SFNL 2025: Club-by-club Division 2 men’s previews
SFNL Division 2 grand finalists East Malvern have recruited strongly under a new coach as they steel themselves for a promotion tilt. Inside their pre-season.
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As the highly anticipated Southern League Division 2 season draws closer, we’re taking a look at how every club is shaping up.
See our rolling coverage of each side below, which will be updated daily leading into the season.
East Malvern
New coach John Brown believes there’s an air of excitement around grand finalists East Malvern ahead of their quest to go one step further in 2025.
“Like everyone we’ve put in a solid pre-season, we’ve got a lot of new faces, new recruits who have joined in the off-season,” the experienced Brown said, who will be in his first season at the helm of the Panthers after Mick Rossborough stood down.
“It’s been exciting because there’s been a change of coaching and play personnel, with that becomes a little bit of excitement and change of direction, there’s a bit of a buzz around the club which is exciting.”
New faces aplenty have arrived as the club looks to steel itself for the arrival of three new clubs into the division.
Max Sutton, who has played senior NTFL footy and won back-to-back senior best and fairests at Ocean Grove, where he had been captain, has joined East Malvern.
He is joined by fellow back-to-back senior best and fairest winner Angus Cameron, and another senior best and fairest winner in Charlie Sutton, who has crossed to the Panthers from AJAX in the VAFA.
The trio headline a strong off-season of recruiting.
“We don’t shy away from the fact that we want to play finals but we’re also understanding of the fact there’s a couple of new teams that have come back from Division 1,” Brown said.
“They’re a little bit unknown to our division, we’ve got a fair bit of respect in terms of Chelsea Heights and Mordialloc and where they’ll be positioned, and then you’ve got the Frankston Dolphins who have come up, there’s three new teams in the division so it really starts back at scratch.
“We’ve got to earn our way through the season and get the right to play off at the back end of the season.”
East Malvern is fresh off a practice match against Whitefriars, where Brown said the club was trialling new methods and styles of play.
“It’s probably an attacking brand of football of very strong defensive structures,” Brown added of what to expect from his Panthers this season.
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