THERE are just over 100 days until the start of the 2025 BankWAW Ovens and King Football Netball League season, and with a new-look fixture unveiled on Monday night, excitement is building.
Round one of season 2025 is set for Saturday, March 29, but Moyhu will have to wait an extra week to commence their season, with the bye first up.
For the past few seasons, the fixture has looked largely unchanged from year to year, which is something league operations manager Daniel Saville said he was eager to change.
“It’s always a big task, I knew it was always going to be a bit of a talking point after the last couple of seasons but hopefully there is something to enjoy for everybody,” he said.
“It’s always something everyone looks forward to, it always feels like the start of the season when that comes out.
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“Clubs start to plan their calendars, things they look forward to, the marquee fixtures they can lock in.
“I tried to change when clubs had byes, because the fixture has been similar the last couple of years, so I wanted to make sure the bye rotations were a little bit different.
“For example, if a team had byes in the front end of the season last time around, their byes might be a bit later.”
Despite the changes to the fixture, orund one will still coincide with Wangaratta and District Cricket Association grand finals, also set for March 29.
The season will be packed with blockbuster matches, with a senior football grand final rematch between Greta and Bright straight off the bat in round one, and the A grade grand finalists Greta and Bonnie Doon set to meet again in round eight.
“Round one was something I really wanted to look at, I did start with planning for round one - I really believe that all five games in that first round are winnable for all teams,” Saville said.
“Tarrawingee and Benalla, from a football point of view, can look at that and look forward to a really competitive game and hopefully get a win for them.
“We’ve got the grand final rematch in the senior footy first up, where Greta will be hosting Bright, and Whorouly could be big improvers this year and I expect them to take it up to Bonnie Doon, plus Milawa and North Wangaratta were competitive on the ladder last year, and Goorambat and King Valley both made finals last year.
“All teams in that first round can consider their first game a winnable one.”
Easter will take place in round four, with two matches on Good Friday (Greta v Moyhu, Bonnie Doon v Benalla All Blacks), while Bright hosts Tarrawingee and King Valley plays Milawa at home.
The O&K will take a leaguewide bye after round 10, with no matches to be played over the Kings Birthday long weekend.
Finals are set to commence across the weekend of Saturday, August 23 and Sunday, August 24, and three weeks of matches leading up to the biggest day on the calendar, with grand final day set for Saturday, September 13 at WJ Findlay Oval.
