Collingwood premiership player confirms he won’t coach on as ex-Giant and Blue makes Toora debut

Plenty of discussions about season 2025 again dominated the off-field talk this week.

As with Steve Johnson announcing his decision to step down as coach of Yarrawonga FNC for next year, current Wangaratta Magpies FNC coach and former Collingwood FC premiership player Ben Reid informed his playing group that the 2024 season would be his last in charge. Reid will see out the remainder of this season with Wangaratta currently sitting in fifth place and eyeing off another finals appearance.

Down in Gippsland, there was plenty going on in the 2025 space as well. Last week clubs from the North Gippsland FNL met to look at the possibility of three Mid Gippsland FNL clubs, Newborough FNC, Yinnar FNC and Morwell East FNC joining their league for next year. At the same time it became known that the Gippsland FNL have started looking at the potential of having a secondary league or second division competition of their own. Whilst this appears to be in its initial stages of seeking feedback from clubs and other key stakeholders, it certainly created a major talking point around the grounds at the region's weekend's games

Further north in the Central Murray FNL, Cohuna FNC as they did last year, have again made another attempt at moving to join the Heathcote and District FNL league for next season.

On the field it was another cold wintry blast of weather for footballers and netballers to contend with across the state. Nowhere was more affected than in the Central Highlands FNL where the senior match between Newlyn FNC and Springbank FNC was called off at half-time due to the wet and chilly conditions. As a result of some players and umpires reportedly suffering signs of hypothermia amid the wet and wintry conditions, umpires and both clubs came together to discuss the possible outcomes. Given Newlyn were leading at half-time 2.11 23 to Springbank’s 1.3 9, they were awarded the win.

Given these conditions, former GWS Giant and Carlton FC player Dylan Buckley picked the wrong weekend to make his debut for Toora FNC in their clash with Yinnar FNC. Despite being named best on ground in the terrible conditions, it wasn’t enough for Buckley to get his club the win, going down by 23 points in a low scoring slugfest, 4.9 33 to 1.4 10.

The conditions made it hard for scoring across most leagues, with 3 drawn games and one 1-point game. In the Kyabram and District FNL the clash between Murchison-Toolamba FNC in 2nd place and 3rd placed Shepparton East FNC ended in a 6.6 60 apiece draw, while the Picola and District FNL had two draws for the round as well.

North Albury FNC used the conditions to their advantage in their match against Albury FNC in the Ovens and Murray FNL. The Hoppers ran out 18-point winners in a tough, low scoring affair and in turn broke their 16-year losing drought against Albury, securing their 1st win since the 2008 season. Heathmere FNC broke an 18-game losing streak this weekend, defeating Branxholme Wallacedale FNC in their Mininera and District FNL clash, while Echuca United FNC in the Murray FNL also sang the song for the first time this season after ending their 12-game run of losses with a 7-point win against Cobram FNC who have now dropped out of the top 6 as a result, in what is a closely contested season.

Despite the terrible conditions, the forwards still gave the goal umpires a chance to keep warm with several big bags of goals kicked. Lancaster FNC’s Zac Cerrone led all comers with a bag of 14 against Undera FNC in the Kyabram and District FNL, while Yackandandah FNC’s Nick Donaghey in the Tallangatta & District FNL and Jirra Moffatt from Bruthen FNC in the Omeo and District FNL both managed hauls of 12 each.

Strathmerton FNC’s Tim Looby sits atop of the overall leaderboard after the weekend with 106 goals, while Bridgewater FNC’s Lachlan Sharp sits second on 104, one ahead of James Lloyd from Murchison-Toolamba FNC. With only a few rounds to go in the season, a handful of players sit with tallies in the 80s hoping to crack the 100 mark, including Robbie Hare from Allansford FNC (85), Cora Lynn FNC’s Nathan Gardiner and Birchip-Watchem FNC’s Ben Edwards (82).

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Image from Gippsland Footy on Facebook.