YOU couldn’t have asked for a better weekend weather-wise, and the football was of an equally spectacular standard as I go around the grounds.
BIG NAMES RE-SIGNING
New financial year normally means a lot of coaches start finalising their plans for the next year, and a few certainly made waves with announcements this week.
The big one was Heidelberg’s Vin Dattoli, who announced he has unfinished business – after three flags and seeking a fourth, mind you, in re-signing for 2027.
Dattoli played reserves on the weekend, alongside assistant coach Fab Carelli. From all reports, both still very much have it.
Also re-signing – Mernda’s Brent Marshall is in the hot seat for a further two years. Rumours linked Marshall to an eventual homecoming at Bundoora, but that won’t happen until 2029 at the earliest now that this announcement has happened. It is clear that Marshall wants to deliver the Demons a flag.
Kilmore had an impressive win on the weekend (more on that later in the article) and Mick Marrett will be coaching for the next two years. What a story. A big scare health-wise last year, and now he has given Kilmore’s young list a reason to believe with stability over the next two years. A true club great.
On the playing front, Bailey Brown and Nathan Stefanile have both re-signed for South Morang – huge signings for the club as it looks to return to division one.
Bundoora have announced Tyler Irwin, Riley Green and Ryder Jones have also re-signed for the Bulls.
THE CHANGES ARE COMING FOR SOME
While some clubs lock in their plans, others are starting to look elsewhere.
Whittlesea has had a planned handover for some time, and it will be enacted in 2027, with coaching great Garry Ramsay stepping down from his role, to be handed over to club great Andrew Fairchild. Big ‘Spida’, a three-time premiership player at the club, will be tasked with getting a young list back up the ladder.
Also changing coaches over the off-season is Hurstbridge – with Joel Cordwell announcing he will step down at the end of the season. The Bridges are still in touch with the top five, but it’s been a much more difficult season than their fairytale grand final run last year.
A watching brief will be on North Heidelberg and Kinglake, who advertised their roles during the week.
BIG UPSETS IN DIVISION ONE
Topsy-turvy weekend in the top division, with only one expected result going the way it should have, that being Heidelberg’s 129-point win over West Preston.
Certainly, the rest of the weekend was turned upside down. Hurstbridge kept its season alive with an eight-point win over Bundoora, while Greensborough are firming for finals with a strong 24-point triumph over Diamond Creek.
However, the two big results almost certainly seal West Preston’s relegation fate – Banyule defeated Montmorency by 59 points, a big result which prevented the Magpies from going up to second, while North Heidelberg kept its finals chances alive – but only just – with a nine-point win against Eltham – that being despite sitting 46 points clear at the final change in a high-scoring game.
DIVISION TWO DELIVERS THE FUN
The ladder changes every week and it’s so hard to keep up!
It almost feels like the relegation battle – which we thought was done four weeks ago – is actually done now, with Thomastown’s shock win over South Morang meaning it is a game and significant percentage ahead of Panton Hill – that’s effectively a two-game gap.
The Bears, if they can beat Whittlesea this week, should almost certainly stay up, although Panton Hill will always back itself to the hilt on its home deck with the smaller dimensions.
The result was a setback for South Morang, who would have hoped to have stayed on the same record as Northcote Park and St Mary’s. Instead, it is the Cougars and Burra who now sit alone on top.
St Mary’s are currently my pick to play in a grand final. It plays some great footy, it has stability for next season, and it is beating the best teams in the competition – an 18-point win over Old Paradians its latest scalp.
Northcote Park is back on track with a 27-point win over Lower Plenty, a result which keeps it on top and delivers a bit of a blow to the Bears’ finals chances.
Meantime, Macleod and Fitzroy Stars played out the season’s second draw on the weekend – a late goal from Kurt Manuel from just outside 50 leaving the margin as it was at the start of the day.
One could say two points missed for the Kangaroos, sitting four goals clear at half time, yet it could also be two points missed for the Stars, given how late the goal was conceded at the end.
DOITA’S 1000th
Big congratulations to Patrick Fitzgerald, with the big fella kicking his 1000th goal of his stellar career in Laurimar’s 178-point win over Kinglake.
It took longer than expected, given Fitzgerald only just recently came back from an ankle injury, but he only needed a quarter and a minute to kick the five goals he needed.
His 10 takes him to 940 in his Northern Football Netball League career – you would think he plays on to get the NFNL milestone and join Shane Harvey as goalkickers to have 1000 in the books.
He is still determined to finally add a premiership to his exceptionally stacked trophy room.
DIVISION THREE HOTS UP
The big boys are well and truly firing in division three.
Laurimar, as mentioned before, took a 178-point win over Kinglake, Ivanhoe cruised around to a 68-point win over Reservoir, and Mernda look back on track after taking a 126-point win over Epping.
Whatever Marshall said at three-quarter-time last week has clearly rubbed off on the Demons, who have now kicked nine goals in three of their past five quarters at home.
EMOTIONAL WIN FOR KILMORE
The Blues are still in it! What a win for Marrett’s men, who came from 29 points down at half time to steal four points away from Heidelberg West, delivering a big blow to the Hawks’ finals chances.
You can see just how much the Blues are invested in their young talents – Eammon McLaughlin-Matthews and Chase Dennis, both named in the best three players for the Blues, are still playing under-17s. Another youngster, Katlan Cook, played under-19s last year. In total, seven of the 22 that took part all played 17s and 19s last year. It is an exceptionally young team.
The Blues are just one game behind Watsonia and Heidelberg West in what’s suddenly a three-horse race for the final spot in the five.
WOMEN’S FINALS TO BEGIN
The final round of the home-and-away season approaches for the women’s competition, with finals confirmed at La Trobe University for a second year in succession for the first three weeks.
I loved seeing all games at the ground last year – it provided a spectacular spectacle, and I think it will be fantastic again.
In terms of the competitions, just two spots need to be sorted, essentially – the final spot in the division one top five comes down to Banyule, Lower Plenty and Heidelberg.
Division two is confirmed, it’s just a matter of whether Ivanhoe or Fitzroy Stars finish on top and which team out of Darebin or Reservoir get the home rooms for the elimination final.
Division three is thrilling, with Macleod and St Mary’s fighting it out for top spot, Whittlesea and Eltham fighting it out for the double-chance, and Epping and Montmorency 2 fighting it out for the final spot in the five.
Epping play Eltham 2, while Montmorency 2 play top team Macleod. It will require a big effort from the Magpies to get in.
