Magpies and Eagles ready to duke it out in second Three Jacks Trophy clash of 2025

The trophy’s namesake comes from three significant players across both clubs, Moama’s Jack Eddy, Echuca South’s Jack Hay and Echuca East’s Jack O’Neill.

In terms of recent success, the Magpies have had both wings on the trophy for some time, including retaining the honour in the Good Friday match played between the two earlier this season.

With the new game comes the same level of confidence from Moama’s senior football coach Liam Barrett and Lisa Drysdale; however, the two know that the contest is never an easy one.

“Obviously, we know with these trophy games it doesn’t matter where teams are on the ladder, it is always going to be a good contest because of the rivalry,” Barrett said.

“We are very wary of Echuca United, and we are expecting a good battle.

“It is always nice to have bragging rights, so we’ll be making sure to put our best foot forward on the weekend.”

Barrett also highlighted what the trophy meant to Moama and the crowd that is drawn in because of the hallowed rivalry.

“It’s very exciting and is great for our club to be hosting the game and getting people through the gate,” he said.

“We enjoy playing in the bigger games, and this is definitely one where there will be plenty of people there, and we just hope we can put on a good show.

“The Three Jacks Trophy means a lot to us, it is a big part of our rivalry with United, and we’ve been lucky the last few occasions where we’ve been able to have success on the day.”

Drysdale echoed Barrett’s sentiments, while also honing in on how different of a position her A-grade netball side is compared to round three.

“It’s been a quick turnaround between the first and second Three Jacks Trophy games because of a late Easter this year,” she said.

“We’ve come a long way in the last six weeks, so I think we can build on the margin we had last time, we know how to get out of the blocks faster, and we’ve got good systems to play that’ll hopefully work against United.

“Retaining the trophy is definitely the aim for the club, we’ve been having discussions about that at training and doing everything possible to get that trophy again.”

Could round nine be the time Echuca United finally brings the silverware back to its nest of Echuca South Recreation Reserve after seven matches of it being in Moama’s clutches?

Echuca United football operations manager Brock Shiels seems to think that the senior side will at the very least be competitive.

“Other than the Congupna game, we've been pretty competitive since the first two wins and the last three weeks we've been in the game up until sometime in the last quarter,” he said.

“It's just about being able to close off those games and there are a lot of different things that come in with that, so it's not one specific thing, there's probably numerous things that we can be doing better.

“We're being competitive, that was the main thing we wanted to be this year.

“We got those two wins at the start of the season and the last four games we've been in that same situation, we just haven't been able to close them off.”

Shiels said he believes with their current form, the reserves and under-17s while battling injury should also be in with a good chance.

“Hopefully in the second half of the season, the reserves keep that good form going,” he said.

“They've been building up for that for a few weeks, and that was also around just not having the best group on the table.

“The seniors were pulling three or four of the best players each week to fill their injuries, and then that was probably hurting the reserves, and then they weren't able to get consistency.

“The 17s, same sort of thing, we've had kids not available through either injury or suspension for most of the season but when they get their entire team on the last two weeks, they've had a couple of wins as well.

“They've (Moama) won seven in a row obviously, but there have also been a lot of close contests in that so they've been able to do what we haven't been able to do and win those close ones, I suppose.

“We're hoping to learn from what we did in the first game against them early in the season and work on that and see how it goes on the weekend.”

Echuca United A-grade coach Krystal Burns has liked what she has seen from her side so far this season.

"I'm pleased with where our A-grade girls are at the minute," she said.

"My goal this year was for us to be competitive, and so far, throughout the season we've been that.

"We've had some close ones where we probably haven't been able to play four consistent quarters, and that in turn has let us down to have some close misses.“

Burns is also thrilled with the way the rest of the club has conducted themselves so far in 2025, something she believes could put them in good stead to snatch the Three Jacks Trophy from Moama.

"At the moment our B-grade team is playing some really great netball, as a team they've really come together well, and they're definitely playing the style of netball I'm keen to implement at the club so that's been great,“ she said.

“There's been a shift at the club, which was definitely needed but compared to previous years there is a real buzz around the club, and we're winning plenty of the netball in the junior ranks all the way through so its a very positive outlook for us.

"They (Moama) were trying to find their straps as well (in the first meeting), and we were also in our infancy, so this week I'm just keen to have some really competitive netball.

“My aim is to go out there and leave nothing behind, give it our all and at the end of the day, regardless of the score if we can walk off, and we know we've played the best netball we can then that's all I can ask of the girls.”

The seniors football match is slated for a 2pm start, while the A-grade netball will begin from 1.30pm at Moama Recreation Reserve.