MGFNL Season 2026 - Round 8 Preview

After seven completed rounds of MGFNL action the ladder is really starting to take shape. There are seemingly three standouts trying to lock in the top two spots with Yinnar and Fish Creek looking to join Foster in one of the coveted slots come finals time. Below them is a chasing pack of up to six sides that can all lay some claim to positions three through six which. With at least two of those chasing six sides destined to miss the post season each round from now until round eighteen will see a game or two crucial to the finals make up, a great result for followers of the competition!

Thorpdale v Yinnar

After dropping a crucial game to Newborough last week things get no easier for Thorpdale in Round Eight as they welcome the league’s second placed side Yinnar to town. Yinnar were clinical in their execution of Boolarra last week running out 151 point winners over a side they beat by just thirty-one points in a final last season. Post game coach Sam McCuulloch said his side still had “plenty to work on during the week” before acknowledging they’ll be ready for what he termed “a big challenge against Thorpdale on their home ground”.

With returning players like Harry McColl and Sam Walsh running and carrying from half back the Pies side is playing some excellent football. The youth and enthusiasm of the likes of McColl and Walsh has allowed the more experienced campaigners like Chapman and Tom Robertson to play more lock down roles this year than in seasons gone by, with both still more than capable of taking a trot up the field to turn defence into attack or as Robertson did last week find a way to kick a goal.  

The Pies midfield too has plenty of weapons at its disposal. Notman, Hall, and Jacobsen all take their turn at the feet of Linton and Bowe. Throw in the “break glass” option of Mick Geary and McCulloch truly has an arsenal of weapons the envy of most to spend some time in the middle.

And of course, let’s not forget James DeVirgilio who has played in both defence and the midfield for Yinnar this year. He should be pretty familiar with his opposition this week having played for them last season. Watch this space on his welcome back to Thorpdale!

Adding another interesting link between the two clubs is Thorpdale coach Daniel Taylor who just happens to be the most recent Yinnar senior premiership coach!

He too has plenty of talent at his disposal. His ruckman Gav Low has been chronically under rated for many seasons and will likely be critical if the Dales are to get the result. If he can get the ball to gun recruit Ayden Ramm or the returning Anthony “Tank” Rosato Thorpy will provide plenty of ball for their forwards to feast on.

The key to a Thorpy win to my eye is negating the slingshot or transition footy Yinnar like to play. Not only do they involve the back half in this style of play but their wingers, Harvey McKay and Pat Kearns, get involved and in the blink of an eye the ball has gone from a dangerous defensive area to the chest of

Grinstead Jones, Pratt or Geary at the other end. With Will Robertson getting higher up the ground to offer the bailout option as required Yinnar really do seem to have too much firepower and should get the job done Saturday. 

Foster v Newborough

The leagues runaway leaders Foster welcome Newborough to town this week with the Dogs likely to still be on cloud nine after their epic win last week. It would be fair to say the Dogs might need even more than a seven goal game from Jack Robinson to get the result over Foster though.

After the win last week Dogs coach Pat Frendo said of this week’s match up; “Foster at Foster next week, it genuinely doesn’t get any harder than that” before adding that he was “looking forward to the challenge and seeing what we can dish up against the flag favourites” which is exactly the kind of approach that will see his side give their all up against an almost impossible ask.

With Jake Best electing to rest last week he will be fresh as a daisy to rejoin a forward line (should he be right to go this week) that cultivated twenty-two goals in his absence. And therein lies the issue when playing Foster, even if you take a piece of the puzzle away, they have the depth to replace them. Best out, Eddy and Chaseling kick fifteen between them. The mind boggles as to what they might have done as a triple threat.

Simply put Foster with too many weapons for Newborough who will need to measure themselves in ways other than the scoreboard if they are to come away with anything out of this road trip.

MDU V Boolarra

The battle of the Demons sees Boolarra make the trip to Meeniyan this week to take on MDU. It has been an up and down start to the season for MDU punctuated with their surprise loss to Stony Creek- the article about which I am reliably informed takes pride of place in the Tarwin hotel, a regular haunt of the MDU president. (You gotta love country pubs and their sense of humour!!)

When looking forward to this week’s match MDU coach Rhett Kelly acknowledged his sides up and down form when he said; “every game for us now is crucial if we want to stay at the top end of the competition after dropping three of our first six games”. 

