Gallery | Reigning premier Congupna begins Murray Football League flag defence with a bang

Rumbalara hosted Congupna for the 17th edition of the Unity Cup — a match dedicated to unity, acceptance and social inclusion — at Rumbalara Recreation Reserve.

Reigning premier Congupna wore an Indigenous guernsey conceived by star play Billy Cooper.

Congupna coach Ben Bingham said he and his players understood the importance of the Unity Cup fixture.

“We feel very privileged to have that right to play with Rumbalara,” Bingham said.

“It is an event that we really buy into and even going to the extent of getting the Indigenous jerseys this year.

“You always feel proud to be in events like that and understand the meaning behind it.”

The Roaders started the match in hot fashion, booting 7.3 (45) to 0.0 (0) in the opening term.

Congupna refused to take its foot off Rumbalara’s throat in the second quarter as the visitors piled on eight more goals to lead 0-99 at half-time.

The Road had eight multiple goal-kickers and 11 in total for the match, with Charlie Mellington leading the charge with five of his own.

Last season’s century goal-kicker Kyle Mueller finished the game with a cool bag of four.

However, Bingham said he and the club weren’t happy with how their star forward was being treated off the ball.

“Mueller, the amount of attention he is getting, like he is just getting held and scrapped behind the ball,” he said.

“It’s getting a little bit silly now.

“Teams are putting too much time and effort into him and it works in our favour with our other forwards.

“We have added a couple more options down forward, so guys like (Mellington) will pop up and he was very good and very lively yesterday.”

Rumbalara kicked its first goal of the season 20 minutes into the third quarter, before finishing on a high with three fourth term goals.

The might of Congupna can’t be underestimated as it strolled its way to a 4.2 (26) to 26.19 (175) victory.

Bingham believes the scoreline didn’t reflect how Rumba tested his side as he credited their youth and speed.

The premiership coach also praised the work of his backline as the key contributor to the win.

“The forwards and midfielders get the praises on those days, but I actually thought it was our back structure that was really our anchor to attack,” he said.

“They all do their job within our back seven.

“Jordy Gee played very well through the backs yesterday, Cody Di Bella and Isaiah Jones didn’t get their name in the best, but they were really strong in their structure as well.”

Having secured its drought-breaking grand final win last season, Congupna is showing no signs of slowing down in 2025 and is the clear favourite for the flag once again.

In other results, Nathalia secured an impressive at home victory against Moama.

The Purples and Magpies sat tied at 27 apiece at half-time before Nathalia held a two-point lead at the final break.

Forward Liam Evans kicked a game-high four goals for the Purples.

Nathalia was able to break away from last year’s preliminary finalists in the fourth quarter kicking 4.1 to 0.2 to secure a 24-point victory.

Mulwala has flexed its muscles against Numurkah as it looks to return to the top of the ladder after a down 2024.

The Lions defeated the Blues by 52 points with Brodie Tyson the leading goal-kicker with six majors.

After both teams only kicked one goal each in the opening term, Mulwala demonstrated its attacking prowess by booting 17 goals across the next three quarters.

Cobram started its year with a bang as it defeated 2024 grand finalist Finley away from home by 35 points.

Gun midfielder Luca Allen was among the best with four goals.

Echuca United defeated Tongala in a thriller by one point, meanwhile, Deniliquin started its season strongly with a 53-point victory over Barooga.