Eagles and Magpies set to battle it out in annual Good Friday clash

Named for three significant players in each of the clubs’ histories, Moama’s Jack Eddy, Echuca South’s Jack Hay and Echuca East’s Jack O’Neill, the Three Jacks Trophy is a prestigious and coveted piece of silverware for both sides.

Moama has strung together a dominant stretch of wins of late when playing for the trophy, a title the sides contest twice a year.

But with Echuca United surging in 2025, is it the Eagles’ turn to fly highest in 2025? Or could a new-look Moama side continue walking down its road of glory?

Moama football coach Liam Barrett highlighted the meaning of the Three Jacks Trophy to both clubs, while also sharing his and Moama’s excitement for the contest.

“There is a lot of history with the (Three Jacks) Trophy, and it is talked about quite fondly in the community, we want to win it every year, so it puts a bit of extra spice in the game to make sure we come away with it,” he said.

“We are excited, it is always a good rivalry with (Echuca) United, and they are coming off two wins, so we are looking forward to the challenge.

“We are expecting it to be a good contest and they’ll come into it with a bit of momentum, so we are looking forward to training leading in so we can put our best foot forward.

“It’ll be a relatively big crowd and should be a nice day weather-wise, so it’ll be a great day.”

Barrett noted that while Echuca United had been playing well to start the season, he believed his side could come away with the trophy even if its play isn’t a finished product yet.

“We feel like we are playing some good football so far and we are still building into the season, but we know it’ll be a big challenge for us on Friday,” he said.

“Last year it was in front of our home fans and it was a packed crowd, you want to play in the bigger games, so hopefully we can play our best footy and come away with a win.

“We are not going into the match thinking it is just going to happen, we know they have had two good wins and we’ll have to play at our best to come away with a result.

“We aren’t a finished product yet, but we have good processes in place and are improving every session, so we feel like we can go on and get the best out of ourselves.”

Echuca United comes into the contest as one of four undefeated sides in the competition, the Eagles battling for tight wins over Tongala and Numurkah in the opening two rounds.

After the loss of a host of senior players in the 2023-24 off-season, the club refreshed its squad during the season break, adding to the young group that coach Scott Beattie worked to develop across the course of 2024.

“The main focus was just to bring in some quality senior players to complement the boys that were already here,” football operations manager Brock Shiels said.

“Obviously, last year was a tough year for the group, but to their credit most of the boys stuck it through and have backed up this year and backed Scott in and the footy club in.”

It has been an impressive start to the campaign and a huge step forward for the side, which finished last year at the foot of the table with a single win.

The side showed resilience to hold on by a single point against Tongala in round one, before surging from behind to take control ahead of Numurkah in the second half of round two.

“It's actually been amazing how the boys have come together,” Shiels said.

“This group that have just been put together in the last three or four months, they're really close.

“The new boys that have come in have added that level of professionalism and brought their bits and pieces from other clubs, and they've taken the boys that are already here along for a bit of a journey so far.

“We're coming from a long way back, we understand that, but if you told us we’d have two wins in the first two rounds at the start of December we'd be pretty chuffed with that.”

Shiels joined the club this season and hasn’t experienced a Three Jacks contest before, but says the squads are raring to go against the local rivals.

“There's a lot of competition there and, I suppose, the last two or three years it's been difficult for the club to compete, so we're hoping to put a good foot forward for ourselves on the weekend,” he said.

“I was asking the under-17s boys last night what it's like to beat Moama and they said that less than a premiership it's the most important thing.”

The Eagles A-grade netball side also looks to be on an upswing, scoring a landmark win over perennial finalist and past champion Tongala in round one and going down late in a tight battle with Numurkah in round two.

Krystal Burns has returned to the club, taking over as coach of the A and B-grade squads.

“(The squad’s) definitely in its infancy,” she said.

“We've obviously had a rebuild this year, so our main drive was to try and be competitive, but to really return a great club culture for all the players, the spectators, and everyone involved.”

Key to Burns’ approach has been the introduction of promising juniors to the A-grade line-up, with several under-17 players suiting up and putting in strong performances in the top grade.

“I'm a big believer in developing what we've got,” Burns said.

“I'm someone that works on being firm but fair, so if people put in the work, I like to reward them.

“I figure we're best to keep looking after the juniors and build them up so that they stick around the club because it's a good club, and they want to win netball.

“You pick your strongest players whether they're underage or top-age.

“I like to see them play in their junior grades for the social side of it, to stay with their friends, but if they're strong enough to hold their own in a top-age group then I think they should be at least able to try.”

Against a former grand finalist Moama that is looking to get back on track after a 0-2 start, Burns is expecting a tough contest with the Three Jacks Trophy and local bragging rights on the line.

“This is a tall ask for us,” she said.

‘’Moama are obviously an absolute powerhouse, they're a club that do it so well.

“Drysie’s (coach Lisa Drysdale’s) a good mate, so it'll be great to see her on the other side of the court.

“Our aim this year is to just try and be competitive, go out there and if we get beaten on the day that's okay as long as we're beaten while we're playing the best that we possibly can, because you'd rather be beaten than to lose because you haven't played the way you wanted to.”

Moama A-grade netball coach Lisa Drysdale outlined the state of her side, which has yet to win in 2025 due to a new side, but is still remaining positive, especially as it is so early in the season.

“It’ll be a high-pressure game for us, we haven’t had a good start so far, with our first two games we’ve really had to rely on our defensive strategies,” she said.

“We need a lot of work done in our attack end to build up a lot more confidence, we’ve just got a very new team this year with only two people in the same positions as last year, so we are finding our feet.

“There is still a lot of positivity and we’ve seen little gains between each game and in training, so it is a slow build, but it is on the up.”

On the contest with the Eagles, Drysdale forecast a tough contest with Moama’s chief rivals, particularly as the sides know each other well and with the pressure the Three Jacks Trophy match presents.

“It is always an exciting game against Echuca United, there are a lot of mutual friends between the two sides, so we will come up against girls we know quite well, but that’ll make it intense and a good clash,” she said.

“We are definitely excited to be playing on Good Friday, we are keen to contribute to the club and retain the Three Jacks Trophy, so the pressure will be there across footy and netball.

“If we can contribute to gain the win it’ll be special to hold that at our club and it’s great for our spectators because they have a lot of connections with both clubs and the history of the trophy.”

The trophy will be determined by the combined results across all grades of football and netball.

The Three Jacks Trophy match will be held at Echuca South Recreation Reserve with senior football starting at 2pm and A-grade netball at 1.30pm.