VAFA: Division 2 club-by-club previews
Hawthorn Amateur’s bid to make a run at the top-four has been bolstered by a package of recruits while a returning player with VFL experience will help offset the loss of the skipper. See what the club said.
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The VAFA Division 2 season is edging closer and we’re taking a look at every club.
See how every club is faring in pre-season.
HAWTHORN AMATEUR
The messaging emerging from Hawthorn Amateur ahead of the new VAFA season is clear – they want more consistency.
Mark Murray’s side finished half-a-game outside the Division 2 top-four last season but were slow out of the blocks.
Club president Sam Waldron said there would be a new look Hawks this season with several new faces while some key names have departed.
The Hawks have looked to Western Australia for new faces with Daniel Boules, James Constantine, Daniel Simpson and Evan Menis all former Perth Football League players.
Other new faces include James Fouracre (Geelong Amateur), Suhrab Eqbal (Laverton Magpies), Mitchell Sturgess and Ben O’Leary.
“We look to target guys who are in their early 20s and might be chasing more opportunity,” Waldron said.
“Geographically it’s hard for us to put an under-19s side together because a lot of kids might want to go play for their Old Boys clubs.
“Numbers are looking good at the moment. We’re looking for more consistency this year, we had a good patch in the back half of last year but it wasn’t enough in the end.
“There is a real commitment to lift the consistency among the group.”
Waldron confirmed the club would have 2023 vice-captain Luke McLeod after he missed all of last year.
He was part of the Division 3 side which reached the grand final two years ago.
“He almost feels like a new recruit,” the president said.
“He’s from Warrnambool where we find we get a lot of players from. He’ll probably slot in across halfback and go into the middle at times.
“Luke has VFL experience so he’s going to be huge for us.”
In a big loss, last season’s skipper Charlie Boots has departed the club to link up with his brother at Alexandra in the Outer East competition.
Meanwhile former senior assistant Matt Huber has landed a coaching role with Black Rock in the Southern league and has taken his son, Luke, along for the ride.
“They go with our blessing. They’ve served our club well,” Waldron said.
“It’s great to see someone like Matt who has worked closely in our program alongside Mark earn his own shot in a coaching role.”
Also among the outs is Cooper Rule who has made the move to Caulfield Grammarians in Premier B after 12 senior games last year.
Waldron said club legend, Phil Avery, will break the Hawthorn game’s record in the opening game of the season.
A life member and 1998 premiership player, Avery continues to play in the club’s Thirds side.
MHSOB
Melbourne High School Old Boys coach Bernie Pretty is desperate to see some improvement from his side in season 2025.
The Unicorns have been in somewhat of a holding pattern the last two seasons, winning seven games in 2023 and 2024, which has resulted in a mid-table finish.
But with a trio of returning players including Will Cardwell, Tom Golz and Petro Pirozek there’s a sense of optimism Pretty’s side can move up the ladder.
Cardwell played the last four games of 2024 but has spent the majority of his last two years playing in the Tasmanian State League competition.
“You just kind of improve a bit naturally when you add those guys in,” Pretty said.
“There’s a few kids showing good development over pre-season who I think will be able to play some senior footy.
“We’re pretty excited. We’ve got a fairly new kind of list we’re putting together. A few new faces and a few young faces.
“We’re pretty keen to see how that pan outs. What we find, someone might move into the area, they’ll come and have a kick and then you might find 12 months a couple of their mates will come as well because they’ve enjoyed the environment.
“A few guys arrive, a few leave, it’s always the way. It’s about working out what you’ve got and hoping you can put together a really competitive team.”
Consistency was one of the biggest challenges for the Unicorns in the back half of the season.
They failed to win back-to-back games after the halfway point of the year and eventually finished with a 7-10 record.
“We’ve been in D2 for too long now,” Pretty said.
“But even if you feel like you’ve been stuck in a division for too long, almost half the competition changes every year.
“It’s good in terms of exposure to new teams and not getting stuck in the same sort of routine.
“But it’s also challenging in who’s this team, what do they play like, who are their better players.
“You don’t know where you’re going to fit in the division until you’re pretty much halfway through and you’ve had a look at everybody.”
MHSOB opens its season away to Hawthorn on April 5.
