MGFNL 2026 Football Season Preview

As we enter into what promises to be a fascinating  Mid Gippsland Football Netball League footy season the excitement and anticipation for the competing clubs is palpable. Will the power houses of the last few years remain at the top of the ladder or, after some years of development and recruiting, will we see a surge up the ladder from one of last year’s battlers?

One thing is for sure though the ladder has everyone on no wins and the scoreboards will all start with zeroes as we close in on the first bounce of season 2026.

What happens next and how that plays out comes seasons end will be decided on a weekly basis over the coming weeks and months. And we look forward to bringing you all the comings and goings, the ins and out and highs and lows as and when they occur. 

Jump online each Monday and Friday, either at the MGFNL Website or the links on our socials for weekly reviews and previews and of course you can listen to the MGFNL Game of the week every Saturday (and even some Sundays!) on Gippsland FMs 104.7. 

But firstly, the pre-season preview, a chance to throw caution to the wind and nominate winners and losers before a single ball has been kicked in anger. A chance to be proven a messiah or a mug comes seasons end. Using last years’ ladder as a starting point a few words on each club from their senior coaches, their “ins” and “outs” and some thoughts on their prospects for the season ahead.

Foster.

The reigning premiers might have topped the ladder last year but gee they were forced to work brutally hard to win the flag. A week two finals loss (their first final) to archrival Fish Creek had them back up a week later in a cut-throat Preliminary against Yinnar. The Tigers entered the match staring down the barrel of a straight set’s finals exit and wasting a season after being the best home and away side.

If offence sells memberships and defence wins premierships the Tiges were on track. They did unbelievably well to restrict Yinnar to just a single goal per quarter played over the first three stanzas and at the last change led by a tick over five goals. Fast forward 25 or so minutes of frantic footy and with Yinnar surging forward again the final siren sounded with Foster advancing to the premiership decider by just a single point.

And in that decider, they again jumped to an early lead but ultimately found themselves up against it late in the game, trailing at the last change. These Tigers though are a tough breed and managed to kick three goals to one and secure the flag over an inaccurate Fish Creek by eleven points.

Hard to see them taking a backwards step this year with a strong off season in terms of recruiting and a fresh voice, Jake Best, taking the reins. Unlike the three other top 4 sides from last year however Fosters Reserves tend to struggle (they managed just the three wins in 2025) and with their outs for the coming season including Mitchell Green (retired), Michael Green (ACL), Matthew Clark (retired) and Billy Flavelle (ACL) it might well be that depth is their Achillies heel. 

In having said that they do look to bring in at least two players who have played at a higher level that seriously know how to light up the scoreboard as well as perennial team of the year member Jack Weston who crosses from Toora. 

Best comes with a fantastic resume on the back of a stint as Traralgon coach in the Gippsland league. The key forward can turn a game on its head on his own, but is well aware his team will be the hunted this year. When asked about the season ahead Best was looking no further ahead than Round One. He said “we have Fish Creek in a grand final rematch. It’s always a quality contest and will be a great early test to see where we’re at.”

Prediction- Top 2 and a big say in what happens post season.

Fish Creek.

The crew from Fishy seemingly just don’t know how to not be involved in the pointy end of the season. They were only accurate kicking away from a hat trick of Premierships last year to go with the three dozen or so they have celebrated as a club over the years. Truly a phenomenal effort that shows no sign of sliding too far just yet.

Jarrad Walker, Fish Creek coach, conceded “a bit of change for us coming into this season. A few retirees and a couple moving on” but was quick to point out “we have recruited well.” As if we’d expect anything less! 

Those recruits include Charlie Wilson, Jack Davis, Jackson Weidemann, Rhett Weidemann and Mitch Hicks with Blaine Coates also returning after a year off.

Somewhat tongue in cheek Walker said “as all teams are at this time of year, we have been absolutely flying in pre-season” citing the new recruits as having “bought a new energy to the group.” Walker took a whole of club approach sharing there was a hope Fish Creek would “be competing strongly as a club across all football and netball grades.”

When asked specifically about the senior football side Walker was focused on “improving our depth and putting time into developing the juniors coming through” and thought this would be a great opportunity for “a fresh group of coaches for the reserves and juniors” to make an immediate impact saying that “the stronger those teams can be the stronger the senior side will be.”

Walker was enthused by Round One. “Coming up against Foster in the grand final rematch will be exciting. I guess it would be nicer to watch our flag go up but with a new look team it’ll be good to see where we sit against the comps best.”

Prediction- 3/4 and a big say in what happens post season.

Yinnar.

