Football
12 September, 2025
Tigers, Cougars, Bombers and Lakers eye junior success
A host of junior football teams will play for premiership glory when they descend on Natimuk Showgrounds this Saturday for the HDFNL grand finals.
Each of the teams had a storied journey to ge to the grand final and is now just one win away from making history.
Under 17s: Pimpinio aim for four in a row against Cougars
Pimpinio and Kaniva Leeor-Edenhope Apsley will battle in the under 17s grand final, where the Tigers have a chance to extend their current record of three consecutive premierships.
Pimpinio went through undefeated in each of their 2022, 2023 and 2024 premiership seasons but have had a more challenging 2025.
Little separated the top four teams in the home-and-away competition but both grand final teams earned their spot with statement wins throughout the finals series.
After finishing third in the home-and-away season, Pimpinio overpowered Noradjuha Quantong 88-40 in the qualifying final before defeating minor premiers Kalkee 58-20 to guarantee their spot.
Kaniva Leeor-Edenhope Apsley endured a number of hard-fought challenges in their three finals games.
The Cougars held off a fast-finishing Laharum side in the elimination final before overcoming a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Noradjuha Quantong 78-67.
In last week’s preliminary final, the Cougars produced another impressive fourth quarter to secure a 62-38 win over Kalkee.
In their two previous matchups in 2025 Pimpinio won 73-27 in round one but the Cougars reversed the result in round 13, winning 78-43 on the back of a strong second half.
With Pimpinio having close to half of their 2024 premiership side playing on Saturday, their recent form and pedigree suggest they would have an edge over their opponents, particularly with players such as Austin Simpson and Link Smith both having experience with Pimpinio’s senior team this year.
But Kaniva Leeor-Edenhope Apsley’s closing ability and the fact they won the last encounter against Pimpinio indicate a good contest lies ahead.
Helping the Cougars is the fact they had the best offence throughout the season, led by competition-leading goal kicker Marcus McIntyre (61 goals across 17 games) and Tyler Saunders (36 goals in 16 games).
Can Pimpinio continue their dominance at the under 17 level, or will Kaniva Leeor-Edenhope Apsley put an end to it?
Under 14s: Bombers out for redemption
Noradjuha Quantong and Taylors Lake-Rupanyup go head to head on Saturday, with the Bombers striving for their second premiership in three years.
Noradjuha Quantong took out a nailbiting 30-29 grand final win in 2023 before falling short in last year's big dance.
But the Bombers are in the box seat to return to premiership success.
Having finished third in the regular season, Noradjuha Quantong overcame Laharum in the qualifying final before decisively beating Taylors Lake-Rupanyup 60-6 in the second semi-final to proceed to the premiership game.
The semi-final win gives the Bombers a 3-1 season record over the Lakers, with the last meeting's convincing win suggesting they are favoured ahead of Saturday.
Helping their cause will be esteemed multi-year players at the under 14 level, including Jett Rowe and the competition's best and fairest award winner Judd Oakley.
Conversely, Taylors Lake-Rupanyup have proven they have what it takes in 2025 after taking out the minor premiership.
After suffering their second loss to Noradjuha Quantong in round five, the Lakers won 10 straight to finish the home-and-away season.
Despite the qualifying final loss to the Bombers, the Lakers bounced back to defeat Laharum in the preliminary final.
The Lakers have plenty of player pedigree of their own, with Max Borchard kicking an impressive 57 goals throughout the season while teammate Thomas Sudholz finished fourth in the league's best and fairest count.
Form and experience would indicate the Bombers are favourites but the Lakers have the capability to pull off the upset.