BUNDOORA, VIC. (NFNL HQ). — The last home-and-away round of the Northern Football Netball League’s Division 2 season for 2026 has jumbled up the ladder and seen a bolter rise to fifth to snatch a finals berth from two other contenders.
St Mary’s vs Whittlesea
The best match of the round saw Whittlesea take down St Mary’s by 15 points at Whatmough Park and climb into fifth spot to make the finals.
The losses of Macleod and Fitzroy Stars meant the Eagles leapfrogged both of them and will play in the Elimination Final next week against Old Paradians.
The Eagles won their last three games, and five of their last six games of the season to storm into fifth place, and now give themselves a chance at a remarkable premiership.
St Mary’s were cruising early, holding a 30-point lead 12 minutes into the second quarter, but the Eagles managed to claw it back to 14 points at half-time.
The third quarter was all Whittlesea though; they kicked 6.1 to just two St Mary’s behinds and went into the final change with a 21-point lead and looking the goods to make the finals based on how other results were looking.
They managed to hold on in the last quarter and bring home the victory by 15 points. It was a team effort in front of goals, with Riley Gaylard, Paul Higgins, Blake Morley, Riley Powell and Bailey Robinson all slotting two goals.
They had a dominant midfield on the afternoon, with Bailey Robinson (26 disposals, 20 contested possessions, 9 clearances and two goals), Mitchell Andrews (30 disposals, 7 contested possessions) and co-captain Taidgh Bland (29 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 13 clearances and a goal) and were the pick of the bunch for the Eagles. Their third quarter resurgence was led by Bland picking up 10 touches and a goal, and Robinson grabbing 9 touches and a goal.
For the ‘Burra, the loss has no real effect on their ladder position, due to South Morang and Northcote Park both getting wins on the weekend. But they have now lost two games in a row and three of their last four heading into the finals. They face Northcote Park in Qualifying Final 1 on Saturday.
Tom Eames kicked three goals whilst Nicholas Dean (19 disposals and 14 contested possessions), Huon Macgibbon (14 disposals, 26 hitouts, 5 clearances and two goals) and Brayden Apostola) 20 disposals, 14 contested possessions and nine clearances) all had solid games.
Old Paradians vs Fitzroy Stars
The Raiders got the job done over Fitzroy Stars by 33 points at Garvey Oval to lock up fourth position.
The Raiders did what they needed to do to consolidate fourth position on the table and will meet Whittlesea next week in the Elimination Final.
It was a tight first quarter with the Stars kicking the only two goals for the quarter. Then the game started to open up a bit in the second, the Raiders kicked four goals to two in the first 13 minutes of the quarter. The home side got it out to eight points before Kanoa McGrath slotted a lovely goal to bring the Stars back within two points, and the Raiders’ lead was just three points at half-time.
From that point on, it was all Old Paradians; they went on to kick seven goals to one in the third quarter and looked the dominant side on the field. They went into the final break with a 38-point lead.
An early goal in the last from Patrick Farrant gave the Stars their last hope, but the Raiders kicked the next two, and it was all over from there.
For Old Paradians, Elias Stapleton and Liam McVeigh both kicked three in solid afternoons in front of goal. Captain Kyle O’Sullivan racked up 29 disposals and 11 marks, whilst Billy Bedford was solid in defence, grabbing 23 disposals and eight marks himself.
The Stars should hold their heads up high after being promoted into Division 2 this season after their Division 3 premiership last year. They finished the season in seventh and were in the finals race for the whole season, so they should take a lot of positives away from that.
On the day captain Kain Proctor was very good; he had 34 disposals, 13 contested possessions, 13 marks, eight clearances and a goal. Patrick Farrant (31 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 15 marks and a goal) and Thomas Clarke (27 disposals, 11 marks and a goal) also both found a lot of the footy.
South Morang vs Macleod
South Morang sealed the minor premiership, whilst Macleod fell short in their finals aspirations.
The Lions picked up a 31-point win and, doing so, have given themselves a week off and a Qualifying Final 2 berth, which is a chance to slingshot themselves into the Grand Final. On the other hand, Macleod’s loss and Whittlesea’s win saw Macleod fall out of the top five by two points.
The first change only saw South Morang with a four-point lead, but then it ballooned out in the second, with the Lions kicking eight goals to just three for Macleod, and South Morang held a 34-point lead at the major break.
The ‘Roos fought back a little bit in the third quarter, bringing the margin back to 23 at the final change. The first two goals of the last quarter went to Macleod through Mackenzie Hogg and Jasper Howell, bringing the margin back to 12, and it looked like they had the momentum.