Still stinging from their “so near yet so far” seasons across 2024 and 2025 the Pies are “all-in” on season 2026. They appear to have identified their list gaps and covered them off with the inclusion of a returning ruckman and key swing man and then invented a few more gaps where there weren’t any and loaded up on some gun onballers, an elite small forward and another defender to compliment the likes of Chapman, Linton, Robertson and Stolk. If season 2026 isn’t the year of the Pie whoever wins it will need to beat them to get their hands on the silverware.

Sam McCulloch, Magpie’s coach, commented that “it has been a very positive pre-season, with strong training numbers and a clear enthusiasm across the group to be fit and ready for our Round 2 season opener. The players have worked hard on key areas identified for improvement following last season, and the overall commitment has been very pleasing. 

On list changes McCulloch noted “a few departures, with Josh Bugeja heading overseas and unavailable for the 2026 season, while Michael Robertson has returned to his original club in Poowong. We thank both of them for their contributions and wish them the very best moving forward.”On the recruitment front, McCulloch didn’t name names but was effusive about “some encouraging additions” with the club “welcoming back three former Yinnar juniors, along with a past Yinnar premiership player”. He went on to say “These inclusions, combined with several new faces, have strengthened our list. All have fit in well and fully embraced the club’s culture. With a bye in Round 1, the group is especially eager to take the field in Round 2 and put the hard work of the pre-season into action.”

Prediction- Top 2 and a big say in what happens post season.

MDU.

The Demons, having beaten Yinnar twice in the home and away season, went in to their Semi Final against the Pies last year with the confidence of a side that was expecting to play in the following weeks Preliminary Final. Unfortunately for them their only finals win was to be against Thorpdale during week one of the campaign with Yinnar having the game parcelled up at the main break. 

Rhett Kelly, MDU senior coach, said “The playing group and club are excited for the upcoming season, and we have seen excellent numbers during pre-season training thus far.” This should come as no surprise for a club that has played finals over the last few seasons and had their thirds playing in last year’s Grand Final.

Kelly was happy that MDU had “successfully added depth to our midfield and strengthened our defence with several key additions” while also referencing “a strong group of young players across both the seniors and reserves who have shown great development over the last 18 months, which will provide us with solid depth throughout the year.”

When asked about their final’s departure Kelly responded firmly that “The senior team is eager to make amends for last year’s finals exit. We recognise that our performance that day was below our best, and the players are hungry to improve and understand that we need to perform to our best every game.” The feeling, he continued permeates through the whole club with “the reserves also determined to go one step further after three years of preliminary finals heartbreak.” 

With a strong pre-season under their belt and a couple of practice games locked in Kelly said his players “cannot wait for the season to begin and look forward to facing Newborough at home in round one.”

Prediction- Top 4 and wins 2 finals.

Thorpdale.

The Thorpy boys’ recent history is very similar to that of MDU with qualifying for the finals not being an issue but getting deep into them proving the bigger challenge. With Yinnar’s most recent Premiership coach, Daniel Taylor, again steering the ship one gets the feeling it is now or never for the Dales.

Taylor spoke positively about several key returning players who he felt would bolster his list including James Holland Burch and Tyde Melbourne as well as the league’s leading goal kicker of 2023, Matthew “Moose” Powell. The club was also set to welcome new additions in Jordy Patullo, Ayden Ramm and Jack Cole to add to a list that would be farewelling Joel Monger, Harry Sinclair- Stanley and James De Virgilio. 

Asked about his pre-season Taylor said “numbers have been pretty standard for us, averaging 20-25 on the track. We have 12-13 guys who love their cricket which takes priority over the summer which is fair enough, and when you combine that with guys living in Melbourne and us having no juniors our numbers have been pretty good.”

On his recruiting Taylor explained “we feel like we've recruited pretty well, we've added guys that can cover the ground really well which is something we struggled with last season, and we are stoked to have Matt Powell back in the goal square which will give us some much needed fire power up forward. We're aiming to play finals again and taking that next step and being able to really challenge those top 2-3 sides.

With a mid-field lead by Lachy Wallace, arguably the best player in the competition, and boasting the unheralded ruck work of Gav Low finals, whilst not a given in such an even competition, are definitely the pass mark for the season. 

Prediction- 5/6, win a final and knock off a top 4 side in the H and A season

Boolarra.

With coach Brendan Mason finally getting access to some decent off field coaching support in Brett Sherriff the (league’s original) Demons will look to go back-to-back in terms of participating in the post season. Mason spent many weeks in the NT over summer having a kick and it looks like he has paid for some excess luggage, bringing back with him several seriously good players. Their involvement and the continued efforts of Matt Dyer to travel back to play will likely dictate the success of otherwise of Boolarra’s season. 

It could be a case of their good being very good and their bad being pretty ordinary based on the side each week as their Reserves, who finished bottom last year, do not seemingly offer a great deal of depth to the senior part of the club. (They do however know how to have a good time off the field!)

