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That’s what co-coaches smells like to me. Do any clubs have this setup? It looks like something you’d do because both could bring a load of players with them to make a club. Two better than one in that regard.
Played with Both these guys. Ripper blokes and very popular. I'd assume their sell would've been bringing players across. Problem is all the good players would be well into their 30s
 
Albury Tigers - Ryan Garthwaite & Max Lynch Co coach.
Is this a way around the salary cap? X amount to coach, Y amount to play?? Unsure how that works.
Neither are playing, as far as I know.
It is an interesting point BJS. From memory 50% of a playing coach payments are allocated to the Salary Cap. There may be a maximum threshold for that.

In this case it’s just a couple of ex players & friends that decided they want to coach together.
 

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Unsure, but i wouldn't think it was player driven. They had a poor loss to Fairpark yesterday but it was also a dead rubber for them, Fairpark had a lot more to play for so i wouldn't read too much into that.
Still got it as a player but I think their recruiting and location plus no 19s have hurt them. Potts Swan Hansen all closer to their use by dates. Fair Park had a bit to play for but even against The Gully oakleigh looked uninterested. Just my observations 😊
 
Albury Tigers - Ryan Garthwaite & Max Lynch Co coach.
Is this a way around the salary cap? X amount to coach, Y amount to play?? Unsure how that works.

A percentage of the money for a playing coach (50% ?) is excluded from the cap. A second playing coach is used extensively around Victoria nowadays, mainly as a measure to have more money placed outside the cap.
 
One of the tightest weeks we have seen in a long time in Premier Div and Div 2. Div 3 sorted it finals a week early but its relegation battle was turned on its head, and the Div 4 finals race continues to amaze week to week.

  • SOUTH CROYDON ARE IN 5TH SPOT!! Who saw this coming a month ago? South defeated Mitcham by 10 points but it wasn't easy. It was looking like a comfortable win when young gun Tom Sheridan kicked the first 2 goals of the final quarter but 4 goals in 8 minutes to Mitcham got the score back to 4 points deep in time on. After a few minutes of mayhem Tom Sheridan again kicked a goal to seal the game. South have won 4 in a row and have Berwick, Vermont and Noble Park to come, their destiny is in their own hands. The round 18 game between South and Noble at Cheong Park will probably decide who plays finals.
  • Blackburn has well and truly wiped away any doubt anyone has about them with a stirring 10 point win against East Ringwood putting them on top of the ladder. The last time Blackburn finished a season on top of the ladder was back in 1980 when they won the Div 2 premiership. They are the real deal this year and with Mitcham, Berwick and Donny East to come its hard to see them losing top spot. For East Ringwood it wasn't a horrible loss at all and it was a cracking last quarter, but i felt early in the year they were way ahead of anyone else, that's not the case anymore.
  • Rowville held off a plucky Berwick by 4 points. The game looked over at 3/4 time when Rowville held a 5 goal lead but Berwick kept coming and got it back to under a goal multiple times in the final quarter. Berwick are going okay and have been competitive in many games especially in the 2nd half of the season, but surely Rowville should be putting them away a bit easier than that. Rowville have Donny East next week followed by Mitcham and East Ringwood. If they don't beat Doncaster East they might have to beat East Ringwood to make finals.
  • Balwyn defeated Doncaster East by 29 points but the game was over at half time when the score was 68-22. Balwyn are safely locked into 3rd spot with no chance of dropping down and little chance of moving up. Its not a bad place to be, they can manage their last 3 games nicely. There is no great incentive to even get to 2nd spot as the only difference between 2nd and 3rd come finals, is the colour of your shorts and which change rooms you use. For Donny East they have little margin for error in the last 3 games but do have a 12-14% better percentage than both South Croydon and Noble Park. But they need to win at least 2 of their last 3 games against Rowville, Noble Park and Blackburn and one of them has to be the Noble Park game.
  • Vermont were shock winners against Noble park by 30 points after losing their last 4 games. It was a golden opportunity for Noble Park to almost lock themselves into finals. They have lost their last 2 games after doing so much work to get in the top 5 and now have Balwyn, Doncaster East and South Croydon to finish. Again probably need to win 2 of their last 3 to make it especially the games against Donny East and South.