AQUINAS
Aquinas coach Craig Glennie says there was a clear direction from his leadership group of where they needed to improve in season 2025.
“The leaders said we needed to be fitter,” Glennie declared.
And in the off-season, the Bloods have got “plenty of kilometres in the legs” as they look to avoid finding themselves in another relegation battle this season.
Glennie’s side finished half-a-game clear of Wattle Park who were relegated to the bottom tier of the competition.
Aquinas finished with a record of five wins and 13 losses. A round 15 victory win over Bulleen Templestowe, who finished last before moving to the Eastern league, proved critical in the club’s survival hopes.
“There were a few games last year where our fitness probably let us down a bit,” Glennie said.
“But the boys have been working hard. We’ve got plenty of speed among our group, it was just about getting fitter to run games out better.”
There will be some changes to the way Aquinas’ runs out this season with three players including Glennie’s son, Josh, suffering long-term injuries at the back end of 2024.
Garrison Asciak has departed for Eastern club Silvan but it’s on the availability front where Glennie is hoping for more luck.
“European holidays were a killer last year, we lost a lot of guys. At one stage, I think we had about 10 out,” he said.
“Hopefully we can keep the core group together on the park. We managed to knock off the teams around us last year and with a stable side, not needing to fill the void, we should be able to find some more consistency.
“James Wright is back which a handy addition to the midfield group.”
Also among the new faces are Box brothers, Griffin and Sam, who Glennie has big hopes for.
Isaac Curtis and Harry Hall are the club’s other recruits so far this off-season.
“Hopefully the Box boys can step up and play a key role for us, they’ve shown some good signs on the track,” Glennie said.
Aquinas opens its season against Whitefriars away from home.
CANTERBURY
New Canterbury coach Steve Brown describes his first season in charge of the Cobras as “really refreshing”.
The VAFA club will pursue a new challenge in 2025, after being promoted to Division 2, on the back of a premiership last year.
Despite a change of coach, there is a strong sense of consistency within the Cobras’ playing list for this season with majority of last year’s premiership side staying on board.
“They’re a really strong senior group, I’m loving the environment, everyone has been so welcoming,” Brown said.
“The club has a bit of a different feel to ones I’ve been at in the past. There’s a lot of players on the committee.
“What I would say is it’s a very player driven club. There’s been some new faces down at training, we’ve been getting about 35 at training and I’m still expecting that number to grow in the coming weeks.”
While the Cobras have gone from the hunted to the hunter, Brown is embracing the challenge of what lays ahead for his side.
“You need to get about 10 to 15 per cent better,” he said.
“Our aim is going to be to put a lot of pressure on the opposition when they’ve got the ball. We’ll have our structures and want to set them up which is going to allow us to hopefully get on top in games.”
Brown also spoke highly of those he will work alongside this season.
“Michael Topp is a playing assistant, he’s a talented footballer and cricketer,” he said.
“Simon Brown has been an assistant at De La Salle and has come across. Chris Adams has such respect from the group.
“Mick Harper, our head of football operations for the women’s side, is back after some time with Fitzroy and he’s been a great guide for me as well.”
Canterbury opens its season against St Mary’s Salesian.
ST JOHN’S
St John’s is seeing the changing of the guard emerge before its eyes during this pre-season.
The JOCs earned promotion to Division 2 for 2025 after reaching last season’s grand final in the lower tier.
With coach Tim Edwards re-signing for another year, he’s determined to help the club continue its rise up the ranks with a new generation of young stars.
Despite “losing a few of the older guys”, Edwards said the playing list has been bolstered.
“We had a few father-sons come down last year and they’ve brought some of their mates down,” he said.
“There’s a good group of around 10-12 under the age of 22 who will be right in the mix to play regular senior footy. They’re the future of the footy club and it’s good to see the buy in from everyone.
“We’re trying to build with them. The JOCs have got a good long-term plan which I think is going to hold the club in good stead.”
While there’s excitement about what the younger brigade can bring, Edwards’ will have greater depth in the midfield after former Keysborough onballer Nick Beer joined the club.
Beer didn’t play in 2024 after spending time travelling.
“He’ll be a good addition for us,” Edwards said.
“We’ve got a couple more on the radar who we’re hoping to sign in the next few weeks.”
