armstrong Creek.
Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 23
SPORT
New Cat opens up on exit By Anna Harrington, AAP Geelong recruit Rowan Marshall didn’t feel comfortable attending St Kilda’s best and fairest and hasn’t spoken to former coach Ross Lyon since sealing his trade away from the Saints. Marshall unsuccessfully sought a trade to the Cats last year when St Kilda recruited Tom De Koning as its No 1 ruck. But a deal could not be struck and the “shattered” ruckman had to return to the Saints, before putting in a fresh trade request this year. After plenty of posturing from both
sides, Geelong paid up this year’s firstround selection, currently pick 14, for Marshall and St Kilda’s 2028 third-round selection. It followed Marshall choosing not to attend the Trevor Barker Award. “I had no idea it would blow up like it did, to be honest,” Marshall said. “And reality is I just didn’t feel comfortable at the time.” Pressed on why, Marshall said: “Oh, just a few different reasons, but just didn’t feel comfortable, probably having a lot of interactions with a lot of people.” Asked whether he’d spoken to Lyon
or football boss Lenny Hayes, Marshall, who was adamant he’d left St Kilda on good terms, said: “Not yet. “I spoke to Lenny a little bit yesterday, but yeah, I’ll speak to Ross in the next couple of days.” The ruckman was playing golf when the trade went through. “(My game) was all over the shop the first five holes, and then got the message from Dave Trotter, my manager, and he said, ‘Congratulations mate, you’re a Cat’,” Marshall said. “And then (that) freed up the swing a little bit and went on a pretty good patch
from there.” Marshall is joining Geelong with fellow boom recruits Toby Greene and Jordan Ridley. He is adamant his best football is ahead of him and he can play with talented young ruckman Mitchell Edwards, 21. “I think it’s going to work really well. I think we hopefully complement each other really well,” Marshall said. The 30-year-old crosses to the perennial flag-contending Cats after their season ended with a gallant 14-point semi-final loss to Fremantle at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Summer Pennant tennis underway By Donna Schoenmaekers The return of Summer Pennant tennis on Saturday 10 October saw many teams introduce new players with some at a different club. Reigning 1 Open premiers Geelong Lawn will not defend their title. With the team disbanded, most players have found new clubs within the section, so at the end of a season a new club will be declared premiers. Surfcoast opened the season with a derby with teams from Torquay hosting Bellbrae. Sam Rogers, Ryan Costello and Michael Hili, part of last season’s 2 Open premiership team have been joined by Wandana expats Lewis Walker and Lachie Hanson to create a great mix of youth and experience, which will stand them in good stead for the season. Their opposition, Bellbrae, have a mix of the fifth-placed team from 2025/26, with Hazel Kadera, Manaia Kara-Couzens and Jackson Varney being joined by Gianfranco Natale, and a number of new faces on standby. This week, Torquay flexed some muscle taking a 3-1 win with Hanson and Rogers winning both their rubbers while Kara-Couzens took the one rubber for Bellbrae in the first singles in a super. Clifton Springs are making their first appearance in 1 Open since its inception, with new coach Rhys McNabb moving over from Barwon Heads with former Geelong Lawn teammate Anthony Williams, Brodie Spong from Highton, and local Olivia Symons returning from the USA, and Megan Markov returning to local competition. The Springs hosted Waurn Ponds this week, with their base team of Nicole Mullen, Ryan Lee and Olivia Ryan all returning, and the addition of Steve Tomkins moving from Geelong Lawn. McNabb kicked off the match with a win in the first singles, but with Tomkins finding himself at home, winning his two rubbers. Mullen featured in wins in both doubles with Tomkins and Ryan, the Ponds enjoyed a 3-1 win to start the season. Ocean Grove has become a new home for Liam Polizzi and Nick Williams, formerly from Geelong Lawn, and Laurenz Watters from Lara, who have joined Harry Robertson and Sean McKenzie. Round 1 opponents Newcomb, last year’s runner-up, remain relatively unchanged with Taj Cayser, Lachie Hewitt, David and Zac Kos, Kai Crosby and Jake Dunn back for another season. The newly formed Ocean Grove displayed great fight and determination and showed they will be a threat this season with great depth on their list. Cayser showed his class winning his singles 6-4, 6-0 and backing up in the doubles
Bec Cole has signed with Geelong Venom for two seasons. (Megan Hancock/Getty Images)
Tricky situation for Geelong Venom By AAP
Highton’s Jamie Heaton won in straight sets in his singles clash. (supplied)
with Crosby 6-2, 7-6. Williams, however, did his best to take the tie and won the first doubles with Finn Corby 6-4, 7-6 and then the second singles 6-4, 6-1 with the team falling just short. The final result was a 2-4-37 to 2-4-40 win to Newcomb. Lara are back again this season with Jackson Dann, Matthew Chard and Tyler Vestal back for another run joined by Dion Boyle. Their opponents this week were last season’s minor premiers Highton, with a minor change. Jamie Heaton and Campbell Spong return, but with Deagan Tomkins not playing, Lachie Rae has come up from
24 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
2 Open and Zane Ryan has joined the ranks. Rae enjoyed his promotion teaming with Ryan in the first doubles for a comeback 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 win, followed up with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the second singles while Heaton helped the team with a 6-3, 6-1 win in the first singles. The second doubles went the way of Lara’s Vestal and Josh Bennier 7-5, 6-3 to clinch a 3-1 win for Highton. All teams have scored points this round which is an encouraging sign for a strong and competitive season and bodes well as an entertaining spectacle for the upcoming Gather Round on 31 January where all teams will be playing at the same venue.
