Here we gooooooo folks! The big dance, the granny, the decider, the don’t come Monday knockout… call it what you want. There can only be one winner and no doubt some tears will be shed over the course of the weekend. Call him greedy, call him skilled, call him a content legend, this weekend all those monikers will be cast aside as @Peter W takes on the title of… arch enemy! The ORFFW final game of 2026 sees the Timboon Trailblazers face off against the Vivonne Bay Valkeries. Let’s hope for a clean, fair fight and no injury impacts. Let’s do this!
Valkeries Grand Final squad Def- Elliot, Webster, Barr (Bennetts) Mid - Hanks, Purcell, Kennedy, Newton (McEvoy) Ruck - Scholz (Hickie) Fwd - Harris, McLaughlin, Banfield (Woodley) IC - Cann, Prespakis (Skepper)
We’ve also got several ORFFW teams playing this weekend in the Intercomp qualifiers! See this post from TTH for more info:
Pomona D: Tilly Lucas-Rodd, Jade Ellenger, Serene Watson (Darcy Moloney -oop) M: Ebony Marinoff, Grace Egan, Bec Beeson, Ash Woodland (Abby Favell) R: Poppy Kelly (Lauren Pearce) F: Ryleigh Wotherspoon, Alicia Eva, Jenna Bruton (Lexi Hamilton) I: Tamara Smith, Brit Gutknecht (Daria Bannister)
Timboon Trailblazers: DEF: Maddi Gay, Tarni White, Charlotte Thomas (Breanna Koenen) MID: Kiara Bowers, Abbie McKay, Sarah Goodwin, Shineah Goody (Lauren Young OOP) RUC: Alice Edmonds (Josie Bamford) FWD: Chloe Molloy, Ash Centra, Vicki Wall (Gemma Houghton) INT: Lucy Single, Jasmine Fleming (Sabrina Frederick) Rolling the dice with Single into the starting side and Lauren Young OOP instead of Single backing up mids and Young on the bench. Single has averaged 91.5 against the Giants in the past two outings, while Young has been a little out of form last few weeks. She plays the Saints which makes me very nervous of a high score. Didn't go haywire vs Pies though and mids usually score more so fingers crossed. Losing Usher (suspension) hurts given it meant it has to be one of the other with Schleicher, McLay and of course Srhoj all injured. Still, a good enough side and coming off a big performance. Will need a massive one again to be a shot in this one.
Single 101, Centra 104, White 93, Gay 84 = 382 so 10/790 But now Valks have Harris, Hanks, Purcell coming up in the Dees/Crows game to make it 10 players against Goodwin (Blazers go to 11) Then it's Newton, Kennedy & Banfield vs Bowers & Molloy.
I did the numbers based on ytd averages of the remaining players last night, I looked like being a very close GF
Melbourne has managed Purcell too which is stiff for the Valks (had that last year in the other league for me with a player). So McEvoy's score now becomes relevant. Definitely looking like a nail-biter regardless though which is great!
Harris 34 + Hanks 120 = 154 Goodwin 34 = 34 so.... Valks 652/9 vs Trailblazers 824/11 Newton, Kennedy, Banfield + McEvoy vs Bowers and Molloy. Goodwin frustratingly down and Hanks went huge, but Harris down too so it's a 172-point difference for two less players.
Yeah you’re looking golden from here mate after those massive scores early today. Purcell hurts but prob wouldn’t have mattered.
Definitely not over yet. If all the players replicate their first half scores in the second half of the Sydney-Freo game then you'll win by 10 points. I've got a lead of 81 points at HT, but it's not comprehensive. Really need Bowers and Molloy to step it up a bit more as Kennedy is having a blinder. Will go down to the wire for sure, so at least it's a good game.
Incredibly Molloy has saved my bacon. The lead went to 82 at three quarter time (so only one point my way) and then remained at 82 (by my calculation) by FT. But let's face it, was mostly Kennedy vs Molloy for the most part. Bowers had a shocker, Newton was good still, other two down as well which was enough. Great contest though, when I calculated at HT I was genuinely nervous given how your players had gone in the first half.
Valkeries Grand Final squad Def- Laura Elliott [41], Rebecca Webster [89], Nicola Barr [DNP] (Elle Bennetts [30]) Mid - Tyla Hanks [118], Liv Purcell [DNP], Tanya Kennedy [114], Gabby Newton [79] (Lucy McEvoy [50]) Ruck - Matilda Scholz [106] (Tahlia Hickie [74]) Fwd - Tayla Harris [34], Hayley McLaughlin [50], Matilda Banfield [48] (Heidi Woodley [63]) IC - Mikala Cann [67], Georgie Prespakis [115] (Keeley Skepper [52]) = 941 Timboon Trailblazers: DEF: Maddi Gay [84], Tarni White [97], Charlotte Thomas [67] (Breanna Koenen [60]) MID: Kiara Bowers [66], Abbie McKay [80], Sarah Goodwin [34], Shineah Goody [68] (Lauren Young OOP [25]) RUC: Alice Edmonds [81] (Josie Bamford [74]) FWD: Chloe Molloy [123], Ash Centra [104], Vicki Wall [36] (Gemma Houghton [44]) INT: Lucy Single [107], Jasmine Fleming [76] (Sabrina Frederick [60]) = 1023 Couple of point changes from today including Single up six, so this is what I've got as of now. Might adjust a bit, but still at around that 82-point mark.