General News
5 September, 2025
GRAND TIMES
By GARY WALSH THE TWO best teams in Loddon Valley football have won through to the grand final, and the league has a decider that promises to be a classic. While Inglewood may have been the sentimental favourite as it rolled over Bears Lagoon...
By GARY WALSH
THE TWO best teams in Loddon Valley football have won through to the grand final, and the league has a decider that promises to be a classic.
While Inglewood may have been the sentimental favourite as it rolled over Bears Lagoon Serpentine and Pyramid Hill to reach the preliminary final, Bridgewater and Marong have been a class above the rest.
It’s September, there’s more than a hint of spring in the air, and a young and confident Mean Machine comes up against a Panthers side that has done it all before.
Newbridge’s Riverside Oval will be heaving, with three footy and seven netball grand finals to be decided.
Marong is looking for a fourth flag in a row, while Bridgey is in its first grand final since 2016 – the last of its run of seven premierships on the trot.
Both teams are packed with talent.
Marong had 21 premiership players on the park against Inglewood, while Bridgewater has an impressive blend of experience and youth.
The Mean Machine won the second semi-final, but it was a match that could have gone either way, with just two points separating the two sides when the final siren sounded.
Two teams boasting potent forward lines, pacy and skilful midfield units, and resolute defences will fight it out to the end.
But It’s far too simplistic to look atat the clash as one between the youth of Bridgewater and the experience of Marong.
The Panthers, striving for four flags in succession, will run onto Riverside Oval at Newbridge with perhaps only one player who has not appeared in a senior premiership win.
The Mean Machine has a handful, including coach Lachie Sharp, with flags at Strathfieldsaye in the Bendigo league, and one or two with reserves or junior premierships, but the contrast is stark.
Bridgey’s narrow win over Marong in the second semi-final came after an enthralling contest of swinging momentum.
Neither side could get ahead by more than two-and-a-bit goals, with Bridgewater’s three majors to none in the last term grinding out the dramatic win.
Sharp, fresh off winning the Frank Harding Medal for the league’s best-and-fairest player, said the Mean Machine had deliberately targeted youth in its recruiting this season and looking ahead to 2026.
“Our young guys have shown they can hold up against the best,” he said. “This week’s an even contest across the board, and it will need a four-quarter effort from us – but we have played that way for a few weeks now.”
Rival coach Kain Robins said Marong would not be relying only on its vast experience to win the grand final.
“It’s going to be a bash and crash game, and if we’re harder at the ball and get plenty of forward entries we’ll be a chance.”
Robins said shutting down prolific forwards Sharp and Oscar McKinley would go a long way towards winning the contest on Saturday.
Will Gadsden has not overcome a hamstring injury, but Jake Ede will be available after recovering from a friendly-fire head clash in the second semi, so there will be a very unlucky Marong player tonight when the teams are named.
“Coaching is an enjoyable job at times, but this is the worst part,” Robins said. Both teams have recent experience at Riverside Oval, with the Mean Machine grateful for the chance to have a run there last Saturday morning.
Sharp said the ground was in “magnificent condition”.
Robins’ team played there in the last round of the season and was impressed with the surface at Newbridge.