Team by team guide of the new Hampden league season
The Roosters are aiming for three premierships in a row while everyone else is looking to stop them. Check out our team by team guide for the Hampden league.
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.
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.”
Cobden
Ins: Matt Drayton
Out: No one of significance
Last year: 6th
Predicted position: 7th
Will be competitive this year and right in the finals fight but will fall short of a top-five finish.
Player to watch: Brody Mahoney
The coach was also one of the key players during the season, finishing as the highest placed finisher in the league's best and fairest. Will be vital to the teams finals chances.
PREVIEW
Cobden is confident it can take the next step and play finals football this season.
The Bombers finished sixth last year, two games away from finals, in a year which showed lots of promise but no finals to show for it.
“As a squad we were really disappointed as there were a couple of games we looked back at we should have done better,” Cobden coach Brody Mahoney said.
“We didn’t play our best on the day and (some games) we were starting games off poorly and it was biting us.”
Cobden said the off-season was about refining the game plan to give the team better starts and remain competitive against all sides.
“Our game plan seems to be a bit more fine tuned and smoother now,” Mahoney said.
“It’s another year under their belts with me being coach.
“But we lost about nine players altogether from seniors and reserves.
“It brings us down to most clubs with our depth.
“But our whole aim was to maintain what we had and we did.”
The goal remains simple, make finals.
“That’s what our group is trying to aim for,” Mahoney said.
“We try not to get too ahead of ourselves but we are a bunch of very competitive blokes.
“We’re here to play and we’re here to play finals.”
Hamilton
Ins: Levi Dare
Out: No one of significance
Last year: 9th
Predicted position: 10th
Will be competitive this season but with other teams recruiting around them it might be hard for Hamilton this season.
Player to watch: Rory Gill
On track to play his 100th senior game in the first round of the season and is one of the most important players in the team.
PREVIEW
Hamilton hopes a return home will yield more results for the team this season.
The Kangaroos will return to Melville Oval in April and play for the first time since June 2023 after upgrades to the ground.
The team has been playing elsewhere since the move.
“It’s a massive boost for our club and looking to getting our club back together in our home town,” Hamilton president Dave Hintum said.
“I underestimated the impact of not having our home ground for a year and a half would have on the club.
“But we got through it, through the effort of our volunteers and players.
“There’s a huge buzz around the place.”
The senior team will remain similar to last year, according to Hintum, but with a couple of signings added.
Brad Thomas is back for his second year as coach.
“Our improvement will come from within,” Hintum said.
“We have a large group of top age under-18s coming through.
“We’ve been able to attract a few players to the club, a few recruits of returning players and a few new players.
“It seem like the competition around us have really improved their lists.
“While we expect to improve everyone seems to have improved as well.”
Hintum hopes the improvement is enough to be competitive in the league and mix for finals.
Koroit
Ins: Sam Dobson, Blair McCutcheon, Fraser Robbs, Lachie Brook, Ben Miller
Out: No one of significance
Last year: 4th
Predicted position: 3rd
Koroit will be one of the big improvers this year and challenge again for the premiership. Getting Sam Dobson back has been huge for the team.
Player to watch: Sam Dobson
One of the most destructive forwards in country footy returns to the Saints. Will be a massive addition to the squad.
PREVIEW
One of the best players in the Hampden league is back to help guide the Saints to premiership glory.
Sam Dobson returns to Koroit after playing in Geelong and will not only play but join Chris McLaren as coach at the club.
The key forward is one of a handful of former Koroit players to come back, looking to help the club get back to the glory days.
The Saints won seven straight premierships from 2014 to 2022.
“His intention at some point was the come back,” McLaren said.
“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever been lucky to have as coach.
“He gives us a lot of firepower forward of the ball.”
McLaren said the focus in the off-season was to build on the current squad and make the team more competitive.
He’s confident the team can match it with the other sides.
“We’ve been able to fill the areas we thought made life difficult for us,” he said.
“We think we can be a harder team to play against.
“If we can replicate the effort the team put in the last couple of years.
“Our numbers are better, our depth is better.
“We think we can put some more pressure on the teams who finished above us.”
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.”
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.”
