VFL Rewind Radio Program

12 Months ago the Preston Bullants left the VFL. This week they play in a grand final in the VAFA.
The history of the original Preston VFA club may have closed but a new club is emerging that will take its place.

Preston Bullants VAFA club are back playing footy at Preston city oval and striving very much to keep the history of a 100+ year club alive as well as forging their own path.

The Preston Bullants will take on Kew in the VAFA division 1 grand final on the weekend.

This story is a positive one from a terrible ending. It’s a lot like when Fitzroy were lost to the AFL but now live on in the VAFA.

It’s absolutely great to see the Preston history live on and good luck to the Ants in the grand final.

Bruce McAvaney - One Special Career. One of the great respected commentators of Australia. With the news yesterday Bruce was inducted into the South Australian Racing hall of fame & have a race named after him it’s a great time to reflect on one of the greats of Australian sport behind a microphone.

Bruce has done it all. From AFL grand finals to calling Cathy Freeman’s 400-metre gold-winning race, and everything in between. Bruce has been in our lounge rooms to articulate some of the amazing moments in Australian sporting history.

Bruce grew up in Adelaide and was a handy footballer, playing for Woodville in the under-19s in the SANFL. After his schooling, Bruce started at Telecom and, at around 23, headed to the country town of Kilmore to watch the races. There, he met Kevin Hillier, a legendary broadcaster, who introduced him to the world of media. He headed back to Adelaide with a drive to be a broadcaster and started calling horse races.

At 25, Bruce joined the TV ranks and started on Channel 7 news, reading the sports report. Bruce got his big break in 1980 when he got the opportunity to call at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. This broadened his commentary world and made him reliable at calling many sports.

During this period, Bruce was commentating on SANFL games and really developing into an astute caller. He made the move to Victoria and started calling the VFA for Channel 0. Like Eddie McGuire, Phil Gibbs mentored Bruce, and he really developed further in Melbourne, gaining respect in the sports media community.

Bruce called many Melbourne Cup races in his time, and to many, that is the holy grail of sports broadcasting. However, he also got to commentate on the Bathurst 1000 during the 90s, just showing how diverse he was at commentating.

From Bathurst to the Australian Tennis Open, and everything in between, Bruce has been there with his trusty binoculars and a book full of notes to give the punters in their lounge rooms the best broadcast experience they could imagine.

Bruce won a Logie in 1999 for outstanding sports broadcaster and was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame in 2022.

One moment that’s etched in the minds of many is the 2000 Sydney Olympics call of the 400-metre athletics women’s final. Bruce articulated it magnificently in that one minute of brilliance by Cathy Freeman.

The sports shows are where we got to see Bruce shine. As the host of Talking Footy and Sportsworld, Bruce was able to be a good judge of the game with his analysis of footy.

Since then, Bruce has commentated on a good 10+ AFL grand finals, as well as heading to the Olympics to broadcast games.

When you combine the lot, Bruce would have called 25+ AFL grand finals and close to 10+ Melbourne Cups. A phenomenal achievement.

Bruce is one of the most respected people in sports media in Australia. Everyone admires him and respects all he does. He’s never negative, and it shows in his broadcasts.

Bruce was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame as a broadcaster, and he thoroughly deserved it.

Bruce, you’ve always been a star and continue to be one. Thanks for all you’ve done for the sports fan in this country and continue to do.

22 Teams started 2026. Just 4 remain. VFL Preliminary finals will be on next week. It’s looking likely there will be one game on Saturday and one game on Sunday.

2 AFL clubs, 1 Aligned club and 1 Standalone club left in contention for 2026.

It’s going to be an exciting prelim final week.

Getting in early but with the 4 VFL teams left this years VFL grand final will be a sellout so make sure you get in early

Nathan Buckley - 500+ games as player and coach . 7 times All Australian. Brownlow medalist. 6 Collingwood BNF’s. Norm Smith Medal. One of the greats.

For the First time since 1994 Nathan has left his AFL link with the Collingwood football club to acceot a tole at Geelong as an assistant coach in 2026.
Nathan growing up was a bit of a journeyman, his family traveled a lot meaning by the time he was 19 he had lived in almost every state.

He spent a good part of it in Darwin, and in his formative footy years learnt to play up there playing for Nightcliff & Southern Districts.
Nathan moved to Adelaide and played in a Premiership in the SANFL for Port Adelaide he was also the bnf winner and won the Margerey medal.

The Brisbane bears pushed hard to get Nathan to sign and he signed his first AFL contract with Brisbane. It would be just 1 year though.

Nathan signed for Collingwood in 1994. In his first year at Collingwood he averaged 22 disposals a game winning his first Copeland trophy.

In 1996 he was named All Australian for the first time and won the Copeland once again.

Between 1996-2003 Nathan made the All Australian team every year except 2002.

In 2002 Collingwood made the grand final and Nathan was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground when he had 32 disposals and kicked a goal.

In 2003 he won the Brownlow medal
after averaging 27 disposals a game

Collingwood captain from 1999-2007 he is one of the longest serving captains in our great game.

Nathan retired at the end of 2007 after coming back from injury. He was playing some good footy still but decided to call it a day.
Nathan turned to coaching and coached 218 games including the 2018 grand final where Collingwood narrowly were defeated.

As a player Nathan was meticulous in his fitness standards and he really set the bar of how to train. As a coach he trued to set the standard but was also a very compassionate coach who the players respected.

