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Goulburn Valley FL 2026

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Blues1977 said:
2026 January GVFL season summary incoming!!!! Off work until the 14th gents and got some time to kill!!!!

Ladder prediction...
1. Echuca... The great A. Byrne makes a huge difference for the Bombers. A lot back from injury including McHale and Evans. Great club. Bounce back season for the Murray boys. Playing away from home all year but will prove how good they are IMO. Byrne boys with 80 snags between them.
2. Kyabram... Stars across each line again in 2026. Well oiled machine and still one of the premier teams. R.Clark a good inclusion to the reigning premiers. M. Mattingly genuine GVFL star.
3. Rochester... Bloody well coached. Lost a granny by 5 goals without arguable two most important players D.Gordon and M.Cricelli. Have now added M.Hore for half a season which is going to be a great inclusion come June.
4. Mansfield... Hardly lose at home. Bank 8 wins from that. Beat a few Shep sides to make it 11-12 wins and they are once again top 4 finishers. W. Kelly to be a difficult match up and have the league BNF winner running around in C. Brown. New coach taking over a pretty good side will be interesting to see how it plays out.
5. Seymour... A few disappointing seasons from the Lions. Showed with a full side last year they are a top 6 side but failed to bring it all together on a consistent basis. Missed finals by 1 game last season and were very poor. Shows if they can get some consistency they'll give them selves a shot at the finals series. R.Mason's 4-5 games back from VFL will be crucial as they need him to qualify for Finals.
6. Bears... A. Holland, L.Smith and L. McShane are probably enough to get you through to finals football. 3x A Graders. Deakin wreaks havoc on opposition teams so can see the Bears doing enough to give themselves a chance to sneak in the finals. Haven't hear much not he recruiting front.
7. Swans... New coach, new playing group, new challenge. Seem to have lost players from this season with no new recruits? Still like the young talent they have and exciting brand they can produce. The loss of Kovacevic is enormous.
8. Benalla... Very active, new coach, new players, new adventure. Excited to see what the Saints have in store for 2026. A new coach from QLD may bring things with a twist. N. Warnock great at CHB and midfield is always solid with C. Welsh and J. Martinello. Will we see N. Wright enough? What a good player he was in 2025. If he kicks another 50+ the Saints have to rise up the ladder.
9. United... Great off-season recruiting. Love what they have done this offseason. B. Newman will be a top 3 swingman in the competition. Great addition to the club. Tough to beat at Deakin but haven't travelled very well in previous years if they can sneak a few away games you never know what could happen. Excitement will be up.
10. Euroa... New coach. Time will tell for the pies. Not enough A-graders to threaten finals but will push most teams in patches. Game plan needs revitalising. Relying on the same old guys once again will produce similar results. 2 huge ruckman sound promising and could really shake up their midfield which is much needed for the Pies. Lots of chat about how well they have done to recruit 2 monster rucks but hopefully have a few more in mind?
11. Mooroopna... J. Lamont has his work cut out but as always I am sure they will beat some teams well above them throughout the season. Lacking A-grade talent IMO and will drop from their 2025 output. If they can welcome a few familiar faces back they still have some good young talent.
12. Tatura... Long way off it. Movement in the recruiting world is positive but coming from a long way back with their lack of depth. J. Bennett is a good player and will be a welcome inclusion. Most recruits seem from minor leagues, so time will tell on their worth in the GV. 1-2 games better than last season.

Key 2026 recruits...
B. Newman to United
M. Hore to Rochy
W. Kelly to Eagles
A. Byrne back home to Echuca
M. Casey to United
Click to expand...
Loving your work Blues1977
 
Silver Tongue said:
Any recruiting news lads?

Thoughts on top 6? Early days i know but I will have a crack.
Echuca
Rochester
Kyabram
Mansfield
Shepparton
Euroa
--'--------
Seymour
United
Mooroopna
Benalla
Swans
Tatura
Click to expand...
Has anybody mentioned that Michael Barlow is back at United next year?
 

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GoodNessMe said:
Signed at 3 clubs this pre season. Had clubs finding him a job in Melbourne.

Money talks again?
Click to expand...
Not good. Happened to us as well, got guy job then after two weeks said he was playing elsewhere. This gen struggle with morals when it comes to footy.
 
Trent from barwon Heads said:
He should be on a list and playing afl, for some reason clubs wont go near him
Click to expand...
Believe he was done with illegal substances early in his AFL career? May play a role in why? But I agree good player, and stacked up as good as most AFL rucks.

The one that always baffled me was the great Nick Meese at Williamstown. Would dominate any 200+cm ruckman in the VFL week in and week out. What a gun.
 
Blues1977 said:
Believe he was done with illegal substances early in his AFL career? May play a role in why? But I agree good player, and stacked up as good as most AFL rucks.

The one that always baffled me was the great Nick Meese at Williamstown. Would dominate any 200+cm ruckman in the VFL week in and week out. What a gun.
Click to expand...
Meese was a Fierce competitor that loved nothing more than taking it up to the big names. One of his quotes was 'These AFL guys will be getting massages and free feeds all week while I will be under houses doing some plumbing in the morning...lets make them sore'. The most popular teammate.
 

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ringo1 said:
Not good. Happened to us as well, got guy job then after two weeks said he was playing elsewhere. This gen struggle with morals when it comes to footy.
Click to expand...
Yeah not necessarily strong on holding to initial agreement. I guess changing rules governing footy these days changes the landscape also as players can go wherever they want. And clearances in country leagues are secret these days.
 

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Goulburn Valley FL 2026

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