Let’s rephrase that: Onley has played a lot of different footy in the past three weeks.
In mid-May, he stripped up for his home club Shepparton United, possibly for the last time in a long while.
The next two weekends were spent barrelling around the park for Scotch College in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria competition.
And on Saturday, he kicked it up a gear, donning the Big V during Victoria Country’s at-the-death loss to Western Australia in the 2025 Under-18 AFL National Championships.
Each had its merits for entirely different reasons.
His Goulburn Valley League swansong was special, simply for the fact it is likely the last hoorah in Demons colours for Onley, who is hell-bent on being drafted in 2025.
“That was pretty sick — it was probably my last game I’ll get to play for them, but it was exciting, enjoying my footy again and not thinking about pressures,” Onley said.
“It was good to go back, reset and have fun again without any expectations. All the United boys were really inviting, which was nice.”
The bullocking big-bodied midfielder certainly showed his class for United and continued to shine for Scotch College, named in his side’s best in the preceding two games leading up to Vic Country duties.
It was here, though, where Onley truly wished to peak.
Vic Country, also featuring Numurkah product Harry Moon and Echuca star Cody Walker, shot to a 21-8 quarter-time buffer, but found itself down by a goal at the half.
The Black Swans surged ahead by nine points at the last change, but some magic from Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves pulled Vic Country into a three-point lead late on.
However, WA’s Hudson Walker produced a set shot to win it with the last kick of the game, inviting a sea of yellow to spill onto the park at Perth’s Mineral Resources Park as the home side took the spoils 12.9 (81) to 11.12 (78).
Walker (10 disposals) and Moon (nine) played solid games, but it was Onley’s 22-disposal, four-clearance performance that landed him among Vic Country’s best following the thin loss.
The United export said while he felt a touch nervous in the lead up, his experience at the national championship level paired with his schoolboys’ form came in clutch when the time came to pull on the Big V.
“I felt more prepared because I’ve had really good form the last three or four weeks at school footy,” Onley said.
“I probably had more nationals experience than anyone out there because I played last year, so just trusting myself.
“I played okay, I wasn’t too happy, but it’s a good launch pad to play off and work towards for the next three games and hopefully put in some good performances.”
His own harshest critic, Onley’s next chance to wow recruiters arrives on June 29 when Victoria Country hosts highly-rated outfit South Australia at Marvel Stadium.
The 194cm technician has hopes of separating himself from the draft pool’s other midfielders and has a real hunger to prove himself as a name that will be called out in November.
“(I want to) show that I’m hopefully better than them, get a good win as a team and put in an all-round performance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shepparton duo Lincoln Brand and Alex Whitlock suited up for Vic Country’s under-16s on Monday.
The pair featured as Vic Country went down 14.8 (92) to 13.5 (83) against Vic Metro at Avalon Airport Oval.