James Day, 20, is another of the club’s signings and will play in defence with his intercept marking a feature of his game.
Joining him is Kody Seing who has played for Beaconsfield while “hard nosed defender” Jarryd Cipressi is another addition.
But there’s also plenty of excitement surrounding young players who featured last year including Harvey Emery who Edwards said is “flying on the track”.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with another year of development,” he said.
Edwards said he is excited by the prospect of his side stepping up into a new division despite going from being the hunted to the hunter.
“It doesn’t seem to have phased the guys at all,” he said.
“We want to make up for what we missed out on at the last year. We’ve reset and will go again.
“We had a bit of a different pre-season and didn’t do anything official before Christmas. We had a player driven run club and it’s something which was well received.”
St John’s welcome West Brunswick to start the season.
OLD YARRA COBRAS
Old Yarra Cobras coach Nathan Monaco says an “attitude adjustment” has his side poised for what’s he hopeful to be a bounce-back year in season 2025.
The club was relegated to Division 2 at the end of 2024 after winning just two games in a year riddled with injury.
Now with the core group back together, Monaco is desperate to see his side rediscover their best footy.
“There’s been an attitude adjustment across the group, a lot more buy in,” he said.
“We managed to stick pretty fat with all the challenges of last season and there were some good signs from the younger core who got their opportunity in the senior sign.
“We’re not wanting to go through what we did last year. You learn from those tough years as a coach and as a playing group.
“We’ve been getting into our working and knowing where we need to be. Hopefully we get a good run with injury this season.”
The Cobras are set to be boosted by the return of what Monaco describes as like “new recruits” for the start of the season with key players set to return from injury.
Luke Stacker is “back up and running” after suffering a knee injury in a practice match last season while Adam Baltruweit and Cal Johnson are also back.
“We lost five or six quality players last year and they’ve also slotted back in,” Monaco said.
“Every club suffers injuries but having those guys back is going to make a big difference for us.”
While there’s familiar faces chasing a place in Monaco’s side, a trio of recruits have also bolstered the Cobras for 2025.
Hard running midfielder and wingman Callum Copeland has crossed East Ringwood, key defender Luke Morris and halfback Yaya Bushnaq are among the recruits announced so far.
“We were very specific with what we targeted,” Monaco said.
“We looked at bringing speed and some more goalkickers. All these new guys will put pressure on guys in the seniors and reserves.
“Competition for spots is going to be high.”
South Melbourne Districts is the Cobras’ first opponent of 2025.
ST MARY’S SALESIAN
After gradual improvement in recent seasons, St Mary’s Salesian coach Clay Tait believes his side is ready to take the next step in their development.
In 2024, the Saints won six games and eventually finished seventh on the ladder.
While Salesian hasn’t been as busy on the recruiting front as it was at this time last year, Tait is hopeful of seeing his side make a push towards the top-four.
“We’re hoping to make a push for finals,” Tait declared.
“We beat a couple of the finalists last year and we’ve been building the last couple of seasons. Now it’s an opportunity for us to push on.
“We’ve been getting around 50 every night on the track which means we’re in a pretty strong position. We’re pretty inexperienced and with another year of development it’s going to be good for those young guys.”
Salesian will enter the new season with a largely familiar list with Ed Bourke the only fresh face.
He joins from St Kevin’s and will help fill a key void in defence.
“We were quite short down back last season,” Tait said.
“Ed’s brother is already at the club so he’s come across to play with him. He’ll probably play at centre-half back which is a position we are looking to fill.
“We got a heap of guys down last year and they were able to convince their mates, it really helped to boost our numbers.”
Tait is also hopeful of building on the success of the under-19s in 2024.
“It was the first time the club had a side in almost a decade,” he said.
“We were able to blood a few of the younger guys and hopefully we can do that again. Because they’ve come from other clubs around the area, it’s about getting them to fall in love with the place to continue building on what we’ve got here.”
The Saints open their season against Canterbury at home.
WEST BRUNSWICK
The end of West Brunswick’s 2024 season had a weird feeling about it.
With the seniors winning just four games and finishing ninth it meant the Magpies were relegated to Division 2.
But there was also cause for celebration as the reserves claimed the premiership after coming from fourth position.
Was there a little sense of jealousy missing out? Perhaps.
