Broadcast

VAFA Media Live Coverage – April 18

By VAFA Media · April 17, 2026

It’s opening round & hope springs eternal!

We’ve got LIVE VAFA MEDIA COVERAGE across 4 Premier Men’s matches, plus TWO Grand Final rematches! The perfect way to kick off the season from wherever you may be!

SATURDAY APRIL 18

Kick off your season with an OLD SCOTCH-CAULFIELD GRAMMARIANS double-header, LIVE & FREE on VAFA TV!

It begins with the Premier Women’s Grand Final rematch, as the Stars and Fields renew their incredible rivalry that saw them meet 4 times in 2025 for 4 nailbiters: Caulfield by 4pts (Rd.7), Old Scotch 3pts (R16), Old Scotch 6pts (2nd Semi Final) & Old Scotch 5pts (Grand Final).

Four games decided by a total of just 18 points!

While the Fields won the minor premiership, the Stars won the games that mattered most in September.

Caulfield Grammarians have been grinding all summer for another opportunity. They get it first up.

Two teams who will surely be there again come the pointy end. What a way to start the season!

Don’t miss what promises to be another classic, streaming LIVE & FREE on VAFA.com.a u from 12.35pm!

Then immediately after, it’s PART 2 of our VAFA TV doubleheader when the Cards & Fields clash in William Buck Premier Men’s action.

Old Scotch came from nowhere to keep their premiership defence with 5 consecutive cut-throat wins that carried them all the way to Grand Final Day last season.

They lost a couple of soldiers early and ultimately fell to Old Brighton, but the Cardinals are a popular choice to be right back up there deep in September once again.

Last year, they had to desperately chase the season after a poor start that saw them drop 4 of their first 6. Coach Mark Gnatt and his troops will be determined to get away to a better opening this year.

The same could be said of Caulfield Grammarians, who lost 3 of their first 4 in Premier B last season, before winning 13 of their next 16 to power all the way to Grand Final Day.

But just like the Cardinals, they fell short in the decider.

It was enough to see them return to Premier Men’s for the first time since 2023, and what a first-up statement they could make if they can knock off the Cards on their own home deck.

Catch the action LIVE & FREE on VAFA.com.au from 2.25pm Saturday as Part 2 of our Scotch-Caulfield doubleheader!

We have ANOTHER DOUBLE-HEADER for you to enjoy from Brighton Beach Oval, on a red-letter day that will see the Tonners unfurl three premiership flags!

Part 1 of our KOMMUNITY TV DOUBLE-HEADER will see the OLD BRIGHTON host ST BERNARD’s in Premier Men’s action from 1.55pm.

Old Brighton finally rose to the premiership dais and hoisted the Premier Men’s cup for the first time in their 68-year VAFA history last season.

The Tonners have made 3 of the past 4 Grand Finals, but coach Marcel Bruin and his team are just getting started. As their theme stated throughout 2025, ‘the goal is never the end.’

Brighton Beach Oval has been impenetrable since Round 17 of 2023, with the Tonners enjoying two perfect seasons at home in 2024 and 2025 – 18 consecutive home wins forming a wonderful platform for their back-to-back minor premierships.

Five home games in the first seven rounds of 2026 will provide Old Brighton with an opportunity to set their season up once again.

The Snowdogs looked to be heading for relegation last season, until two wonderful back-to-the-wall wins over finals contenders in the last two rounds saw them clamber to safety.

Their next challenge is to start their climb into the top half of the ladder, and given this is their third straight year under coach Steve Alessio in Premier Men’s, they have built a foundation of experience and chemistry that can allow them to add layers that can challenge the better teams.

What an opportunity to make an early statement and build immediate belief!

Can they begin by knocking off a team that has beaten them all 6 times since COVID by an average of 44 points? And do it on the day the Tonners unveil their first ever A-grade premiership flag?

Find out with our LIVE coverage on BOTH KommunityTV and VAFA.com.au from 1.55pm Saturday!

