Josh Sobey needed one sentence to sum up why he had more than just qualifying final glory to play for at Allansford Recreation Reserve on Saturday.

The Merrivale onballer was among dozens of people across Warrnambool mourning the death of talented sportsman and good mate Peter Luke this week.

Warrnambool-born Luke, 27, was surfing off Jelenga Beach in Indonesia on Tuesday when he went missing, with two friends later finding his body on a nearby reef.

His death had a profound effect on Sobey and his teammates at Merrivale, where Luke played junior football. The Tigers wore black armbands in his honour.

“It was a tough week and it’s only going to get a little bit tougher to be honest. The least we could do was come out and win for the lad,” Sobey said.

“A fair few of us (were close to him). He played at Merrivale as a junior, everyone had a connection to him at some stage. I’ve grown up with him all my life.”

Sobey said Luke would have been “proud as punch of us” for winning the qualifying final. “He’d love to see us go on and hopefully do some good things,” he said.