Football
29 August, 2025
Top teams play for HDFNL grand final spot
Noradjuha Quantong and Harrow Balmoral, the top two sides of men’s seniors football in the regular season, will battle it out at Kalkee Recreation Reserve on Saturday for the first spot in the 2025 Horsham District Football Netball League grand final.
In 2024 Harrow Balmoral went through the year undefeated before narrowly defeating Noradjuha Quantong 52-39 in last year’s premiership decider.
After a strong finish to 2024, the Bombers have been the benchmark team of the 2025 season, finishing 15-1 at the end of the home-and-away season with a 321.25 percentage.
Harrow Balmoral have not been as dominant as they were last year, but with increasing fitness in the back half of the season the reigning premiers look to be peaking at the right time of year, as demonstrated by their 85-25 victory over Pimpinio in last week’s qualifying final.
The one matchup between the two teams this year saw Noradjuha Quantong defeat a depleted Harrow Balmoral 87-52, headlined by a seven-goal effort to Bombers forward Judah Hobbs.
Jai Thompson, coach of Harrow Balmoral, says his team is excited about the opportunity to play them again.
“It's obviously a good challenge for us,” Thompson said.
“They’re one of two teams we haven't beaten this year and it's a great opportunity for us to be able to show that we are good enough.
“You don't want to use those things as excuses, having blokes out and stuff, and I think the team we had in earlier in the year played really well that day at Quantong.
"We just couldn't quite get what we wanted to execute properly.”
Asked about the opportunity to go against Harrow Balmoral for a spot in the grand final, Noradjuha Quantong coach Damian Cameron says it will be a big challenge facing the reigning premiers.
“(We’re) obviously excited,” Cameron said.
“We know when they get all their players back, as they have now, they’re a bit of a powerhouse and they have been for a couple of years.
“It’s a big ask but obviously we’re in the right spot to have a crack at it and it would be nice to go through to the grand final, but we’re not thinking about that too much at this stage; we need to perform well on the weekend.”
Cameron acknowledged the strength the Southern Roos had across the park, identifying the Close brothers as key threats.
“They spread really well – they've always got one or two options ready to go when they get the footy,” Cameron said.
“That's probably the thing we need to be switched on with: our defensive spread and where we're positioning so they can't just get uncontested possessions upfield.
“Michael Close does a lot of damage across half back so trying to keep it away from him as much as possible is a big thing, and he reads a play well so that's a hard thing to do.
“And Simon Close has obviously done a lot of damage up forward over the years, and their midfield brigade as well.”
Noradjuha Quantong have proven to be dominant across all areas of the field, with forwards such as Dylan Shelley and Brock Orval being among the competition’s best, Jack Vague being a force in the ruck, and Wade Francis and Dyson Parish being mainstays of their reliable backline.
Cameron said he was confident his side had what it took, identifying their mental approach as a critical factor in a potential victory.
“With Harrow, I think in the past we’ve gone in with the wrong mindset just knowing that they're a powerhouse,” Cameron said.
“I think if we can go in with the right manner and set ourselves up well we’ll give ourselves a good chance.”