Thread is here. First round of finals... I am waiting on @snoz and @dmandrews to give me their picks, but before you throw rocks at them, I only messaged them 5 minutes ago! First round of Finals (this will be updated) The Big Show: Gundagai vs Lovely Banks Charlies Opening vs Larrikin Lagoon Cradle Mountain vs Wineglass Bay Gariwerd vs Narrewillock The Zac: Venus Bay vs Iron Knob Junee vs Mount Beauty Shark Bay vs Wagga Wagga Birdsville vs Waikickamoocow
The Hoppers select the Lilacs The second match for the Zac should be an interesting watch, for the odd folk, I am playing my own old self?
OK fourth time lucky! Fixture locked and loaded Junee now not playing with themsleves... although rumour has it they do that anyway Spelunkers team to take on the molly dookers
Oh ffs, I’m playing the Troggs! 300 point pounding coming up. That’ll teach me to wet sail into finals. Worst of luck @Bandit
Lefties shot in the dark Def - Burgoyne, Wilmot, Worner, Blamires Mid - Thomas, WDuursma, Langford, Stephens Ruck - Xerri Fwd - Hall, Georgiades, Lalor, Berry (Cook) IC - Sweet, Rowston (Sharman)
We've decided to load manage our 1st ruck this week. We think it's the right time for him to have a rest.
Ok im in the lead, blow the siren! Lefties 272/3 Vs Spudlunkers 99/1 Unfortunately I probably needed Xerri to have a blinder and crack 250. Alas no. Now relying on 12 blue moons and a my voodoo troll doll.
Nuffers team to play Ant's Cockatoos D: Himmelberg, Clark, Redman, Idun (Brown) M: Gulden, Richards (already played), Serong, Rowell R: Visentini (Riccardi) F: Warner, Ross, Horne-Francis, West (already played) (Langford) I/C: Fitzgerald, Voss (Annand) Good luck Ant!
Good luck to you too mate Gariwerd Cockatoos In: Kade Chandler Out: Lachlan McAndrew DEF: Jake Bowey, Riley Bice, Isaac Quaynor, Changkuoth Jiath (Tobie Travaglia) MID: Noah Anderson, Sam Durham, Willem Drew, Nathan O'Driscoll (Sam Clohesy) RUCK: Sam Draper FWD: Touk Miller, Toby Bedford, Koltyn Tholstrup, Francis Evans (Ethan Read) INT: Blake Hardwick, Kade Chandler (Sean Darcy)
Cradle Mountain Devils team for home quarter final against the Wineglass Bay Packers Out: S Pendlebury (calf), J De Goey (glute), L Schultz (omitted) In: D Zorko, R Laird, T Greene Def: D Zorko, R Laird,J Battle,J Lever (S Banks) Mid: J Steele, D Wilson, T Greene,E Langdon (T Sonsie) Ruc: T English Fwd: R Marshall, P Wright, D Byrne-Jones, S Mannagh (L Schultz) Inter: T Nankervis, N Vlastuin (A Naughton) In their 20th ORFFA final of all-time the Cradle Mountain Devils host fellow Tasmanian team, the Wineglass Bay Packers in week 1 of the 2026 finals. The Devils have made three changes including two forced due to injury, midfielder Scott Pendlebury (calf) and midfielder/forward Jordan De Goey (glute). A trio of experienced players return from injury, defender duo Dayne Zorko and Rory Laird along with forward/midfielder Toby Greene. With the Devils being closer to full strength forward Lachie Schultz has been omitted. The Devils only have four midfield eligible players in their 15 player team - Jack Steele, Darcy Wilson, Toby Greene and Ed Langdon. Wilson and Langdon will increased midfield minutes this weekend and will be able to utilise their running endurance. CMD are going with a different structure for week 1 of the finals. This is partly due to Pendles and De Goey out injured and partly to try and nullify the Packers greatest strength, their defense. For the first time mid-season recruit, defender/forward Darcy Byrne-Jones will start the game in the Devils forward 50 rather than the defensive 50. Byrne-Jones will play a defensive forward role on one of the four Wineglass Bay defender that average 90+ points per game. The Packers are one of only two teams along with @Jen’s Lilacs that have named an entire starting defensive quartet for week one of the finals that averages 90+ points each per game. 12 of the 14 Cradle Mountain players that average 80+ points per game in 2026 are playing against the Packers, the exceptions are Pendles and De Goey due to injury. The Packers scored an ORFFA round-high 1,378 points Iin a home victory against top four team the Gariwerd Cockatoos in Round 15. Whilst it took Wineglass Bay until the final round to book their finals ticket and they finished in seventh place with seven wins, four wins behind the third placed Devils the clubs are more evenly matched than that. Over the 15 round home and away season Cradle Mountain averaged 1,248 points per game, 28 points more than the Packers 1,220, equating to an advantage of under 2.5%. Congratulations @Tracey on the Packers earning a much-deserved finals berth, good luck for the game.
