Congratulations to our U14 Girls and U17 Girls who have both made their Grand Finals! Our U14s had a good win against Ingle Farm and now have a week off before their SANFL Juniors Grand Final. Our U17s beat Blackwood and will take on Mt Barker next Sunday in the HFLW GF.
There were lots of other good results this weekend, including for our As, Bs, U18s, U16s and U12s. Our U16s are now sitting top of their ladder, with one minor round to go.
Well done to all our teams for their efforts! Check out the results below or on PlayHQ.
Two of our girls’ teams are playing finals footy this weekend: our U17 Girls take on the Woods in a Preliminary Final at Blackwood at 12pm on Sunday, and our U14 Girls take on Ingle Farm in a Qualifying Final at home at 1pm on Sunday. Good luck Devils!
But first, our boys are heading to Mt Barker. The action begins on Friday night with our U12s, then our U14s, U16s, U18s, Bs and As take on Mt Barker on Saturday. With only two rounds left, can our As hold on to top spot?
Our C Grade have a bye which means their season has come to a close. Well done on a great inaugural comp!
Commiserations to our Senior Women who went down to Hahndorf in a nailbiter in the HFLW Semi Final on Sunday. Well done on a strong season and bring on 2026! Our U17 Girls went down to Mt Barker in their Qualifying Final by one point but have another chance next week. Go you Devils!
On Saturday, our A Grade beat Hahndorf in a thriller and our B Grade, U18s and U16s also had good wins against Hahndorf. With two rounds left until finals, the excitement is building.
Meanwhile, our U14 Girls are sitting top of the ladder after their final minor round game – SANFL Juniors finals start next weekend. Good luck girls! Our U12 Girls’ season has come to an end but well done on your efforts in 2025.
Well done to all our teams this weekend! Check out the results below or on PlayHQ.
We’re at the pointy end of the season, with HFLW finals in full swing, and three rounds left in the HFL season before finals hit. We need the Devils’ army in Mt Barker on Sunday to cheer on our U17 Girls taking on the Barker Roos in a Qualifying Final at 12pm, followed by our Senior Women taking on Hahndorf in a must-win Semi Final at 1.30pm.
But first, head to Hahndorf Oval on Friday night and Saturday to cheer on our U12s Friday, and then our U14s, U16s, U18s, B Grade and A Grade on Saturday, in what are bound to be some cracking games of footy. Finally, our U14 Girls and B Grade are playing at home on Sunday, so if you can’t make it to Mt Barker, head to Heathfield Oval.
Check out all the action in the fixture or on PlayHQ.
It’s HFLW finals time! Our Senior Women will take on Onkas in a Qualifying Final at Macclesfield on Sunday at 12.30pm – this time is still TBC, so please keep an eye on PlayHQ. Get out to Maccy on Sunday to support our ladies!
Meanwhile, it’s a split round for the HLF, and there are no Mt Lofty games this Saturday – enjoy the weekend off.
Other games this weekend are our U12 Mixed taking on Echunga at Echunga on Friday night, our C Grade taking on Milang at Milang on Sunday, our U12 Girls taking on Walkerville at home on Sunday, and our U14 Girls taking on Ingle Farm away on Sunday. Our U17 Girls have a bye – enjoy!
Check out all the action in the fixture below or on PlayHQ.
What a day we just witnessed! Tough, fit, honour, humble. Brad Burch! He just played 350 Senior Club matches for the Mt Lofty Districts Football Club (the first and only MLDFC player to achieve 300 A Grade Games) on top of this he has played A Grade matches for Tea Tree Gully (we cannot track matches) and Sturt Football Club Reserves (we cannot track matches) What a performance Burchy put on for us too.. As always! His football knowledge, calm demeanour, and mentoring attributes are astronautical. .
Respected by all in our club, Bradley is the most understated, humble and gentle human at Mt Lofty. We could not be more honoured to call him a Mt Lofty Devil. Shown by his refusal to be chaired off for match 350, or any socials posts (sorry – not sorry – Bradley!)
When Mt Lofty people think of Brad, they immediately search for the right words to describe the amazing achievements of an exceptional player who seems to be almost indestructible. A hard running mid fielder, who is one of the toughest inside players in the HFL and who has also taken some incredible marks in his time, Brad has worked extremely hard throughout his career and this was obvious when he first pulled on the red and white in 2000.
Interestingly, it was not one of the club’s recruiters who was responsible for Brad joining the Devils, but in his words “….I met a lovely young lady who persuaded me to play with her brothers….” “(She is now my wife!)”. That “lovely young lady” was Jenny, at the time Stapleton, and is not only Brad’s wife, but also mother of their 4 beautiful children.
Club and HFL achievements are amazing –
6 time Club Champion (A Grade B&F) – 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015. This is a shared club record with Sam Miles.
