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VAFA William Buck Premier Men's - Round 8 Preview
Jason Bennett • June 12th, 2026 7:23 pm
William Buck Premier Men’s springs back to life on Saturday with a big afternoon of Round 8 action, including a Top 3 blockbuster!
Here’s a closer look:
UNIVERSITY BLUES vs OLD BRIGHTON (Sat 2pm – Melbourne Uni: Kommunity TV)
Two of the competition’s early premiership contenders measure up in what promises to be a revealing afternoon at Melbourne Uni.
Both teams arrive at Round 8 with a 5-2 record and are stacked with talent all over the park, well capable of inflicting immense damage in a very short time should they get the game on their terms.
Round 7’s decisive loss to Old Xavs saw the Tonners slip from premiership favourite to Number #1 contender, and they enter Round 8 as the clear second seed, given they rank #2 in both Attack and Defence behind Xavs.
The reigning premiers haven’t lost two in a row since Rounds 17-18, 2023. Indeed, they lost only three games in 2024 and just two in 2025. They will be hellbent on returning to the winners’ list and extending their winning streak over the Blues to five straight.
But the Blues will be equally eager to claim a major scalp and prove to themselves and the rest of the competition that the ‘Big 2’ at the top of the table is actually a ‘Big 3.’ This is their golden opportunity to do just that.
They have the star power capable of turning a game their way, but in recent seasons, they haven’t quite measured up when tested by the big boys. They went 1-3 against eventual Grand Finalists Old Brighton and Old Scotch in both 2024 and 2025, and fell 5 goals short of Old Xavs in Round 5 this season.
Can the Tonners control the inside contest and then maintain sufficient pressure on the Blues’ ball-carriers to deny their twin towers of James Stewart & Sam Grimley quality supply? If not, the reigning champs could quickly find themselves in hot water, as numerous other teams have this season.
It’s a fascinating match-up guaranteed to tell us plenty about both teams, irrespective of the result.
Catch this blockbuster LIVE & EXCLUSIVE on Kommunity TV from 1.55pm Saturday, as part of a KTV Uni Blues Double-Header that kicks off with the Blues’ Holmesglen Under 19 Premier team hosting Beaumaris from 11.35am!
OLD HAILEYBURY vs ST KEVIN’S (Saturday 2pm – Princes Park: VAFA.com.au & SEN app)
Where are the Bloods at in 2026? It’s one of the competition’s pressing questions, given Old Haileybury has shown glimpses of great football, but hasn’t been able to get the desired results. They arrive at Round 8 having lost 5 of their past 6, with the only victory in that time coming against the bottom-of-the-table Old Scotch.
It has left Guy Martyn’s side carrying a 2-5 record, and desperately needing to click into gear before the Top 4 disappears over the horizon.
But the Bloods don’t feel like a 2-5 team. They’ve been in with a chance late in literally every match this season, with their 5 losses comprised of a 4-point defeat at the hands of Caulfield, a 48-point loss to Brighton (where they were within 2 goals at the last change), a 4 goal loss to Trinity (15 points down at the final break), a 1-point heartbreaker against the Blues, then a 19-point loss to the Snowdogs after leading at half time.
SKOB coach Anthony Lynch will know this all too well, and this one has ‘danger game’ written all over it for St Kevin’s, who surfed a 5-game winning streak into the bye. Will the rest interrupt their rhythm, or has it allowed them to recharge and keep firing? Time will soon tell.
SKOB’s completely revamped attack has quickly found its mojo, with a plethora of dangerous pieces learning to fit together, and in their 5-game winning streak, they’ve booted an average of 108 points per game. Defensively, they’ve conceded an average of 74 at the same time, although their last two starts saw them give up 107 and 82 points – an area that ‘Plugger’ will be keen to tighten.
The Bloods are middle-of-the-road in both Attack (#5) and Defence (#6), and that feels about right. They have been solid and competitive, but haven’t been able to seize their opportunities to take control and close out games week after week.
Has the bye allowed them to freshen up and reset? A loss here could see them slide 4 games off Top 4 pace, so the time is now for Old Haileybury to turn their season around.
Can they snap SKOB’s winning run?
Can they snap SKOB’s winning run?
Find out with our award-winning VAFA SEN Match of the Day radio coverage on VAFA.com.au & the SEN app from 1.45pm Saturday!
OLD XAVERIANS vs UNIVERSITY BLACKS (Saturday 2pm – Toorak Park: VAFA TV)
It’s the new premiership favourites hosting the competition’s ‘giant killers’ in an eye-catching contest at Toorak Park.
Old Xavs assumed flag favouritism with a superb 35-point win over Old Brighton in Round 7, which included a scintillating 9-goal second quarter that had to be seen to be believed.
They hit the weekend with a 6-1 record; their only blemish came after Old Trinity jumped them with a devastating opening quarter at Toorak Park in Round 2.
Since then, they have rolled over the opposition with 5 straight wins by an average of 58 points and lead the competition in both Attack & Defence.
And with Woodrow Medallist Sam Fisher returning in style for his first game of the season last start, plus another League Best & Fairest Marcus Stavrou also on the comeback trail, the Xavs are continuing to add depth and grow even stronger.
But if there’s a team capable of finding another level when challenged by the toughest tasks in the league, it’s Uni Blacks.