It has not been all smooth sailing however for Boolarra losing a handful of quality players. Simon Noy, Luke Marriot (Churchill), Bailey Flannagan (Churchill) and Nathan Giardina (Morwell) have all moved on. 

With Noy and Flanagan playing huge roles in the run to the finals last year their absences in particular will be felt however the “ins” will provide plenty of fresh talent for fans to get excited about. Small forward Matt Devon comes across from Trafalgar, Ethan Smith from Rosedale, Hamish Towns from Morwell East while making the long trip from up north are Liam and Cal Flanagan, Hayden Schugman, David Kruse and Adam Cullen from Tracy Village, Ethan Wyss from Kolora Noorat and Leonard Ferreira from Jabiru. 

Prediction- 7/8, miss finals on % due to some big losses based on available talent

Tarwin.

After finishing atop the ladder a handful of years ago it has been a relatively quiet period for Tarwin. Last year saw their best footy be more than good enough to beat finalists with their worst leaving many scratching their heads. Coach Lachie Jones has spent the off season working hard on a combination of player retention and recruiting in attempt to ensure the Sharks bounce back into the finals this season. 

Some significant outs see Flynn Brosnan, Matt Williams, Darcy Brosnan, Tom Vanderkolk, Travis Krause (retired), Matt Zagni and Nathan McRae move on with Kyle Yann, Taite Cumming, Jordan Bertacco, Rem Dal Pozzo, Lucas Harmer, Toby Mahoney, Dylan Garnham and Nick McKenzie taking over the empty lockers.

Jones labelled the Sharks off season as “productive” with “numbers across the pre-season excellent.” He went onto say “the playing group is hungry for success and they are putting the work in” with a recent intra-club hit out prepping the lads for their final dress rehearsal against Yarragon.

Looking ahead to his sides Round One clash with Morwell East Jones is “excited to see how our brand looks” and that “the Hawks may be a little bit of a mystery in 2026 but we are excited about the year commencing.”

Prediction- 6/7, miss or make finals by a single game or %

Mirboo North.

At three quarter time of Round 18 last year Mirboo North led Boolarra. Their finals qualification equation was simple, win the last quarter of home and away footy on their home ground and they played finals. Lose, well no one in yellow and black even wanted to consider that at the time. Some 25 minutes later and it was the Demons who advanced and Mirboo North were confined to spectators for the post season. That will have tasted so sour Damian Turner and his charges may well have wanted to start pre-season the following day.

On that pore-season, which of course didn’t start the next day, Turner summed it up simply as “great.” He said there was “fantastic buy in and we are seeing results.” Turner, in his third season in charge was really happy with his group’s demographic noting “some are starting to enter their mid-twenties with seventy plus games of senior footy, gaining in experience and confidence”.

Asked about his list Turner said he had “retained ninety percent plus of the list, with (another!) Josh Taylor retirement the one absence of note.” He went on to say he was “very lucky to gain around a dozen under 18s from 2025 who now “graduate” to open age footy” and that this cohort would be joined by several key recruits, namely; Tom Campbell, Hayden Potts and AJ Campbell (Sale), Oli Budd (Moe, returning junior), Darby Kratzat ( Leongatha, returning junior) and Jayden McCormack (Yarragon). 

Turner and the boys will round out their preseason with two practice matches under their belts with the coach emphasising “we really want to start the season ready and on a positive note.”

Prediction- 6/7, miss or make finals by a game or %

Newborough.

After a dominant couple of years that failed to deliver the Cup back to the kennel significant changes both on and off field saw the Dogs miss post season action last year. They started off the year with a bang knocking over eventual fourth placed getter MDU and backed up that win with another against finalist Boolarra before having more misses than hits on the run to September. In fact from Round 7 onward the tri-colours managed only wins over the sides that filled the bottom three rungs on the ladder at seasons end.

They will however be buoyed by a dominant thirds team which won the Premiership in style and looked to contain more than a handful of ready-made senior players for coach Pat Frendo to work with. Frendo was “pretty happy with our preseason so far” when asked for comment and went onto say “numbers are good, effort is great and the excitement built through an intra club and then practice matches”.

In terms of recruiting Frendo said “We’ve welcomed Matt Heywood from Moe, as well as former Hillend captain, Liam Fitzpatrick. We’re also very pleased to see our playing assistant coach, Nathan Wheildon back on the track after a severe leg injury that had him miss the entire 2025 season.

When asked about the year ahead Frendo reflected on last year and said “with ten of the leagues thirteen clubs in contention for finals in the final weeks of 2025, there seems to be nothing to indicate that the very same scenario may come into play late in 2026”. And if Frendo and the Dogs can again make the Kennel a fortress the Dogs may well be one of those clubs sneaking into the last few spots in the top six.