The WNBL is considering pushing back the start of next season’s competition, with several big-name players expected to miss the opening games of the upcoming campaign. Reigning league MVP Isobel Borlase (Bendigo), Opal Miela Sowah (Townsville) and import Madina Okot (Tasmania) will not feature in at least the opening two weekends of the Australian competition when it begins on Thursday. They will instead be competing in the WNBA finals, where Borlase and Okot are looking to deliver the Atlanta Dream their first title, while Sowah is part of the Golden State Valkyries’ fairytale run. Also in a sticky situation are the Geelong Venom, who have recruited towering superstar Han Xu. The Chinese national was part of the New York Liberty side that lost the semi-final against Atlanta, and at the time of writing it was unclear if she would feature in the WNBL season opener against the Tasmania Jewels on Thursday. Regardless, star guard Bec Cole says the Venom will back themselves to win. “We can still beat teams without Han, and then (when Geelong) bring her in there’ll be an adjustment period because she’s going to be a big facet of what we do,” Cole told AAP. “It is hard, and we are a new team, but that’s just the game of basketball, and we’re all professional.” With the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup held in September, the American competition stopped for 17 days and subsequently ended later than scheduled. This means the league has directly clashed with the start of the WNBL campaign. Making matters worse, in 2027 the WNBA is expanding the number of regular-season games, meaning the competition will run until November.
SPORT
Will Collins cuts square of the wicket.
Kieran McNally plays to cover.
Ryan Simmons fields at mid-on.
Campbell Snookes flights this delivery for Ocean Grove. 582754
Inverleigh’s Will Collins lofts down the ground.
Grubbers’ winning start Ocean Grove got off to a winning start with a nine-run victory against Inverleigh at Ray Menzies Oval on Saturday 10 October.
Independent photographer Ivan Kemp caught the late stages of a very close game.
Kai Spiby in action. Paddy McKenna at the top of his bowling mark. Kieran McNally is bowled by Paddy McKenna.
Alex Mann took the vital wicket of Jasper George.
David Peel drives straight.
Jasper George attempts a sweep shot and is hit on the pad.
Corey Buxton takes the ball on his way back to his mark.
Friday, 16 October, 2026 GEELONG INDEPENDENT 25
SPORT
Opening win for St Peters St Peters got the new Geelong Cricket Association season off to a winning start with a 36-run victory against South Barwon
on Saturday 10 October. Independent photographer Ivan Kemp went to Reynolds Oval, Belmont, to take these pictures.
Mitchell Ford plays this delivery to gully.
Billy Ford and Josh Sorgiovanni are both at the same end but Sorgiovanni makes it to the other end safely.
Kyle Bienefelt bowls around the wicket. Jack Smith at the bowling crease.
Harry Hauenstein underarms to the keeper to run out Jack Trewin.
Jack Trewin pushes into the offside.
Josh Sorgiovanni pushes to the legside for a single.
Billy Ford pushes this delivery to the leg side for a single.
Nick Butters walks back to his mark.
Nikhil Deep Pottabathini chases a ball in the field.
26 GEELONG INDEPENDENT Friday, 16 October, 2026
Willem Breuer breaks the stumps to run out Jack Trewin.
Fletcher Russell fields in the deep.
