Parrots and Power to open 2027 with Super Sunday derby
Steele Sidebottom’s Wonthaggi Power heads to Leongatha on April 11 the day after Moe unfurls its first premiership flag since 1967.
LEONGATHA will host Wonthaggi Power in a Super Sunday derby on April 11 in the opening round of the 2027 Gippsland League season.
The South Gippsland rivals meet again in the return match at Wonthaggi on Sunday June 13 over the King’s Birthday long weekend, when the clash will be played as the South Gippsland Showdown.
The league released the fixture this week, with the season opening on Saturday April 10 when 2026 premier Moe unfurls its flag before hosting Traralgon in a twilight match under lights, while Bairnsdale hosts Morwell the same day.
Drouin will host Warragul and Sale will take on Maffra in the other Super Sunday derbies.
Wonthaggi’s first home game is against Bairnsdale in Round 2 on Saturday April 17, which is also the league’s Mental Health Awareness Round, while Leongatha travels to Morwell that day.
Wonthaggi’s early-season home games will be played at alternative venues while the Wonthaggi Recreation Reserve is resurfaced, with the league to name the venues once they are confirmed.
Bass Coast Shire Council and the State Government have committed $738,773 to reconstruct the main oval, including $250,000 from Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Country Football Netball Program, with new sub-surface drainage and irrigation to be installed.
The club has also launched its Re-turf Our Oval appeal to raise $75,000 so the ground can be turfed rather than grown from sprigs, getting it back into use sooner.
The ANZAC Round on Saturday April 24 brings the first grand final rematch of the season, with Moe hosting Leongatha at twilight before Traralgon hosts Morwell at night.
Leongatha reached its 10th straight grand final in 2026 but fell to Moe 14.7 (91) to 11.17 (83) in front of a record crowd of more than 7000 at Traralgon, as the Lions broke a premiership drought dating back to 1967.
The Parrots enter 2027 under a new coach after three-time premiership coach Trent McMicking stepped down following five seasons that all ended in a grand final.
Cade Maskell, a five-time premiership player who has played in all 10 of the club’s grand finals, has been appointed to replace him.
The Parrots have also lost Jack Hume and Tallin Brill to Korumburra-Bena.
Wonthaggi’s 2026 campaign ended in a thrilling first semi-final at Leongatha, where Warragul won by a single point.
The Power head into 2027 with a star recruit after 375-game Collingwood champion Steele Sidebottom signed with the club in October.
Sidebottom, a 2010 AFL premiership teammate of Wonthaggi’s own Jarryd Blair, joins a club coached by former Collingwood player Tristan Francis.
In Round 4 on Saturday May 1, Drouin travels to Moe for the first A Grade netball grand final rematch of the season, while Bairnsdale hosts Sale as both clubs celebrate their 150th anniversaries.
Bairnsdale hosts Maffra for its Fight MND match on Saturday June 12, and Morwell hosts Moe on Sunday June 13.
The July bye will again line up with the school holidays and the Dahlsens All Stars grand final, while Round 15 is split across Saturday July 31 and Saturday August 7 to give each club a weekend off before the final three rounds.
Indigenous Round will also return, with the date still to be confirmed.
The Forty Winks Finals Series starts on the weekend of September 4 and 5, with the grand final on Saturday September 25.
