Mid Season Update | As all Victorian country football leagues has now passed the halfway point of the season, we thought we'd do our annual quick deep dive into how scoring is progressing for the current 2026 season.

With the quantity and quality of teams in different leagues across the state being such a regular talking point, below is how scoring currently sits just over the midpoint of the season thus far.

What’s the current winning average margin?

Well, we’re glad you asked. 

After 12 weeks of matches, inclusive of some general and individual league byes that have taken place so far, the average winning margin across all Victorian leagues currently sits at 54.93 points, which is down marginally by 1.41 points from this time last year.  For a comparison, the end of season average winning margins of the past three  years have been 56.91 pts in 2024,  56.90 pts in 2024 and 58.82 pts in 2023.

How does my league compare?

If you want close games then the Sunraysia FNL is the place to go as they are leading all leagues with a current average winning margin of 28.95 points. Up in the north east of the state it’s the Ovens and Murray FNL with a close run season too with an average of 28.78 points for their weekly winners, while behind them in third is the Heathcote and District FNL with 32.55 points per match.  In fourth place we head down south where Division 1 of the Mornington Peninsula FNL has an average winning margin of 33.26.58 points per game, while rounding out the Top 5 for the list is the Hampden FNL who currently see games decided on average by 36.08 points.

The top 10 closest leagues all sit with average winning margins of between 23 and 43 points. For  a quick comparison with this time last year only the Sunraysia FNL, Ovens and Murray FNL, Hampden FNL, Wimmera FNL and Division 1 of the Outer East FNL’s  kept their palace in the Top 10 at the same time last season.

It’s a different story at the other end of the table where Division 2 of the Outer East FNL holds the title for the biggest average winning margin at this point of the season, with games being decided on average each week by 92.65 points per game.  The four team Upper Murray FNL have had a massive improvement in competitiveness from this time last season when they lead all comers with an average of 110.26, reducing that in 2026 to 89.50 points per game, and sit second at this end of the table. Rounding out the Top 5 in terms of uncompetitiveness are the South West District FNL (78.28 pts per game), the Kyabram & District FNL (72.96) and the Picola & District FNL (70.28).  

Overall, fourteen of the state's forty leagues are experiencing average winning margins of more than 10 goals so far this year.

So what do the scores actually look like?

With such a spread of average winning margins across all leagues, how are the scores contributing to them? 

Based on a minimum of two games being played for a round of matches, only three rounds this year have had an average winning margin of under 10 points.  Round 7 of the Wimmera FNL saw an average margin of 7.75 points, while on the same weekend it was a. 8.5 point average in the Round 9 group of matches in the Murray FNL. Rounding out this small group was Round 4 in the Heathcote & District FNL where the average winning margin was a neat 9 points. Interestingly the Round 7 clash in the Wimmera FNL in 2025 also made last seasons summary as well.

At the other end of the spectrum, there have been 14 rounds of matches spread over 9 different leagues who have had a round of games with an average winning margin of over 100 points. There's no surprise that Division 1 of the Outer East FNL which holds the largest average winning margin has also had 4 rounds where the average winning margin was over 100.  Close behind with three rounds is the Upper Murray FNL, while the North Gippsland FNL has had two rounds of over 100 point average winning margins..

To the actual scores now of all games played so far have either been draws (12) or 1 point thrillers (29), with no clubs yet to be held scoreless at this point of the year however we;’ve had one club only manage to score a solitary point and a further two cubs on end up with a total of 0.2 2 for their days work, both in the Picola and District FNL.  

The highest score recorded so far was in the Warrnambool & District FNL where Allansford FNC managed a total of 50.22 322 against Dennington FNC who have now sadly gone into recess early into the season. This is one of three scores over 300 points that have been kicked so far in 2026, which all took place against the aforementioned Dennington FNC. 

There have been a total of 13 games where the winning score was over 250 points and in total, there have been 230 senior games played across the state which have seen one of the competing teams kick a score of 150 points or more.

Who’s kicking all the goals?

So with all this scoring, who’s doing the most damage in front of the big sticks and terrorising the fullbacks?

As it stands the leader out in front in the race to be the first to reach 100 goals for 2026 is Kiewa Sandy Creek FNC’s Guy Telford with 73 goals from eleven games in the Tallangatta & District FNL.  Sitting in second on 66 is Keenan Hughes from Cowwarr FNC in the North Gippsland FNL from the ten games he’s played, while third comes from the Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL, where Carisbrook FNC’s Tim Rinaldi has 65 from 10 games as well.  All three leaders are going at the very handy clip of over 6.5 goals per game.

The biggest individual bags for the season so far have come from outside the top three with former AFL players Brett Eddy and Travis Cloke leading the way with bags of 18 each. Eddy, who sits fourth overall on the leaderboard across the state, kicked his haul playing for Foster FNC in the Mid Gippsland FNL in Round 8 against Newborough FNC. Cloke who is lining up for Yarra Glen FNC in Division 1 of the Outer East FNL this season, got his bag early in the season in the Round 4 clash against Powelltown FNC.

So who’s doing all the winning?

At this point in time its a tie between Kiewa Sandy Creek FNC in the Tallangatta and District FNL and Wandin FNC in the Premier Division of the Outer East FNL sitting on the longest current active winning streaks in country Victoria with 18 straight wins, after Nar Nar Goon FNC had a run of 32  straight wins ended when they were defeated by 1 point in the Round 7 West Gippsland FNC clash with Kilcunda Bass FNC. 

Conversely, it’s been 44 straight defeats for the Tatura FNC in the Goulburn Valley FNL who have the longest active losing streak.  There is an asterisk to this though as the current longest losing streak does sit with the Maryborough FNC who are in recess for this season from the Bendigo FNL.  Their streak sits at 62 which they will be looking to break, hopefully returning to the Maryborough Castlemaine District FNL in season 2027.

But there is hope!  

So far this year Gormandale FNC (64), Campbells Creek (55) Wodonga Raiders FNC (36), Merbein FNC (24) and Paynesville FNC (23) have all broken losing streaks this year that have run over more than 1 season. Currently as we head into the second half of the season there are still 27 clubs looking for that first elusive win for 2026 which is two more than this time last year, while another 19 clubs , four down on the same time in 2025, will look to continue their winning ways as they aim for an undefeated season.