Packers Team DEFENDERS Lachie Ash, John Noble, Bodhi Uwland ,Josh Daicos - Liam Baker MIDFIELDERS George Hewett, Ryley Sanders , James Worpel , Xavier O'Halloran - Samuel Cumming RUCKS Darcy Cameron FORWARDS Tom Sparrow, Jacob van Rooyen, Seth Campbell, Cooper Trembath - Leonardo Lombard INTERCHANGE Andrew McGrath, Sam Taylor - Ben Keays*
News from the lowest rated match-up (i.e., 12th v 13th) in the first week of finals - JC's Battlers from Birdsville versus graeme's cows. After the Friday night game the cows lead 438/5 to 201/3. Early days yet and Waikick needs a lead as our young ruck (Mitch Edwards, rnd 21 Rising Star) is being managed with Mitchito Owens the OOP cover. He faces his Saints' teammate TdeK - the result of this clash may have a large bearing on the outcome of the game. Although trailing @JC is probably feeling relatively comfortable as his players to date have mostly scored close to their season long average; Harris Andrews (90 v average of 87), Dylan Moore (77 v average of 71), the exception being Matthew Kennedy (70 v average of 83). Best of luck JC over the next two days. The highest score of the round by a member of either squad was recorded by the cows Logan Morris (128) who is the Interchange emergency - nice team selection graeme. The only other centurion after two games is the cows' Josh Ward (114).
ORFFA Grand Finals and premiers history Below I briefly cover the premiership history of the 2026 ORFFA finalists. Grand Final results / premiers and runners-up in seasons without finals are listed. Grand final / premiers history will be covered in more detail later in the 2026 ORFFA finals series. @anthak in recent history fourth hasn’t been a dreaded position. In recent fourth place at the end of the home and away season has had the most success in ORFFA finals. From 2021 to 2025 fourth has made four Grand Finals for three premierships and one narrow Grand Final loss. ORFFA Premiers and Grand Final results ORFFA Grand Finalists with the host listed first and premiers in bold 2013 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 1471 vs Darraweit Guim Dirigibles (7) 1336 margin 135 points 2014 Iron Knob Codpieces (1) 1400 vs Wagga Wagga Wombats (5) 1292 margin 108 points 2015 Birdsville Battlers (7) 1288 vs Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (8) 1294 margin 6 points 2016 Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (2) 1192 vs Venus Bay Vultures (8) 1138 margin 54 points 2017 Waikikamoocow Incorrigibles (1) 1357 vs Marble Bar Misfits (3) 1337 margin 20 points 2018 Cradle Mountain Devils (7) 1258 vs Marble Bar Misfits (8) 1370 margin 112 points 2019 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 1234 vs Venus Bay Vultures (5) 1382 margin 148 points 2021 Venus Bay Vultures (2) 1394 vs Cradle Mountain Devils (4) 1466 margin 72 points 2022 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) 1200 vs Gariwerd Cockatoos (2) 1354 margin 134 points 2023 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) 1341 vs Mount Beauty Uglies (4) 1396 margin 55 points 2024 Nareewillock Nuffers (1) 1237 vs Mount Beauty Uglies (4) 1320 margin 87 points 2025 Charlies Opening Spelunkers (1) 1306 vs Cradle Mountain Devils (4) 1280 margin 26 points 12 Grand finals won by: Home side 5x away side 7x Top 4 9x 5-8 3x Grand Final wins by position: First – 4 Fourth – 3 Second – 2 Eighth - 2 Fifth - 1 Third, sixth and seventh are each yet to win a Grand Final. Due to time constraints finals were unable to be played in 2012 and 2020. In both of these seasons the team that finished first on the ladder at the end of the home and away season won the ORFFA premiership and the second placed team were the runners up. Premiers Runners Up 2012 Foul Bay Chickens (1) 17 wins and 0 losses Iron Knob Codpieces (2) 15 W - 2 L 2020 Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) 