The Kyabram District Football Netball League season promises to be one of the best on record, with as many as 9-10 contenders vying for the six spots to play finals.
In addition you could probably throw a blanket at least five – Avenel, Nagambie, Stanhope, Tallygaroopna and Violet Town as genuine premiership contenders.
The word around the traps is Lancaster has recruited really and there is no doubt that the Wombats would still be smarting from missing the finals last year when seemingly it was in the box seat at half time in its cut-throat battle with Tallygaroopna.
Rushworth, Girgarre and 2015 premier Merrigum are others that may not be in the premiership window, but will definitely be more than competitive.
Another major talking point during the off-season has been the quality of player coming into the league and how clubs manage the introduction of the salary cap, which has been set around $85,000 for 2017.
I have been amazed at what I have been reading over the summer, with some of the names returning to the league.
Sidebottom, Muggleton, Colbeck, Roberts, Horsburgh, Osborne, Lynch, Snelson, Exell, Cowman, Hobbs, Burton, Deaves and Thomas are some of the big names to land at KDL clubs in 2017.
All the talk around the competition is that both Avenel and Nagambie are going to be stronger than last year.
The Swans came so close to claiming its first premiership in two decades only to fall short to its arch rivals.
Today’s match-up has all the credentials of that last day of the season from 2016.
There will no love lost and it will well and truly be worth the entry price to go along and watch to titans go into battle.
Of course at this early stage of the season bragging rights is probably the biggest thing the winner takes out of the contest.
If you can’t get to Avenel to watch what promises to be one of the games of the year then tune into ONE FM-98.5 from 1 pm to hear the ball-by-ball coverage of the grand final replay.
The league welcomes four new coaches to the helm – James Milne at Murchison-Toolamba, Shannon Tucker at Girgarre, Brent Ralph at Ardmona and Mick Power at Merrigum.
Good luck to all of these coaches today and for the rest of the season.
The competition has seen some players depart the league, but probably none bigger than Brett Arho.
Arho was brilliant for Tallygaroopna last year, kicking well over 100 goals.
Another big out of the league is former Saint Troy Schwarz. He is heading back to play in Melbourne.
The opening round is littered with so many mouth-watering match-ups and every club will be eager to start the season with four points.
Tips: Avenel, Stanhope, Lancaster, Violet Town, Tallygaroopna and Undera
Last Modified on 31/03/2017 18:21