The Kangaroos host the Cobras for a second instalment of their standalone Good Friday fixture to kickstart a highly anticipated BFNL season.
Whilst East Point have the wood over Bacchus Marsh, unbeaten from their last five meets, contrasting off seasons in the player movement space sees the Cobras in with their best chance to win at Eastern Oval since their last success at the venue back in 2018.
Kangas’ coach Joe Carmody will need all of his (professional) teaching acumen to fall into place having lost four (top end) Premiership players, if they’re to maintain their impeccable run of finals appearances.
A-Grade talent in the form of Matthew and Jordy Johnston and forward Bryson McDougall will border on the impossible to replace in the short term but Carmody will embrace the opportunity for promising next gen talent to consolidate their untapped potential.
Ironically Matty Johnston and McDougall did not play in either of the Kangas’ two wins over the Cobras last year.
Bacchus Marsh coach Dennis Armfield won’t be taking anything for granted ahead of Friday knowing his opponents have won 17 of their last 18 home games over and beyond a two season stretch.
However, Armfield and his legion of Cobra fans can be assured Friday’s match up looms their best chance of walking away from Eastern Oval with the premiership points for some time.
The rationale comes not only on the back of those key exits from the Kangas but handy gains of their own.
Up to six ready-made (some familiar) senior players have arrived at the Cobras, with Joel Freeman, Sam Griffiths, Billy Griffiths, Hamish Coulton, Zach Vesty and Hugh Canning all capable of immediate impact.
That’s not including Jake Owen and Isaac Nixon who only played 15 games last year. Owen was the only player in the competition to average over four goals per game in 2025.
In fact, only Sunbury’s Jake Sutton and Melton’s Braedan Kight have kicked more goals than Owen across the competition in their last 50 games.
While Kangas’ pair Jacob Brown and Jarrod Joyce will shoulder much of the load hitting the scoreboard given their aerial qualities, Carmody will be hopeful returns on the goal front from dangerous trio Jack Jeffrey, Liam Canny and Alex Molan exceed cameos.
Despite the likelihood of the Kangas fielding up to six teenagers you can guarantee they will be well led across the three areas of the field.
Jackson Merrett (defence), Liam Canny (Captain) and Mickitja Rottumah-Onus (midfield), and Jacob Brown (forward) are likely to assume the verbal directives on field aiming to hold a desperate Cobras quiver at bay.
It’s over to Bacchus Marsh for mine, given the Kangas have (to varying degrees) labelled their coming season a development year in what promises to be a tough competition to earn a finals berth.
That’s smart of the Kangas to relinquish some of the early pressures to bounce, while tempering any external expectations in the process.
Given the even spread of talent at the Cobras, compliance to Armfield’s system will play a huge role in how far they go in 2026 after a return to finals last year.
Up to six bona fide inclusions for the Cobras suggest they’re every bit a work in progress for the here and now having only one practice match against Williamstown CYMS under their belts to build and resemble the kind of connection Armfield would be striving for.
East Point have predominantly played their ‘kids’ over their build up into the new season with humble returns if indeed the scoreboard was deemed relevant. Looking forward to seeing Kangas’ new recruit Sam Lucas (Cobden) with an intercept role across half back earmarked for the recent club best and fairest winner.
It’s a flip of the coin game on paper despite the Kangas’ superior H2H record of recent times.
There’s something in the air on the win/loss front this game will mean more for the Cobras down the track as the season long race to earn one of six prized positions at the business end officially begins.
Scoops tip: Bacchus Marsh by 6 points.
