White Hills players celebrate their grand final win over L-G. Photo: File.
From White Hills’ domination of the competition to Leitchville-Gunbower’s fairytale run, there was plenty to cheer for in the Heathcote and District Football Netball League in 2024.
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Now, as we enter a new year and a new season, there will be plenty more surprises, triumphs and heartbreak for the nine teams all vying for premiership glory.
The Demons still remain the team to beat as the most dominant force in the league, losing just two games en-route to capturing the flag in emphatic fashion against L-G.
Speaking of the runners-up, L-G will be laser-focused on going one step further this year and making up for a 71-point defeat that stripped them of completing a title run for the ages.
Meanwhile, Heathcote, Colbinabbin and North Bendigo will all be waiting in the wings as viable finals contenders and will be hungry to make their presence felt throughout the home-and-away season.
Only slightly out of the finals picture in a close race, Mount Pleasant and Huntly would’ve counted themselves unlucky not to play finals football and will be in the mix throughout the year.
There is hope for Lockington-Bamawm United yet, the eighth-placed finisher signing on some new players, and a few changes behind the scenes could see the Cats return to their former glory.
Last year’s wooden-spooners Elmore will be looking to push out of the bottom three after being towards the end of the ladder in each of its last three seasons.
Elmore’s Abbey Hromenko goes for goal against Colbinabbin in the A-grade grand final.
A relatively even field at the top of the standings in 2024 will make for interesting theatre in the race for the A-grade netball flag this season.
White Hills, Elmore and Colbinabbin all ended the home-and-away campaign with 13 wins apiece and all three featured prominently in last season’s finals.
Colbo’s run from third place to the grand final saw the Grasshoppers drop the qualifying final by a point to Elmore before trouncing L-G in the semi and completing the great escape against White Hills in the prelim.
They then had a rematch with the Bloods, who appeared to be the sole side with Colbo’s number, as the former took out the flag in a nine-goal win to complete a strong season.
L-G is on the outside looking in on the top three, finishing in a comfortable fourth last season, and will cherish a chance to avenge its semi-final defeat.
The last “strong” team in the competition in 2024, Heathcote finished with an even record last campaign, which was enough to lock in fifth spot by a wide margin.
Mount Pleasant, LBU and Huntly will have some ground to cover if they wish to make a strong case for a deep finals run in 2025, with all three finishing with four wins or below in 2024.
Incumbent wooden-spooners North Bendigo will be fighting with the previous three teams to claw its way off the bottom and avoid being handed last place for the third season in a row.
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