South Warrnambool
Ins: Ollie Lee, EJ Harvey, Jackson Couch,
Out: Jay Rantall, Josh Saunders
Last year: 1st
Predicted position: 2nd
Every chance of making it three premierships in a row but will probably face its sternest test out of the lot. Cross-town rivals North Warrnambool will be strong again with Koroit also looking competitive.
Player to watch: Shannon Beks
A two-time premiership player who is devastating in the forward line and in the ruck. One of the Roosters key players.
PREVIEW
South Warrnambool will be looking to create history in the Hampden league this year as it aims for a third premiership in a row.
Never in the clubs history has the Roosters done it, getting close in 1992, losing the decider to Warrnambool.
The team has retained most of its squad from last year and added Ollie Lee from South Barwon who is sure to add more depth to the midfield.
The loss of Jay Rantall, for periods of the year, as he plays for Geelong in the VFL will hurt but if he plays in finals then he adds another key part to the team.
The signing of Jackson Couch, who kicked 80 goals in the Warrnambool District league, will add more depth to one of the best attacks in the competition.
South Warrnambool, with a third straight premiership, would become the third team in the past 40 years to achieve the feat.
Terang Mortlake
Ins: Liam Casey, Colin O’Riordan, Will Tanner, Harry Turnham, Lachlan McLeod, Danny Allan, Jake Crawley, Will Moloney
Out: Gus Bourke, Fred Beasley, Max Lower, Isaac Kenna, Dylan Jones
Last year: 4th
Predicted position: 5th
Will be right in the mix to play finals and will just sneak in. Will be looking to make a third straight preliminary final but head to the grand final this season.
Player to watch: Lewis Taylor
The coach is one of the premium midfielders in the competition and will be vital to helping the Bloods make the finals again.
PREVIEW
Terang Mortlake will be hoping third time is the charm in the Hampden league this season.
The team has made the past two preliminary finals, falling short both times of making the grand final.
The off-season has been spent trying to go one better.
Irish player and former Sydney player Colin O’Riordan joins with the Bloods adding almost another half dozen players.
But the team has lost at least a quarter of the team who lost to South Warrnambool in the preliminary final.
“You just got to turn up and give it your best shot (to get back there),” Terang Mortlake coach Lewis Taylor said.
“Nothing is guaranteed we will get back there.
“Hopefully we can come out and play better than we did.”
Taylor said the focus was finishing higher so the team had a double chance rather than face elimination finals every week.
“The last two times coming from fourth we just missed out on that double chance,” he said.
“It’s quite a bit of hard work to do leading into a prelim when the other teams have had an easier run there.
“We’d like to finish higher if we can but there’s some really good teams there.”
Taylor said the focus to doing that was to be consistent for four quarters, rather than a half or for periods of the game.
Warrnambool
Ins: Tyler Murnane, James Norton, Toby Dalton
Out: No one of significance
Last year: 3rd
Predicted position: 4th
One of a handful of teams who can win the premiership but Warrnambool will need everyone on the park, including ex-AFL player Ben Cunnington, to really challenge the top couple of teams.
Player to watch: Aaron Black
The former North Melbourne forward will play for the club in the first half of the season as he juggles his VFL commitments with Geelong. He’ll be pivotal with Ben Cunnington out for the first part of the season with injury.
PREVIEW
Warrnambool hopes another former North Melbourne forward can fill the void left behind by another ex-North Melbourne player Ben Cunnington.
Injury has ruled Cunnington out for the first part of the year after a stellar season last year in the Hampden league.
The former North midfielder kicked 76 goals to win the goal kicking for the league.
His loss will be filled by Aaron Black who is expected to play most of the first half of the season with his VFL schedule working out well.
“He’ll be forward, particularly, with Ben out,” Warrnambool coach Dan O’Keefe said.
“It would be nice to have them together, they only played two full games together last year and played well.
“Hopefully that can come in the second half of the season.”
Warrnambool is in a lucky position with the best juniors in the competition.
The past two seasons the team has won the under-18 premiership.
O’Keefe said those players would drive the club forward to success.
“I feel like this year the comp may level out a bit,” he said.
“We’re very lucky from a recruiting point of view the under-18s have won back to back with premiership.
“There’s some extraordinary youth coming through and eight to 10 who have played senior footy.”
O’Keefe is hopeful a few of them can take the next level and help the club to premiership glory.
Originally published as Team by team guide of the new Hampden league season
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