Sport
17 October, 2025
Mello will run around again in 2026
JOSH MELLINGTON, the Loddon Valley league’s most colourful and divisive player, will pull on the boots again for Bears Lagoon Serpentine in 2026.
JOSH MELLINGTON, the Loddon Valley league’s most colourful and divisive player, will pull on the boots again for Bears Lagoon Serpentine in 2026.
Confirmation this week that Mellington would take to Serpentine’s Janiember Park for a third season ended speculation the injury-prone former AFL player miight retire.
Bears coach Jake Wilkinson said the goal kicking magnet would be back.
But Mellington will not continue as assistant coach after a season in the role.
Wilkinson said the full-forward was relocating to Melbourne from Bendigo, and while he might be able to attend training on occasions, he would not be in a position to continue coaching.
“It’s obviously great to have him going around again,” Wilkinson said. “He is definitely a fantastic player.”
Mellington has kicked 192 goals for Serp in just 21 games since joining the club for the 2024 season, including 11 matches in which he has scored double figures. He booted 99 goals this year, falling agonisingly short of the century mark as the Bears tumbled out of the finals with a loss to Inglewood in the elimination final.
Mellington, who will be 33 when the season begins, is a controversial figure with a long disciplinary rap sheet. He has been suspended for 14 matches throughout his career, just two matches short of a lifetime ban.
Opponents, aware of Mellington’s short fuse, frequently try to put him off his game, either physically or verbally.
Mellington is also known for his colourful interactions with spectators behind the goals.
The key forward rarely strays outside the 50-metre arc and constantly demands the ball from his teammates, using his strength to out-muscle opponents.
His lowest return in a single game in the Loddon Valley competition is three goals, with his biggest haul 17 against Maiden Gully in 2024.
Mellington almost always kicks for goal around his body off little more than a step in what has become his signature move.
Injury, including a severe hamstring injury that ended his first season with Serp after just nine games and 93 goals, has hampered him throughout his Loddon Valley career.
The Bears have lost former coach and ruck-rover Justin Laird, the league best and fairest in 2024, to North Central league premiers Calder United.