THE 2025 Coates Talent League Wildcard Round fixture and finals formats have been released following the conclusion of the home-and-away season. Minor premiers Gippsland Power will advance straight through to the quarter finals, while the remaining sides have been seeded in respective conferences.

Only the 13 Victorian and Tasmanian regions will go on to participate in the wildcard and finals rounds, leaving out the five Northern Academy programs which completed brief stints in the competition from Rounds 4-7. The Metro conference features six teams, while Tasmania joins the six country regions.

Sandringham Dragons, third in the Metro conference, will aim to take out an historic fourth consecutive premiership this year. After a three-week finals series, the Grand Final is slated for Saturday September 20 at IKON Park, set to form part of a double-header between the boys and girls deciders.

WILDCARD ROUND FORMAT

CONFERENCES

Country/Tasmania: Bendigo Pioneers, Dandenong Stingrays, Geelong Falcons, Gippsland Power, GWV Rebels, Murray Bushrangers, Tasmania Devils

Metro: Calder Cannons, Eastern Ranges, Northern Knights, Oakleigh Chargers, Sandringham Dragons, Western Jets

Country/Tasmania 2nd vs. 7th
Country/Tasmania 3rd vs. 6th
Country/Tasmania 4th vs. 5th
—
Metro 1st vs. 6th
Metro 2nd vs. 5th
Metro 3rd vs. 4th

FINAL LADDER

COUNTRY/TASMANIA CONFERENCE:

1. Gippsland Power | 11-4 | 131.7%
2. Dandenong Stingrays | 8-7 | 108.1%
3. GWV Rebels | 8-7 | 102.3%
4. Geelong Falcons | 7-8 | 112.2%
5. Bendigo Pioneers | 7-8 | 100.6%
6. Tasmania Devils | 4-8 | 79.1%
7. Murray Bushrangers | 4-11 | 65.8%

METRO CONFERENCE:

1. Eastern Ranges | 11-4 | 123.3%
2. Calder Cannons | 8-7 | 110.2%
3. Sandringham Dragons | 8-7 | 98.2%
4. Northern Knights | 8-7 | 93.6%
5. Oakleigh Chargers | 7-8 | 102.4%
6. Western Jets | 3-12 | 73.7%

WILDCARD ROUND FIXTURE

Saturday, August 30:

GWV Rebels (Country/Tas 3) vs. Tasmania Devils (Country/Tas 6)
Mars Stadium, 10:30am AEST

Dandenong Stingrays (Country/Tas 2) vs. Murray Bushrangers (Country/Tas 7)
Highgate Recreation Reserve, 11:45am AEST

Geelong Falcons (Country/Tas 4) vs. Bendigo Pioneers (Country/Tas 5)
Mars Stadium, 1:00pm AEST

Eastern Ranges (Metro 1) vs. Western Jets (Metro 6)
Highgate Recreation Reserve, 2:15pm AEST

Sunday, August 31:

Calder Cannons (Metro 2) vs. Oakleigh Chargers (Metro 5)
Mars Stadium, 11:00am AEST

Sandringham Dragons (Metro 3) vs. Northern Knights (Metro 4)
Mars Stadium, 1:30pm AEST

Bye: Gippsland Power (Country/Tas 1st)

FINALS FORMAT

WC = Wildcard

Finals Week 1: Quarter Finals (QF) – September 6-7
1st QF: Highest ranked Metro WC winner vs. Highest ranked Metro WC loser
2nd QF: Second-highest ranked Metro WC winner vs Third-highest ranked Metro WC winner
3rd QF: First ranked Country/Tas team vs Third-highest ranked Country/Tas WC winner
4th QF: Highest ranked Country/Tas WC winner vs Second-highest ranked Country/Tas WC winner

Finals Week 2: Preliminary Finals (PF) – September 13-14
1st PF: Highest ranked Metro QF winner vs. Lowest ranked Country/Tas QF winner
2nd PF: Highest ranked Country/Tas QF winner vs. Lowest ranked Metro QF winner

Finals Week 3: Grand Final – September 20
Winner of 1st PF vs Winner of 2nd PF