Prediction- 10-13 but improvement measured by a better % this year than last.

Toora.

The side nobody wanted to play in the run to the finals last year, Toora, have been suspiciously quiet in the off season. The lads from Toora sent plenty of ripples through the league with late season wins that shaped the make up of the top six, and excluding one very notable departure, Jack Weston, appear to have maintained their list. Undoubtedly Weston is a loss but the side is always, and always will be, more than one player.  

The inclusion of several depth players will strengthen the batting order and with Lachy Earles, from Yarram, and Matt Allan from the strong Mornington league coming in it would be a brave team who takes Toora lightly. Toby Redpath will also be a fascinating watch. Showed he was more than capable of hitting the scoreboard in the lunch time league last year with several bags of five, but will he take the next step and become a part of the late game forward fifty?

Toora coach, Jake Smart, was pleased with the pre-season vibes at training noting many of his players had been undertaking extra sessions away from the main group in an attempt to bridge the gap between last year’s finalists and Toora. Smart in particular said “the focus at training and for the year ahead is being able to win the inside ball and get it to the outside runners” of which Toora has plenty.

Smart lamented the loss of Jack Weston but went on to say “we have picked up some vital recruits in areas that will help to improve our gameplay” making particular reference to obtaining a ruckman “who will provide the side with a first look at the ball around stoppage” which he felt would be critical in implementing his desired game style.

Prediction- 10-13 improvement measured by beating sides they should beat every time.

Stony Creek.

The Lions, it seemed, were so often just a “breath” away in more than a handful of games in 2025. Up for the fight but not quite able to deliver the knock-out punch when it mattered. Coach Troy Shepardson will have spent the pre-season trying to find a way to ensure that his side finds a way to get the job done in season 2026.

A big part of that will be the inclusion of some boom recruits. Shepardson said as a club “we welcome in Aidan Simmons, Luke Frith and Jacob Strickland” who he hopes will add plenty of experience to his list.  

On the other hand however he loses Hayden Bull, Jye Loughridge and Ethan Busse, all of whom featured in the best at different parts of season 2025.

Like most coaches Shepardson said his pre-season “has been really positive” but he was particularly pleased “with plenty of buy in from the lads” who have made it their goal for the year “to stay in games longer and hopefully win a few of those close ones we found ourselves on the wrong side of.”

Prediction- 10-13 improvement measured by home ground performances.

Hill End.

The Hillmen’s form in season 2025 was a lot like Shakespear, hard to read. Good enough to lead Yinnar at half time one week, going down to Fish Creek by 25 goals the next. Be fair to say getting some consistency to their footy will be the first port of call for incoming coach Tom Hallinan.

Hallinan said the “focus for us has been on building senior depth to our list. Our numbers have been impressive allowing a new coaching panel to implement a modern style of play suitable for the playing group we have.”

Hallinan has at his disposal a raft of new recruits including Morrow (playing assistant), Riddle, Hester, Wolfenden, Sword, Luke, Hanson, Wood and Blackshaw from Moe, Josh and Zach Mills from Trafalgar, Kyle Baker from Drouin, Luke Summersgill from YYN as well as Tom Johnstone, Tyrell Mick and Ashton Hermanus from slightly further afield.

With so many new faces it is no wonder Hallinan “optimistic” about the season ahead with an expectation Hill End would play hard, energetic and intelligent football.

Prediction- 8/9 Too many ins not to translate to wins.

Morwell East.

A 2025 season that promised so much upon commencement failed to deliver in the worst possible way for the Hawks. A combination of injury, absence and suspension cost East the chance to gain any early season traction with back to back three figure losses in Rounds five and six taking any remaining wind well and truly out of the sails at Vary Street.

New coach, Ben Marks, will undoubtedly rally the troops and anyone who saw or heard the post Reserves Premiership speech from last year will be left in no doubt the efforts he will go to in order to translate success from the lunch time league into success in the late games in season 2026. The Hawks have the nucleus of a decent spine with Cain Iorangi and Lucas Towns presenting a decent one two punch in the front half and several key defenders that can do a job down back.     

If Marks can convince a handful of the Reserves Premiership players with senior talent to challenge themselves to play senior footy and with a healthy list at his disposal there is no reason to think the Hawks won’t start the climb back up the ladder in season 2026. Whilst it is hard to see them challenging the top 6 straight away anyone who gets the points over them will know they have played a game of footy come the final siren.

Marks said his playing group was “very energised after a solid pre-season” and that “three practice matches has us in good stead” as they look to hit the ground running come Round One. He also said “having third's this year will be very exciting for the club”.

Prediction- 10-13 improvement measured by gaining consistency and avoiding blow outs.