After a week deprived of competition, you couldn’t ask for a better fixture to kickstart the second half of the 2026 Ovens and King season.

With teams refreshed coming off the King’s Birthday general bye last Saturday, round 11 of the O&K season serves up some scintillating encounters, with some premiership contenders set to face off for the first time this year.

It’s a top of the table clash out at North Wangaratta, with the ladder-leading Hawks set to host a rampaging Whorouly in the match of the round.

The two teams’ ascendancy has been the biggest story of the season to date, sitting atop the ladder with 7-2 records and percentages north of 200.

Even in the reserves it’s set to be a huge match, with the Hawks and Lions sitting in the top three.

After making the senior preliminary final last season, the Lions’ continued form has seen them shoot to the front of many pundits’ flag predictions, but it hasn’t been all smooth sailing.

Whorouly coach Michael Newton said he had been impressed with how the larger squad had managed significant injury impacts through the first half of the season.

“We’ve put ourselves into a good position, we’ve obviously had some injury troubles earlier in the year, but we’ve been able to get a little continuity with the team, and it’s been good,”

“Throughout the start of the season we were having four or five changes every week, and they were all forced changes – you lose a couple, gain a couple, and it just throws everyone around.

“There are certain games you might have one on the bench or no one on the bench, and it makes things pretty challenging for a coach and for a player to be able to play the game out.

“We’ve managed to keep hold of a pretty consistent side over the last few games, each game we’ve gained a couple of guys back.

“It will affect the reserves as well, and our reserves side’s been tested throughout the season with guys coming through and filling gaps.

“To be able to sit here at the halfway mark and have both sides in the top two is a great effort.”

Newton said he was looking forward to seeing what the Hawks dish up, and backed his players in to be tough and physical at the contest.

“They’re obviously able to limit opposition scores and able to score heavily as well, so they’ve got weapons on both sides of the ball,” he said.

“They’ve got some guys who like it on the outside, run it with speed, so we’ve got to make sure we’re stronger at the contest.

“It’s a big focus we had against Moyhu, and they’re a similar side to Moyhu, they like to run and carry and get it on the outside, beat you with speed, so we’re really excited for the challenge of a really physical contest.

“It’s exciting to get back into footy again after a week off – we’ve had a week off, two games, then another week off, so the boys have had a bit of a freshen-up month, they’re ready for the challenge.”

North Wangaratta takes on Whorouly at The Nest this Saturday, with reserves from 12pm and the seniors from 2pm.

Elsewhere, Moyhu hosts Milawa in a rematch of their opening round clash, with the Hoppers desperate to cling to their top five position.

For Milawa, it’s a chance to further build through the back end of the season and string some victories together at the right time of the year.

In other matches, a struggling Goorambat is at home to Greta, Bright take on King Valley at Pioneer Park, and 10th plays 11th when Tarrawingee welcomes Benalla All Blacks to the Kennel.