15 wins and 2 losses Foul Bay Chickens (2) 14 W – 3 L Week 1 of the 2026 finals (1) Gundagai Grasshoppers vs Lovely Banks Lilacs (5) (2) Charlies Opening Spelunkers vs Larrikin Lagoon Lefties (8) (3) Cradle Mountain Devils vs Wineglass Bay Packers (7) (4) Gariwerd Cockatoos vs Narrewillock Nuffers (6) Each of the teams that finished in the top four on the ladder at the end of the 2026 home and away season have won an ORFFA premiership this decade. All five Grand Finals from 2021 to 2025 have been between two teams that finished in the top four on the ladder that season. The teams in this category with their 2026 ladder position in brackets are, (1) Gundagai Grasshoppers – 2020 premiers, (3) Cradle Mountain Devils - 2021, (4) Gariwerd Cockatoos – 2022, and (2) Charlies Opening Spelunkers – 2025. The Spelunkers are the only team from this quartet to win a Grand Final at home, winning an Apple Isle clash against the Devils in 2025 by 26 points, 1,306 to 1,280. The Spelunkers completed an undefeated season to win all 20 games of 2025 by winning the Grand Final against a Devils outfit that finished fourth on the ladder. In consecutive seasons the Devils and Cockatoos won Grand Finals with a score of 1,350+ as the away team. Cradle Mountain finished fourth in 2021 and recorded a road win against (2) Venus Bay Vultures by 72 points in the Grand Final, 1,466 to 1,394. The Devils tally of 1,466 was the second highest score in an ORFFA Grand Final, only surpassed by the Foul Bay Chickens with 1,471 points in the very first Grand Final in 2013. First place played second place in the 2022 Grand Final with the Gariwerd Cockatoos (2) on the road defeating the Gundagai Grasshoppers (1) by 154 points, 1,354 to 1,200. Due to time constraints finals weren’t played in 2020. The Gundagai Grasshoppers finished on top of the ladder in 2020 with 15 wins and two losses, two wins ahead of the second placed Foul Bay Chickens to win the premiership. Each of the past three ORFFA Grand Finals have been between the teams that finished first and fourth on the ladder and these are the two positions that have had the most success in ORFFA Grand Finals. If this pattern continues for a fourth consecutive season in 2026 the Grasshoppers (1) would host the Cockatoos (4). Four different teams have won the minor premiership / Grand final double, Chickens (2013), Codpieces (2014), Cows (2017) and Spelunkers (2025). On three occasions a mountain team has won a Grand Final after finishing fourth on the ladder, the Devils in 2021 followed by the Uglies back-to-back flags in 2023 and 2024. Whilst the team that finished fourth in 2026 the Gariwerd Cockatoos aren’t a mountain team they are able to reach heights due to the Cockatoos flying ability. During 2026 the Grasshoppers became just the fifth team in ORFFA history to complete an undefeated ORFFA Home and Away season. Details of these teams and whether they won the premiership is provided below: ORFFA teams that have been undefeated during a home and away season: Season Team H & A record Finals record 2012 Foul Bay Chickens 17-0 No finals played, won premiership 2014 Iron Knob 17-0 Won 3 finals and the premiership 2018 Venus Bay 17-0 Lost in week 1 of the finals 2025 Charlies Opening 15-0 Won 3 finals and the premiership 2025 Gundagai Grasshoppers 15-0 To be determined Two of the teams that finished between fifth and eighth on the ladder in 2026 have made an ORFFA Grand Final, (6) Narrewillock Nuffers and (8) Larrikin Lagoon Lefties. The Lefties have the distinction of being one of the two teams to win consecutive ORFFA Grand Finals (along with Mount Beauty), achieving this feat in 2015 and 2016. In 2015 the Lefties became the first team to win an ORFFA Grand Final from the lowest position possible, eighth, amazingly their opponent, the Birdsville Battlers had qualified for the Grand Final