Then, Part 2 of our KOMMUNITY TV DOUBLE-HEADER will see the Holmesglen Under 19 Premier GRAND FINAL REMATCH as OLD BRIGHTON host ST KEVIN’S from 4.40pm.

These two teams met twice last September, with the Tonners saluting on both occasions – by 32 points in the Second Semi, then 18 points on Grand Final Day in a low-scoring struggle.

But one of the beauties of Under 19 football is its unpredictability. A whopping 20 players from Old Brighton’s 2025 Under 19 cohort have moved up to Senior age footy this season, leaving just 7 premiership players still eligible for 19’s action in 2026.

Coach Paul Greenham has been pleased with how his group has returned, noting that only minor system-based adjustments are required. With key players like Johnny Gambaro and Doug Kerr leading the way, the expectation is firmly on another deep finals run.

This opening round showdown could set the tone for their season and re-establish them as the team to beat.

It’s SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTY – LIVE & EXCLUSIVE to KommunityTV from 4.40pm! A News Corp subscription is required to watch the live stream on KommunityTV – sign up from just $6 per week.

This week’s SEN VAFA Match of the Day is a blockbuster between St Kevin’s & Old Xaverians at TH King Oval – LIVE & FREE on VAFA TV & the SEN app.

Old Xavs leapfrogged over SKOB into third spot last season, ultimately falling a point short of their first Grand Final since 2016, when Old Scotch pipped them on Preliminary Final Day.

Xavs were the big improvers at the top end of the table, finishing the home & away season in 2nd spot, and looked every bit a premiership contender throughout. They are a popular pre-season prediction to continue their upward trajectory and make it all the way to the premiership decider this season.

For SKOB, their seventh consecutive finals series was secured by a 7-game winning streak from Rounds 11 to 17. But it came to an abrupt end at Semi-Final weekend – their earliest exit in a decade.

SKOB had held Xavs’ measure for years, with 6 consecutive wins, including their first meeting in Round 2 at TH King last year.

But Xavs snapped their losing streak to St Kevin’s by powering away in the final quarter of their Round 10 clash to post their first win over SKOB since 2022. Woodrow Medallist Marcus Stavrou racked up 39 disposals, 7 clearances and 9 Inside 50s that day.

This promises to be a fantastic early-season look at two contenders head-to-head.

Watch it LIVE & FREE on VAFA.com.au with our award-winning VAFA SEN MATCH OF THE DAY commentary team from 1.45pm, with radio coverage also available via the SEN App.

The SEN App is available for iPhone and Android, and works with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Plus, you can catch a THIRD LIVE MATCH on KommunityTV on Saturday afternoon as Old Haileybury host University Blacks at Princes Park.

Old Haileybury’s 2025 season was the tale of two halves.

They turned 7-2 at the midway point, having peeled off an impressive 6-game winning streak that included a fighting 12-point road win over St Kevin’s.

But then they hit the wall to go 2-7 in the second half of the campaign to ultimately be overrun by Old Scotch in a Round 18 ‘virtual Elimination Final’ that cost them a shot at September.

University Blacks finished one game behind the Bloods in 2025, going 8-10 to finish in sixth position. They lost 4 of their first 5 to find themselves in early trouble, before finding their rhythm to peel off 5 straight wins to be in the September mix mid-season.

But, just like the Bloods, they tapered off in the run home, losing 6 of their last 8.

It’s two teams coming from similar campaigns last season, working towards the same goal – catching and passing the Big Boys. Who will take the first step in Round 1?

Watch it LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV from 1.55pm Saturday.

William Buck Premier Men’s – Round 1 Preview

See Live Scores from all Senior Men’s and Women’s matches via the VAFA Website and catch up with the latest VAFA news in our weekly Podcasts.

Round 1 – Saturday, April 18

VAFA LIVE STREAM & SEN MATCH OF THE DAY
William Buck Premier Men’s – Round 1
St Kevin’s vs Old Xaverians
Live coverage from 1.45pm (bounce 2pm)
WATCH LIVE on VAFA.com.au

LIVE STREAM

LISTEN LIVE on the SEN App & SEN.com.au