  • Montrose did what they need to do against Mooroolbark by 10 points. The margin sounds tight but Mooroolbark kicked 2 very late goals so Montrose already had the game in their hands. The wins keeps them in 4th position but with games to come against North Ringwood and South Belgrave, they are not guaranteed yet. However if they do defeat North Ringwood they will play finals regardless of the last game against South Belgrave. If north Ringwood lose to Montrose next week their finals will be done also but if they win the final round will be amazing with a few text messages and calculators in play.
  • Park Orchards eventually got the better of Boronia defeating them by 6 goals. It was a tight game for the best part of 3 quarters until Park Orchards outclassed the gallant Hawks. Boronia are still without Josh Begley but will need him fit and firing during finals if they any chance to cause an upset against the top 2 teams. In saying that they have dropped to 5th spot on the ladder but they finish with Norwood and Mooroolbark so should have no problems bouncing back. For Park Orchards they are locked into 2nd spot and have a bye next week then finish with Beaconsfield round 18 in a nice pre-finals warm up.
  • Not much point getting too deep into the big margin games in this division this week. South Belgrave defeated Bayswater by 20 goals and will finish on top unless something extraordinary happens as they only have Mooroolbark and Montrose to go. Beaconsfield defeated Norwood by only 10 goals due to kicking 12.21 but don't really need any more percentage, they only need to make sure they keep winning. They have Bayswater and Park Orchards to come, as long as they beat Bayswater they are guaranteed finals.

  • Heathmont kept their 5th spot hopes alive by defeating Mulgrave by 6 points in a thriller, the game was close all day and went goal for goal in the 4th quarter but Mulgrave were never able to get closer than that 1 goal margin. Mulgrave still sit 4th and have a 2 game break on the chasing group of Heathmont, Waverley & Croydon but also have a 15-25% percentage advantage over the 3 teams. They have Wantirna South and Templestowe to come and could lose those 2 games by a combined margin of 170 points and still have a percentage over 100, well clear of the chasing teams. Problem for them is they have lost their last 2 and will most likely lose their next 2 games. It will be 4 losses in a row coming into finals, its not an ideal preparation. For Heathmont they are 1 of 3 teams fighting for 5th spot which they currently hold. Their percentage is around 10% higher than Waverley & Croydon so its just about winning for them. They have Lilydale next week week at Lilydale, which can be a hard place to win, then followed by Waverley in what might be a mini final for 5th spot.
  • Surrey Park had an important win against Lilydale by 16 points. Full credit to Lilydale, it would be easy to put the cue in the rack but they clearly want to fight the year out before relegation. For Surrey they can now only finish 2nd or 3rd which is an amazing performance first year in a higher division. Surrey have Waverley and East Burwood to come, it should be 2 wins.
  • Croydon had a horrible loss to East Burwood just when they had a chance to claim 5th spot. I did say their form was so weird that they would probably lose this week. They now have Ringwood and Wantirna South and will probably need to need to win both to play finals due to their poor percentage. For East Burwood they are playing for nothing but pride but winning is much better than losing.
  • Templestowe eventually shook of Ringwood to win by 19 points. It wasn't easy and the margin was down to 6 points late in the final term before Templestowe kicked the last 2 goals of the game. Templestowe will finish on top even if they lose their last games against East Burwood and Mulgrave, which they wont. Great chance to get everyone in perfect health and to try some contingency plans before a finals campaign where they go in flag favourites. For Ringwood they are 8th but only 1 game out of 5th spot (and a lot of percentage) but they are no chance to make it, they could make up the percentage and teams above them also play each other.
  • The upset of the round was Waverleys 1 point win against Wantirna South. It feels like it might have been the loss Wantirna needed to have and they did everything they could to lose by kicking 12.21 to 15.4. It should sharpen Wantirna South up for finals but they have been a bit skittish, they had a close game against Lilydale, were OK against Ringwood with a great win against Heathmont last week and now they loss yesterday. They are still locked into 2nd (most likely) or 3rd spot so have a couple weeks to get things right before the first final against Surrey Park. For Waverley this was a game i gave them no chance in so they are still a mathematical chance for 5th spot but they would have to knock off both Surrey and Heathmont, its very unlikely.

