Eagles aim to end the hurt with premiership glory in Hampden league
After losing four grand finals in a row the Eagles are positive the losing run isn’t far away from ending. Find out why.
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Is another dynasty about to unfold in the Hampden league or will another team rise to the top this season?
South Warrnambool is chasing its third straight premiership in the competition after beating North Warrnambool by one point in a low-scoring thriller last season.
The Roosters are one of two teams to win premierships in the Hampden league since 2015 after Koroit won seven in a row.
While South Warrnambool will be looking to continue its winning ways others will be looking to get on top, including North Warrnambool, who has now lost the past four grand finals by a combined margin of 41 points.
It’s set to be a closely fought season as multiple teams will firmly believe they are in contention for the premiership.
Here is the team by team preview.
North Warrnambool
In: Sam McLachlan,
Out: Jett Bermingham
Last year: 2nd
Predicted position: 1st
This year has to be the year for North Warrnambool, right? Four straight grand finals and the Eagles missed out last year by one point. While Jett Bermingham is a big loss, a strong playing list still remains led by Steven Motlop, Michael Barlow and Nathan Vardy.
Player to watch: Jarryd Lewis
The defender finished high in the Maskell Medal last year and is one of the key players at the club with more than 200 games of senior footy. Will be one to watch this year.
PREVIEW
North Warrnambool can see some silver lining despite being the bridesmaid for far too long.
The Eagles are still waiting for their first Hampden league premiership even though the team has made the past four grand finals.
North Warrnambool has made five of the past seven grand finals and lost them all, the past four coming by a combined margin of 41 points.
Last year hurt the most with the team leading at three-quarter-time and not able to win despite having the breeze.
North Warrnambool football director Gerard Lourey said it’s only made them more determined.
“If you are feeling really disappointed after losing grand finals, you are in the right spot,” he said.
“We’d much rather be playing grand finals than finish sixth or seventh. You’ve got to keep putting yourself in that situation.
“If we keep putting ourselves in that spot eventually things will turn for us.”
North Warrnambool has lost Jett Bermingham, a previous Hampden league best and fairest, in the off-season as he moved to Bell Park.
Jackson Grundy has also gone to the VFL but will play for the Eagles when he isn’t playing for North Melbourne.
The Eagles will have access to ex-AFL players Steven Motlop and Michael Barlow with AFL premiership winning ruckman Nathan Vardy coaching and playing again.
North Warrnambool is expected to have both Motlop and Barlow for more games but they won’t be available for the whole season.
Lourey said the team’s growth would come from youth and one or two new recruits who are set to be named in the coming weeks.
“We’ve lost a few depth players but we’ve had some fantastic juniors coming through,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to them stepping up.We’re pretty confident we’ll be thereabouts when the whips are cracking at the end of the year.”
Camperdown
Ins: Jack Hookway
Out: None of significance
Last year: 7th
Predicted position: 9th
It’s going to be a tough year for Camperdown as others around them have recruited well. This year might be a building year for the club.
Player to watch: Charlie Lucas
The captain will need to lead from the front this season as the Magpies turn to youth to rise up the ladder.
PREVIEW
Camperdown hopes a coach with experience of working at Hampden league teams who have risen up the ladder can do the same for the Magpies.
The club has signed Clinton Thomas as coach for the next two years to guide its youngsters to the next level.
Thomas comes from North Ballarat, where he was an assistant.
Before then he was an assistant at Koroit during the Saints’ dynasty.
“We’ve got a new coach and a whole new game plan for everyone,” Camperdown football director Jeremy Baker said.
“It’s all about implementing a new game plan and hopefully that will start to pay dividends as the year goes on.”
Baker said Thomas had given a fresh new look to the team with training focused more on game day action and using analysis to exploit the team’s strengths and limit weaknesses.
The Magpies haven’t gone on a recruiting spree during the off-season, instead looking to retain its players and promote under-18s.
“We’re probably going to be similar to last year (when we finished seventh),” Baker said.
“We might shock a few people but we’re not putting a lot of pressure on our players.
“We’re just hoping the game plan, the new coach, the new style might surprise a couple of teams.”
Port Fairy
Ins: Gary Rohan, Strahan Robinson, Braedyn Ross, Matt Sell, James Edmonds, Lucas Edmonds, Jimmy Wallesz
Outs: None of significance
Last year: 8th
Predicted position: 6th
Port Fairy will get close to making finals but will fall just short. Rohan will have a major impact, like Ben Cunnington last year for rivals Warrnambool.
Player to watch: Gary Rohan
The former Geelong and Sydney player sure to make an immediate impact. He will be a devastating threat up forward and in the midfield and is a sneaky chance of taking out the goalkicking award if he plays in the forward half for most of the year.
