Dragons dig deep to start BFLW season in style

IF A serious challenger to Darley and Redan’s dominance of the BFLW senior competition is to emerge this season, most anticipate it will come from East Point or Bacchus Marsh.

That made the Dragons and Cobras’ 2026 season-opener at Alfredton Recreation Reserve last Saturday particularly crucial in the bid to build early belief and momentum.

First round points went the way of the Dragons, who came from eight-points down at three-quarter time for a stirring nine-point win.

East Point won a low scoring affair 3.6 (24) to 2.3 (15).

It was an encouraging start for the Dragons, preliminary finalists last season, whose passage into the season’s penultimate game was in some respects aided by the Cobras decision to withdraw from finals after their stirring first week win over Darley.

East Point co-coach Katie McAloon praised her players’ resilience and fighting spirit, conceding Bacchus Marsh had seized the momentum going into the final quarter.

“We have had such a long pre-season and have come into actually having a structure and game plan, so it was nice to be able to implement that to the best of our abilities,” she said.

“Not everything went right, but it’s round one.

“We’re just glad to get off to such a good start.

“The girls needed a rev up (at three quarter time), we just weren’t sticking to our fundamentals, which was pressing up and not hesitating. But we were hesitating too much.

“As I said to the girls, ‘we are only eight-points down, we’ve got next week off; it may have felt more than that, but it was only that. Give it all we’ve got and we get that extra week’.

“To their credit, they did it.”

 

The Dragons were quick to wrest the lead with two early goals in the final term, adding a third later to push the margin out to nine points, while keeping the young Cobras scoreless.

McAloon, last year’s BFLW Team of the Year centre half back, was disappointed not to be out there.

She will miss a chunk of the season after dislocating her knee and tearing a quad at training in the lead-up to round one.

The win not only served as an early confidence boost, but erased any lingering memories of an unremarkable start to the 2025 season against the Cobras.

“They did have quite a few players out (on Saturday), but so did we,” she said.

“Last year in round one we played them and lost 98 to zero, so for our team to have a close game, let alone a win means everything.

“It gives us confidence the hard work over pre-season is paying off and will hopefully continue to pay off.”

Larissa Murphy, affectionately known as Smurf by her teammates, led the way for the Dragons, earning huge plaudits from her coach.

“She’s 43-years-old I think, but is the fittest person I’ve seen,” McAloon said.

“She was injured last year, but has come back better and stronger; played through the midfield and a bit in the forward.

“It was good to have her experience back out there.”

The developing Grace Vermeend backed up a solid pre-season with an eye-catching midfield performance, while Abbey Bertram, Gemma Foord, Jemma Costigan and Jess Mills all featured prominently on a day when the Dragons as a collective stood up.

 

The East Point-Bacchus Marsh showdown was the second of three games played back-to-back-to-back at Alfredton to kick-off the new season.

McAloon said her and the club fully backed the concept.

“I do like it, especially given we are not exactly the hunted team,” she said.

“It’s good being able to watch Redan and Darley, the ones who have been the hunted teams for a couple of years, to see what strategies and set-ups they have.

“But for us, it’s just nice having a nice lot of people out there supporting football.

“Having atmosphere is the best part of it.”

She was further buoyed by the entry of a new side to the competition, with Ballarat Swans fielding a team for the first time in the senior division.

“I was a Swanny growing up, so a lot of these girls who have come up and graduated from under-19s, I actually coached the last three or four years at (GWV) Rebels, and interleague,” she said.

“It’s really nice to see them come together and start a woman’s team.

“They are going to be super-competitive; just how young they are.

“But they have also been lucky enough to be brought up with footy and have the coaching and the skills.”

In a touching mark of respect, the East Point and Darley players both formed a guard of honour for the Swans as they made their way onto the field at the start of the match.

In the opening game, Redan defeated Carisbrook by 147 points, with last season’s leading goalkicker Jess Bokma starting the season in style with eight goals and Ellen Wertz booting six, and Hayley Reid in blistering form.

In game three, reigning premiers Darley kick-started their premiership defence with a 64-point win over Ballarat, highlighted by a 41-0 second quarter after the Swans led by two points at quarter time.