SPORT
Saints love being underdogs By Justin Flynn While some of the focus during preseason was centred around South Barwon and several key recruits, St Peters slipped under the radar as usual and quietly went about its business. Nikhil Deep Pottabathini’s arrival from Bell Park to Reynolds Oval had the Geelong Cricket Association buzzing, but meanwhile St Peters had faith in the squad that made finals last season. That’s just the way things operate at Herne Hill Reserve. “Sometimes I think you can go and recruit whoever you want, but you’ve got to get a buy-in as well,” captain Luke Ford said. “And the guys we target and want to get into the club, the guys that we give opportunities to are homegrown who want to play for the club and want the club to do well, whether they’re not performing well individually. “I think it can go a long way for a team and a club who do not get much attention, which is great. That’s why we love it. We don’t need the attention. “We’re happy to fly under the radar in Division One and do our bit and hopefully, in time, clubs will start to put a bit more time into us. That means we’re progressing in the right direction.” And progress the Saints did in the season opener on Saturday 10 October. Sent in at Reynolds Oval against South Barwon, St Peters was all out for 187 in 50 overs. Billy Ford made a sparkling 77 from 87 balls and there were contributions throughout, although not to the point where Luke Ford was satisfied. He wanted someone to bat a little longer with his younger brother. “We would have liked maybe one person to go with Bill and get maybe a 30 or a 40 that pushes us to 220 to 230,” he said. “The way Bill bats, especially in white-
Billy Ford turns this ball forward of square leg during his innings of 77 for St Peters against South Barwon. (Ivan Kemp) 582751
ball cricket, the game can get taken away pretty quickly. If he needs to, it (the scoreboard) can just tick over without the opposition knowing. “To almost go run a ball - it wasn’t through him hitting fours and sixes - it was him running hard, hitting the singles, hitting gaps, the twos.” Ford knew his bowlers had to strike early. A total of 187, while competitive, was not enough if Nick Butters, Harry Hauenstein and Pottabathini got going. However, the South Barwon trio combined for just 37 runs with Tom Spencer,
James Stokes and Josh Sorgiovanni doing the job with the new ball. At 7/78, a defiant 44-run stand between Kyle Bienefelt (48) and Fletcher Russell (15) momentarily rescued the innings, but the Swans fell for 151 and St Peters picked up the six points. “We knew if we could break through one or two of them, it puts a lot of pressure on their middle to lower order who, in retrospect, some of them hadn’t played a lot of first eleven cricket,” Ford said. “We would expect a fightback if we were playing any team, even if we were playing a
Division Four team in a midweek competition. “We just want that partnership to be as late in the order as possible where we can run the show from there, we can put fielders where we want, we can determine where and who is on strike at what time. “And they have to go by that because they are well behind the game and they have to sit on their heels for five or ten overs. “We knew it was going to come. We would have liked it not to, but in good cricket, in Division One cricket, there will always be a partnership or two.”
Kent stays calm to deliver knockout over in thrilling win By Justin Flynn Tom Kent’s penultimate over of Ocean Grove’s opening round win against Inverleigh probably won’t get the recognition it deserves. When the right-arm spinner commenced the 39th over, Inverleigh needed 23 runs for victory off 12 deliveries with David Peel looking ominous on 55 from just 45 balls. Peel hit a single to long-off from the first ball of the over and Locke Perrett tried to heave the second over the mid-wicket fence, but failed to make contact. Perrett also missed the third ball, but Peel scampered through for a bye, bringing the dangerman back on strike. Peel smacked a full toss to deep-midwicket, but Kai Spiby was there and took the catch and the Grubbers held on. Kent’s figures of 2/22 from five overs might not seem match-winning, but that over went for three runs and it was the difference. “His whole spell was fantastic,” captain Fletcher Long said. “Really challenging conditions as well for a spinner. It was quite blowy and he just does what TK does. He just throws it up in a block hole and he’s really, really hard to score off. “So we just pushed the field back and said, do your thing, Tommy, if they’re good enough to get it over the fence, which they weren’t. “Peely had taken I think maybe 20 or 25 off the over before. So to get him in a position where they could be in the game was a massive breakthrough for us.
Will Collins cuts through point during his innings of 49 for Inverleigh.
Campbell Snookes fields off his own bowling. (pictures Ivan Kemp) 582754
“He bowled beautifully the whole day and bowled the five hardest overs of the game, no doubt.” Ocean Grove made 7/206 batting first at Ray Menzies Oval with contributions from all of the top six. Youngster Elijah Baran made 45 from 58 balls before being run out, new coach Paddy McKenna scored 37, Shaun Fankhauser hit 45, Campbell Snooks contributed 30, Long made 23 and Ryan Simmonds made a 16ball 17. Baran made more than 700 runs last season in B Grade and Under 17s and made his A Grade debut in the final home and away round. “He (Baran) played the last round of the regular season last year and he looked fantastic,” Long said.
“He’s the hardest working kid you’ll ever see. He looked fantastic until Red (Fankhauser) torched him. “He showed maturity way beyond his years and it was good to see. He’s the nicest kid. He puts in all the effort, so it was great for him to get a few runs.” Long said it was a solid team performance against a side that was unlucky to be relegated from A1 Grade. “It was just a pretty solid all-round effort from everyone without anyone having to get a big score or dig us out of the hole,” he said. “Everyone just did their job throughout the day and that got us the six points. “You look at their (Inverleigh’s) results last year, I don’t think they were that bad in A1. I think they won three or four games, so they were probably pretty unlucky to come
down. “We knew that was going to be a tough matchup, and I think they’ll be up there. They were very impressive.” BEN Ricardo reminded of his batting prowess with a superb 96 not out from 89 deliveries to steer Collendina to a win against St Leonards. Nick Hallam (82 not out) and Craig Day (42) came together when St Leonards was 4/25 and added 80 to rescue the side to a respectable 8/167. Fast bowler Zach Muir did the damage at the top and bowled superbly to take 3/11 from seven overs and Jackson de Jong chipped in with three wickets. When Collendina was 4/44, it was time for Ricardo to step and he did, unlucky to fall short of a deserved century when he brought up the winning runs to take him to 96. NEWCOMB was impressive in a nine-wicket mauling of Wallington. Wallington made 9/161 with Jayden Brady and Sven Burluraux each making 36, but the Bulls lost just one wicket in reply with Surf Coast recruit Sukhbir Chakal ending on 98 not out when Newcomb secured victory.
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