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All roads lead to Morwell for Moe v Leongatha on Saturday

The Bureau of Meteorology is calling for a return to wet-weather football at Morwell this Saturday, September 5 for the all-important Second Semi-final clash between Moe and Leongatha.

by Michael Giles

Published September 04, 2026

All roads lead to Morwell for Moe v Leongatha on Saturday — Last time these two teams met, Moe put on 10.1 in a second-quarter clinic at Traralgon in June but the Parrots weren't disgraced, kicking 5.3 themselves towards a total of almost 100 points from the two top teams in a quarter of footy.

THE Bureau of Meteorology is calling for a return to wet-weather football at Morwell this Saturday, September 5 for the all-important Second Semi-final clash between Moe and Leongatha.

With winds tending west to north-westerly, at 30km/h to 45km/h and 6ml to 20ml of rain predicted, depending on if there’s a thunderstorm overhead in the afternoon, both teams will be looking to emulate the sort of pressure Hawthorn brought to the Qualifying Final in Perth on Thursday night.

With a place in the Gippsland League grand final on the line, the result will finally determine favouritism for the 2026 premiership, if any doubts still linger about ladder leaders Moe deserving that mantle.

Both Moe and Leongatha have picked full strength teams, as exemplified by what must have been an agonising decision to leave Lions’ stalwart, former captain Jacob Wood out of the line-up, selected as an emergency for Saturday’s match.

He’s played 17 out of a possible 18 matches in the seniors this season.

But expect to see him straight back in if there’s any sign of hesitancy from selected 22 or in case of an injury.

**It's likely to be a game of pressure from both sides especially if the conditions are rain affected.**

Leongatha is equally blessed, finally able to get their best 22 back on the park in recent weeks and showing great improvement as a result. You’d expect their progress tested in every way on Saturday, especially up forward where Moe has the three-pronged attack of Ben Crocker, Riley D’Arcy and Myles Poholke, although the latter, who has kicked 75 goals this season, has been named at half back.

But, as usual, it’s in the midfield, and rebounding off half back where the match will be won or lost; with the tantalising prospect of a tussle between former AFL stars, James Harmes and Dyson Heppell, on the cards.

Harmes has appeared unstoppable for much of this season, getting access to the ball at will and it will be up to Leongatha to swarm the stoppages if they want to get their share of the clearances.

Intercept machine, Declan Keilty, who can also be thrown forward to devastating effect, again looms as a danger across half back if Leongatha’s players are forced to blaze away into the forward half whereas Leongatha boasts pace and skill on either wing where Jack Hume, Fraser Phillip and Ben Harding loom as strengths for the Parrots.

The last time these teams played each other, back on June 10 at Traralgon, Moe produced a whirlwind second quarter of 10 goals one to the Parrots’ 5.3, allowing them to go in at half time with a virtually unassailable lead of 42 points.

However, as much as it was an incredible run of straight shooting by the rampaging Lions, in the final analysis, it represented 11 scoring shots to eight, and almost 100 points between them in 30 minutes of footy.

Will we see a repeat of that on Saturday? Not if the weather conditions have anything to do with it.

The bureau is predicting a cloudy day with a very high chance of rain. Snow falling above 1400 metres. The chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon, possibly severe with damaging winds near Wilsons Promontory. Winds north to north-westerly 25 to 35 km/h tending west to north-westerly 30 to 45 km/h in the late morning and early afternoon. Overnight temperatures falling to between 8 and 11 with daytime temperatures reaching between 12 and 20.

Morwell isn’t Wilsons Promontory, and it’s venue that does handle occasional wet weather well, so a high-standard contest is guaranteed.

We’ll know a lot more about the likely outcome of season 2026 by 5pm on Saturday, and whether or not Moe is set to break a drought of almost 60 years since they won their last Gippsland or Latrobe Valley premiership in 1967.