South Melbourne have faced new challenges in 2026 after simultaneously competing in the NPL and OPL for much of the year. However, despite being forced to rely on U23 players for some NPL games, South have remained in the finals mix.

Surprisingly it was immediately after the OPL where South struggled the most. Despite having a full senior squad at their disposal, shock losses saw South drop out of the top six. Thankfully recent weeks have seen an improvement in form, underlined by a convincing 2-1 win against ladder leaders Oakleigh Cannons.

Despite strong recent form. South’s final four regular season games include matches against other top-6 contenders including Heidelberg, Melbourne City and George Cross. This means Hellas cannot rest on their laurels as the regular season comes to a close.

Across the competition finals spots are being hotly contested by all teams in the top eight. However, Preston and Avondale appear to be likely finals qualifiers, with Preston in particular showing strong form in recent weeks.

Further down the table though Heidelberg is seeing its season hang-on by a thread. The all-conquering Alexandros appears to have lost their magic touch this year and have  managed just four draws in their last five games. This leaves Heidelberg in serious danger of missing the finals.

George Cross also find themselves in the finals mix however the recently promoted side has lacked consistency in their performances this year. They face a challenging run home with games against Avondale and Hume meaning they will need to upset a ladder leader or two just to give themselves a chance.

It is rather the other recently promoted side the league is keeping an eye on. Melbourne City have a game-in-hand and also have a favourable draw before them, which includes matches against Bentleigh and Green Gully.

Pos.	Team	Pts.
3	Preston Lions	36
4	Avondale FC	35
5	South Melbourne	35
6	Heidelberg Utd.	34
7	C.S. George Cross	31
8	Melbourne City	30