BFNL Football Review - Round 4, 2026

The Roosters made it three wins in a row with a comprehensive display over an out of sorts Sunbury at Mars Stadium.

X-factor forward Jamie Quick (six goals) and spearhead Denver Grainger-Barrass (three goals) combined for half of the Roosters majors ahead of another eight contributors to hit the scoreboard.

Isaac Carey and Dominic Penny were named best for the winners ahead of Quick, while Jarrod Curran and spread runners Taj Bowman and Sam Artz continued with their solid start to the season.

While the Roosters begin to resemble more on the promise tipped in the pre-season, it’s a been a horror fortnight for Matty White’s 2025 Grand Finalists.

An 83-point home loss to Melton has been trumped by an 86-point defeat at the hands of the Roosters. The Lions are reeling in 8th place with just one win and poor percentage currently 64.78%.

The absence of Jake Sutton has had a huge impact on the Lions’ 2026 campaign, considering the pride managed just 10 shots on goal at the weekend and 12 in Round 3’s loss to Melton.

Sure, clubs don’t like to blame injuries for loss but there comes a tipping point.

Missing Lions included Sutton, Josh Guthrie, Nathan Wood, Mitch McLean, Nathan Doyle, Zachary Stevens, Brock Landt, Fraser Ampulski, Ben Cameron and Keenan O’Shea.

That’s ten players off the cuff, not to mention eight changes from their Round 1 line up that were narrowly beaten by Darley.

Credit to Matty White in the aftermath making zero reference to the depleted nature of his team.

Riley Miller and Tyson Lever were named best for the Lions, while a safe and impactful return from Cody Bramble (ACL) may well have been the most rewarding part of the day for the embattled pride.

Cracking matchups await these two sides in Round 5.

North Ballarat host Melton while Sunbury are at home taking on undefeated Sebastopol.

STATS THAT MATTERED

Tyson Lever (Sunbury) – 34 disposals, 12 intercept possessions, 12 inside 50s

Sam Glover (North Ballarat) – 24 disposals, 12 marks, 10 intercept possessions

Elliot Lamb (North Ballarat) – 29 disposals, 8 score involvements, 8 clearances

COACHES’ VERDICT

Clint Proctor (North Ballarat)
“Sunbury have caused us a lot of headaches in the past! So, it’s nice to get the win this time around. Matty is doing a good job with the amount of injuries they have - never easy for any coach. The lads played our tough and attacking brand today and should be proud of their efforts. We are super excited now to test ourselves against Melton who are one of the form sides of the comp.”

Matty White (Sunbury)
“Tough day at the office. We were unable to capitalise when we had the wind in the first and couldn’t stop an up and about North. Who to their credit played a great brand of footy. Reload for Sebas and hopefully get a few troops back.”

Sebastopol remain the only undefeated team in the BFNL with a thumping 150-point win over the struggling Lake Wendouree.

Tony Lockyer’s men were relentless on the road piling on the goals with consistent returns across all four quarters of 7,6,6 and 8.

New season recruit Joel Edwards booted 12 goals for the Burra in a dominant display while Adam Forbes maintained his early season form finishing with three.

The monster win sees the Burra flying high on top of the BFNL ladder, a game and percentage clear of four teams including Melton, North Ballarat, Ballarat and Darley.

Experienced Burra trio Tony Lockyer, Luke Kiel and Gedd Hommelhoff were prominent once again finishing among the best behind Edwards and in form ruckman Toby Hutt.

Lockyer will be aware the realities of the draw suggest their toughest run of games are still to come with matchups against Sunbury (A), Darley (H), North Ballarat (H) and Melton (A) over the next four weeks.

The Burra welcomed back Lachie Cassidy and Bailey Medwell (two goals) for a timely hit out ahead of their month-long footy audit.

The Lakers will be scratching their heads finding a way to be more competitive for longer after a third loss in four games north of 15 goals.

Despite an unenviable run of outs, you couldn’t question the handful of Lakers who led the resistance for coach and proud mentor Rohan Brown.

Harley Hicks, Tyson Walsh, Tom Zampatti, Will Clark, Kyle Anderson and Timmy Collins flew the flag for the Lakers on an otherwise disappointing afternoon.

The Lakers mission for that elusive win doesn’t get any easier this week when they’re on the road to face the Devils coming off an upset loss (for many) to the Bloods.

Sebastopol's score (27.18.180), their winning margin of 150 points and Joel Edwards' bag of 12 goals are new Sebastopol records for games against Lake Wendouree, beating their previous bests of 18.24.132 (2006), 81-point winning margin (2019) and 7-goal haul by Michael Powell (2019).

STATS THAT MATTERED

Joel Edwards (Sebastopol) – 21 disposals, 17 score involvements, 14 marks

Toby Hutt (Sebastopol) – 27 hit outs, 20 disposals, 13 score involvements

Will Fordham (Lake Wendouree) – 25 disposals, 15 contested possessions, 11 clearances

COACHES’ VERDICT

Rohan Brown (Lake Wendouree)
“Outclassed & outplayed, credit to Tony he has his side up and going and very well balanced. A serious threat in the competition. We are all disappointed at Lakers, but we will as always stick together, try and get better.”

