Five rounds into the 2026 Lower South West Football League season, and it marks (almost) being a third of the way through the 17 rounds of action that make up the Tyrepower Manjimup League season.
Leading into the season, as always there were plenty of questions for fans of football in the region.
Could Deanmill reproduce their 2025 form and go back to back? A repeat from the Hawks would be the first successful Premiership defence since Bridgetown in 2021, after their 2019 triumph.
Could Manjimup neighbours, Tigers and Imperials, climb back up the ladder and contend for the first League flag to find it’s way to central Manjimup since Imperials in 2018?
Which version of Boyup Brook would we see in 2026? The 2024 Premiers who were 3-1 after Round 5 in 2025, or the Roos that after injuries and travel hurt their season, went 1-9 for the remainder of the year.
Bridgetown and Kojonup both entered the new season with relatively settled lists, after both sides made finals in 2025, ultimately both being eliminated by Southerners.
Speaking of Southerners, with several of their younger brigade catching the eye at East Perth, and a home Grand Final in 2026, could they repeat their 2025 charge to the last day of the season.
THE COACHES
4 clubs remained with their 2025 League coaches – Morgan Price (Bridgetown), Travis Abbott (Kojonup), Alex Cabassi (Southerners) and Aaron Watson (Tigers) back at the helm of their respective sides.
Dave Rawson picked up the double edged sword of the Deanmill post. A talented list coming off the 2025 flag success, but the expectations that come with leading the reigning Premiers.
Wayne Barnden jumped into the double hot seat as President and Coach at the Magpies, while Rhien Lloyd picked up the task of leading Boyup Brook back into the top four.
THE TRANSFER LANDSCAPE
As is the case in every competition, every year – the transfers in and out came thick and fast.
Unfortunately for both the club and the competition as a whole, one of the most telling of the off season was the move of David Cowan – OUT of Boyup Brook as he made the shift to Collie. The loss of the two time Tyrepower Medal winner and 2025 League MVP wasn’t the start Lloyd and the Roos were looking for.
While that move grabbed attention, there were plenty of moves in the IN column as clubs looked to build towards 2026.
Tigers had a pair of former WAFL Eagles join, Cooper Nitschke and Jed Kemp, the latter also playing senior WAFL football at Perth.
The reigning Premiers didn’t rest on their laurels, with Rhett Lloyd another former WAFL Eagle, joining the Hawks after spending 2025 at Beverley.
A shrewd move saw Kojonup pick up towering ruckman, Elijah Hayden, who had spent time with Subiaco in 2022 and 2023.
Jordan Rakowski arrived at Tigerland from Harvey, while Cooper Childs joined Deanmill from Osborne Park, and Beau Morgan looked an intriguing pick up for Imperials from the South West.
IN THE GOALS
The goal kickers have been in fine form early in 2026, with a good number of games seeing one, or even both teams hit the 100 point mark.
Lee Lucev currently tops the goalkicking with 22 from his 5 games, highlighted by a bag of 7 in Round 1 against Southerners.
Charlie Walton has added a new dimension to the already dangerous Kojonup forward line. After booting 55 for the season in the Retravision Manjimup Reserves competition last year, Walton has translated that form to League level and has 17 from 4 games.
Scott Gizzarelli has looked sharp in the early rounds and in addition to his own form, has benefitted from the up turn in form by the Magpies, booting 16 in his 5 games, while fellow Magpie, Tyler Ipsen, is also in the top group after five rounds with 12.
Kojonup pair Harry Taylor and Mitchell Blakers have 13 and 12 respectively, while Bridgetown’s Will Masters, Tigers’ Jethro Namnik and Boyup Brook’s Will Narducci also have 12.
Imperials’ skipper, Brandy Armstrong, runs out for his 100th League match. The Round 4 clash against Boyup Brook resulted in a big win for the Magpies, with Armstrong leading from the front as always.
(C) Mad Dog Moore Media
SURPRISE PACKETS
Imperials have kicked off the season with 3 wins from their 5 games, the only losses against Deanmill in a 4 point thriller in Round 1, before running into the rampant Kojonup in Round 5. They have already surpassed their win tally from 2025 and Barnden would have to be delighted with how the team are travelling. The Magpies currently sit 2nd on the ladder, a huge early season turnaround after their wooden spoon last year.
UPSET OF THE SEASON SO FAR
When the Filming Footy crew were sent to cover the Imperials v Deanmill clash in Round 1, eyebrows were raised given the match was last year’s 1st v 7th. It turned into an absorbing clash and a 4 point result.