from the second lowest position possible, seventh. The Lefties won a thriller by six points, 1,294 to 1,288 and in the process became the first away team to win an ORFFA Grand Final. The Lefties winning margin of six points is the smallest Grand Final winning margin in ORFFA history. The following season Larrikin Lagoon finished second on the ladder in 2016 and won the Grand Final against the Venus Bay Vultures (8) by 54 points. The Lefties score of 1,192 and Vultures score of 1,138 hold the record for lowest winning score in a Grand Final and lowest losing score in a Grand Final respectively. The Lefties took an extreme left turn after winning back-to-back premierships in 2015 and 2016, commencing a rebuild. The Lefties spent several seasons in the ORFFA wilderness entrenched in the bottom four when the aim was to reach game scores of quadruple figures. A decade after winning the 2016 premiership the Lefties have returned to the finals in 2026, hanging on to finish eighth on the ladder. Current Nuffers Head Coach @chris88 has the distinction of being the only person to coach two ORFFA teams to a Grand Final. Chris was one of the inaugural coaches in the ORFFA, commencing the role with Darraweit Guim Dirigibles in 2012. In the first ORFFA season that finals were played Darraweit finished seventh on the ladder and advanced to the 2013 Grand Final where they were defeated by minor premiers, the Foul Bay Chickens by 135 points, 1,471 to 1,336. 11 seasons later Chris was the coach of a Nareewillock Nuffers team that had 13 wins and two losses during the 2024 Home and Away season to finish on top of the ladder. The Nuffers hosted the 2024 Grand Final against 2023 premiers (4) Mount Beauty Uglies. An Uglies team with more finals experience won the 2024 Grand Final against the Nuffers by 87 points, 1,320 to 1,237. The Nuffers most recent finals win was in a 2025 quarter final when the Nuffers defeated Birdsville by 135 points, 1,341 to 1,206.In their most recent final the Nuffers hit rarified air to score 1,469 on the road in the 2025 preliminary final but it wasn’t enough against a white-hot Spelunkers team that scored 1,534 to have a 65 point victory. Two of the 2026 finalists, @Jen’s Lovely Banks Lilacs (5) and @Tracey’s Wineglass Bay Packers (7) are trying to create history and make their first ORFFA Grand Final. Jen and Tracey both took over existing ORFFA club’s and relocated them to their current locations. Jen commenced as coach of the Lilacs in the second ORFFA season in 2013. Tracey started the role as the Packers coach in 2016, relocating the Powlett Plains Packers to Wineglass Bay and retaining the Packers nickname. The Lilacs recorded their highest ladder position of fifth in 2026 to have their fifth top eight finish from 2019 onwards. The Lilacs most recent finals victory was in 2024 when the finals were played over four weeks. In the first week of the 2024 finals the Lilacs (8) defeated the Birdsville Battlers (5) by 219 points, 1,234 to 1,015. The following week Mount Beauty (4) won ugly in a semi final, defeating the Lilacs by 25 points, 1,112 to 1,087. Of the eight teams in the 2026 ORFFA finals the Packers had the longest finals drought and are making their first finals appearance since 2015, 11 seasons ago. Fellow finalist the Lefties have broken a 10 season finals drought in 2026. Wineglass Bay were unlucky to miss the 2025 finalists, ranking sixth for points for but not performing as well in matchplay to finish ninth on the ladder with 30 premiership points, six premiership points behind the eighth placed Wagga Wagga Wombats. The Packers ranked sixth for points for in 2026 and were one of four teams along with the Lilacs, Nuffers and Lefties to book a finals berth in the final round.
Whilst not having the word mountain in the name, Gariwerd is actually a mountain range aka the Grampians