Tony Lockyer (Sebastopol)
“Solid win in trying conditions. Felt we played the challenging Wendouree wind well and executed the way wanted. Was pleased to hit the scoreboard across all 4 quarters. All the best to Ro and the Lakers over the remainder of the year. Their reward for effort over the off season will come I am sure with some quality senior players to come back into their lineup.”

The Bloods maintained its impressive record against the Devils under Troy Scoble with a deserving 24-point win at MacPherson Park.

It was Scoble’s fifth win in six outings against Dan Jordan’s boys and arguably their most satisfying given the Devils were on a 23-0 run.

Brody Sullivan’s four goals were a standout in the windy conditions making a case for best on ground honours alongside excellent two-way runner and accumulator Jaycob Hickey.

The Bloods had a host of contributors and adjusted far better to the conditions.

The Devils first quarter with the breeze was wasteful and under par and could only match the Bloods’ returns of 2.5.

With scores level, Melton used the conditions with the breeze much better in the second term adding six unanswered goals to lead at halftime by 34 points in Braedan Kight’s 200th game.

The x-factor star looked dangerous every time the Bloods went inside 50 but ended the day with 1.4. Progressive young Devil Mitch Gardiner acquitted himself well in the match up both aerially and at ground level with his takeaway run and carry.

Gardiner ended up among the best in a losing side behind Jayven Tanner and Brett Bewley.

The second half of the match was a grind as the Devils enjoyed periods of control but could not get bang for buck on the scoreboard. Four ‘posters’ didn’t help the cause.

Full credit to the Bloods who were right at home in the conditions and made the Devils pay for any recurring skill errors.

Jordy Cotter and Jack Walker made it look easier than what it was with ball in hand, providing many forays forward for the hosts that led to scores.

Young Blood Austin Thorny-Croft had arguably his best game at the level while the aerial and running power of Liam Carter was a constant feature.

All honours with the Bloods, they were super, despite missing key soldiers Lachie Watkins, Ryan Carter, Jordy Kight, Josh Stewart and Max Scoble and looked the winners from a fair way out.

While the last fortnight of results elevated the Bloods to second on the BFNL ladder it’s not the end of the world for Jordan’s Devils who slip to fifth.

In fact, it may be a timely reminder of their mortality, as more challenging assignments on the road against Sebastopol (Round 6) and North Ballarat (Round 8) loom large.

Consider the race for the BFNL title officially wide open.

It’s game on!

STATS THAT MATTERED

Brett Bewley (Darley) – 52 disposals, 26 contested possessions 13 score involvements

Jordyn Cotter (Melton) – 38 disposals, 14 marks, 10 intercept possessions

Jack Walker (Melton) – 26 disposals, 9 clearances, 9 inside 50s

COACHES’ VERDICT

Troy Scoble (Melton)
“Challenging game as expected, Darley challenge you in so many different ways, pleased with the resilience and mindset of the group through the whole game with what presented. Shout out to Dan and Darley as a club after fierce battle respect shown to our skipper was greatly appreciated post-game.”

Dan Jordan (Darley)
“Credit to Melton they outworked us and took more of their opportunities on goal. Congratulations to Braedan Kight on his 200 games, great effort from a quality, upstanding man of the competition. We tried hard, tried to find a number of ways to get the result but it just wasn’t our day.”

The Swans booted nine goals to two in the second half to earn an all-important third win of the season.

Ash Baker’s Swans are keeping pace amidst a logjam of four teams on three wins behind undefeated Sebastopol.

Again, the start was slow for the Swans, credit to Redan for opening up a handy 14-point lead that was enough to have them within just two points at the main break - game on.

However, not dissimilar to the Swans’ Round 3 exploits, they flexed their muscles and asserted their field dominance to win going away.

The 50-point margin was validated with double the amount of scoring shots 30-15.

Swans’ tall timber Biggie Nyuon (four goals) and Patrick Graham (one goal) challenged the Lions for the most part to land in the best players for the winners ahead of Tyson Richard (three goals), Bailey Fraser and Rhys Perry in his first game for the club since his off-season return.

It was slim pickings for the Lions after halftime but credit to coach Marc Greig and his staff keeping pace with these sides despite dealing with a number of key outs of their own.

Oliver Pittard was named best for Redan ahead of Lachlan McLean, Bailey McKay, Harry Lawson and Daniel Bond.

The Lions are away next week to Bacchus Marsh (live stream with full commentary from 2pm) while the Swans can make it four wins from five when they host East Point.

STATS THAT MATTERED

Fraser Perkins (Ballarat) – 30 disposals, 19 contested possessions, 12 inside 50s

Patrick Graham (Ballarat) – 51 hitouts, 15 score involvements, 9 1%ers

Oliver Pittard (Redan) – 32 disposals, 12 marks, 8 score involvements

COACHES’ VERDICT

Marc Greig (Redan)
“Well done to Bakes and his team. Some good ball movement from both teams during the day despite the conditions. We just needed to kick the first goal at the start of the last to get the boys up and about to give ourselves a chance, but Ballarat controlled the ball well and finished the last quarter strongly. Extremely proud of the young lads for their effort, and again a great learning opportunity for their all-round game.”

Ash Baker (Ballarat)
“Redan brought plenty of pressure at the contest all day and were fierce in their attack at the ball. We had a tough ask to work our way back into the contest; however we were able to do so throughout the second quarter and eventually get the game more on our terms during the second half of third quarter and into the fourth.”