Weekly Wrap | With the ‘Intention to Transfer’ league deadline having now passed, it has meant that lots of decisions were up in the air this week as clubs looked to see where their futures may lie for the 2026 season and beyond.
Gisborne FNC, currently part of the Bendigo FNL, have signalled their intent to investigate a move back to the Ballarat FNL which they left at the end of the 1999 season. In the Gippsland FNL, members of Drouin FNC have voted to move back to the West Gippsland FC while another former West Gippsland FNC club, Pakenham FNC, have also made it clear they wish to return home after being in the Outer East FNL since 2019.
Two other Outer East FNL clubs have also weighed up options as well, with Premier Division club Wandin FNC choosing to remain in the competition while fellow Premier side Upwey Tecoma FNL is looking to move across to the Eastern FNL, potentially joining other former Outer East FNL clubs, Berwick FNC and Beaconsfield FNC who moved in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Further to the news that the Golden Rivers FNL may be in its final season, the current clubs are looking at potentially moving to the unaffiliated Picola and District FNL which may give the potential for them to stay together as a cohort of clubs. There is still more to play out in this space across multiple leagues.
Sticking with AFL Victoria and the qualifying rules for VFL listed players returning to play at their nominated country clubs and be eligible for finals will cause an issue for some clubs. The rules require VFL listed players to play a minimum of 4 games to qualify for their country clubs, however if they play more than 12 VFL games they can no longer return to play finals footy at the local level. The biggest loser in this scenario at this stage could be the Leongatha FNC who now will most likely no longer have hometown favourite son, and ex Essendon skipper, Dyson Heppell back for finals given he has already played 11 games for Port Melbourne FC. The new rule application may also see an impact in the recruiting space for next season.
A few familiar names and faces graced the fields across the state this weekend with AFL games record holder, former Kangaroo Brent Harvey, signing with Trentham FNC in the Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL for the remainder of the season. His debut game saw him end up with three goals in his side's big 23.15 151 to 6.9 45 win over Navarre FNC. Former Cat and Port Power livewire Steven Motlop reunited with former Port teammate Tom Clurey’s Katamatite FNC in the Picola and District FNL. Clurey, who is out injured at the moment watched on as Motlop managed four goals in a tight 3 point loss, as the TIgers went down to Berrigan FNC 12.5 77 to 11.8 74.
In the South West District FNL former premiership Magpie Travis Cloke helped Heathmere FNC end its winless run for this season after he slotted five goals and proved the difference in his adopted sides 29 point win over Westerns FNC, 11.10 76 to 6.11 47. This breaks a run of 13 straight losses for Heathmere FNC , stretching back to the end of the 2024 season. In the Kyabram and District FNL Tallygaroopna FNC ended a run of 11 straight defeats when it got the points over fellow winless side Merrigum FNC by 47 points, ironically leaving them winless for the eleventh straight game.
At the other end of the spectrum, in the 2024 grand final rematch in the Hampden FNC, North Warrnamabool had their first loss for the season going down again to their victors from last year, South Warrnambool FNC, this time by 19 points. The Horsham and District FNL also saw an undefeated run come to an end when the sixth placed KanivaLeeor United FNC had a thrilling 1 point win, 9 9.7 61 v 8.12 60 to hand Noradjuha Quantong FNC their first entry in the loss column.
Twelve forwards ended the round with double digits figures next to their names, headed by 12 goals to Adam Garner from the Seb Ross coached Colac FNC and also by Robbie Hare from Allansford FNC. Benjamin Bisset from Pyramid Hill FNC and Noah Pegoraro from Mildura FNC kicked 10 goals apiece to be in a group of five players who reached the 50+ goal mark for the season. They were joined in that milestone this week by Dean Macdonald from Yallourn Yallourn North FNC, Mitchell Day from Geelong Amateur FNC and Francesco Miceli from the Cardross FNC. In total we now have 32 players with more than 50 goals to their name at this point in the season.
However the biggest story in this space was that our overall leader, Longwarry FNC’s Jason Wells, could only walk away from the weekend's match with 4 goals to his name, leaving him stuck on a total of 99. Given his form so far this season he is a deadset certainly to bring up triple figures this coming weekend. Wandin FNC’s Aaron Mullet remains behind him in second place with 83 goals while Birchip-Watchem FNC’s Ben Edwards is in third place with 74 so far for the 2025 season.
