The minor premier will meet last year’s runner-up in the 2025 Smithy’s VFL Grand Final after the Footscray Bulldogs and Southport Sharks claimed impressive preliminary finals wins.

SECOND PRELIMINARY FINAL

The Southport Sharks will contest the Smithy’s VFL Grand Final for the third time in four years after doing a demolition job on Frankston in the second preliminary final at Fankhauser Reserve.

The Sharks will be confident they can breakthrough for that elusive first Smithy’s VFL premiership after accounting for the Dolphins by 88 points to reach the decider.

From the 10-minute mark of the opening term to three quarter time, the Sharks booted 15 majors while conceding just three, putting the result beyond doubt early before going on with the job in the last term.

It was Hugh Dixon’s afternoon with the key forward reaching the 50-goal milestone for the season after booting eight majors and taking 10 marks, six of them contested.

Four of his goals came in a breathtaking first quarter which gave the home side an ascendency it would maintain for the rest of the day.

Dixon was well assisted by Max Pescud, who’s terrific goalkicking form continued with a three-goal haul, having now produced seven majors in his last three games.

Josh Gore could have finished with a similar scoreline to Dixon, but had to settle for two goals from nine scoring shots.

A big reason as to why Southport’s forward line got such good looks inside 50 was the prolific performance of Jacob Dawson, who once again had the ball on a string in the middle.

The Sharks co-captain had game-highs in disposals (38), score involvements (11) and clearances (10) to constantly drive his team forward.

Jackson Edwards was just as influential around the ground, finishing with 28 touches, two goals and a game-high 12 intercepts to go along with seven inside 50s.

Frankston was simply outplayed in its first preliminary final appearance in 28 years, with the Dolphins’ campaign ending the same way it did in 2024 when they were soundly beaten by the Sharks in the elimination final.

Despite the result, Jackson Kornberg’s side and their legion of loyal fans can still hold their heads up high with their best season on record since appearing in the 1997 Grand Final.

Tom Blamires and Jackson Voss combined for 54 disposals in the preliminary final and were their team’s two standouts for the afternoon. Taine Barlow was kept busy in defence and had 10 marks and six intercepts.

SOUTHPORT SHARKS     6.3   10.8   16.12   21.17 (143)
FRANKSTON                         3.0   4.1      5.4        8.7 (55)

BEST
Southport Sharks: Hugh Dixon, Jacob Dawson, Jesse Joyce, Zac Foot, Jackson Edwards, Nick Williams
Frankston: Tom Blamires, Jackson Voss, Darby Hipwell, Trent Mynott, Taine Barlow, Tyson Milne

GOALS
Southport Sharks: Hugh Dixon 8, Max Pescud 3, Wylie Buzza, Jackson Edwards, Josh Gore 2, Zac Foot, Jesse Joyce, Michael Manteit, Boyd Woodcock
Frankston: Taj Campbell-Farrell, Corey Ellison, Noah Gown, Matt Johnson, Harrison Jones, Bailey Lambert, Tom Murphy, Trent Mynott

LEADING DISPOSALS
Southport Sharks: Jacob Dawson 38, Zac Foot 29, Jackson Edwards 28, Boyd Woodcock 27, Jesse Joyce 23
Frankston: Tom Blamires 28, Jackson Voss 26, Darby Hipwell 20, Tyson Milne 19, Harrison Coe 18

FIRST PRELIMINARY FINAL

Footscray will play in its first Smithy’s VFL Grand Final since 2016 after producing another impressive display to defeat the Box Hill Hawks by 31 points at Misson Whitten Oval in the first preliminary final.

After conceding the opening major, the Bulldogs kicked four goal in a seven-minute purple patch to make their presence known and open a 14-point advantage at the first change.

The home side held sway throughout the second term but weren’t able to put the Hawks away despite leading by 24 points at the main break.

Despite staying in the contest, Box Hill was dealt a crushing blow in the second quarter when retiring three-time Hawthorn premiership forward sustained a nasty knee injury after getting tangled in a tackle.

The Hawks managed to park that disappointment cut the deficit to 11 points midway through the third after back-to-back goals from Jasper Scaife.

However, the minor premiers were able to steady and kicked four of the last five majors of the term to open a 30-point lead at the final change.

They then never looked back as they recorded a 13th-straight win to earn a spot in next week’s decider, where they will be hunting a third premiership since returning to the competition in 2014.

Will Lewis was too much for Box Hill to contain inside the attacking 50, finishing with five goals. He booted three in the first half to help Footscray open a lead before kicking two late in the third term to halt the Hawks’ charge.

Zac Walker was also brilliant in the attacking half with four majors, two of them coming in the third term after Box Hill looked to mount a comeback.

The Bulldogs’ AFL-listed players were excellent in midfield. Anthony Scott worked hard and was rewarded with a 37-disposal outing that also included nine clearances and seven tackles, while Adam Treloar was just as impactful and had 31 touches and seven inside 50s.

Jedd Busslinger was the other to star for Footscray and was the leading force in defence. He racked up 30 disposals at 90% efficiency and also had a game-high 13 intercepts as well as five one-percenters.

Despite being a largely successful campaign, Box Hill will feel its season finished one week early after sitting atop the ladder for much of the season, before losing four of its last five games.

Trent Bianco, Henry Hustwaite and Cam Mackenzie were all active in the midfield throughout the preliminary final were the Hawks’ leading disposal getters.

Ned Reeves had a whopping 55 hitouts, which was a season-high for the big man, to go along with eight score involvements, whilst Scaife, Max Ramsden and Jake Arundell each kicked two goals.

FOOTSCRAY BULLDOGS     5.4   8.7   12.9   16.12 (108)
BOX HILL HAWKS                    3.2   4.7   7.9      11.11 (77)

BEST
Footscray: Adam Treloar, Anthony Scott, Will Lewis, Josh Kellett, Billy Crofts, Nick Coffield
Box Hill Hawks: Cam Mackenzie, Trent Bianco, Henry Hustwaite, Ned Reeves, Lane Ward, Ethan Stanley

GOALS
Footscray: Will Lewis 5, Zac Walker 4, Josh Dolan, Cooper Hynes 2, Cooper Craig-Peters, Josh Kellett, Caleb Poulter
Box Hill Hawks: Jake Arundell, Max Ramsden, Jasper Scaife 2, Cody Anderson, Luke Breust, Matt Hill, Cal Porter, Jai Serong

LEADING DISPOSALS
Footscray: Anthony Scott 37, Adam Treloar 31, Jedd Busslinger 30, Lachie Jaques 21, Billy Crofts 20, Josh Kellett 20
Box Hill Hawks: Cam Mackenzie 27, Henry Hustwaite 26, Trent Bianco 23, Ethan Stanley 21, Jai Serong 18, Lane Ward 18