With respect to Imperials however after they were on the wrong side of the final score, the upset of the year so far is arguably the Round 5 clash between Southerners and Deanmill. Southerners entered the game 1-2, their only win against a struggling Boyup Brook, after a Round 1 mauling by Kojonup and not looking like the team that finished 2025 so strongly. With Southerners slowly getting some of their players back from late starts, and Deanmill conversely having a horror injury run early in the season, an upset was on the cards as last year’s Grand Final combatants went head to head. The margin as much as the result was the surprise here. A 7 goal opening term from the home side set the tone as they went on to win by 77 points on a day they raised over $30,000 for breast cancer research.
Deanmill will get back to their best as names such as Hall and Strahan find their way back onto the team sheet, but none the less the magnitude of this win for Southerners after a slow start themselves was not to be ignored.
STARTING STRONGLY
In the opening rounds of the season, we’ve seen some of the usual suspects get plenty of the footy, the likes of Matt Marinoni at Kojonup and Tim Mayers at Imperials stringing together good performances.
Of the recruits, Kemp & Nitschke (Tigers) and Lloyd (Deanmill) have been outstanding, while Hayden’s ruck work has made an already imposing Kojonup midfield even more difficult to deal with.
Elsewhere however, two players who potentially slip under the radar at times, have had wonderful openings to 2026. Evergreen Imperials leader, Brandy Armstrong, has been a key to the Magpies’ early season form, a run of first class performances helping the side to their three wins. At Kojonup, when Kyle Smith goes big, he goes big. Smith has a had a number of strong performances to start the season, with his Round 2 effort against Deanmill a highlight. After a good first half in a contest that saw just 3 points separate the teams at half time, Smith took his game to the next level in the second half as the Cougars kicked 13 goals and won by 58 points.
Can’t complete this section without mention of Blake East’s Round 1 effort against Imperials. Hardly an under the radar player in this case, but East was everywhere as the Hawks got home by 4 points. As this writer called the game for Filming Footy, it seemed at times like there was more than one #4 out there, as he kicked 4 goals, made countless midfield clearances and a few crucial defensive intercepts.
THE KIDS ARE GOOD
2025 LSWFL Colts Best & Fairest winner, Riley Hetherington, has been amongst Deanmill’s best in their League side in most of his games early in the season. Hetherington opened the season with a Best on Ground performance in the Round 1 East Perth Football Club Colts match against Imperials, before turning in an impressive performance later that day in the League side’s 4 point win. While the Hawks’ injury list means Hetherington has been unable to be eased into senior action after his four League games in 2025, his form has been a bright light.
Kenny Beggs, who chased Hetherington all the way home in last year’s count, was also impressive as the Tigers took on Imperials on ANZAC Day, kicking 2 goals for the match as the Tigers ultimately went down by 10 points.
Will Narducci entered the chat with a bang, kicking 7 goals in his first outing for Boyup Brook, out of a tally of 8 for the team as they went down to Southerners in Round 3. Narducci has come from playing Colts at Pinjarra and Harvey and the youngster showed what he is capable of even with minimal supply in his first outing for the Roos, following up with a further 5 goals across his next two outings.
At Bridgetown, Khai Robertson has played two League matches early in the year, with a goal in each. Robertson was superb in the Colts last year and his entry to Tyrepower Manjimup League football has highlighted what a special talent the young Bulldog is.
Add in a 5 goal haul from Lachie Hughes for Southerners in Round 5 and a dominant patch from Mason Goodridge for Imperials in the ANZAC Day clash, and there is a lot of young talent pushing the established brigade in the Lower South West.
WHAT’S THE CRYSTAL BALL SAY?
In the absence of an actual working crystal ball, there will be precisely zero radical predictions here.
It’s stating the obvious to suggest Kojonup have the set the early pace, and even with some injury challenges, they have been the stand out performer of the first five weeks of the season. The Cougars have the week off in Round 6 to sit back and watch their opponents, and after being stung by the way their 2025 campaign came to a close, they are clearly on a mission in 2026 and will take some stopping.
The young brigade are doing some outstanding things at club level, and on June 13 & 14, we get to see the next generation come together under Aaron Watson at Lake Grace for the Great Southern Colts Carnival.
A month later, after a successful return in 2025 that resulted in a Division 3 title, the LSWFL return to the Nutrien AG Country Championships and will very likely do battle in Division 2. Gavin Norrish returns to lead the side again this year and with the step up in divisions, will hope to be taking the best possible outfit to Perth.
The individual league awards are wide open in 2026, with Cowan gone and 2025 Tyrepower Medal winner, Josh Power, missing some early season games with injury. The best player lists in the early rounds have seen a mix of seasoned campaigners and some new faces shaking things up.
Lucev has a strong grasp on the goal kicking, but a feature of the Cougars this year has been their ability to hit the scoreboard from anywhere. There’s no questioning Lucev’s continued form in front of goal, but will the team first approach of the Cougars inside 50 cost him an individual honour? What isn’t in question, is Lucev along with his team mates would happily trade any individual awards for a crack at the flag.
