Friday grand final punt dumped as Hampden league returns to Saturday
Public holiday Friday country footy grand finals are in danger of never catching on after one of the state’s biggest leagues pulled the pin after one year.
The Hampden league has canned the Friday grand final experiment after only one season with the premiership-deciding match returning to a Saturday next year.
North Warrnambool broke through for its first Hampden flag in front of a healthy crowd at Reid Oval on the Friday before the AFL grand final, but negative feedback from clubs has prompted a return to a traditional Saturday timeslot.
The 2026 grand final will be played on September 19 next year in line with many other major country leagues.
“We were quite pleased with the Friday and our crowd was up,” Hampden president Shane Threlfall said.
“But the feedback from clubs wasn’t so much the Friday, but it being the middle weekend of the school holidays.
“Everything was rushed for their presentation nights and days.
“Attendance at those functions was also well down.
“It was really club driven in the end.”
The change was confirmed in the release of the 2026 fixture that also includes the season starting with a one-off Good Friday match between South Warrnambool and Koroit.
There are four matches on Anzac Day, which falls on a Saturday next year, with Portland hosting Hamilton, Cobden hosting Terang-Mortlake, Camperdown hosting North Warrnambool and Koroit hosting Warrnambool.
Port Fairy and South Warrnambool will play the following day.
The Hampden league has also made changes to its finals qualification rules for VFL-listed players in the wake of AFL Victoria dumping its overarching rule whereby once a player had played more than 12 matches in the state league they couldn’t return to play for their aligned country club.
A VFL player has to play only three senior matches in the Hampden league next year to be eligible to play finals.
Up until 2024, a player only had to be registered with a club to play finals.
The Hampden league posted a $8115 loss in 2025 compared to a $16,290 profit last year.
Gate-takings for the Friday grand final were up, but revenue from other finals matches was down, representing an overall hit of $16,837 from last year.
Originally published as Friday grand final punt dumped as Hampden league returns to Saturday
