GNFL to celebrate the future and build excitement for 2026 season in this weekend’s all-star curtain raiser

The Great Northern Football League’s youth will take centre stage during this year’s All-Stars clashes, as the 2026 season is officially launched on Saturday afternoon at WA Country Builders Stadium. All seven clubs have nominated their top men’s and women’s players to play across the three matches as an opportunity prove themselves and compete against some of the league’s top talents ahead of round one. GNFL president Grant Russell said it was exciting to be able to showcase the best young talent the league had to offer. “It’s not for premiership points, however, it is for putting on the display of the young players within the GNFL,” he said. “Anyone who’s a little bit football starved and wants to see a community game, I encourage them to come out and have a look.” Developing and strengthening numbers among colts-aged girls has been a strong focus this off-season, largely driven by the Mid West regional football specialist, with some of the most exciting girls in this age group coming together to set the tone for the day. The under 19s girls match will kick off the day’s action at 1pm, which will then lead into the women’s match at 2.30pm. The men’s game finishes off the day’s action at 4pm with a selection focus on players under 25 to showcase the top young talent across the league. Russell said it was important to give these opportunities to the “future of the competition”. “If they’re the ones that are participating in the day, they’ll get excited about wanting to go to country week,” he said. “They could be very well selected to play league football at their own clubs because of their performance against other players. “From all my years experience with the colts grand final day, it generally is the game of the day. They’ll be exciting.” The GNFL officially gets under way on Saturday April 18 with Railways and Chapman Valley kicking of the year’s action at The Rec. Stay tuned for the full 2026 GNFL season preview in next Friday’s Geraldton Guardian.