  • Scoresby came from the clouds to defeat Donvale by 10 points, kicking 6.6 to 0.2 in the last quarter. They actually kicked the 6 goals in the first 12 minutes of the quarter so it happened very fast which i must say is very unlike Donvale. This was clearly the top 2 sides playing in Div 3 and has been all year, they are miles ahead of anyone else. They are probably equal favourites right now but there is some fitness question marks hanging over Donvale. I think Donvales best is still the best, but whether they can get everybody right and produce it is unknown. I suppose Scoresby just came off a loss to Silvan so neither team is on a tear right now. Great finish to the season next week with Donvale taking on UFTG and Scoresby taking on Knox. Donvale would need to lose for Scoresby to finish on top.
  • Fairpark turned the relegation battle on its head defeating Oakleigh by 4 goals meaning there is now just 3% separating 9th and 10th on the ladder. It was the Lions 3rd win of the season and was bankrolled by Bryce Galvins 6 goals but also contributions from the usual suspects Dadswell and captain Mitch Nied. The equation isn't as simple anymore as what we thought it would be a week ago. Now both Fairpark and Coldstream could both lose or both win and still either be relegated due to margin. The margin isn't insignificant however, there is about a 70 point differential on raw numbers between the 2 teams so the more Coldstream score the harder it will be for Fairpark to make up. For Oakleigh they have lost 4 in a row and the coach announced he is done after the game. Unsure if the loss was the straw that broke the camels back but there has also been a number of key signings for 2026 in the last week for Oakleigh which makes you think something might be in the works.
  • UFTG destroyed Coldstream by 96 points in a demolition. UFTG are finals bound and will finish either 3rd, 4th or 5th. If they defeat Scoresby and Donvale defeat Knox they will overtake them and have the double chance in 3rd spot. But if they lose to Scoresby and The Basin defeat Oakleigh then Upper will finish 5th, so there is a lot to play for still. For Coldstream, i thought this would happen, it would come to the last game. I think they need to win because i think Fairpark will beat FTG at home. The good news for Coldstream is Silvan haven't won a game away from home this year at all. The better news is Silvan also cant play finals anymore so they don't have much to play for.
  • FTG ended Silvan's finals hopes with a 6 goal victory. The exact amount Jaidyn Stephenson also kicked off his own boot. It has been a bit Stephenson or bust for FTG this year but hes here to stay and I'm sure he will have some more friends with him next season. For Silvan its been a ride, defeating Donvale and Scoresby at home but losing to everyone away. They have some talent but will be interesting to see where they land looking to next year.
  • The Basin sort of upset Knox by 8 points in another low scoring match. I think most expected Knox to win but they have been patchy for most of the year, I'm not sure whats happened there, last year they were free flowing and exciting and this year have been plain. Both of these teams are playing finals, Knox will finish 3rd or 4th and The Basin will finish 4th or 5th. Both are making up the numbers and cant win it but its great for The Basin to be playing finals after some lean years and which ever way it goes, it will be a huge elimination final The Basin V UFTG or The Basin V Knox. In fact except for Donvale the other 4 teams are all local to each other, so we should see some big finals numbers for the host club.

  • Chirnside Park had a strong win against Warrandyte leading all day and eventually winning by 26 points. The win leaves them on top, 3 games and 50% clear of Whitehorse in 2nd position. They have Kilsyth next week and then a BYE in the last round. For Warrandyte the loss means they drop out of the top 4 for the first time since round 7 by percentage but are on equal points with Kilsyth in 3rd and Bulleen in 4th. They can make it still but to be safe would need to win the last 2 games against Whitehorse and Croydon North. They could make it with 1 win if results fall their way.
  • Bulleen had their most important win of the year defeating Croydon North by 34 and have jumped into 4th spot! They led at every chance slowing increasing the margin as the game went on. Bulleen now have the BYE and finish with Kilsyth. This is where it gets very tricky with match ratio, Croydon North have Forest Hill next week and will win, if they win by more than 100 points they will probably overtake Bulleen on percentage. Croydon North will also over take Kilsyth and/or Warrandyte if either lose because of match ratio as they will have same wins but played 1 less game. Kilsyth have Chirnside and Warrandyte have Whitehorse, if they both Kilsyth and Warrandyte lose then both Bulleen and Croydon North will be in the top 4 at the end of the weekend. Its crazy and insane but its exciting.
  • Whitehorse had a great win by 20 points against Kilsyth. It was tight all day until the final quarter where Whitehorse pulled away. The result of this game has had a major impact on the top 4, the win for Whitehorse means they will finish 2nd, they have a two game break on 3rd spot and also have Forest Hill in the last round. For Kilsyth the loss means they are up against it to make it, they have Chirnside this week and finish with Bulleen. If they lose to Chirnside they will drop out of the top 4, and if they lose by lots they might also end up with a lower percentage than Warrandyte, which might be crucial. Again so many different variables here its hard to predict with any confidence who will make it. Its going to be a cracking finish to the year in Div 4.
 