And based on recent form you’d have to think the hometown Demons will return to the winners list this week.

In having said that a lot will depend on Boolarra’s line up, which is often not finalised until game day morning with travel and work commitments all too regularly impacting coach Brendan Mason’s ability to implement a game plan. He has been in good form again this year the coach but his midfield, comprised primarily of himself, Tim Potter and co-captains Mason Porykali and Joel Mason, will be hard pressed to run all day with the amount of rotations Kelly at his disposal. 

And when MDU get it forward their dual threats of Nagel and Kerr are a touch more imposing than Boolarra’s sole goal kicker last week, the diminutive Matt Devon.

Impossible to see anything other than a Demon win here.

Mirboo North v Morwell East

Both sides will enter this week’s clash thinking they are a genuine winning hope which should make for an enthralling contest. Neither team has been able to kick a huge score in season 2026 with neither breaching triple figures. And at least one of the home sides better performances in front of goal came when they had some “one off players” among their better contributors. So, what does this tell us, we could be in for a dour sort of contest with a dozen goals likely enough to get the result. 

The question then is who is it than conjure the necessary supply to get these goals. Lewis and his rucking counterparts should get the better of Tactor in the middle. Advantage Mirboo North.

Hudson Kerr has been the closest thing to a one man show as you will see in the tiger midfield. Can East coach Ben Marks find someone to sit on him? I think he can with the likes of Zac Mangion seemingly capable of doing the job. Advantage East.

Who has the better forwards than can take advantage of the supply….now here is where it gets interesting as I think the home side has but I also think East match up on them pretty well. A draw. 

So my tip, a really close game with Mirboo North getting the nod based on home ground advantage and the fact they are still, somewhat, in the mix for a finals berth.

As Damian Turner said after last week’s loss “this now an absolute must win contest. With a few upsets appearing across the competition anything can happen on any given day, so we have to bounce back and be ready” which are clearly the words of a coach who hasn’t yet given up on sixth spot and finals footy.

Stony Creek v Toora

Another game where two teams will turn up in the genuine belief their team song will be echoing through the change rooms a tick after 16:00 Saturday afternoon. And for two teams that have only a single win each for the year so far the spectre of the “environmentally friendly soup distributor” (aka the wooden spoon) is never far from their thoughts. So, no better way to avoid that than getting the job done Saturday and having that spectre darken someone else’s door for a while!

Stony Creek coach Troy Shepherdson said during the week “we look forward to hosting Toora who will be keen to knock us off, but we are hoping to play our best footy and add another win on the board.” Asked how his side spent the bye week he continued “it was a nice freshen up for the boys. It was a great time to have it with boys playing a bit banged up.”

I think the benefit of that bye and playing at home gives Stony Creek the advantage they will need to get the job done in another really close game.

And whilst I have no idea who will be best on during the game the smart money is on Tex Dyson to be best off field at the Black and White Ball at Toora Saturday night!

Tarwin v Fish Creek

Fish Creek have had the better of all bar Foster so far in season 2026. They just keep on keeping on with their midfield simply irrepressible at times. And this is where the game will be won and lost on Saturday. Even in their loss to Foster way back in the opening round the Kangaroos had the better of the midfield dual.

Tarwin will need to come up with something special to simply break even with the likes of the Wiedemann lads and Luke Williams who seem to have the stamina to play the game at a break neck pace from start to finish. 

Tarwin have been playing some very good footy themselves since their loss to Yinnar. They are averaging around fifteen goals a game since that defeat and can amass enough of a score to keep their supporters more than interested this week. 

Toby Mahoney has a dozen majors across his last three hit outs and with skipper Ben Ellen slotting four himself last week the Sharks will provide their opponents with the odd headache across the course of the day. If Harrison Cumming can have an influence in the middle and the likes of Harley and Dal Pozzo can impact the scoreboard as they have done over the season so far there is no reason the Sharks cannot go with the visitors deep into this game and keep their hands on the finals position they now occupy.   

In having said all that whilst Tarwin are right in the fight for lower end finals berth Fish Creek are swimming in the deep end of the pool and with the battle for the all-important second spot likely to go down to the wire there is simply no way they are taking their foot of the pedal this week.

Fishy by 24 points with the game being live until half-way though the last term.

Hill End have the bye.