Sport
12 September, 2025
MCDFNL Football Grand Final Preview: Trentham vs Carisbrook
After they have been on the precipice of premiership glory on multiple occasions in recent memory, either Trentham or Carisbrook will deservingly etch their name into folklore when they play for the 2025 crown this Saturday.
The Redbacks and Saints have been perennial contenders in the MCDFNL as of late, with both teams making five of the last six preliminary finals since 2018.
However, ever since Carisbrook’s record-extending 18th premiership in 2018, neither team has obtained the holy grail, with the Redbacks agonisingly losing three straight grand finals (2019, 2022 and 2023), and the Saints’ grand final defeat last season was the closest they have been to winning their first premiership since 1994.
Both teams will hope this year will be the one they finally break through after surviving two dramatic finals that were all decided by single digits.
After finishing the home and away season on top of the table, Trentham has managed to survive a shot after the siren in a four-point qualifying final win over Harcourt and a late rally from Navarre in the preliminary final by eight points to return to the grand final.
“We are rapt to be in there, the confidence we take out of being able to get over the line in two close finals where I think we have been well below our best is a positive,” Trentham senior coach Mark Adamson said.
“It’s been 31 years for the club, so there’s a lot of pressure and expectation on everyone, but I guess we played this whole season learning how to be able to grind out a way through difficult situations.
“We will need to improve this week, no doubt, we need to work harder and we need to get more numbers about the contest.”
If Trentham’s journey to the season finale somehow isn’t exciting enough for you, then Carisbrook’s journey certainly will be.
The Redbacks have advanced through both their finals by the slimmest of margins, starting with their gripping qualifying final, where their opponent, Talbot, nearly came back from a 63-point deficit midway through the third quarter, but fell one point short.
That wasn’t even Carisbrook’s most closely contested final, needing extra time to outlast reigning premiers Natte Bealiba in a dramatic preliminary final also decided by a point.
“I think it’s a just reward for the playing group’s endeavour throughout the year,” Carisbrook senior coach Brandon Weatherson said.
“We probably internally set it as a reset year, but the boys have bought in really well and it’s really pleasing seeing the 18–23-year-olds develop and stand up in really big games.”
This encounter will be another chapter in the endless discussion on one of sporting’s oldest debates. Does offence or defence win champion-ships?
Trentham will hope the former is correct, once again leading the league in points for during the home and away season, averaging a whopping 114 points a game.
Their high-powered offence is led by two-time MCDFNL leading goalkicker James Regan, who has been on a tear this season, scoring five goals or more in 11 games and on the verge of joining the exclusive 100 club with 96 goals heading into the grand final.
Club legend Jake Keogh and Cooper Webber-Mirkin are also dangerous inside 50, while former two-time Berry Powell Medal winner Joel Cowan, captain Joel Dovaston and Thomas Fuller can create chances for forwards while being a threat to score themselves.
How do you make an already stacked attack more frightening? Just add the AFL games record-holder into the mix. After three sparkling home and away appearances, North Melbourne legend Brent Harvey has been instrumental in the Saints’ finals run, another weapon Weatherson is understandably wary of.
“We had a good look at Trentham last Saturday and they are a very good football side, so we will have to be at our best to be competitive with them,” he said.
“They have probably got six or seven match-winners that we have got to get our matchups right against, we feel across the board we do match up quite well against them.
“We just have to quell the stars they have got and they will have to do the same with a couple of ours. It’s been a close finals series and it’ll probably continue.”
The Redbacks’ defensive acumen has been a staple of their sustained success, ranking in the top three for points allowed in nine of the last 10 completed seasons. This season was no different, conceding on average just 40 points a game.
While the experienced Adam Hurse, Luke Jones and Andrew Toan continue to be standouts, young Anden Lever has had a breakout season, doing a marvellous job on Natte key forward Will Holt in the preliminary final and could be tasked with doing the same to Regan.
While the Saints and Redbacks specialise in offence and defence respectively, that shouldn’t discredit what they can do on the other side of the ball.
With 59 goals this season, junior product Tim Rinaldi has blossomed into a leading forward for Carisbrook, who possess a plethora of players like co-captain Nick Wright, Thomas Gardam, Angus McKinna, Mitch McClure and mid-season acquisition Harry Whitty who can all hit the scoreboard.
“Carisbrook have got a couple of very good forwards that need to be contained, they have also got a lot of players that run through the midfield,” Adamson said.
“They are very good around the clearance, so we have to really improve in our stoppage and clearance work to try and combat that.
“The other thing will be just trying to expose them with our ball movement, which we just didn’t test Navarre out as well as I would have liked last week.”
As for the Saints, Taylor Ford has been the general of a much-improved defence in 2025, assisted by the efforts of Mitchell Peeler and Alister Ferrier.
Both teams excel at the stoppages, heavily assisted by possessing two of the most talented and versatile ruckmen in the competition.
Jackson Bowen has been a staple of the Redbacks for over a decade, with his clever ruckwork and ability to take contested marks in defence and attack earning him a second Berry Powell Medal this season.
He will be matched by the Saints’ Zachary Gervasoni, an athletic ruckman in his own right who can make an impact across the ground.