Nathan always gave your all on the field and prepared well as a coach.
Nathan is a AFL life member and was inducted into the Australian football hall of fame in 2011.

Well done on a great footy career Nathan

VFL Team of the year 2026. With 10 days until the Liston medal it’s time to start looking at season VFL football season 2026

There's been some really impressive individual performers in the VFL in 2026 and Brad has put together a team of players who deserve to be in team for VFL season 2026.

There's the usual stars that are in the team each year plus some new names who have had impressive VFL seasons including Jed Hagan, Jesse Mellor & Brady Wright.

Congratulations to the boys picked in the final side.

Kane Lambert Overlooked in 5 drafts . 135 AFL games. 3 Time AFL Premiership player.

"If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again."
This motto epitomises what Kane Lambert is all about. A player with tremendous talent, yet no club had the courage to call his name out at a AFL draft. No. Make that 5 AFL drafts. In hidsight what were the recruiters thinking?

In the mid-late 2000’s recruiters seemed to have a fear of drafting small blokes. If we rewind to 2005-06 a bloke named Fort Caruso won back to back Morrish medals (Tac Cup Brownlow) and no club wanted to pick him. The man was a star, one of the best players in the country. I digress.

Fast forward 3 years and we have a similar situation with Kane. A bloke of tremendous talent at Tac Cup level for Northern Knights who is 178cm and the recruiters just didn’t want to pick him for reasons we will never know. Denis Pagan was his coach that year and was shocked no club took a chance.

Kane went un drafted in 2009,2010(had year off footy) 2011,12,13, Finally in 2014 after making the move from Northern Bullants to Williamstown Kane lambert is finally a AFL player. All that persistane has finally paid off and Richmond have called his name. But will he make it?
“They” said the game was evolving and you needed to be 6 foot + tall to be a AFL player. It’s fair to say “They” were wrong!

In 2015 Kane would make his AFL Debut and play 13 games. In 2016 another 15 games under his belt. He was flying at AFL level and proving the doubters wrong. Along came 2017. The breakout year. Kane plays all 24 games for Richmond as they go on to win the AFL premiership in the grand final Kane has 22 disposals and a goal! He’s done it!

But the best it yet to come. 2019 and 2020 Richmond are premiers again and Kane is a 3 time AFL premiership player. One of the great footy stories of persistence.

In total Kane played 135 AFL games as a mature aged Rookie.

A message for the young players out there. If you don’t get drafted, be like Kane and try try again. You Just never know when your name could be called out.

Well done on a great career Kane. You proved your worth 🏆🏆🏆

Malcolm Blight - 178 AFL Games as a player. 4 AFL premierships. Brownlow medal. Coleman medal. 250 AFL games as a AFL coach. Master coach. One of the greats.

The goal was to get 100 games in the SANFL for his beloved club Woodville before he made the move to Victoria. He got his name on his locker for 100 games and made the move in 1974.

In total Malcolm reached Over 500 Games as a player and Coach in the VFL/AFL and SANFL. A remarkable achievement.

In just his second year at North Melbourne he played in the premiership and ended The Roos 50 year premiership drought.

1976 is when we really started to see Malcom play some real consistent footy and become up there as one of the greats of the VFL/AFL

In 1976 and 77 Malcolm had over 1,000 disposals and once again played in the premiership side kicking 2 goals in the 1977 replayed grand final.

1978 is when he was officially individually rewarded for the good of player he was when he won the 1978 Brownlow medal.
He averaged 18 disposals a game and kicked 77 goals.

In 79 and 80 and 81 he would kick another 174 goals missing a few games thought injury.
He was appointed playing coach in 1981 and was one of last player to captain coach team at VFL/AFL level. He only last 16 games as coach before they moved him on but he stayed on as a player.

1982 was Malcolm’s last year as a player in the VFL/AFL. After many thought he might leave after being sacked as coach in 1981 he stayed on for one more year.

Malcolm kicked 103 goals in 1982 and won the Coleman medal.
He is one of only 5 players to have a Coleman medal and a Brownlow, the other is Tony Lockett Des Fothergill Kelvin Templeton and Bernie Quinlan

Malcolm returned to Woodville in 1983 and coached before signing at Geelong and coaching them to 3 AFL grand finals.

Blighty was a quirky coach and always thought outside the box. He was methodical in his planning and was always thinking of ways to mentally rev up his team.

After a few years off the Adelaide Crows signed Malcolm and the rest is history.

In just 74 games as coach he took them to two premierships with a team that didn’t have a plethora of superstars and was missing their star player Tony Modra. He really got the best out of that Adelaide list and shows the star coach he was.

He coached St Kilda for a few games before moving into the media for close to a decade where he gave very an astute view on footy.

Malcolm you were a star as player and coach and thank you for all you gave to footy.

Tasmania & Essendon play each other for first time ever. The new Tasmania Devils Have never played Essendon in a game of footy before as football clubs, both teams never faced off in the VFL regular season and this first encounter will be the first of 100’s to come when Tasmania join the AFL in a few years.

The Devils will sell out North Hobart oval for this big game. For those who remember this iconic Nintendo game called Aussie rules from the 90’s will remember you could play as Tasmania (Hobart) against Essendon.

Both teams will run out onto North Hobart Saturday hopeful they can make it to week 3 of the 2026 VFL finals series.

It’s going to be a exciting game