Surf Coast will receive a baptism of fire when it begins life as a senior Bellarine club, drawing crosstown rival Torquay as its first opponent.
The Suns will host the Tigers at Polwarth Oval on Easter Saturday as the competition grows to 11 members for the first time in its 55-year history.
Surf Coast is the first club to enter the competition since Modewarre crossed from the GDFL ahead of the 1996 season.
The last time a ‘new’ senior team started life in this region was St Leonards, which joined the Bellarine in 1985.
A large crowd is expected in the North Torquay precinct to see the Suns in action, but also the return of Travis Boak to the Tigers after a 19-year AFL career with Port Adelaide.
It is one of only five matches in the region for the day, with Queenscliff hosting Drysdale, Ocean Grove taking on reigning premier Anglesea at Ray Menzies Oval, Barwon Heads is at home to Portarlington, with former Leopold star Sam Scott making his debut as Demons coach, while GFNL rivals St Joseph’s and Leopold will do battle at Lorne.
The Bellarine season will open on Good Friday, with Geelong Amateur battling Modewarre at Queens Park in a now traditional match-up.
Newcomb has the bye.
The Bellarine season will be played across 20 rounds, with each team having two byes and a week off during the middle weekend of the July school holidays.
That means Barwon Heads (Round 13) and Anglesea (Round 14) have copped the double bye.
As a result, each club plays eight opponents twice and two teams once.
Among the return match-ups missed is a second clash of grand finalists’ Anglesea and Geelong Amateur.
The grand final date of September 18 is one of the latest dates the decider has been held in league history.
In other fixture highlights;
- Anglesea will unfurl a senior premiership flag for the first time in 26 years when it hosts Newcomb in Round 2.
- Portarlington and Drysdale will continue their Anzac Day tradition, while Newcomb and Ocean Grove will also meet on April 25 in what is likely to be a twilight clash. The rest of the round will be played on Sunday, April 26.
- Barwon Heads has a front-ended home schedule due to pavilion upgrade works slated for the second half of the season, with seven of its nine home games in the opening ten rounds.
- Torquay’s Round 5 meeting with Ocean Grove at McCartney Oval will see Dom Gleeson become the first person to coach 200 Bellarine games.
X: @krockfootball
WHO DOES YOUR TEAM PLAY ONCE?
ANGLESEA
- Queenscliff (a)
- Geelong Amateur (h)
BARWON HEADS
- Torquay (h)
- Surf Coast (a)
DRYSDALE
- Modewarre (h)
- Torquay (a)
GEELONG AMATEUR
- Ocean Grove (h)
- Anglesea (a)
MODEWARRE
- Drysdale (a)
- Queenscliff (h)
NEWCOMB
- Surf Coast (h)
- Portarlington (a)
OCEAN GROVE
- Geelong Amateur (a)
- Portarlington (h)
PORTARLINGTON
- Ocean Grove (a)
- Newcomb (h)
QUEENSCLIFF
- Anglesea (h)
- Modewarre (a)
SURF COAST
- Newcomb (a)
- Barwon Heads (h)
TORQUAY
- Barwon Heads (a)
- Drysdale (h)