Big loss for ER coach Osborne has done an amazing job there…..Winterton already the favourite to replace him 😳

A few coaches have either parted ways or been given the tap on the shoulder already. Some very attractive jobs available. These are off the top of my head, there is probably more

Scott Hamill - Heathmont
Gary Ayers - Montrose
Duncan Jones - Lilydale
Blake Pearson - Oakleigh
Ben Osborne - East Ringwood
Ben Wheat - Mooroolbark
Josh Allison - Fairpark
Nick Batsanis - Templestowe
Jeremy Thomas - Silvan


Some other jobs I'm interested to hear or have heard whispers

Pat Garrity FTG - I was surprised to hear he may not be coaching there next year, but it was from a drunken sometimes unreliable source. He claims he could be in trouble with some senior players unhappy. I wouldn't have given it too much credit but they haven't publicly announced hes going on in 2026, but have announced a lot of players.

Neil Winterton Mitcham - The longest current serving coach in the EFNL. Has the time come to finish up at Mitcham? Would be no shortage of suitors.

Steve Buckle Knox - Told by a good source Knox had approached a well credentialed higher division coach (unsuccessfully) and the current coach is on the nose with the some senior players. They have had a disappointing year so far so maybe finals might decide his fate.

Kyle Dove East Burwood - In a relegation battle for most of the year, we know what this usually means at East Burwood. No public announcement as yet, hopefully they get behind the current coach.
 
A few coaches have either parted ways or been given the tap on the shoulder already. Some very attractive jobs available. These are off the top of my head, there is probably more

Scott Hamill - Heathmont
Gary Ayers - Montrose
Duncan Jones - Lilydale
Blake Pearson - Oakleigh
Ben Osborne - East Ringwood
Ben Wheat - Mooroolbark
Josh Allison - Fairpark
Nick Batsanis - Templestowe
Jeremy Thomas - Silvan


Some other jobs I'm interested to hear or have heard whispers

Pat Garrity FTG - I was surprised to hear he may not be coaching there next year, but it was from a drunken sometimes unreliable source. He claims he could be in trouble with some senior players unhappy. I wouldn't have given it too much credit but they haven't publicly announced hes going on in 2026, but have announced a lot of players.

Neil Winterton Mitcham - The longest current serving coach in the EFNL. Has the time come to finish up at Mitcham? Would be no shortage of suitors.

Steve Buckle Knox - Told by a good source Knox had approached a well credentialed higher division coach (unsuccessfully) and the current coach is on the nose with the some senior players. They have had a disappointing year so far so maybe finals might decide his fate.

Kyle Dove East Burwood - In a relegation battle for most of the year, we know what this usually means at East Burwood. No public announcement as yet, hopefully they get behind the current coach.

I’ve seen Buckle in action a couple of times and he looks like a madman. Real ranter and raver. Recall he got suspended a couple of years ago for going mental at an umpire. I think he’s the kind of character who would need results to make the team believe, or he’d lose them quick.
 

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A few coaches have either parted ways or been given the tap on the shoulder already. Some very attractive jobs available. These are off the top of my head, there is probably more

Scott Hamill - Heathmont
Gary Ayers - Montrose
Duncan Jones - Lilydale
Blake Pearson - Oakleigh
Ben Osborne - East Ringwood
Ben Wheat - Mooroolbark
Josh Allison - Fairpark
Nick Batsanis - Templestowe
Jeremy Thomas - Silvan


Some other jobs I'm interested to hear or have heard whispers

Pat Garrity FTG - I was surprised to hear he may not be coaching there next year, but it was from a drunken sometimes unreliable source. He claims he could be in trouble with some senior players unhappy. I wouldn't have given it too much credit but they haven't publicly announced hes going on in 2026, but have announced a lot of players.

Neil Winterton Mitcham - The longest current serving coach in the EFNL. Has the time come to finish up at Mitcham? Would be no shortage of suitors.

Steve Buckle Knox - Told by a good source Knox had approached a well credentialed higher division coach (unsuccessfully) and the current coach is on the nose with the some senior players. They have had a disappointing year so far so maybe finals might decide his fate.

