After a 2024 campaign which saw success for the women’s side and a competitive battle to make finals from the men, Border Raiders Football Club is looking to build on that momentum and break through with an even more impressive 2025.

The season is set to kick off this weekend with BASL senior and junior action starting across Saturday and Sunday.

After narrowly missing promotion despite claiming the Supercup finals in 2023, the women’s Border Raiders side regrouped for another impressive season in 2024, not only defending its Supercup title, but earning the elusive promotion to League 1.

While several of the core players from last season have returned for the step-up to the higher grade, co-coaches Paige Pinson and Amelia Richardson have plenty of new faces to integrate into the group ahead of the fresh campaign.

“It's been fantastic,” Pinson of pre-season said.

“The girls are such hard workers, they're all extremely dedicated.

“They all seem to be enjoying training, which I hope they are, even though it's been a lot of running.

“They've all got great attitudes, which is honestly all I can ask for.

“We’ve got a range of abilities; a few girls who are (in their) first year playing, and then we’ve got a few girls who have played semi-pro and things like that, so it’s a definite mixture this year.”

The side’s competitive season got started on April 13, as the Border Raiders battled Strathfieldsaye Colts in the league cup quarter-finals.

In a tough entry into the new division, Echuca-Moama went down 9-0 in the fixture, demonstrating the challenge that lies ahead in the stronger League 1.

“We knew it was going to be a different year to what we've had the last two years, obviously we're going from div two to div one,” Pinson said.

“I think we're definitely looking forward to the challenge, and I think it's going to be a great learning experience, and as a team we're going to develop a lot, which I'm really looking forward to.”

The team’s league campaign starts on Sunday at 11am as it visits Howley Oval to take on Tatura.

A regular pre-season practice match opponent, the Border Raiders are well aware of what the Ibises have to offer.

The local club can take some confidence from winning this year’s practice match for the first time in several years.

“I think it's just going to be a good challenge more than anything else,” Pinson said.

“They're always a great team, we always compete against them.

“I know they're going to come out full force on to the field and I know that's exactly what we're going to do as well.”

On the men’s side, team manager Rishabh Kothari says there has been a roughly 70 per cent turnover of players for the division two side this year.

While this means the likes of goal-scoring wizard Joel Fataolisia won’t be putting on the green and black this season, it’ll make way for new talent to emerge and blossom for the side.

A host of fresh and promising players would be just what the doctor ordered for the Border Raiders men who will be looking to make a deep finals run in 2025 after bowing out in the elimination final to Golden City 3-1 last season.

Kothari highlighted how the team had fared during the pre-season and how important a new coaching addition had been for developing a new-look team along with the assistance of a core group of last year’s players.

“It’s been a better pre-season than last year; we have moved a long way with our new coach, Adrian Richardson, who has been training with us the last three weeks,” he said.

“Adrian has been associated with the club for over 25 years in various coaching roles and has stepped back in to helm the men’s team, which has been great for us.

“While most of the team is new, we have a couple of players returning to the club which is nice, guys who have played for us coming back from injury and a group who played last year with Suresh Gomez returning as captain for his second year.

“There are also a good group of new players who will be in the squad, so there is a nice mix of fresh blood and experienced members of the club.”

He also outlined how the new players had been able to slot into the ecosystem of the team and the development of a leadership contingent on-field.

“The boys are starting to come together, they are learning how to play with one another, and it is only going to improve from here the more we train together and work out where everyone fits in on the pitch,” he said.

“We have a younger squad than usual, with a few more players in that 16 to early 20s range, so it’ll be a good group moving forward.

“We have a core group of players who will be leaders on the field, particularly in our back line and midfield, who will be able to guide our younger players and be the voice in the team.”

Kothari expressed his confidence for the opening match of the season, facing the Deniliquin Wanderers, and spoke about how the Border Raiders had played against the side in years past.

“Our games against Deniliquin Wanderers historically have been pretty good contests, in the last four seasons they have been low-scoring and tighter matches which will be a good test for our group to start the year,” he said.

“Deni are more-or-less on par with us, it’ll be a good place to start, we aren’t facing any of the top teams to start in that sense.

“We are a good side and will be competitive this year, I think we will be pretty well constructed and have a good mix of style of players and should be taking it to every team in the competition.”

The Border Raiders men will begin their season against Deniliquin at Jack Eddy Oval on Sunday, April 27 with kick-off scheduled for 2pm.

For the juniors, the construction of sides will be slightly different from last year with a host of mixed sides contending for glory in 2025.

The Border Raiders will field three under-12 mixed teams; the Vikings, Pirates and Raiders, as well as an all-girls under-14 team, a mixed under-14 team and a mixed under-16 team, all of which will start their individual campaigns this weekend.

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Wednesday, 11th June 2025

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