Another exciting week of footy lies in wait for Division 3 as teams jostle for early season wins.
Ivanhoe kicks off its season in Round 2 action, welcoming Heidelberg West to Ivanhoe Park. The Hoers would go into this match as strong favourites based on 2025 ladder positions and Ivanhoe fans will still feel confident on the home deck. Ivanhoe coach Wayne Schultz should have his charges primed to go.
But the Hawks have the advantage of having a run under their belt already, a factor which was a benefit to AFL teams in a similar circumstance earlier this year. And, of course, they had a win after coming from behind at half time last week.
Old Eltham Collegians tackle Kinglake at Eltham College, with both teams looking to get off the mark for 2026. The Lakers won both matches against the Turtles easily last year, recording a 47-point triumph at this venue in Round 8. Based on this, Kinglake fans can make the trip down the highway with some level of confidence.
But the home team supporters will recall a famous upset win back in 2023 at this venue. The Lakers had begun the year 5-0 and were hot favourites to continue their winning run. The Turtles reversed their poor recent form on the day to win easily by 40 points. It shapes as an interesting tussle.
Epping hosts Lalor at Epping Recreational Reserve in what is a must-win game for the Blues. With their sights set on finals after narrowly missing them in 2025, Brad Hollows’ men would see this as a chance to take some momentum into future games against the team that may be missing key personnel after injuries in the opener.
It is unclear if the break came at a good time for the Bloods, but it does give Hirsi Twomey and Hayden Chapman more time to recover.
Reservoir has back-to-back home games when playing Watsonia at Crispe Park in what will be their first match-up since the 2015 season. This is an intriguing contest, with the Mustangs looking to be still on the improve, while the Saints will be looking to recover from a Round 1 fade-out against a likely premiership threat in Laurimar.
If Reservoir can move to 2-0, then they can consolidate their spot in the top two. Watsonia fans will be looking to work out where they sit in the scheme of things in division 3 and this tussle will begin to provide a guide.
Match of the day status belongs to Mernda versus Laurimar at Waterview Recreation Reserve. These teams faced off in the 2023 grand final, which the Power won in a thriller.
Laurimar should be confident based on their most recent meeting at this ground in Round 15 last year when the Power won by 65 points. But the Demons looked to have improved since then and their fans would be hoping to go to their Round 3 bye at 2-0, which would be a great start to their first full year under Brent Marshall.
Nothing less than a premiership will suffice for Laurimar after last year’s loss. It is just a matter of locking away as many early wins as they can to set themselves up for the season. While their fans may be expecting a relatively easy win, any victory away against Mernda will be a positive in what looks to be a great contest.