PREVIEW
The addition of Geelong and Sydney premiership hero Gary Rohan has Port Fairy excited it can go to the ‘next level’ this season.
The Seagulls have been on the steady rise since 2022 when the club lost all matches, finished last, and were forced to forfeit one game.
Since then, the club has gone on a rebuild with president Rob Evans and his committee and coach Dusty McCorkell leading the rise.
In 2023, they on eight matches and were within sight of finals before falling to five wins last year.
“While the wins and losses didn’t look so great on paper for last year it was a step in the right direction,” McCorkell said.
“We were able to play a lot of kids and get them to experience senior footy. We never lost games by a huge margin.
“We went into each game expecting to win. Now we get another season of our list together and we’ll get a couple of injured players back.”
Then there’s the addition of Rohan who brings a wealth of experience.
And he’s already had an impact on the club in the off-season.
“He’s been training once a week, coming down from Ocean Grove,” McCorkell said.
“It’s been really good for the group. He’s got there and trained with the juniors.
“He adds to the way we play and he’ll be a great player for us as well.”
McCorkell might also pull a selection surprise throughout the season with where Rohan plays.
“We want to play him in various positions,” he said.
“He’ll certainly be dangerous when in the forward line but he can be thrown in the middle and down back.
“It will depend on the conditions but he’s happy to play anywhere for the side.
“We’ll use him as we see fit.”
Port Fairy shapes as having one of the most potent forward lines in the competition.
The team already has key forward stalwart Jason Rowan, who has kicked more than 1000 goals in the competition.
The Seagulls have also added young forward Strahan Robinson who kicked 34 goals for East Point last year in the Ballarat league.
The former Rebels player is going to help Port Fairy be a scary proposition for opposition defences.
“He’s (Rowan) looking forward to having a couple of extra key forwards,” McCorkell said.
“Strachan is only young but he’s a young powerful kid who leads really hard and attacks the ball hard. He enjoys his footy so he’ll be a great part of the team.
“We’re happy with how our forward line looks but it needs to get some good delivery and make sure we give them a great number of inside-50s for the opportunity.”
McCorkell said the team was capable of giving the finals a shake.
“We’ve got a decent enough list to be start mixing it against the top teams,” he said.
“From where we come from the past two years, the goals been to build the footy club back up and create some good standards and build a culture and I think we’ve been able to do that.
“It certainly is time to take it to the next level. We want to make sure every week we are competitive.”
Portland
Ins – Daniel Jackson, Jed Saunders, Jake Edwards, Pat Pekin, Kade Lovell, Jack Walsh, Jeff Garlett (four matches), Jay Moody
Outs – None of significance
Last year – 10th
Predicted finish – 8th
Portland will finally end its losing streak and get some valuable wins in the league. Will it be enough for finals? Not yet, but the signs of improvement will be there.
Player to watch: Daniel Jackson
The talented midfielder is back after two seasons in Cairns. He is a former Hampden league best and fairest winner for Portland and helped the team make finals in 2022.
Preview
Portland concedes it will have to look at its future in the Hampden league if this season is a repeat of the previous two.
But it hopes with off-season recruitment the Tigers can roar again.
Portland enters 2025 on a 33-game losing streak with the last coming on Anzac Day 2023.
The defeats have prompted the club to turn to former Portland players to come back.
The club has signed almost a dozen players who previously played for Portland but have gone elsewhere for university or work.
One of them is former club captain and Hampden league best and fairest Daniel Jackson who returns from a couple of years in Queensland.
He is joined by Tanner Lovell who returns after playing for Geelong West Giants and Geelong’s VFL team.
Jamieson Ballantyne, who is still part of Geelong’s VFL team, will also play when he isn’t playing for the Cats.
Portland president Andrew Neve said the players coming back was already a tick for the club looking to grow again.
“If we didn’t go out and recruit our past players or heavily recruit like we have we’ll be the cellar dwellers again and we may lose support from within the town from sponsorship to the supporters,” he said.
“We’ve recruited our past players who have went to Geelong for uni and work. We’ve spoke to them and a lot of them have come back to town.”
Neve said 2025 has to be the year the Tigers become more competitive.
If not, some tough decisions have to be made.
Portland has once floated the idea of moving leagues, in 2023, but it opted to stay in the Hampden league.
Another lean year could re-open the chance to move.
“If we go out with all these players and we don’t succeed we really have to look at ourselves,” Neve said.
“We’d have to sit down as a club and committee and have a think tank session of where we want to go.
“We would have to work that out as a club.”
For now, the thought isn’t about that, it’s about success, starting against Koroit on Saturday.
“To make finals will be the pass mark in most grades,” Neve said.
“We want to beat Koroit first game of the season. The club just wants to be successful in the Hampden league.
“We just want people to come and support.”
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