Premiership player in 2006, 2008 and 2014, winning the Alec Parker Medal in 2006 & 2008 as the Best on Ground in the Grand Final
Club Captain in 2002 and 2003 before 2 seasons at Sturt
HFL A Grade Interleague Rep in 2002 to 2004
Mt Lofty District Football Club Life Member in 2015
HFL Playing Life Member in 2017
HFL B Grade League B&F 2023
300 A Grade matches for Mt Lofty Districts Football Club (in 301 Senior matches)
350 Senior club matches Mt Lofty Districts Football Club
Brad’s early football days saw him playing for several different clubs, largely the result of family moves. Beginning at 7 years of age on the Eyre Peninsula at Wudinna, Brad went on to play for Mundulla, Bordertown, Hope Valley, Norwood Under 17’s Under 19’s and Reserves and Tea Tree Gully in 1999. Again, achievements during these years were impressive:
Best and Fairest for Hope Valley Under 15’s in 1993
Best and Fairest at Norwood in the Under 17’s in 1994
Premiership Player in Norwood Under 19’s
Best and Fairest for Tea Tree Gully A Grade in 1999
Playing at Norwood, saw Brad play at Under 17, Under 19 and Reserves between 1994 and 1995 and achieving success as shown above. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious facial injury in a training accident where he fractured his eye socket and sustained a depressed cheekbone.
It is incredible to think that, in 2025, Brad is still playing in the HFL, 25 years after his start in 2000 with Mt Lofty’s Devils. During the 2004 season he was recruited by Sturt and went on to be the runner up in the club’s Reserves B&F after playing only part of the season. In 2005, after being BOG in multiple Reserves matches, Brad was not able to break into the League side and sadly received a serious break to his jaw in 2 places. Club icon, the late Frank Clements, was in constant contact with Brad during his time at Sturt and finally convinced him to return to Mt Lofty in 2006.
His resumption was timely for the club and for Brad himself, as after returning to finals football in 2005, the A Grade went on to win three Premierships in a row in 2006, 2007, and 2008. As mentioned earlier, he won the Alec Parker Medal in the 2006 & 2008 Premiership as Best on Ground, but he missed the Grand Final in 2007, playing only 10 games due to a career move. Brad joined the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service and was undertaking training which incorporated a large amount of practical work and could not afford to risk injury, therefore standing out of games in the latter half of the year and the finals series.
A second Division 1 Premiership for Brad followed in 2008 and in the same year he undertook coaching while still playing. He and team mate Rob O’Gorman coached the Senior Colts in 2008 and 2009 proving to be a very capable and popular combination.
A third Premiership came for Brad in 2014 in Country Division where the club played for just one season, winning Premierships in 4 grades. Success at A Grade level since returning to Division 1 has proven difficult, but Brad is encouraged by the development occurring at the moment with Club Coach Michael Bawden leading the Senior Squad with 14 players from the 2019 and 2020 Under 18 Premiership sides, 12 of whom have had experience in the A Grade side.
Still dedicated to performing at his best, Brad, has always paid a lot of attention to fitness and sets a great example to the young inexperienced players, guiding them from his position, now in the defensive six. In terms of fitness, at one stage he would run up to 5 kilometres in preparation for each match. Most players could not imagine such a pre-game preparation, but this did change somewhat on the arrival of Jen and Brad’s children. The Burch family now has four children with Jaida, Xavier, Zara, and Conor.
With Xaviar playing in the Under 16 boys and also for Sturt, Zara playing in the Under 12 girls and also in U14 Girls, and Conor playing in U10, the future looks very bright for the club, particularly with cousins and sons of Damian, Michael and Matthew Stapleton also very likely to be Mt Lofty players. (Jaida and Zara also play netball for Heathfield.) It is possible that the Burch and Stapleton dynasty could number up to 9 players in the future. Along the way, Dad or Uncle Brad, is very likely to be involved in coaching some of the children as he is very interested in resuming as a coach on retirement.
Over the year’s Brad has played with many wonderful Mt Lofty players registering now 300 A Grade games. Former Club Champions Leith Dawes (256 A Grade games for a total of 289 Senior matches) and Bruce Dawes (228 A Grade games for a total of 362 Senior matches) and is still playing along the likes of Premiership team mates, Club Champions, Mark Nielsen (233 A Grade games for a total of 241 Senior matches) and Alex Weeks (258 A Grade Games for a total of 285 Senior Games)
The first Mt Lofty player to achieve 300 A Grade matches sitting at 350 Senior matches that is very quickly closing down on the all time Senior games club record holder at 362 of Bruce Dawes, looks to be slowing down no time soon!
Respected by all in our club, Bradley is the most understated, humble and gentle human at Mt Lofty. We could not be more honoured to call him a Mt Lofty Devil.
On behalf of all Mt Lofty people, we congratulate and salute you Brad. Keep on giving ’em Hell mate 🔥
