Power back in September

A former powerhouse of the BFNL is returning to finals football after 19 years.

By Ben Andonoudis

A finals drought almost two decades in the making will finally come to an end in Portarlington on Sunday.

The Newcomb Power’s senior side will run onto the field for a finals fixture for the first time since winning the 2007 BFNL premiership.

Since then, the club has endured some of the most challenging years in its history.

This season has been different for the Power. 2026 has seen nine wins which has propelled them into an elimination final against Barwon Heads.

For Newcomb Power senior coach Tony Mirabella Sunday’s game will present a vastly different challenge.

“It's just a completely different story and the intensity lifts, the contest lifts, the energy lifts”, Mirabella said.

While that may be the case, the Power can have confidence that they have performed well against Barwon during the season.

Their last match against the Seagulls saw Newcomb record a 102-point win in round 19. But Mirabella is not looking too much into it.

“The Barwon Heads coach said yesterday that it's a different game when it gets to finals and I completely agree with him having been a part of games where you've dominated in the home-and-away season and then come to finals”, Mirabella said.

A win on Sunday could see the Power face some of the powerhouses in the BFNL on their quest for a premiership. But the feeling among the group is that they can match it with those at the top.

“We're confident that our brand holds up against the best in the league and it's just about being confident enough to make sure that brand and that system is there,” Mirabella said.

The 2026 season has been one of many firsts for the senior squad at Newcomb. This season’s breakthrough has provided several of the club’s senior players with the opportunity to taste finals after some lean times.

“There's certainly a group of players that have done their time at Newcomb and probably haven't tasted that finals feeling for quite a while since they were in juniors,” Mirabella said.

While the 2026 season has seen the senior team progress from ninth to a fifth-place finish and finals football, those at the club know the journey has taken much longer.

“I think that when I took over in 2023 there was a couple of good years where Newcomb showed signs, but before the COVID era there were seasons where there were 200-point losses,” Mirabella said.

These dark times are now very firmly in the rear-view mirror for the Power.

However, Mirabella is conscious that the ultimate success may not come this year. “It can be a three, four, five, six-year journey,” Mirabella said.

No matter what happens on Sunday the Power can be proud of what they have achieved in this drought-breaking season.

After twenty years, they will finally be back where they want to be in the mix for a premiership.