But if there was, senior coach Will Dillon only sees it as a good thing.
“You see others get that success and you want it yourself,” Dillon said.
“We’ve managed to retain a large part of the group from last year and they’ve all come back motivated.
“There’s a strong social and cultural focus at the club and that’s something which continues to hold the men and women’s programs both in good stead.
“I’m hoping we’re going to be pretty strong in this year.”
There will be a change in the coaches box this season at West Brunswick.
While Dillon remains in the role he will be joined by Regan Tait who was his assistant last year.
Dillon said the decision had been made after he welcomed a new addition to his family in recent weeks.
“I thought it would be the best way forward for myself and the footy club,” he said.
“Regan has been involved with the footy club for several years now, he had been involved in the women’s program where his partner had been playing.
“He’s got a great understanding of the game and I’m looking forward to working alongside him again.”
Dillon confirmed the experienced duo of Bill Irving and former captain David Ferrier would go around again.
“They provide a lot to the younger guys in our group especially,” he said.
“They’ve stayed loyal and they’re really determined to help us bounce back as quickly as possible.”
West Brunswick opens the season against St John’s who were promoted from Division 3.
WHITEFRIARS
Searching for greater consistency has been the key in Whitefriar’ pre-season so far according to senior coach Luc Matthews.
The Friars finished in the Division 2 top-four last season but were sent packing in the first week of finals to end the season on a disappointing note.
As they aim to chase the dream of promotion this season, Matthews said honesty had been the best policy.
“I’m a big believer in putting the facts on the table, saying this is our problem and working through those,” he said.
“At times we were the best team in the competition, then at times we were the worst. We had big wins against the premier, then only just got across the line against the bottom teams.
“We were almost at a point where we were losing games we shouldn’t and then winning the ones we were expected to lose.
“Our development is to be winning games we should and then producing a similar level against the best sides.”
Matthews said numbers appeared to be on the increase across the Friars’ men’s and women’s programs ahead of 2025.
And the club looks set to field an under-19s side in a huge boost for the short and long-term future.
“A lot of our older guys now have come through the under-19s,” Matthew said.
“It just sets up the club for the future and I want to play a role in helping the club to grow.
“It’s my time at the club now but you want to leave it in a better place than you found it when the time does come to move on.
“Our senior side has seen a couple of new faces, Fergus Ward has come back to footy after a couple of years away.
“He previously played and then had some time with Vermont and Wantirna South.”
After a tight season in 2024, Matthews said he isn’t expecting anything different this year.
“All games were super competitive,” he said.
“The competition itself is a good one. A lot of the time, you can’t afford to come in off your game, anyone can beat anyone.”
SOUTH MELBOURNE DISTRICTS
With the loss of some key players, new opportunity is set to emerge at South Melbourne Districts in season 2025.
The Bloods went down to Brunswick in last year’s Division 2 preliminary final and in the process avoided the chance to move into Division 1.
But coach Nick Abbott has faith his side can push towards the upper reaches of the ladder again.
“We’re going all right. One thing about our footy club is we win more games than we lose,” Abbott said.
“We’ve got a really strong culture. The VAFA is a lot like the lower leagues of English soccer, the lower grades are the hardest to get out of.
“We’ve had two opportunities the last couple of years and we learn from those games. You go again.”
Abbott said he saw this year as another opportunity for Districts’ young group to continue their upwards trajectory.
“We’re continuing to develop and some new faces have come to training,” he said.
“Unfortunately we’ve lost some players to high levels and money, so we can’t add but we can replace.”
Among the departures is exciting forward Jamie Brooker who has joined De La Salle following their promotion to Premier.
While it leaves a 45-goal gap in the forward line, Abbott is pleased to see Brooker testing himself at a higher level.
“We were able to keep him the last couple of years when he had some big offers on the table,” Abbott said.
“I can’t wait to see how he goes up there, I hope he makes the most of his opportunities.
“The door is always open for him.”
Other names to depart include Aris Moustakas, Jess Mildenhall and Max Collier.
South Melbourne Districts opens its season away to Old Yarra Cobras.
The club currently trains on Monday and Thursday nights with details available on social media channels.
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Every in and out across the entire VAFA ahead of 2025
Keep up to date with every in and out across all six divisions of the Victorian Amateur Football Association. See every move here.