They did it again to snap Old Brighton’s 20-game winning streak at Fortress Brighton in Round 4. But just like Old Haileybury, some flashes of brilliance haven’t been enough. They too head into Round 8 with a 2-5 record and are desperate for a win to stay in touch.
And, just like the Bloods, they’ve been a better team than their record suggests. They led the Bloods by 26 points at three-quarter time in Round 1, before being overrun late. They were within 8 points of the Blues in Round 2 but couldn’t find a way to win. They were within 13 points of Old Trinity in Round 3, only to be held goalless in the last term. Their start could have conceivably been 3-0, rather than 0-3.
However, back-to-back wins over Brighton & Bernard’s were followed by their two least competitive performances – a 39-point loss to Caulfield, then a 37-point loss to SKOB.
But coach Dale Bower has been here before – just last year, in fact, when the Blacks lost 4 of their first 5 before lighting up the comp with a scintillating 5-game winning streak. His players carry an innate belief that they can do the seemingly impossible time and again.
Xavs ended their run in no uncertain terms in Round 11 last year and then belted them in the final round.
Can the Blacks return the favour in 2026? History says they are not without a chance.
Find out LIVE & FREE on VAFA.com.au from 1.55pm Saturday!
CAULFIELD GRAMMARIANS vs ST BERNARD’S (Sat 2pm – Glen Huntly Park)
These two teams occupied the drop zone just two rounds ago, with 1 win from their opening 5 matches.
However, back-to-back wins from the Fields, and a superb victory by the Snowdogs over the Bloods last start have breathed life into both their campaigns.
Paul Satterley’s Caulfield may be young and inexperienced, but it understands its DNA. The Fields are fighters – gritty, resilient, and capable of hanging in and finding a way, as evidenced by their last start against Old Trinity in the Premier B Grand Final rematch.
Leading by 3 goals at the final change, Caulfield saw that lead disappear within the first 5 minutes of the last term, when 3 goals in 3-and-a-half minutes saw the T’s tie things up.
But the Fields didn’t panic and never actually fell behind in a tight and tense finish that saw the siren sound with the hosts clinging to a 4-point advantage that was extended to 10 via an Ollie Lowe goal after the siren.
However, now expectations have risen, and they enter their Round 8 clash against the Snowdogs as the outright favourites for the first time this season. Can they deal with that different type of pressure?
Steve Alessio’s Dogs resemble the Fields in some ways. They have that same doggedness (don’t pardon the pun), and the tougher a scrap gets, the more they seem to like it.
Their win over the Bloods was exactly the shot in the arm their season needed, after 4 straight losses drained the early momentum they had generated from their heart-stopping Round 2 win over Old Scotch.
Trailing by 2 points at half-time, they booted 10 goals to 6 after half-time to delight their home crowd.
But now they need to bring that grit and fight on the road with them, given the Dogs have lost their last 9 on the road, stretching all the way back to Round 6 last season, including 4 straight this year.
Catch the action live at Glen Huntly Park from 2pm Saturday.
OLD TRINITY vs OLD SCOTCH (Saturday 2pm – Daley Oval)
The final game of the round is a critical one for both teams, but for different reasons.
Old Trinity got away to a flying start in their return to William Buck Premier Men’s, winning 4 of their first 5 matches, including their incredible victory over Xavs at Toorak Park in Round 2.
However, like most teams in recent times, they hit the rocks at Fortress Brighton in Round 6, pounded by 76 points. The bigger concern was their response – a 10-point loss to the Fields in Round 7 that saw them tumble out of the Top 4.
Now they return home to face the bottom-of-the-ladder Cardinals, who will arrive at Daley Oval on a 6-game losing streak – their longest since Rounds 1-7 of 2018, which turned out to be the last time they were relegated.
The Cards have tumbled from Grand Finalists to the drop zone in the opening 7 weeks of 2026, and while they came storming home after a slow start last season, they were never as deep in the hole as they are right now.
Both coaches will hope the bye has provided a reset of sorts.
The T’s will be looking to get back to the scintillating, fast-paced attacking footy that saw them take the competition by storm in the early rounds, while the Cardinals will be looking for more control, leading to the damaging uncontested possession chains that have picked teams apart in recent seasons.
The ladder points to Old Trinity, but don’t be fooled – the Cardinals have some elements to their game that could trouble the T’s if they get it on their terms and hold it there long enough. Their intercept game remains top-notch, and if they’re allowed to transition the ball smoothly from half-back and hit the targets they’ve been missing going forward, they could find their mojo in a flash.
Conversely, no-one hits targets exiting D50 better than the T’s, so the Cards will need to stay alert during defensive transition as well.
It’s got a whiff of ‘danger game’ about it for Old Trinity. Is this the weekend that the sleeping giant awakes, or will the T’s get back on track with a critical win at home?
Find out at Daley Oval from 2pm Saturday.
Find out at Daley Oval from 2pm Saturday.
Photo credit: Bronwyn Paul
SATURDAY JUNE 13 – 2pm:
- Old Haileybury vs St Kevin’s - SEN – 1.45pm
- Old Xaverians vs University Blacks - VAFA 1.55 pm
- University Blues vs Old Brighton - KTV – 1.55pm
- Caulfield Grammarians vs St Bernard’s
- Old Trinity vs Old Scotch
