Will Moe snap one of country footy’s longest premiership droughts?

Country footy flags will start being decided at end of August. Top-10 premiership races and Mid-season Team-of-the-Year named.

David Johnston

5 min read

June 25, 2025 - 12:00AM

The Weekly Times

Local Sport

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The 2025 country footy season has started the run home to finals with the first premierships to be decided in late August.

Some leagues have the same teams in contention for more flag success, but some new forces and challengers are emerging and eyeing off silverware.

The Weekly Times has identified 10 must-watch finishes to the season.

BALLARAT

Melton is making a good fist of its premiership defence sitting second behind ladder leaders Darley with both teams having 9-1 win-loss records.

Darley’s only loss was to Melton in the season opener and they meet again on Saturday in a pivotal match in the run to the finals.

Melton slipped up to the other team that can’t be discounted in the premiership chatter, East Point.

Blake Souter (Melton), Brett Bewley (Darley) and Jordan Johnston (East Point) are all having great seasons to date.

GEELONG

First year Newtown & Chilwell coach Steve Johnson. Picture: Mark Wilson

Yarrawonga’s loss has been Newtown & Chilwell’s gain with first-year coach Steve Johnson overseeing a resurgence of the Geelong club which hasn’t won a flag since 1986.

The former Geelong superstar has largely invested in talent that was already at the club, but former Yarrawonga defender Logan Morey and Oscar Murdoch have been great additions.

Newtown & Chilwell has risen to second on the ladder with Colac its latest scalp.

GIPPSLAND

Moe coach Leigh Poholke, left, has been reappointed for another season. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Will one of country footy’s longest flag droughts finally break in September?

Moe has not won a premiership since 1967, but is perfectly placed to strike with a 9-1 win-loss record and a chance to atone for its only defeat to reigning premier Traralgon on Saturday.

Depth is the envy of the competition with Ben Crocker booting bags of goals in his first season, recently reappointed coach Leigh Poholke and his brother Myles making an impact, and coach of recent seasons, key defender Declan Keilty, again playing well.

Second-placed Leongatha has injuries and Dyson Heppell still needs to qualify for finals as does Moe star Riley Baldi.

GOLDEN RIVERS

The six-team competition with a history dating back more than a century could be in its final months with clubs left to scramble to find a home for 2026 and beyond.

In addition to fighting for their survival, the flag race is well and truly alive with Hay sitting on top with reigning league and club best and fairest Jack Cattanach starring again.

But reigning premiers Ultima, which wants to step up to the Central Murray league next year, can’t be discounted and Murrabit more than capable on its best day.

GOULBURN VALLEY

Fraser Brooks is one of the many young Echuca players given a shot at senior level this season. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Echuca is trying to emulate what no GV club has done since Shepparton in the mid-1960s when Tommy Hafey was coach and win four flags on the trot.

But 2025 is proving to be the Murray Bombers’ biggest challenge dealing with a spate of injuries not experienced in the previous three seasons.

Despite the personnel challenges, Echuca, ominously, has only lost one game to undefeated Kyabram, which blew another top-three team, Rochester, off the park last Saturday.

HORSHAM DISTRICT

Noradjuha-Quantong is in the box seat to win an elusive first flag after negotiating the opening nine rounds undefeated with the big scalp of the 2023-24 premier Harrow-Balmoral in round 8.

The Bombers pushed Harrow-Balmoral to 13 points in the grand final last year with Jack Vague, Declan Phyland and Leigh Stewart putting together great seasons 12 months later.

Harrow-Balmoral won 42 matches on the trot before losing to the Bombers and again last round to Natimuk United with Jai Thompson and Michael Close presently out injured.

NORTH CENTRAL

Birchip-Watchem forward Ben Edwards has booted 72 goals in the North Central league this season. Picture: Blake Lee

Birchip-Watchem has its nose just in front in a three-way battle for the flag with Calder United and Sea Lake-Nandaly.

The Bulls, under new coach Ash Connick, are undefeated and face their next big challenge against Calder United in a fortnight.

Calder United has climbed to second with a last-round win against Sea Lake-Nandaly and replicating the 1964 flag won by Wycheproof-Narraport in the first year of a merger is a live chance.

Sea Lake-Nandaly can’t be discounted, but needs Josh Jenkins and Oscar Brownless playing to be any hope of winning again.

OMEO DISTRICT

The last time Swan Reach was on top of the ladder at the halfway mark its premiership dreams were shattered by a major player points fiasco which resulted in the club losing all its points from an undefeated start.

Two years on from the 2023 disaster, Swan Reach has rebuilt under coach Wilfred Carter to be sitting on top again with a 7-2 record including the scalp of reigning premiers Omeo-Benambra a fortnight ago.

But in a shock result, Swan Reach slipped up against fifth-placed Swifts Creek by 70 points last round.

OVENS & MURRAY

Wangaratta Rovers coach Sam Murray is staying in the role next year. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Two matches separate top team and reigning premiers Wangaratta Rovers and fifth-placed Myrtleford in a wide open flag battle not seen in the O&M for more than two decades when Corowa-Rutherglen came from the elimination final and won the flag.

Recent powerhouse clubs Albury and Yarrawonga won’t play finals as Lavington, North Albury, Wangaratta and Myrtelford attempt to upset Rovers’ assault on back-to-back flags for the first time since 1993-94 under the competition’s best player, coach Sam Murray, who has been reappointed for another season.

PICOLA DISTRICT

Waaia is a battle on its hands to win a fourth successive Picola District flag. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Rarely do you see three teams in the same league with a percentage of more than 300 heading into the back half of the season.

But undefeated pair Waaia and Katandra and third-placed Katamatite, which has lost only one match, have put a huge gap between themselves and the rest of the competition.

Waaia, which has won the last three flags, and Katandra don’t meet until round 16 and for Katamatite to be any hope it needs Tom Clurey back from injury and firing.

THE WEEKLY TIMES’ MID-SEASON TEAM-OF-THE-YEAR

Kyabram’s Michael Mattingly is favourite to win a second Morrison Medal in the Goulburn Valley league. Picture Yuri Kouzmin

Woorinen is sitting on top of the Central Murray league ladder undefeated at the halfway mark of the season after missing finals last year and being an early September casualty 12 months earlier.

The club placed its faith in Tim Free when it went searching for a coach to lead the recovery mission.

The Tigers have seen off all challengers to date to be on track for a shot at its first flag since 2019 with Free named the coach of The Weekly Times’ mid-season Team-of-the-Year.