BFNL top five settled with one round to go

POTENTIAL exists for a slight tweak in the finishing order, but with one round remaining in the 2025 BFNL season, the top five has been finalised.

Golden Square’s 77-point loss to Sandhurst at Wade Street last Saturday effectively snuffed out any hopes of the Bulldogs pinching fifth spot from Strathfieldsaye.

While only win separates Strathfieldsaye and Golden Square going into their round 16 encounter at Tannery Lane this Saturday, the Storm enjoys an insurmountable 12.34 percentage advantage over the Bulldogs.

That will leave the Storm to face South Bendigo in the following weekend’s elimination final.

Gisborne and Eaglehawk will clash in the qualifying final, with minor premier Sandhurst waiting down the road for the winner.

While it will have no bearing on their match-up in the first week of finals, the Bulldogs will enter round 16 in second spot, but will slip to third with a loss to Sandhurst, if Eaglehawk, as expected, takes care of Castlemaine.

Despite having clinched top spot, Sandhurst could likely be considered as underdogs, having lost to Gisborne twice this season.

Remarkably, Gisborne is 4-0 in games played against Sandhurst and Eaglehawk, with the Bulldogs’ three losses coming against South Bendigo twice and Golden Square.

While the Bulldogs took care of Strathfieldsaye last week, an ultra-competitive performance by the Storm in a 15-point loss assured them of a finals spot when the Square fell to Sandhurst, widening the percentage gap.

Golden Square’s hopes of an upset or at least minimising the damage to its percentage were dealt some serious blows, with the loss of skipper Jayden Burke in the opening 10 minutes with a suspected MCL injury and Zac Westcott with concussion, also in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs were without Lachlan Humphrey from early in the second quarter with an ankle injury, with two more Bulldogs succumbing to injuries in the second half, but playing on.

They were able to match it with the Dragons in the opening quarter, trailing by only 10 points, but minus Burke and Westcott – both defenders – the Square were always going to be up against it.

Bulldogs coach Brad Eaton said the injuries had put a dampener on expectations in what was already a massive test.

“I don’t think it would have changed the result, having a healthy team, but it hopefully wouldn’t have been a blow out,” he said.

“But it is what it is. The boys kept battling.

“Percentage was always going to be a consideration for us.”

With their finals hopes all but evaporated, Eaton is eager for the Bulldogs to end their season on a high note against the Storm, after plenty encouraging signs in recent weeks.

“It’s been a positive back-half of the season,” he said.

“A few of the younger guys have really stepped up; a few boys have found their rhythm and are starting to play really well.

“Some of our system and game style have improved with a more consistent playing group, so there are positives to take out of it.

“It’s just disappointing that we couldn’t have played that well at the start of the year and put ourselves in a better position.

“While it’s only an extra win we needed to come up with, we probably didn’t really deserve to win too many of our early games.

“The last five or six weeks we’ve been in most of our games, but before that, there were too many lapses for too long a period in games.

“That’s cost us.”

Lachlan Tardrew, Fergus Greene (four goals), Cooper Smith and Oliver Morris in particular were a handful for the Bulldogs, who were best served by Jack Stewart, Terry Reeves, Zack Shelton, Luke Holt and Noah Warfe.

The ledger between Golden Square and Strathfieldsaye sits at one-apiece this season, with the Bulldogs winning their most recent encounter at Wade Street early last month.

In other round 15 games, Castlemaine, led by Ryan Eyre, Harrison Sheahan and Patrik Balta, put in one of their best performances of the year in a four-point loss to South Bendigo

The Magpies led at every break, including by five points at three-quarter time, before being overhauled late by the Bloods.

Sheahan (Castlemaine) and Steven Stroobants (South Bendigo) each kicked four goals.

Ben Thompson kicked five goals and Jack O’Shannessy booted four in Eaglehawk’s 117-point win over Kangaroo Flat.

Round 15 recap: Gisborne 10.13 (73) defeated Strathfieldsaye 8.8 (56); Kangaroo Flat 2.5 (17) lost to Eaglehawk 19.20 (134); Golden Square 5.12 (42) lost to Sandhurst 18.11 (119); Castlemaine 15.14 (104) lost to v South Bendigo 17.16 (108).

Round 16: Sandhurst v Gisborne; South Bendigo v Kangaroo Flat; Eaglehawk v Castlemaine; Strathfieldsaye v Golden Square.