MGFNL Season 2026 - Round 14 Review

An instant classic between the league’s best two sides* headlined a competitive round of MGFNL senior footy played out in spectacular weather on Saturday. Other games saw sides shuffle up their final’s spots with only a month of footy left while a side out of finals contention managed to crack the ton for the first time this year on the back of a nine goal haul for a former coach.

But as they should be, first things first- the battle between Fish Creek and Foster. The sides placed one-two on the ladder heading into the game played out a ripper in front of a terrific crowd.

*Sides one and two on the ladder after everyone has played everyone have to be the two best sides, just as is it will be this week when Yinnar travel to Foster and the leagues two best sides go head-to-head (again). But more on that later in the week!  

Fish Creek v Foster

When these sides met in round one Foster led at quarter time by around five goals. Try as they might Fish Creek could simply not get back in front going down by twenty-two points.

When these sides met in round fourteen, Saturday just gone, Foster led Fish Creek at quarter time by around five goals. Try as they might Fish Creek could simply not get back in front going down by ten points, 11-12-78 to 14-5-89 in a cracking game of MGFNL football.

Both sides went into the clash missing key players, Kairon Dorling, the Fishy skipper watched on as did team- mate and nominal favourite for the league medal Jackson Wiedemann.

For Foster the league’s leading goal kicker, Brett Eddy, was not on the park, nor was Tom Schnieder, Luke Tapscott or their skipper Dylan Williams.

Despite these absences those in attendance put on a show worthy of a final.

It took nearly five minutes of play for the game to see its first score such was the intensity around the middle of the ground. But when Levi Cocksedge of Fish Creek missed his shot on goal little did anyone know it would trigger a five goal run from Foster that would ultimately win them the game.

First, it was Jake Best, his strong tackle in the front half resulted in him kicking the first of his four. Best then turned provider setting up Chaseling for the first of his three which came from a clever snap in the goal square.  Chaseling didn’t have to wait long for his second which came courtesy of a free kick given away by Jack Hayes. And when Michael Cooke took advantage of a free kick and fifty Foster had four on the board and Fish Creek were stunned.

The home sided needed to respond, or at the very last not conceded another.

In the worst possible result for Fishy Charlie Wilson missed a gettable shot only for the ball to go end to end with Norton, the kid in the lid who was in everything for Foster, setting up Bailey Angwin for the visitors fifth.

Despite both sides having seventeen inside fifty’s for the quarter Foster’s efficiency in front of the big sticks saw them kick five goals straight while Fishy managed just the two minor scores.

The usual suspects were in the better players with the ageless Jack Weston starring along-side, Angwin and Norton. For Fishy Rhett Wiedemann was sensational as was Luke Wilson.

Early doors the second quarter felt like it would merely be a replica of the first with Fishy missing their first opportunity on goal. But then, seemingly from nowhere, the home side found their radar. Tom Cameron set-up Brady Mithell who goaled, then it was Jacob Lamers finding Cameron all alone in the forward fifty who kicked truly.

Chaseling stemmed the flow for Foster temporarily but back-to-back goals from Charlie Wilson, a set shot from forty-five up against the boundary, and Luke Williams, a classy snap from a forward fifty stoppage, saw Fishy back within three straight kicks.

The Foster coach had seen enough. Best left his regular spot in the front half and wandered into the middle of the ground set on steadying the ship. And it was through a series of centre clearances that the league’s best side reasserted their dominance.

Michael Cooke, massively under rated in my view, took a solid mark and goaled before the ball was again in the Foster fifty when Angus Norton was tackled and awarded a free kick. The subsequent fifty saw him kick from an unmissable spot and after all their hard work Fishy found themselves in arrears at the main break by roughly the same as what they trailed by at the first break.

Not that the action finished at the half time siren mind you. Several players from either side took the time to get to know each other as they were leaving the ground. And just as some of the cooler heads prevailed the sides met at the gates where they actually exit the ground and it was time to dance again. Aside from Angus Nortons helmet travelling a decent twenty-five meters or so there was little to report from the fracas except for a heightened anticipation for the third term perhaps.

As they’d done in the first term Foster again got the goal scoring underway. Jake Best, who had resumed his regular position in the goal square played on from an excellent grab and slammed home the opening goal.

Fishy responded with Rhett Wiedemann again central when he found Josh Harry by foot. Harry, who was in range,  dished off to Jacob Lamers who made a good thing of it before Best’s second of the term, a quick snap from a marking contest settled the visiting side again. And when Oli Calcott marked and goaled before Best slotted another Foster were up by forty-one and surely safe.

