While the opposition will be different from last year, those moving the magnets and calling the shots of the Ovens and Murray’s interleague football teams will remain the same.

Jake Sharp and Ben Talerico have been reappointed as coaches of the O&M interleague senior and under 18s teams, respectively, who will take on Bendigo FNL on Saturday, 23 May in Bendigo.

With victories in the 2025 interleague clash, sharp said it was an easy decision to continue in the role.

“We sat down at the end of the season and assessed how the program went,” he said.

“I was happy with how it went, the support the O&M gave me and the playing group, so it was a pretty easy decision in the end.

“I had a lot of fun, met a lot of people through the process, it was a thoroughly enjoyable process.

“Ben’s one of the more thorough people I’ve met in football, very diligent and committed to his program.

“It was seamless working with him last year, I enjoyed working with him.

“His lens on development and what our league can provide in terms of development I think is a great asset to our program.”

The O&M’s recent dominance in interleague will be questioned in 2026, with the gold and black to trek west to take on the Bendigo FNL for the first time in almost 30 years.

“We’re really excited to face them, and I know the Bendigo league’s really keen to play us as well, it’s going to be good,” Sharp said.

“I think the Bendigo league has some stars getting around, it’s a pretty popular league for players transitioning out of Melbourne, they’ve got some powerhouse clubs which have been powerhouse country clubs for a long period of time.

“From our perspective, it’s going to be good muscling up against them and once again seeing where you sit in the country landscape.”

While the late-May showdown is still many months away, planning has already started.

Sharp said having plenty of time up his sleeve allowed the interleague process to flow smoother.

“When I took the job on, I wanted to have a bit of foresight of bringing some youth through with these programs,” he said.

“We’ve already run an under 20s Ovens and Murray training session all together, which incorporated a fair few of the boys who did the under 18 program.

“We just feel like trying to create a bit of a progression or a stepping stone to this representative football is important and keeping kids interested in that.

“Little things like that is how we think we can improve the program, but just playing a new opposition too presents new challenges as well.”

The O&M interleague match against Bendigo FNL is set for Saturday, 23 May.