SWFL: Augusta-Margaret River to start 2025 season with competition’s longest road trip against Collie

Augusta-Margaret River will start their South West Football League season with the competition’s longest road trip when they head to Roche Park to take on Collie on Sunday. The Hawks, who finished fifth last season before suffering a disappointing 72-point loss to Donnybrook in the elimination final, will be looking for a strong start against an Eagles outfit which finished 10th in 2024 but have recruited strongly over the summer. AMR have been quiet on the transfer front over the off-season but former WAFL star Freddie Clutterbuck was cleared to the club last week. Clutterbuck, who played a combined 133 State league games for East Perth and Swan Districts, has been starring in the Avon Football Association with Quairading in recent years. In Sunday’s other game, Busselton and Dunsborough will both be looking to start their campaigns in winning fashion when they clash at Bovell Park. The women’s clash will see a Sharks outfit who featured in the finals for the first time in 2024 face an early test of their credentials against last year’s beaten grand finalists. Last season’s league contest between the pair at the venue saw the Magpies win by 74 points but the visitors will be hoping for a more competitive performance in their first game under new coach Chayce Creedy. The game will be the Magpies’ first without their seven-time best and fairest winner Mitch Tenardi, who has joined his former teammates Zac Pethybridge and Jaxon East at Myrtleford in Victoria’s Ovens and Murray Football League.