You’ve got to give them credit, Fishy, they won’t lie down and when Luke Williams, who had a belter of a game and Charlie Wilson kicked back-to-back goals and reduce the margin to twenty-nine points there was just a sniff of a come from behind win in the air.

And giving the home side fans and us neutrals exactly what we wanted Fishy managed the first five scores of the last quarter, sadly though only two of them were majors which continued their theme in front of goal for the day. The majors to Wiedemann and Hicks were partially cancelled out by an Angwin goal to Foster and the margin sat at twenty points half-way through the last.

The game deserved more than a ho-hum finish and that’s exactly what it got.

Blaine Coates kicked a ripper from fifty and Lamers slotted his second to bring the margin to under two goals and the place was rocking.

Alas, as they have done the last couple of times these side have met Foster managed to hang on and record a win that sees them almost assured of top spot. Fish Creek now find themselves in a tooth and nail battle with Yinnar for the coveted second spot in what promises to be a race that will go right down to the wire.

Better players for Foster have to include Weston, Angwin and Norton. You could then argue about a raft of names to join them. For Fishy it was, to my eye, Luke Williams, Rhett Wiedemann and Brady Mitchell but there is no way you’d argue with the acknowledgement the club gave to Reghan Lewin and Blaine Coates as their best afield.

In terms of injuries both sides suffered one apiece which will have them hoping the afflicted player can get up for the weeks ahead but as noted above both have some serious cavalry ready to ride in for the next time these two sides get together.

Post game a quietly satisfied Jake Best commented of the clash that it “was a great contest today. Always such a physical game and always a very close one”.

Fish Creek coach Jarrod Walker labelled the hit out similarly; “a tightly fought, strong contest” he noted after the game. He went onto acknowledge both his sides slow start and inaccuracy in front of goal as issues they’d need to deal with. Of the slow start he said, “giving up five goals to nil in the first quarter meant we were always playing catch-up”.

Walker added “I thought we fought back hard to come back but inaccurate kicking in front of goal meant we could never put pressure on Foster”.

When you consider Gippsland FMs stats man Sam Crane had Fish Creek leading the inside fifty count seventy-five to sixty-four the data certainly backs up the assertion.

But as Walker noted “having more scoring shots could maybe be a small positive to take away from the game but well played to Foster who still remain unbeaten”.

Newborough v MDU

MDU travelled to Newborough to take on the Doggies in a classic “eight point game” with both sides needing the win to remain in the finals hunt. After a fast start that saw the home side kick the first three goals of the game the travelling Demons got the better of their opponents and ran out five goal winners 9-1-55 to 13-7-85.

Trent McRae and Nick Nagel, five and four goals respectively, made life miserable for the Newborough defenders taking mark after mark across the course of the day. Thomas Kerr and Conner Krohn joined McRae as the best for the winners with MDU now sitting a game and a healthy percentage clear of seventh spot on the fourth rung of the ladder.

For the tri-colours Peter Ainsworth, Nathan Whieldon and Josh Pearce managed two goals each in a game where the Dogs made the absolute most of their scoring opportunities. Ainsworth was joined by Kyle Jenning and vice-captain Liam Fitzpatrick in the Doggies best.

Newborough now find themselves in eighth place, a game and percentage behind sixth. With three games to come, two of which they will enter as favourites, their destiny is still in their own hands but one slip-up will likely spell disaster for their season. 

After his win MDU coach Rhett Kelly noted the home sides fast start before going onto add “full credit to our boys for the way they responded. We worked our way back into the contest and went on to control large parts of the second and third quarters.

Kelly was particularly pleased with his sides “effort, pressure and ball movement”. He elaborated that he was “really proud of the energy and commitment the boys bought” before noting “our tackling pressure was back to where it needs to be”.

Morwell East v Tarwin

Tarwin did as they needed to keep their finals hopes alive chalking up a much-needed away win over a feisty Morwell East 11-11-77 to 8-9-57. The twenty point win keeps Tarwin within half a win of Hill End and only a game behind MDU and Thorpy in fourth and fifth spots respectively.  

With just a single point advantage at the main break the Sharks slammed on six goals, seven behinds after the main break while keeping the East to just three majors to lock away the invaluable four points.

