MGFNL Season 2026 - Grand Final Review

Not even a Brett Eddy master class that saw the Foster superstar slot eleven majors was enough to stop Fish Creek claiming an unbelievable thirty-ninth senior football premiership. In a game that those in attendance will surely talk about for years to come the Kangaroos came from behind to topple the red hot favourites 18-11-119 to 16-11-107.

The crowd, which drew a record gate of close to $50,000, got everything and more you could want from a Grand Final on what was simply a perfect day for footy. The MDU ground was in A Grade nick, the weather God’s delivered a pearler and the players, to a man, did their bit in what must be one of the all-time great premiership deciders.

As they did when they took care of Yinnar in the semi-final Foster flew the gates. They got out quicker than Black Caviar and looked to have the game more than under control at the first break when they led by thirty-two points.  

With Foster kicking to the change room end it started with, who else but Brett Eddy. He out marked his opponent seemingly effortlessly to go back from forty and kick truly. The Schnieder pass a ripper.

The very next forward fifty entry Eddy did it again, another strong mark and goal. We joked he might kick a dozen. He nearly did.

From the subsequent centre clearance league medal winner Jack Weston swooped on a loose ball up against the boundary line. He took a brief pause, assessed his options, and decided to cut out the middleman, kicking a belter from the boundary line. Fishy had hardly touched the Sherrin and Foster were low level flying.

Fishy finally hit the scoreboard after thirteen minutes when Jai Stefani was infringed in a ruck contest. His side was in desperate need, and the big man didn’t let them down with his drop punt sailing directly over the umpires’ hat from near on fifty out.

The Kanga fans, players and neutrals hoped this might spark the underdog and give us a contest going into the second term. If anything, all it did was tick off Foster who then set about finishing the first term with more scoreboard carnage to go into the first break with a lead of greater than five goals.

Gippsland FMs stats man Sam Crane noted a much more even quarter than the scoreboard with the glaring difference being Inside Fifties which Foster lead twenty-one to thirteen for the quarter.

With winners all over the park, especially in their front half, there was much conversation at the break as to which, if any of his match-ups Fish Creek coach Jarrod Walker may change. Jacob Kenny and Tom Valenta had both done time on Eddy, Angus Norton and Jack Weston seemingly had the footy on call and

Blaine Coates who started deep forward as a foil for Charlie Wilson had hardly seen the footy.

Whatever the instructions were, they slowed things down in terms of the scoreboard pain. In fact, it took nearly fifteen minutes for Eddy to win a free kick and kick his fifth for the game, but this came after Fishy had wasted no less than three gilt edged opportunities to goal. Jack Davis, outstanding on the day missed, Blaine Coates who roared to life after quarter time missed and so did Charlie Wilson  

Sure, the scoreboard was still a serious problem, but the game was on a much more even kilter halfway through the second term.

And when the Roos finally found their radar the chasm on the scoreboard became a much more manageable twenty points at the long break. It started for Fishy with a Charlie Wilson special, was followed up by a Brady Mitchell goal and ended with Wilson helping himself to his second just before half time.

All of a sudden there was a touch of momentum and more than a little bit of hope.

We pondered just how close Fishy needed to be at the last change to be a chance. They said “get stuffed” to being close and decided to go in with a three-quarter time lead.

A seven goal to two third term, truly in this instance the Premiership quarter, saw the game spun on its head. From being down by close to six goals to being up by twelve points at the last break. It was as crazy to watch as it is to write.

And remember they are doing this against a side that lost a single game for the year and won their only other final by twelve goals.

The two most dominant players on the park were now in red and white. League medal winner Jackson Wiedemann willed himself into the game and was everywhere. Luke Williams, quiet early and perhaps hindered by a sore shoulder, decided it was time too to put his undies on the outside and turn his jersey into a cape.

And all this after the Foster superstar, Brett Eddy, opened the scoring for the term with a mark and goal over Jack Hayes.

From then on though it was pretty much all red and white.

Wilson capitalised on a Jack Davis centre clearance for the immediate reply to Eddy’s goal. Then Tom Cameron marked and goaled from a Williams centre clearance.

The centre clearances according to Crane ran eight to three in for the quarter and it felt like Fishy scored from nearly every one of them. And after missing several gimmes earlier they were now kicking them from anywhere as Wilson was about to show. Hard up against the boundary around forty out he took a set shot. Too far out to banana, too far out for an opposite foot snap, he simply kicked a drop punt over the umpires’ lid and the crowd rose as one.

After nineteen minutes of some of the best footy you would want to see, against an awesome opposition, Fishy were within in a kick.

So, who inserts themselves in the game? You know he does.

Fishy Creek had the ball in the defensive fifty. They look to set up offence from their back half and kick a dangerous ball to centre half back. As if he read the script Bretty Eddy started his run before the ball was even kicked. He impacts the marking contest, wins the ball at ground level and snaps around his body to put some space on the scoreboard or his side.

With Sam McGannon in the ruck Fishy were able to utilise Rhett Wiedemann as an onballer and rest brother Jackson forward at times. Seemed to work a treat when “Jacko” slotted his regular goal of the day contender from up against the boundary. Freak factor huge, work rate even higher. Astonishingly good footballer.

Brady Mitchell slotted a couple for the quarter too to compliment his work around the ground and all of a sudden it was now a question of what Foster had left in the tank to fire at Fishy.

The answer was plenty. The champs of the home and away season and 2025 Premiers piled on seven last quarter goals. Weston, Norton, Angwin and Bentley went on a tear. They ran, they tackled, they chased. They all did. You don’t kick seven goals in the last term of a Grand Final without everyone contributing.

The coach, Jake Best, threw himself in the middle and won the first two clearances. He then kicked the first goal of the term. They stormed to the line did Foster.

Think Doremius coming after Might and Power or Our Waverly Star trying to run down Bonecrusher.

The only issue for Foster was that Fish Creek too kicked, yep, seven goals in the last term.

Wiedemann and Wilson countered the Best goal, and the margin was back to twelve points. And that is where it would say when the final siren sounded to end what was simply an unbelievable game of footy.

It is impossible to do the game justice in writing without the words of Henry Lawson or Les Carlyon and probably should be against the Geneva convention to list better players as to do so infers there was bad ones.

The medals were split and not one person dared criticise Brett Eddy for his eleven goals getting one and Jacko Wiedemann for also getting one.

An interesting insight into the medal winners, Jacko wore his with pride alongside his Premiership medal and Eddy had his off before he had even left the dais.

Grand Finals are about “we” and not about “me”, or something like that.

Both coaches have been great contributors to this column over the season, and both were kind enough to offer up a few words directly after the presentations.

Best, obviously shattered, simply said “Fishy too good in the end, amazing in the middle” before adding “Eddy was outstanding”.

A beaming Jarrod Walker reflected on the early part of the game saying, “I thought we were in trouble after our start, massive second and third terms with our huge work rate to get us playing the game on our terms”.

On the opposition Walker said “huge credit to Foster and in particular Eddy, he was massive all game”.