South Morang was able to steady though and then went on to kick six straight unanswered goals to pull away to a 49-point lead. Macleod then kicked the last three goals of the game to bring the final margin to 31.
The Lions were still very good without star ruckman Nathan Stefanile. Tyson Gresham (27 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven clearances and two goals), Davin Cameron (25 disposals, 10 contested possessions, nine marks and two goals) and Kobe Van Zwienen (24 disposals, eight inside 50s and a goal) were the pick of the bunch for South Morang. Liam Jolly managed to kick four goals, and Carter McCall had three for the Lions.
Whereas for the Kangaroos, Mackenzie Hogg was able to kick four goals on his return. Zachary Hudson had a big game; he had 26 disposals, 19 contested possessions, 13 clearances, one goal and 182 ranking points. Kobe Brandt also had 22 disposals, 13 contested possessions, 7 clearances and two goals.
The game brought the end to the illustrious career of Macleod co-captain Darcy Barden, who has announced his retirement. He kicked one goal for the afternoon, taking his season total to 64 goals and taking home the MC Labour Division 2 goalkicking award for the second time in as many seasons. His senior career spanned stints at both Lower Plenty and Macleod, winning plenty of games for both clubs and has been a standout player at this level.
Northcote Park vs Thomastown
Northcote Park got a big win before finals, taking down Thomastown by 53 points at Bill Lawry Oval.
The Cougars now see themselves facing St Mary’s in the first Qualifying Final this weekend. They were simply too good on the day, kicking 5.3 to two behinds in the first quarter and never looking back from there, building to a 44-point lead at half time, and then 53 points by the final siren.
Ricky Fandrich kicked five goals, and William Rohde had three himself for the Cougars. But it was Jordan Perry who was the best on the ground; he had a mammoth 41 disposals, 26 contested possessions, 11 clearances, one goal and 202 ranking points. Matt Perry was also very good with 26 disposals, 13 marks and 134 ranking points.
For the Bears, although they ended the season in ninth place, they put together a solid second half of the season to stave off relegation. They finished the season on 24 points, and Panton Hill finished the season in tenth on 20 points, so that shows just how tight the competition was.
On the day, Aaron D’Angelo and James Lucente both kicked three goals, and Sean Culhane kicked one as well, totalling seven goals for the Bears for the afternoon. Anthony Capeci found the most of the footy for the Bears, grabbing 28 disposals, seven marks, nine inside 50s, four tackles and five clearances.
Lower Plenty vs Panton Hill
Lastly, Panton Hill got a victory to end their time in Division 2 for the moment, whilst Lower Plenty will be left to ponder what might have been after a poor second half of the season.
The Redbacks won by 20 points but ultimately have finished the season in tenth place and will be heading to Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 next season. Some may consider them to be unlucky finishing last with five wins, but this season in Division 2 has been very tight, so every match really was pivotal.
Lower Plenty got the early jump, holding a 13-point lead at quarter time, but then the scoring started to commence. Lower Plenty kicked the first goal of the second quarter through Felix Bell, but then Redbacks kicked five goals in a row and totalled at 7.1 to Lower Plenty’s 6.0 in the second, leaving the Bears with a slender six-point lead at the main break.
But Panton Hill continued on in the third, kicking 6.3 to 1.3 to hold a four-goal lead at three-quarter time. In the second and third quarters, Panton Hill outscored Lower Plenty 82 to 45. The Bears kicked the first two of the last quarter to bring the margin back to 15 in the sixth minute of the final term.
The last three goals of the game went to Panton Hill, Lower Plenty and then Panton Hill again, giving the Redbacks a 20-point victory.
For the Redbacks, Thomas Blake kicked four goals, Oliver Parks and both Paul Vavlitis kicked three goals. Star ruckman Nicholas Parks had 18 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 13 clearances, 54 hitouts, 12 hitouts to advantage and 177 ranking points. Oliver Parks (23 disposals, 16 contested possessions and three goals) and Jason Pannam (22 disposals and 12 contested possessions) found plenty of the footy.
The Bears finish the season in eighth and lost their last eight games of the season. They will know that their best can match it with anyone in Division 2, they just couldn’t find that form in the back end of the season.
Jack Chubb kicked five goals on the afternoon, finishing with a tally of 45 for the season, and second in the MC Labour Division 2 goalkicking leaderboard. Jordan Smith (28 disposals, 14 contested possessions, eight clearances and a goal), Jack Hutchison (26 disposals and 11 rebound 50s), Hudson Young (23 disposals and seven one percenters) and Ciaran Porter (23 disposals and 11 contested possessions all found plenty of the footy for the Bears.
The home and away season is finished, and finals await.
