Round one

Every new season starts with plenty of possibilities as clubs prepare to put their recruiting, their training and their coaching on the line.

The 2025 MGFNL season promises another exciting year as the standard of personnel secured by those clubs looking to climb their way up the ladder from the season prior is very impressive, but round one is where we got a more accurate early gauge at what we might expect in the eighteen rounds ahead.

Fish Creek v Yinnar

There was no better way to start a year than to have the Grand Finalists of 2024 face off in the season opener.

Reigning premier, Fish Creek, having kept the core of their premiership side unfurled their flag and went about their business in a workmanlike manner.

Yinnar were desperate to make a statement after last year's Grand Final loss and there would be no better way than to do it in front of the Kangaroos crowd. 

The Magpies in an expected tough contest doing the job nicely with a ten point win, 11-9-75 to Fish Creek 9-11-65. 

Sam McCulloch, Yinnar coach “Great way to start the season with a win away from home in what was a physical game with plenty of changes in momentum. 

Fish creek were on top early with a number of inside 50’s in which we were able to defend well. We managed to get our brand of footy going as the game wore on and gave ourselves a handy lead at half time.

The game ebbed and flowed in the second half with plenty of big moments.

The most pleasing aspect of our performance was the way we were able to steady late in the game when Fish Creek were coming at us.”

It was a dream start for the Magpies as they begin their quest to right some wrongs from the season prior, but Yinnar are under no illusions as to the work required in the weeks ahead as to are their weekend opponents and reigning premiers Fish Creek.

Jarrad Walker, Fish Creek coach “it was a really hard fought contest, and expected nothing less. A few momentum swings throughout the day with the wind slightly favouring the creek end. Really proud of our boys to stick at it and almost steal it at the end, positives with a few first gamers as well. Some polish and game style proved too strong in the end so credit to Yinnar.

Bye next week for us so a few weeks off to regroup and iron out a few deficiencies”

Make no mistake, the Kangaroos will be a force in 2025, but they also understand that they are also the “hunted” and every opposition side they face will be a dangerous proposition.

Hill End v Mirboo North

As much as the year prior had been disappointing for both of these two teams, it was also long forgotten, given that a new year brings new opportunity, and for the Rovers the chance to kick off the season with a victory on their home deck is what had the Hillsmen excited from the first bounce.

The Tigers however had flagged they were better prepared this season than last and that showed on the final scoreline 10-9-69 to 5-3-33.

Damian Turner, Mirboo North coach, “Footys back!! Great way to kick off the season. It’s never easy travelling up to Hillend, and they are much improved. They bat deep through the midfield and made us earn everything.

I was really pleased we stuck at it and our fitness from preseason allowed us to run on top of the ground late in the game and quarters”

The Tigers satisfied with their second half and equally impressed with the mood of the team and club to have registered a victory first up.

The Rovers may not have secured the points, but there were signs that this season will not be a winless one.

Adrian Burns, Hill End coach “we were competitive in the first half, but the Tigers were a little too slick later in the game, we were at times undisciplined, but that was our first full game and with more game time and match fitness a win won’t be far away”

The Rovers have strong community support and to date have stuck fat with their club, that commitment will be celebrated as the Hillsmen slowly take steps forward.

Newborough v MDU

With new leaders at the helm of both of these two respected clubs, there was some nervous energy both on the field, but also in the coaches boxes, as pre season pundits had both the Bulldogs and the Demons in their finals calculations.

Newborough, always tough at the kennel proved so on the weekend, their 12-9-81 to 8-7-55 victory providing a confidence boosting start to the season.  

Pat Frendo, Newborough coach “Solid win from the boys today. MDU play a very similar brand of footy to us, so it was good to see how we match up against each other. Co-captain Wade Anderson led from the front and Jack Robinson looked dangerous down forward, unfortunately went down in the third quarter with a knee injury."

All clubs depth will be tested at various times of the season, but losing quality players so early is both a problem and an opportunity for the next soldier to step forward.

For the Demons, round one just didn’t deliver as expected.

