While the start is still months away, punters now know how the 2026 Ovens and King Football Netball League season looks.

The league released the full 2026 season fixture on Thursday, with a start date of Saturday, 28 March pencilled in.

The grand final has been set for Saturday, 12 September.

The start date was selected to avoid a clash with Wangaratta and District Cricket Association grand finals, which conclude the week before.

The season would maintain its 20-round home and away structure, with a general bye between rounds 10 and 11.

O&K operations manager Daniel Saville said the fixture strikes a good balance between traditional matches and trying new clashes to drive the league forward.

“Overall, I’m really happy with the fixture and how it’s turned out,” he said.

“We tried to mix it up and give clubs different opportunities, while also honouring some marquee match-ups, trying to pay respect to the past while also moving ahead and finding some new games and rivalries along the way.

“Overall, I think there’s something in the fixture for everybody, all clubs, keeping in mind we are a football and netball competition.”

The Easter round in round two (3-4 April) will change up some of the encounters from previous years.

“Easter is always a highlight of the O&K season, we’ve changed some match-ups a little this year<” Saville said.

“Whorouly are driving up to play Bright which should be a cracking contest on Easter Saturday, and North Wangaratta will travel to King Valley.

“Both games will get really big crowds, and we’ve got our traditional match-ups with Bonnie Doon and Benalla, and Moyhu and Greta on Good Friday.”

Round nine (23 May) is a Mental Health and Wellbeing Round, round 13 (27 June) will be the annual Terry Socks It To Cancer Round, while NAIDOC Week celebrations will be in round 15 (11 July).

The most drastic change however is the ANZAC Day round in round five (26 April), with matches set to be played on a Sunday.

“We’re looking to avoid the ANZAC Day Saturday - it is a rare thing to have ANZAC Day on a Saturday, we’re looking to avoid it to avoid the clash with the AFL blockbusters on Saturday afternoon,” Saville said.

“It is a long weekend for some, and we don’t think that Sunday will be an issue.

“Mental Health and Wellbeing came onboard as a prominent sponsor of ours in 2025 and we’re looking to formalise a round to promote the work the Mental Health and Wellbeing organisation does and to highlight the role community sport can play in that area.”

It all kicks off on Saturday, 28 March, and it’s looking to be a massive round.

In round one, Whorouly is at home to Greta, Tarrawingee takes on Bonnie Doon at the Kennel, Milawa are up against Moyhu, North Wangaratta hosts Bright, and Benalla All Blacks welcome Goorambat to Friendlies Oval.

King Valley will sit the opening round out with the bye.

“I think there are some exciting match-ups in round one, but also all the way through the season,” Saville said.

“I personally like fixture experimentation, I don’t mind trying things with the fixture because we might find something we can continue with.”