	{"id":126207,"date":"2026-01-26T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?p=126207"},"modified":"2026-01-21T22:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:45:08","slug":"premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"Premiers to face off in BFNL opener"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE respective reigning champions of the Bellarine Football Netball League will open the coming season following a late change to the 2026 fixture.<\/p>\n<p>AFL Barwon confirmed this past week that Anglesea (2025 senior men&#8217;s football premiers) and Ocean Grove (2025 A grade netball premiers) would face off on Good Friday (April 3) rather than the following day.<\/p>\n<p>The rescheduled match provides a fitting start to the 2026 season, celebrating last season&#8217;s champions while commencing another exciting year of football and netball.<\/p>\n<p>Fellow Bellarine clubs Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove have arranged to swap their home games due to upcoming infrastructure works.<\/p>\n<p>Barwon Heads will host the Round 11 match on June 13 at Howard Harmer Oval.<\/p>\n<p>The club&#8217;s facilities are scheduled to undergo significant reconstruction from mid-June 2026 and will not have access to its rooms from that point onward.<\/p>\n<p>Ocean Grove will then host the Round 20 match on August 22 at Shell Road Recreation Reserve.<\/p>\n<p>The adjusted venue arrangements ensure continuity of the competition while allowing essential facility upgrades to progress.<\/p>\n<p>For the updated 2026 BFNL fixture, head to <a href=\"http:\/\/aflbarwon.com.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aflbarwon.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE respective reigning champions of the Bellarine Football Netball League will open the coming season following a late change to the 2026 fixture. AFL Barwon confirmed this past week that Anglesea (2025 senior men&#8217;s football premiers) and Ocean Grove (2025 A grade netball premiers) would face off on Good Friday (April 3) rather than the [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":126208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-126207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Premiers to face off in BFNL opener - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anglesea and Ocean Grove, reigning Bellarine premiers, will kick off the 2026 BFNL season on Good Friday following fixture updates and venue changes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Premiers to face off in BFNL opener - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anglesea and Ocean Grove, reigning Bellarine premiers, will kick off the 2026 BFNL season on Good Friday following fixture updates and venue changes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/sport\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-25T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-53.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nathan Rivalland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nathan Rivalland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nathan Rivalland\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf7cb8dfe63a187785b4e65994914833\"},\"headline\":\"Premiers to face off in BFNL opener\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-25T17:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":183,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/Untitled-design-53.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/sport\\\/premiers-to-face-off-in-bfnl-opener\\\/\",\"name\":\"Premiers to face off in BFNL opener - 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