EXCLUSIVE
GFNL heavyweights Leopold and St Joseph’s will break new ground for the competition next season when they meet in an Easter Saturday clash in the coastal town of Lorne.
K rock Football, which first reported on the prospect of Stribling Reserve hosting a match involving the two-time reigning premier during the season, understands the AFL Barwon Commission will sign off on a Memorandum of Understanding between the two clubs in the coming weeks.
It will see the Lions and Joeys play each other on Easter Saturday in 2025 and 2026 as part of a two-year trial.
The match-up is the brainchild of Leopold vice-president Matt Aston, following a catchup at Lorne with former Lions teammate Clayton Burgoyne and Colac great Jonathan Simpkin.
“After a fair few beers, we mentioned how good it would be to go down there and have a game,” he told K rock Football.
“I’ve been to a number of Easter games there over the years and seen how well-populated the ground can get with tourists.
“The BFL running across Easter and hearing the reports that it’s quite financially viable for them, we thought, ‘Why not give it a go?”.
“We’ll share the takings on the gate. One year, you’ll get the bar, and the other year, you’ll get the canteen.
“And we’ll provide a little incentive to Lorne to help them host it.
“Hopefully, we can attract a really good crowd with a really good standard of footy.”
Leopold first raised the prospect of an Easter Saturday match-up with the Tigers, who decided against being involved.
However, the Lions received a more favourable reception from this year’s minor premier, who will feature in a second blockbuster six days later when it meets South Barwon at McDonald Reserve on Anzac Day.
“We reached out to St Joseph’s, and they were quite keen to explore it and give it a go,” Aston.
“Funnily, the day we were down there, there was quite a number of ex-Joeys guys down there with their kids – Andrew Betz, Cory Bauer, Dan Madden – watching.”
Easter falls later next year, with the match scheduled for April 19.
Depending on when AFL Barwon chooses to commence the GFNL season, it may double as the first match of 2025 and Luke Kelly’s first in charge of Leopold since replacing Garry Hocking as coach.
Easter has long been the domain of the Bellarine, with the GFNL and GDFNL opting not to play.
The last GFNL match played on an Easter weekend was a Good Friday clash between Colac and Geelong West-St Peter’s at Central Reserve in 2015.
Lorne will be scheduled to play a Good Friday game against Apollo Bay as part of the Colac and District League season.
X: @krockfootball