Rhett Kelly, MDU coach “Disappointing start for us yesterday, we were very reactive all game and couldn't get on the front foot with our ball movement. Our skills really hurt us at important stages of the game. Credit to Newborough who dominated around the stoppages and looked dangerous going forward.”

The Demons have recruited well, have talented juniors and it’s likely just time, patience and some  continued hard work on the track will help MDU progress very quickly.

Boolarra v Stony Creek

Boolarra had been one of those tipped to be a big improver in 2025, their year prior there had been flashes of what could be, but the long season and a lack of depth had slowly worn them down.

The visiting Lions with a new coach and some savvy recruiting were keen to get a "w" on the board early, and there would be no better way than to do it at the Demons' home ground, however, the home team showed they might well be capable of greater things in season 2025. 

Boolarra 10-4-64 to Stony Creek 9-13-67.

The Demons accuracy coupled with the enthusiasm of some new blood a major factor in the win.

Brendan Mason, Boolarra coach “We debuted six senior players today and played like a side that was welcoming a bunch of new faces at times. In a game that ebbed and flowed both sides had opportunities to claim the points but thankfully when the siren sounded we were in front.

Newcomers Tarmah Little and Tim Potter won the respect of their new team mates with a relentless attack on the ball. Little hit the scoreboard and Potter hit every contest with similar enthusiasm."

The Demons were good and are likely to get better, but it must be said that the Lions had more than their share of chances also.

Troy Shepardson, Stony Creek coach “Tight battle against Boolarra on the weekend, we had seven more scoring shots we  just couldn't convert in front of goal, with late chances to win, were were on top for most of the day.”

The anticipated evenness of the competition means that close losses are sure to hurt beyond the weekend a game is played, the secret to be on the right side of them, more times than not.

Morwell East v Thorpdale  

The Hawks came into round one as warm favourites given both their 2024 form and some strong recruiting and pre-season form, but you can never be sure until you see it rolled out in front of you, and what we saw, was not what we expected.

The home side seemed surprisingly clunky and unorganised, not the start or style we had come to expect of the Hawks.

Thorpdale, comfortable winners 9-8-62 to 4-9-33.

Paul Henry, Morwell East coach “Disappointing start to the season. Thorpy outplayed us all day and we just couldn't get the game on our terms.”

Good sides have bad days, but you certainly don't want them to open up your season, conversely the Blues showed that despite plenty of pre season movement they are still capable of delivering some impressive football.

Daniel Taylor, Thorpdale coach “Great to have footy back and was great to walk away with the four points. We lost our two key forwards Saturday before the game due to illness and a back spasm in the warm up, so that made avenues to goal a little tougher. We had full buy in on effort and pressure and to keep a quality team like Morwell East to only four goals was the most pleasing thing for me. 

I'm wrapt for the boys, they've worked pretty hard over the summer so it was great to see them get some reward.”

That reward can be addictive and early season wins are crucial in such an even, competitive competition, the Blues now have a taste, the question is can they string a few together as they prepare for a MDU side looking to bounce back in round two.

Toora v Tarwin

Two teams that were looking for an improved season, knew the importance of a successful start to a new year and both entered round one believing it was their win for the taking.

The Magpies had no doubt strengthened their outfit but so had the Sharks, who had managed to secure some of Gippsland's finest and that in part may have been the difference.

The Sharks securing a successful start to the season 13-12-90 to Tooras 10-4-64. 

Tarwin coach, Lachie Jones “It was a gritty round one win against Toora on their home deck. They pushed us all day like we knew they would. Happy our guys hung tough and did the basics well which saw us kick a score late in the fourth quarter and secure the win.”

Toora were beaten, but showed enough to indicate they will grab their fair share of victories in the weeks and months ahead.

Jai Acardi, Toora coach”We hosted Tarwin for our start to the year and put in a pretty decent performance. Unfortunately we were not able to sustain the effort for 4 full quarters and to Tarwin credit they ran the match out strongly. We can see pretty clearly where we need to improve and heading to Yinnar this week will give us the perfect opportunity to see if we have learnt from some mistakes we made round one”

Yinnar emerged from round one as the victor in the grand final replay with Fish  Creek and will no doubt give Toora clarity as to where they stand in the clash of the Magpies.

BYE- Foster