Kyle Dove East Burwood - In a relegation battle for most of the year, we know what this usually means at East Burwood. No public announcement as yet, hopefully they get behind the current coach.
Garrity signed a 2 year deal at the start of the year (hence no announcement) and is definitely coaching FTG again in 2026
 
A few coaches have either parted ways or been given the tap on the shoulder already. Some very attractive jobs available. These are off the top of my head, there is probably more

Scott Hamill - Heathmont
Gary Ayers - Montrose
Duncan Jones - Lilydale
Blake Pearson - Oakleigh
Ben Osborne - East Ringwood
Ben Wheat - Mooroolbark
Josh Allison - Fairpark
Nick Batsanis - Templestowe
Jeremy Thomas - Silvan


Some other jobs I'm interested to hear or have heard whispers

Pat Garrity FTG - I was surprised to hear he may not be coaching there next year, but it was from a drunken sometimes unreliable source. He claims he could be in trouble with some senior players unhappy. I wouldn't have given it too much credit but they haven't publicly announced hes going on in 2026, but have announced a lot of players.

Neil Winterton Mitcham - The longest current serving coach in the EFNL. Has the time come to finish up at Mitcham? Would be no shortage of suitors.

Steve Buckle Knox - Told by a good source Knox had approached a well credentialed higher division coach (unsuccessfully) and the current coach is on the nose with the some senior players. They have had a disappointing year so far so maybe finals might decide his fate.

Kyle Dove East Burwood - In a relegation battle for most of the year, we know what this usually means at East Burwood. No public announcement as yet, hopefully they get behind the current coach.
East Burwood can’t sacked dove that would then be 5 coaches in 5 seasons!

Mooroolbark job is interesting great top end talent but poor depth.

Montrose job would be a decent get! Pushing finals in Div 1

Templestowe and east Ringwood are the most appealing take over clubs that are up the top and ready to keep winning in their divisions templestowe possible to go up into Div 1 and after seeing how boronia went you wouldn’t be scared to take that on!

Fairpark is interesting Allison just the one season maybe a Galvin will coach?

Silvan and Heathmont not bad places to land either middle of the table in respective comps need a tune up but could see them not firing

Lilydale I’m sure sando will get the job for next season after being pulled out of upwey

Not sure about oakleigh 5/6 wins and loose your best player or one of your best Pearsons as his coach and always a chance he’ll take a couple to new club that one could be a disaster to take on.

Good take on winterton as well has done it all at Mitcham potentially a good time to start fresh for them and no doubt his phone would be ringing hot with offers after correct me if I’m wrong here G-MAC 4/5 flags in 10 seasons?!
 
East Ringwood would be the most attractive job in the state ATM.
M’Bark is a bin fire that I’m not sure any half decent candidate would walk into. No juniors, 2’s disgusting and only 10-12 good senior footballers.
Montrose is interesting, plenty of coin and a stacked junior program, appealing to the right person but would want to make it work pretty quick i’d reckon.
 
A few coaches have either parted ways or been given the tap on the shoulder already. Some very attractive jobs available. These are off the top of my head, there is probably more

Scott Hamill - Heathmont
Gary Ayers - Montrose
Duncan Jones - Lilydale
Blake Pearson - Oakleigh
Ben Osborne - East Ringwood
Ben Wheat - Mooroolbark
Josh Allison - Fairpark
Nick Batsanis - Templestowe
Jeremy Thomas - Silvan


Some other jobs I'm interested to hear or have heard whispers

Pat Garrity FTG - I was surprised to hear he may not be coaching there next year, but it was from a drunken sometimes unreliable source. He claims he could be in trouble with some senior players unhappy. I wouldn't have given it too much credit but they haven't publicly announced hes going on in 2026, but have announced a lot of players.

Neil Winterton Mitcham - The longest current serving coach in the EFNL. Has the time come to finish up at Mitcham? Would be no shortage of suitors.

Steve Buckle Knox - Told by a good source Knox had approached a well credentialed higher division coach (unsuccessfully) and the current coach is on the nose with the some senior players. They have had a disappointing year so far so maybe finals might decide his fate.

Kyle Dove East Burwood - In a relegation battle for most of the year, we know what this usually means at East Burwood. No public announcement as yet, hopefully they get behind the current coach.
Ex carlton small man may have one of the jobs 😊
 

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Stephen Kenna still floating around outer east Melbourne?
 

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