It turned out to be a season from hell, with a large amount of Echuca’s premiership-winning contingent either departing in the pre-season, being dealt significant injuries or dealing with personal matters that were bigger than football.
This led to a few more home and away season losses than the club had become used to and a fourth-place finish on the ladder.
While the side managed to get past Shepparton Swans with relative ease in the elimination final, it was then pipped at the post by arch-rival Rochester.
The defeat has left the senior unit understandably crushed and staring the end of its all-time dynasty in the face.
“It’s just a kick in the guts when you plan to be there at the pointy end of the year and that’s what all our planning was, to have all three sides playing come last game of the year, grand final day, and you get beaten,” coach Simon Maddox said.
“It’s a bit of a hollow feeling and one we’re not used to over the last three or four years. So there’s a few dejected and annoyed.
“Credit to Rochester, they beat us, they played pretty well.
“They clogged numbers up in their forward line, they used the ball better than us.
“We had plenty of chances to win, we missed easy goals and they went down the other end and kicked goals.
“I just thought they executed the bigger moments better than we did.”
Echuca easily led the senior competition in players played in 2025, with 47 deployed throughout the home and away season following numerous season-ending injuries and serious aliments to premiership talent.
While Maddox didn’t use the injuries as an excuse, he did express his frustration with the number of roadblocks they presented for the men in green this season. But he also highlighted the way in which some of the more severe blows, such as Ben Reid’s broken neck and AJ Mills’ cancer diagnosis, unified the club.
“We’ve had a pretty rough run with injuries, as everyone knows, and that’s been well documented. But we’ve probably learned some life lessons out of it as well,” he said.
“We all play football to win, but it’s only a very small part of your life, and when we’re talking about people’s health, I think that’s far more important. So that’s kept us really grounded this year.
“The injuries have brought us closer together as a footy club, and standing behind AJ Mills because he’s been dealt some really, really horrible cards.
“We all love the footy, but life and quality of life is far more important, and it’s helped us get around those boys and support them and even things like cooking meals and mowing lawns for them and checking in on them.”
While the spectre of what might have been will linger in the hearts of many at Echuca, Maddox did highlight some promising young talents that are providing hope for the future.
“We’ve got senior games into a stack of thirds kids and the guys who would normally play reserves, so we’re building our depth. So there are some real positives out of it,” he said.
“It’s bright for the future, there are a couple of guys out of the semi-final senior side that can go back and play under-18s footy, and they’ve become real contributors in our senior side.
“I thought Cody Walker was really, really good (in the semi-final), he’s a bottom-age thirds player and I know he’s highly touted, but he would have had 30 disposals and broke the game open with leg speed — he was our best-on.
“Walker, Hudson Kellett, Ky Henson, Jaxson McMinn, there’s plenty of them that have played senior footy this year.
“We’re just going to get behind our thirds boys and hope they can win this week and get through to a grand final. They get the privilege of being able to play when the stakes are at their highest.
“The future’s really, really bright at Echuca footy club, there’s no doubt about that.”