In terms of goal kicker’s, it was Toby Mahoney with four and Rem Dal pozo and Brodie Senior-Gibson with two each who did the damage for Tarwin. For his efforts Mahoney was also awarded best on. He was joined here by his regular partner in crime Troy Harley and the coach Lachie Jones.

For East Frank Marks led from the front with the hard nut joined in the best by Dylan Field and Jake Birchall. In terms of goals, it was lean pickings with only Blair Clymo and Brayden Darby-Lock managing multiples, both kicking two.

Sharks coach Lachie Jones praised both his opponent and the venue first up post-game saying “we played in supreme conditions today and on a great surface at Morwell East” who he added “really came to play and were a tough opponent”. 

Asked about the swing in the game in the second half Jones replied his side “put together a great third quarter” where they “moved the ball well and got rewarded in goals”.

In terms of individual efforts Jones said, “Dylan Garnham played an unselfish role and put some work into Galante who was my pick for them” and also that “Toby Mahoney again caused headaches for the opposition backline”. But like all good coaches finished off with “but all in all it was a gritty team win”.

He was however keen to note the Sharks debutant, a sixteen year old out of their under 18’s side. “Alec Francis make his debut, and he got named in the best players” Jones said. When asked what he liked about Francis’ game Jones said “Alec was really composed for us in defence, the guys took some great energy out of his efforts”. 

Thorpdale v Boolarra

Thorpy gout out of Boolarra with what they needed but not before a significant scare went through the camp. Leading by over eight goals during the second term the visitors hopes were high for a percentage boosting win, in the end they had to settle for a five point result that saw them kick 12-10-82 to Boolarra’s 12-5-77.

After jumping the Demons with a six goal to one opening term and holding an eleven goal to seven margin at the long break the ‘Dales managed only the one goal in the second half in holding on for a desperate win.

Kieran Albanese backed up his good form last week with another three majors this week with best on ground Mitch Gorman and Shannon Pickering also slotting three for the winners. Hayden Britten managed two for himself.

For Boolarra it was all about the Matthew’s (give or take a T here or there) with Mat Devon and the returning Mat Hebbard booting three each, while Mat Dyer slotted two.

Joel Mason was best afield for the Demons with Tim Potter and Will Flanagan joining him and Dyer amongst the better performers.

Boolarra coach Brendan Mason said of the game after the loss that the two sides had just played a “really good game of footy”. He lamented his sides slow start saying “Thorpy jumped us early with a few known culprits getting involved, (Shannon) Pickering with three first half goals and (Anthony) Rosato out of the middle looked the most damaging”.

Asked about the comeback in the second half Mason said, “after a tough conversation at quarter time the game blew out to forty five points in the second before we got the game back on our terms”.

Mason then added “unfortunately after a couple of chances in the last we fell short of what would have been a big win for our season”. 

Toora v Mirboo North

Mirboo North travelled to Toora and came away resounding winners over an inaccurate home side. The visitors went large kicking 15-13-103 to Toora’s 4-11-35 to break the ton for the first time this season.

The hero in front of the big sticks was the clearly no longer retired Josh Taylor who backed up his bag last week with another nine this time out. For his trouble he was given the nod as best on for the victors. He was joined here by Ethan Woodall and Hudson Kerr in a four quarter performance coach Damien Turner will try to build on over the last few weeks of the season.

For Toora it was a case of kicking themselves out of the contest with only four of their fifteen scoring shots raising the dual calicoes. While they might not have got the job done no matter how accurately they kicked not getting reward for effort and not being able to put any scoreboard pressure on the opposition is always going to make things tough.

It was all singles in terms of goal kickers with Toora naming Jake Smart, Jon Pintus and Jordyn Coulthard as their best trio afield.

Post game an upbeat Mirboo North coach Damien Turner said referenced the “the weather clearly got the memo” on what he described as “perfect conditions for a great day of footy”.

Turner felt the quick conditions suited his side as “a fast start has been a major focus in recent weeks, and the boys delivered, setting the tone early before maintaining the pressure for four quarters to make it back-to-back wins”.

Asked about individual performances Turner started with the; “Josh Taylor rolled back the clock with a stellar performance up forward” before expanding that “the engine room, led by the Woodall brothers, Kerr, Chila and ruckman Lewis, again worked tirelessly”.

On the opposition Turner noted “Toora brought their physical brand of football. They’re the type of side that makes sure you earn every possession, and you certainly know you’ve been in a contest by the end”.

A contest Turner and his chargers will have been incredibly satisfied to get the result in.

Yinnar, Hill End and Stony Creek had bye.